Tonight we discussed the importance of a remarkable group of men and women. It is to the prophets that Western civilization owes its convictions that the future of any people depends in large part on the justice of its social order, and that individuals are responsible for the social structures of their society. If for the Hebrews the generic meaning of the word prophet was "one who speaks on the authority of another", its specific meaning was "one who speaks for God".
The prophets argued against the moral delinquency of Jewish political life at the time. The danger from within, however, was matched by danger from without. Israel and Judah were in danger of being crushed by Assyria and Babylonia to the east, Egypt to the south, and Phoenicia and Syria to the north. In similar situations other peoples of the region assumed that outcomes rested on the relative strengths of the national gods involved. In other words, on a simple calculation of power in which questions of morality were irrelevant.
The Jews resisted this reading because of their unquenchable passion for meaning. They refused to concede that any event was meaningless, in the sense of leaving no room for a creative response involving a moral choice. Thus what other nations would have interpreted as a simple power squeeze, they saw as God's warning to clean up their national life. Stated abstractly the prophetic principle is; the prerequisite of political stability is social justice, for it is in the nature of things that injustice will not endure. Stated theologically the point reads; God has high standards, and he will not put up with exploitation, corruption, and mediocrity.
The prophets of Israel and Judah are one of the most amazing groups of individuals in all of history. In the midst of the moral desert in which they found themselves, they spoke words the world has never been able to forget. The prophets came from all classes. Some were sophisticated and others were as natural as the hillsides they called home. Some heard God roaring like a lion, others heard the divine decree in the ghostly stillness that follows the storm. Yet one thing is common to all of them; The conviction that every human being, simply by virtue of his or her humanity, is a child of God and therefore in possession of rights that even kings must respect.
The prophets argued against the moral delinquency of Jewish political life at the time. The danger from within, however, was matched by danger from without. Israel and Judah were in danger of being crushed by Assyria and Babylonia to the east, Egypt to the south, and Phoenicia and Syria to the north. In similar situations other peoples of the region assumed that outcomes rested on the relative strengths of the national gods involved. In other words, on a simple calculation of power in which questions of morality were irrelevant.
The Jews resisted this reading because of their unquenchable passion for meaning. They refused to concede that any event was meaningless, in the sense of leaving no room for a creative response involving a moral choice. Thus what other nations would have interpreted as a simple power squeeze, they saw as God's warning to clean up their national life. Stated abstractly the prophetic principle is; the prerequisite of political stability is social justice, for it is in the nature of things that injustice will not endure. Stated theologically the point reads; God has high standards, and he will not put up with exploitation, corruption, and mediocrity.
The prophets of Israel and Judah are one of the most amazing groups of individuals in all of history. In the midst of the moral desert in which they found themselves, they spoke words the world has never been able to forget. The prophets came from all classes. Some were sophisticated and others were as natural as the hillsides they called home. Some heard God roaring like a lion, others heard the divine decree in the ghostly stillness that follows the storm. Yet one thing is common to all of them; The conviction that every human being, simply by virtue of his or her humanity, is a child of God and therefore in possession of rights that even kings must respect.
An amazing group of men. As far as I know, this democratic principle wasn't put into law until the Magna Carta in 1215, which wasn't accepted everywhere:
ReplyDelete'Pope Innocent III also annulled the "shameful and demeaning agreement, forced upon the King by violence and fear." He rejected any call for restraints on the King, saying it impaired John's dignity. He saw it as an affront to the Church's authority over the King and the 'papal territories' of England and Ireland, and he released John from his oath to obey it.' Wikipedia. In 1948 The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was passed, applying to all the member states.