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Title: The Prophets by Abraham J. Heschel ISBN: 0-06-093699-1 Publisher: Perennial Pub. Date: 16 October, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $19.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.6 (10 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Hearing Voices...
Comment: 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. '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.
'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.
'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.
'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!)
'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.'
Rating: 5
Summary: Prophets Speak On What Can Be Changed For The Good Of All!
Comment: I truly enjoyed every aspect of this wonderful book written by a husband and wife team of excellence. They deserve commendation for writing such a book.
I came away understanding how the Prophets were advancing the education of man and woman to abandon idols and worshiping these graven images. Instead they were telling men to believe in themselves by controlling their emotions and anger by seeking out a larger spiritual presence in the Supreme Being and the precepts they say were created from high above.
The Western World is indeed indebted to Jewish thought, philosophy and attitudes towards social justice. It is time others who wish us harm understand the Jewish Culture is as much as a keystone to Western Civilization as Islam is to the Middle East and Buddhists are to the Orient. Respecting such concepts with tolerance is the work of G-d whether Jewish, Christian or Muslim.
One of my favorites Prophets is Elijah. Few knew he was on the brink of suicide suffering from a great depression until he heard words from somewhere telling him he is needed for a greater purpose in life. Even more fascinating was his first reaction. As in most Prophets, he tried to reject his calling; he did not want to listen to the voice. Let alone take up the burden to speak out for social causes that needed changed. Yet, his will was bended by a more powerful force and he ended up saving many from atrocities, curing others, challenging authority that was abusing the people and teaching the world how to treat one another. What I cannot deny is that something changed this man to change us and that is recorded in history!
Whether you are atheist, religious skeptic or outright spiteful towards religion, you will learn about the Prophets who have spoken to G-d. Their lives were real and existed telling us interesting stories whether you are a believer or Non-believer.
I highly recommend this exquisite book of history. I will leave it to you to choose to believe what you wish and desire as always. As for me, I am one day more educated by reading this book and that suits me just fine today.
Rating: 1
Summary: "The Prophets" addresses only half of a really great story.
Comment: Although it could be more, this book is only an in depth historical study of the prophets from a Jewish perspective. However, as Christians, we know that Jesus came to fulfill the law and the prophets. The prophets in this study were warning the Jewish people, but they were also foretelling the good news about Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Yet, Heschel ignores this essential purpose of God for the prophets. Yes, the prophets had a profound place in the history of the Jewish people, and, even though Heschel ignores the truth, and glosses over key verses like Isaiah 7:14, the prophets' message is not confined to that small time or that people in history, as Heschel would have us believe, but is still relevant to all of us today to point the way to Jesus Christ as the Savior and Deliverer of the whole world.
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Title: God in Search of Man : A Philosophy of Judaism by Abraham Joshua Heschel ISBN: 0374513317 Publisher: Noonday Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1976 List Price(USD): $17.00 |
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Title: The Sabbath by Abraham Joshua Heschel, Ilya Schor ISBN: 0374512671 Publisher: Noonday Press Pub. Date: 01 January, 1975 List Price(USD): $12.00 |
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Title: Man Is Not Alone : A Philosophy of Religion by Abraham Joshua Heschel ISBN: 0374513287 Publisher: Noonday Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 1976 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Prophetic Imagination by Walter Brueggemann ISBN: 0800632877 Publisher: Fortress Press Pub. Date: June, 2001 List Price(USD): $16.00 |
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Title: I Asked for Wonder: A Spiritual Anthology by Abraham Joshua Heschel, Samuel H. Dresner ISBN: 0824505425 Publisher: Crossroad/Herder & Herder Pub. Date: September, 1983 List Price(USD): $16.95 |
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