Hearing voices... - Rated 
Rabbi Abraham Heschel is an intellectual and prophetic hero of mine. Any one who would stand up to the pope and say 'I'd rather die than convert' (when trying to get the Roman Catholic Church to drop 'conversion of the Jews' as an official aim of the church) has the sort of integrity of belief and identity that I aspire to and most likely will never attain.
Heschel's book 'The Prophets' became an almost instant classic. Simply reading through the chapter titles and subtitles (a partial list of titles appears at the bottom of this review) will give a sense of the breadth and depth of this work.
Heschel sees an urgent need for prophets and prophecy in today's world. He said the things that horrified the prophets are even now daily occurrences all over the world. In examining the prophecies of Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Nathan, &c, he discerns the common strands of the word of God in all that they said and did, and teaches the reader how to discern similar prophetic aspects in today's world. 'The prophet is human, yet he employs note one octave too high for our ears.'
The Bible says, let him who has ears to hear, listen. Alas, ordinarily we do not have the hearing range to be able to give adequate attention and comprehension to today's prophetic voices. Most often the voice of the prophet is one we do not want to hear (look at how the Israelites reacted to their prophets!). Prophets were often seen as doom-sayers and problematic people.
Indeed, every prediction of disaster is in itself an exhortation to repentance. The prophet is sent not only to upbraid, but to 'strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees.'
Every prophetic utterance, according to Heschel, has to have within its core a message of hope. Without hope, without a promise to greater community and participation in the love of God, there is no true prophecy. The road may be hard and long, involving pain and even death, but in the end, the prophet's goal is greater life for all.
According to Heschel, 'To be a prophet is both a distinction and an affliction.' Being a prophet has never been a chosen profession. Indeed, like Jonah, we'll often go to extraordinary lengths to avoid even the smallest call to prophecy. Prophetic voices are inconvenient, not least of which to the person charged to be the speaker of that voice. Yet the prophet is much more than a mouthpiece.
Heschel also says the prophet claims to be far more than a messenger. He is a person who stands in the presence of God. The prophet becomes one with God in many ways, yet remains a human being. This creates a tension in the prophet, as Heschel writes about Isaiah: Indeed, two sympathies dwell in a prophet's soul: sympathy for God and sympathy for the people. Speaking to the people, he is emotionally at one with God; in the presence of God, beholding a vision, he is emotionally at one with the people.
Yet prophecy has its limits. Heschel states that a prophet can give man a new word, but not a new heart.... Prophecy is not God's only instrument. What prophecy fails to bring about, the new covenant will accomplish: the complete transformation of every individual.
It was the prophet who, long before ideas of political unity and divers peoples living together in community, first conceived of the idea of a unity that binds all human beings together.
Read and prepare to be enlightened, inspired, irritated, and educated.
Chapters include:
- What manner of man is the prophet?
- History
- Chastisement
- Justice
- The Theology of Pathos
- The Philosophy of Pathos
- Anthropopathy
- The Meaning and Mystery of Wrath
- Religion of Sympathy
- Prophecy and Ecstasy
- Prophecy and Poetic Inspiration
- Prophecy and Psychosis (there is a fine line between prophecy and madness, after all!)
Heschel sums up in a sense in this way: This, then, is the ultimate category of prophetic theology: involvement, attentiveness, concern. Prophetic religion may be defined, not as what man does with his ultimate concern, but rather what man does with God's concern.
Hearing voices... - Rated
Rabbi Abraham Heschel is an intellectual and prophetic hero of mine. Any one who would stand up to the pope and say 'I'd rather die than convert' (when trying to get the Roman Catholic Church to drop 'conversion of the Jews' as an official aim of the church) has the sort of integrity of belief and identity that I aspire to and most likely will never attain. Heschel's book 'The Prophets' became an almost instant classic. Simply reading through the chapter titles and subtitles (a partial list of titles appears at the bottom of this review) will give a sense of the breadth and depth of this work. Heschel sees an urgent need for prophets and prophecy in today's world. He said the things that horrified the prophets are even now daily occurrences all over the world. In examining the prophecies of Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Nathan, &c, he discerns the common strands of the word of God in all that they said and did, and teaches the reader how to discern similar prophetic aspects in today's world. 'The prophet is human, yet he employs note one octave too high for our ears.' The Bible says, let him who has ears to hear, listen. Alas, ordinarily we do not have the hearing range to be able to give adequate attention and comprehension to today's prophetic voices. Most often the voice of the prophet is one we do not want to hear (look at how the Israelites reacted to their prophets!). Prophets were often seen as doom-sayers and problematic people. Indeed, every prediction of disaster is in itself an exhortation to repentance. The prophet is sent not only to upbraid, but to 'strengthen the weak hands and make firm the feeble knees.' Every prophetic utterance, according to Heschel, has to have within its core a message of hope. Without hope, without a promise to greater community and participation in the love of God, there is no true prophecy. The road may be hard and long, involving pain and even death, but in the end, the prophet's goal is greater life for all. According to Heschel, 'To be a prophet is both a distinction and an affliction.' Being a prophet has never been a chosen profession. Indeed, like Jonah, we'll often go to extraordinary lengths to avoid even the smallest call to prophecy. Prophetic voices are inconvenient, not least of which to the person charged to be the speaker of that voice. Yet the prophet is much more than a mouthpiece. Heschel also says the prophet claims to be far more than a messenger. He is a person who stands in the presence of God. The prophet becomes one with God in many ways, yet remains a human being. This creates a tension in the prophet, as Heschel writes about Isaiah: Indeed, two sympathies dwell in a prophet's soul: sympathy for God and sympathy for the people. Speaking to the people, he is emotionally at one with God; in the presence of God, beholding a vision, he is emotionally at one with the people. Yet prophecy has its limits. Heschel states that a prophet can give man a new word, but not a new heart.... Prophecy is not God's only instrument. What prophecy fails to bring about, the new covenant will accomplish: the complete transformation of every individual. It was the prophet who, long before ideas of political unity and divers peoples living together in community, first conceived of the idea of a unity that binds all human beings together. Read and prepare to be enlightened, inspired, irritated, and educated. Heschel sums up in a sense in this way: This, then, is the ultimate category of prophetic theology: involvement, attentiveness, concern. Prophetic religion may be defined, not as what man does with his ultimate concern, but rather what man does with God's concern.
A THOUGHTFUL, IN-DEPTH ANALYSIS - Rated
Amos, Hosea, Isaiah (first and second), Micah, Jeremiah and Habakkak all come alive in this book. Be sure to read the footnotes too.
Volume 2 also a Classic - Rated
While volume one of Heschel's definitive work concentrates more on specific prophets, volume two delves more into the general office of prophecy as well as the various concepts of God held by philosophers from around the globe (most notably the Greeks such as Plato, Aristotle, Zeno, Chrysippus, Strato, or Xenophanes.) He explores different ways others have tried to understand the Hebrew prophets, comparing and contrasting biblical prophecy with religious ecstasy, poetic inspiration, psychosis and neuroses, literary devices, and prophets throughout the world (e.g. Greece, Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, Americas, China etc). While these modes of analysis have validity as tools of study, ultimately they all fall short in adequately explaining - and therefore understanding - the prophets. Heschel's amazingly wide range of scholarly studies give him a unique ability to assess these remarkable prophetic revelations recorded in the scriptures. I found his comments sagacious and illuminating. This is not a book of light reading, but neither is it a dreary pedantic tome. It is a classic that is helpful for both scholars and lay public alike, deserving to be studied, underlined, highlighted, and commented upon while reading through it.
Scholarly yet down to earth - Rated
Abraham Joshua Heschel's two volume work on the prophets is scholarly in the sense that Heschel's wide reading and research enable him to talk quite knowledgeably about these men, their messages, and how they concern modern society. Volume 1 of The Prophets deals more with the specific prophets, with chapters on Amos, Hosea, Habakkuk, Jeremiah etc., although some of my favorite sections of the book were his wise commentary chapters, such as chapter one "What manner of man is the prophet" or chapter 11 on "Justice". I don't always view things as Heschel does (e.g. I don't see Israel as being the suffering servant described in Isaiah, nor do I think the book of Isaiah was authored by multiple people: "First Isaiah" or "Second Isaiah"), yet I find Heschel's approach sound and practical. This book can be read by seminary students, but it is geared more for the lay reader as it avoids heavy esoteric problems of linguistics or textual criticism and concentrates more on the MESSAGE of the prophets. I found the text an exhortation to my own spirituality. It is easy for me to recommend reading, underlining, and contemplating this fine work.
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