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“I find this to be an engaging monograph. It is grounded in thorough research and careful historical and textual investigation. It highlights problems with which the OT scholar, historian of religion, philosopher of religion, and theologian must deal. The introduction, ‘Prophet versus Prophet,’ sets up the problem as that of human limitation and divine sovereignty, ‘which combine to create tension within prophetic circles so that a clarification of the conflict between prophets demands that attention be given to both factors’ (p. 4 ). After a summary of research pertinent to the subject, the author moves on to a description of ‘The Crisis of the Faith’ in ch. 2. … Ch. 3, ‘Prophecy’s Inability to Face the Challenge,’ begins with an excellent exegetical analysis of 1 Kings 13. The purpose of the chapter is to argue that the OT gives no criterion, whether pertaining to the message or to the person of the messenger, adequate to distinguish true from false prophecy. In ch. 4 Crenshaw maintains that false prophecy was inevitable. Certain sociohistorical factors often occasioned a shift from true to false prophecy.… Furthermore, false prophecy could contribute to the divine purpose, false prophecy originating in God’s ‘demonism.’ … In the last chapter, ‘Israel Seeks a Solution,’ Crenshaw discusses reasons for the failure of prophecy in ancient Israel. The basic reason was ‘lack of any means of validating a message claimed to be of divine origin’ (p. 103). Prophecy placed upon Israel’s history a weight it could not bear, and wisdom and apocalyptic filled the void. After a helpful conclusion, the book ends with two excursuses, one on false prophecy in the NT period and one in the problem of authority in wisdom and prophetic literature.”
E-Book Content
James L. Crenshaw Prophetic Conflict
James L. Crenshaw
Prophetic Conflict Its Effect Upon Israelite Religion
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Walter de Gruyter · Berlin · New York 1971
Beiheft zur Zeitschrift für die alttestamentliche Wissenschaft Herausgegeben von Georg Fohrer 124
ISBN 311 0033631
© 1971 by Walter de Gruyter & Co., vormals G. J . Göschen'sche Verlagshandlung — J . Guttentag, Verlagsbuchhandlung — Georg Reimer — Karl J.Trübner — Veit &Comp.,Berlin 30 Alle Rechte des Nachdrucks, der photomechanischen Wiedergabe, der Übersetzung, der Herstellung von Mikrofilmen und Photokopien, auch auszugsweise, vorbehalten. Printed in Germany Satz und Druck: Walter de Gruyter & Co.
To Nita baiäh bah leb bä'Hah (Prov 3111 a) and our sons, Tim and David
Preface J. Philip Hyatt and Walter Harrelson, two of my colleagues, and Martin Buss of Emory University were kind enough to read this manuscript and to offer many valuable suggestions for its improvement. To them I wish to express my deepest appreciation, for even when their suggestions were not followed, I have profited greatly from their insight into prophetic literature. I wish also to express appreciation to the Research Councils of Mercer University and Vanderbilt University for generous grants enabling me to pursue this task with a minimum of distraction; to many students upon whom these ideas have been tested; and to Edith McGarrity for her cheerful and painstaking secretarial assistance. Finally, I am particularly grateful to Professor Dr. Georg Fohrer for the inclusion of this study in the Beihefte to ZAW, and to my mother, who taught me to search the scriptures.
Contents Preface
vii
Abbreviations Introduction: Prophet versus Prophet I. The Unfolding Drama of Research A. PROPHECY IN GENERAL B. "FALSE" PROPHECY
II. The Crisis of Faith A. VOX POPULI IN ANCIENT ISRAEL 1. 2. 3. 4. 6. 6.
Confidence in God's Faithfulness Satisfaction with Traditional Religion Defiance Despair Doubt as to God's Justice Historical Pragmatism
xil