STMM 5190 - Prophets and Social Justice

3 credit hours
For the earliest biblical texts, the prophet’s role was primarily a calling to account of systems of power that oppress the poor: monarchy, latifundialization, Empire. This course first investigates the nature of prophecy in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, religious communities that share prophets but often interpret their roles quite differently. Focusing on prophets in the Hebrew Bible, we will first pay special attention to emerging Israelite prophecy in the 9^th and 8^th centuries BCE (such as Elijah/Elisha, Amos, Micah, 1^st Isaiah, and Hosea), comparing these prophetic “pioneers” to the Israelite prophets of later centuries. Then, we will return to the prophetic voices of the New Testament and Qur’an to examine both continuity and change in the social justice role of the prophet.