Thinking about the Prophets: A Philosopher Reads the Bible

by Kenneth Seeskin

Rethinking the great literary prophets whose ministry ran from the eighth to the sixth centuries BCE—Amos, Hosea, First Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Second Isaiah, and Job— Thinking about the Prophets examines their often-shocking teachings in light of their times, their influence on later Western and Jewish thinkers, and their enduring lessons for all of us. As a noted scholar of Jewish philosophy, Kenneth Seeskin teases out philosophical, ethical, and theological questions in the writings, such as the nature of moral reasoning, the divine persona, divine providence, the suffering of the innocent, the power of repentance, and what it means to believe in a monotheistic conception of God.

Seeskin demonstrates that great ideas are not limited by time or place, but rather once put forth, take on a life of their own. Thus he interweaves the medieval and modern philosophers Maimonides, Kant, Cohen, Buber, Levinas, Heschel, and Soloveitchik, all of whom read the prophets and had important things to say as a result. We come to see the prophets perhaps in equal measure as divinely authorized whistle-blowers and profound thinkers of the human condition.

Readers of all levels will find this volume an accessible and provoking introduction to the enduring significance of biblical prophecy.
 

Genres: Judaism

176 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2020

Reviews

[Michael Lewyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a set of short essays about the prophets. Not all of the essays were equally insightful; sometimes they seemed to merely state the obvious.

The most interesting part of the book was a discussion of the dispute among Jewish philosophers about how to interpret Biblical references to God's emotions- a dispute that arises out of the nature of Divine perfection. Some believe that Divine perfection implies the absence of a personality, because personality and emotions are distinctly human qualities. Others argue that emotion is part of Divine perfection; according to this view, a deity who could not feel love would be inferior to humans.

Seeskin also tries to explain the differences among prophets- Isaiah's emphasis on the messiah, Hosea's emphasis on idolatry, and Ezekiel's emphasis on personal responsibility.

[Richard Kaplowitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deep thinking about the prophets messages

This book gave both an overview of the words of the prophets and the messages that G-d may have been trying to tell the people, interesting thoughts