DrZoidberg
Contributor
I was listening to the History of the Papacy Podcast, and the episode, Garry and Steve’s Top 12 minor prophets. Great title name for a serious academic show on Biblical history. That whole series on the 12 minor prophets is great. I found it illuminating.
Here's what they say.
There are 31 prophets in the Bible. 12 prophets considered minor and 5 major prophets of the Bible. One of the later prophets, Ezekiel, makes a prediction of the future. Also Daniel does it in the (later) banned book of Daniel. The apocalypse of John is also a prediction of the future. These are what we in English refer to as prophecies. But most of the prophets did not make prophecies. Gary Stevens of the History in the Bible podcast, explains their role in Jewish society like this: They’re not Rabbis. They’re more affiliated with the secular running of the government. A prophet is officially, the voice of God. So God speaks to them and they tell the Jews what God is saying. In practice they’re royal “yes, men” eager to endorse whatever the current king of the Jews want them to endorse, and insisting that the will of the king is also the will of God. A modern equivalent would be Sergey Lavrov being Putin's prophet.
I also know from reading other stuff that prophet is a job description and there were prophets all over the place all over the Middle-East back then. I think Magi and interchangeable with Prophets. As well as sooth sayers. Back in the day, being a prophet was a cushy job. But not seen with the reverence we treat them today.
They've quite had their image improved over the ages.
Worth noting is that Stephen Guerra is Catholic. Gary Stevens is anglican. They're both very much Christian and it is a pro-Christian podcast. But they do have a historicistic approach. It's not a propaganda podcast. It's a scholarly podcast. They have plenty of top Biblical scholars on the show. It's a great podcast.
Not really a discussion piece. Anyhoo. What do you guy think?
Here's what they say.
There are 31 prophets in the Bible. 12 prophets considered minor and 5 major prophets of the Bible. One of the later prophets, Ezekiel, makes a prediction of the future. Also Daniel does it in the (later) banned book of Daniel. The apocalypse of John is also a prediction of the future. These are what we in English refer to as prophecies. But most of the prophets did not make prophecies. Gary Stevens of the History in the Bible podcast, explains their role in Jewish society like this: They’re not Rabbis. They’re more affiliated with the secular running of the government. A prophet is officially, the voice of God. So God speaks to them and they tell the Jews what God is saying. In practice they’re royal “yes, men” eager to endorse whatever the current king of the Jews want them to endorse, and insisting that the will of the king is also the will of God. A modern equivalent would be Sergey Lavrov being Putin's prophet.
I also know from reading other stuff that prophet is a job description and there were prophets all over the place all over the Middle-East back then. I think Magi and interchangeable with Prophets. As well as sooth sayers. Back in the day, being a prophet was a cushy job. But not seen with the reverence we treat them today.
They've quite had their image improved over the ages.
Worth noting is that Stephen Guerra is Catholic. Gary Stevens is anglican. They're both very much Christian and it is a pro-Christian podcast. But they do have a historicistic approach. It's not a propaganda podcast. It's a scholarly podcast. They have plenty of top Biblical scholars on the show. It's a great podcast.
Not really a discussion piece. Anyhoo. What do you guy think?
