Prophets Before The Exile

The latest installment in Christopher R. Smith's innovative Understanding the Books of the Bible series brings you and your group into a direct encounter with the words of the poets and outcasts who were entrusted with the message of divine reproof for a community falling headlong into a exile.

"Stories of the Prophets (Before the Exile)" is a collection of biographies of the most prominent Jewish prophets, adapted for the modern reader. The book is an excellent example of last-era religious literature aimed at educating and entertaining its readers.

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

"[...]peaceful people with dread and fear of the imagined enemy and will disturb the peace of our country." "Yea," cried a wealthy merchant, "and its business prosperity." "All of which," added another merchant and slave dealer, "is, as our friend has said," looking at the captain, "simply imagination. The actual danger lies in his arousing the common people. He tells the poor that they are not getting their rights; that they are not being judged honestly; that the weak and the needy ought to be protected and helped-by us, by us! As if we have anything to do with them! I tell you that it is here the danger lurks. If this crazy Prophet is not silenced immediately, the merchant and military classes will face open rebellion on the part of the common horde." The last speaker seemed to have said the final word on the subject. All were silent, their eyes turned toward Amaziah. The aged priest had not yet ventured an opinion; but he had been thinking deeply on what was said by the others. He agreed, for the most part, with the speakers who had preceded him; but he counseled caution and delay. "Perhaps, now that the Prophet has seen opposition," Amaziah concluded, "he will quit and go home to Judah." But Amos did not quit, nor did he go home. The fight, that morning, was a mere incident, to be forgotten; but his mission to his people burned deep in his soul, a flame that could not be quenched. On the day of the conclusion of the great festival, Amos again appeared in the sanctuary. This time it did not take long for a crowd to gather. In fact, most of the people were looking for him to appear. Even the richest and most exclusive, who usually are not interested in such men, had heard about Amos and had come[...]".

In this study, originally published in 1984, Professor Neusner asks whether Judaism as we know it constitutes a messianic religion, a religious tradition in which hope for a Messiah at the end of time frames the faith's worldview and way of life. The question is critical because the heritage upon which Judaism in its rabbinic or talmudic form draws has nourished profoundly messianic offshoots, including Christianity. In arriving at a qualified negative, Neusner presents a valuable and insightful exploration of the formative texts of Judaism. Canon. Co-published with Studies in Judaism.

Excerpt from Stories of the Prophets: Before the Exile The company of inspired men, commonly known as the prophets of Israel, were the unique product of the Jewish religious genius. They were pre - eminently preachers of righteousness. Fearless and undaunted, they told the house of Israel their sins and the house of Jacob their transgressions. They contemplated the facts of life from the highest point of view. For them religion and morality were blended, ethics and politics were one. Theirs was peculiarly a social mes sage; the demand for justice underlies all their thinking and speaking. They had a veritable passion for righteousness; through all the ages their words have been torches lighting the way of men struggling upward towards the truth. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Reproduction of the original. The publishing house Megali specialises in reproducing historical works in large print to make reading easier for people with impaired vision.

The aim of this book is no less than to provide an account of the unfolding of the mind of God in history, through the successive agents of his special revelation. Vos handles this under three main divisions: the Mosaic epoch of revelation, the prophetic epoch of revelation, and the New Testament. Such an historical approach is not meant to supplant the work of the systematic theologian; nevertheless, the Christian gospel is inextricably bound up with history, and the biblical theologian thus seeks to highlight uniqueness of each biblical document in that succession. The rich variety of Scripture is discovered anew as the progressive development of biblical themes is explicated. To read these pages--the fruit of Vos' 39 years of teaching biblical theology at Princeton - is to appreciate the late John Murray's suggestion that Geerhardus Vos was the most incisive exegete in the English-speaking world of the twentieth century.