Chapter 10

Jonah Lynch – January 2023

Prophetism

1 The fundamental difference between prophecy and divination lies in the way the manifestation by the absolute is conceived. It is strictly predictable in Mesopotamian polytheism, and equally strictly unpredictable in Biblical monotheism. Both are institutions, a cultural channel for receiving messages from the absolute, but in prophetism the message is understood as God’s self-revelation and the prophet is understood as receiving a call that requires a response.

Biblical Prophetism

2 Biblical prophets are united by an instinctive perception of an unexpected divine invasion that involves aspects that are completely central to the lives of individuals and society. The first of these invasions is creation itself, in which the prophetic message is the articulation of the divine intervention that continuously supports and sustains the world of nature. The ethos of creation therefore involves the perception of this perpetually regenerating intervention, the awareness of a divine capacity for fresh and new initiatives, the intellectual and emotional willingness to respond with equal spontaneity to this unexpected emergence of the divine presence. The prophet is a model for responding to God according to this ethos.

The Importance of Creation

3 If, through creation, the absolute brings time into existence, this initial and founding event means that there is a direct and profound involvement between subject (the absolute) and object (the event). It is in this sense that we can speak of an absolute event. The prophetic intuition opens dazzling glimpses of this reality.

4 The first prophets did not belong to the most privileged class of society and no effort was taken to record their messages: they are instead remembered for standing against authority. The writings of more recent prophets also stood against political power, and their messages were recorded.

Prophets and Institutions

5 Biblical prophecy is not a schismatic movement. It offers a validation of worship and politics at the very moment that it fights against what distorts them. The blending of spontaneity and institution reflects the ethos of creation.

6 The prophetic message is essentially verbal, transmitted to a variety of interlocutors, including scribes, who presumably also acted as guarantors of the authenticity of the written account.

Prophetism in Mesopotamia

7 In Mesopotamia, the main example of an experience similar to Biblical prophecy is a group of texts from Mari recording messages by individuals outside the political and religious hierarchy containing juridical verdicts. However, we do not see the development of a prophetic personality or a historical or literary tradition in these figures. The messages were verified through divination and they dealt with pragmatic events rather than matters of spiritual significance or moral authority.