Comments for And the Winner Is.... at http://juliamobrien.net , comment 1 to 4 out of 4 comments http://juliamobrien.net Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:06:18 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 http://juliamobrien.net/index.php/blog/and-the-winner-is.html#comment-39 I wish Ezekiel ranked a little higher. I dig that dude in a "holy heck what did he just write?" kinda way. But yeah, Isaiah tradition wins, for good reasons. - Chris Eden Sat, 30 May 2009 18:52:03 +0100 http://juliamobrien.net/index.php/blog/and-the-winner-is.html#comment-38 I agree with Albert Jay Nock that, as major component, it's a prophet's job to help preserve and encourage the 'remnant' - and - in this context it certainly has a contemporary face. Note his description of the remnant as that quiet group which is "the substratum of right-thinking and well-doing". A reprint of this 1936 essay is found here: http://www.thefreemanonline.org/featured/isaiahs-job/ - Greg Harrold Sat, 30 May 2009 04:57:25 +0100 http://juliamobrien.net/index.php/blog/and-the-winner-is.html#comment-37 Ben, I like your comments a lot (and I look forward to exploring your website). Although I said I'd wait til the poll was closed to reveal what I think, I've written too much about prophets for my ideas to be a surprise. My real answer is "interesting characters in very interesting books." That is, I'm not confident that we know what the real people behind the prophetic books were like. We [i]can[/i] talk about how the prophets are portrayed in biblical books: people who deliver God's word. As to the real geniuses behind the books, I follow the thinking of the late Robert Carroll that what we really have in prophetic books is the work of great (theologian) poets. - Julia M. O'Brien Fri, 29 May 2009 11:29:18 +0100 http://juliamobrien.net/index.php/blog/and-the-winner-is.html#comment-36 I voted "social critic," but I think that "other" probably better describes what I see the role of a prophet is. My guess is that prophets, although they do engage their societies, are more like theologian poets-- using social and theological imagery to talk about society and history. So, definitely passages written with a "future" tense can be read as a commentary on the historical context, but I think that they also might be attempts to orient people to what faithfulness and living within a covenental relationship with God is like. What do you think? (Or do I have to wait until the poll is done? ;-) ) - Ben Masters Fri, 29 May 2009 11:08:47 +0100