Befriending the Prophets
Reviewed by Max L. Carter
January 1, 2024
By Howard R. Macy. Barclay Press, 2023. 76 pages. $16/paperback.
In his brief book Befriending the Prophets, Howard Macy, a retired professor of religion and biblical studies (with a specialty in the Hebrew Bible) at George Fox University in Newberg, Ore., offers a lighthearted yet insightful primer on how to approach the biblical prophets. This approach is different from the way he describes his own introduction to the prophets, which occurred in the Evangelical Friends churches of his youth:
The several churches in which I grew up largely neglected the biblical prophets except for some folks who liked to speculate about when the world might end. (The answer was always “soon.”)
Beginning with a basic definition that “the prophets spoke to the people for God and to God for the people,” Macy expands on this understanding in five chapters. In the first, “Getting Acquainted,” he cites Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel’s description that the prophets were “some of the most disturbing people who have ever lived” and invites the reader to befriend them and risk becoming a disturbing person, too.
Macy goes on to describe some of the reasons people avoid the prophets, and expands on his definition: “a prophet is a visible sign and enduring witness that God is here, that God cares, and that God is actively working to renew wholeness (shalom) in all creation.” Among the obstacles to accessing the prophetic witness listed by Macy are the difficulties of the King James translation, the specific times and places from which the prophets originate, the poetic nature of the writing, and misleading expectations about what the prophets are doing. “God did not seed prophetic messages with obscure clues for professional prognosticators to tease out 2,000 years later,” Macy writes.
In chapter 2, “Captured by God,” the prophets are presented as consistently representing themes of justice, right relationships, and God’s pathos. Their call to this proclamation is God-initiated, initially resisted but eventually obeyed because of the relationship with God that the call brings. Of particular interest to the Quaker reader is Macy’s mention of similar themes between Heschel’s exploration of the prophets and Thomas Kelly’s spiritual writing. It may be intentional on his part, as Macy is aware of the connection between Heschel and Kelly and their meeting in Germany in 1938.
Chapter 3 is entitled “Compelling Vision” and begins with the example of one of Edward Hicks’s paintings of Isaiah’s vision of “the peaceable kingdom.” As Macy explains, the prophets sought to inspire and empower people to live into the vision of traditional enemies (represented by various animals) living in harmony, and he goes on to share examples of contemporary acts of calling others to justice and right relationship. Although Macy doesn’t mention it, Hicks’s paintings intentionally portray in the background a group of Quakers and Indians representing William Penn’s peace agreement with the Lenni Lenape. The reality of that peace is a reminder to those doubting the possibility of the peaceable kingdom that “it exists” and therefore “it’s possible” (to borrow an argument from the late Quaker economist Kenneth Boulding).
Chapter 4, “Experienced Listeners,” explores how the message of the prophets came to us: probably not in their own writing; others valued what they said and preserved it. Macy also examines how the prophets knew what to say, noting that they were good listeners from living steadily in relationship with God. He humorously comments that if T-shirt slogans had been a thing in Amos’s day, his might have said, “This wasn’t my idea.”
Macy’s final chapter, “Beyond Cranky,” looks at who might be thought of as prophets today and whether they have to be “loud and cranky.” Actually, he says, genuine prophets are better at teaching than shouting, more into encouragement and hope than despair, and interested in guiding people into the future they envision. The chapter offers a helpful examination of how to judge current prophetic witness and sort out the genuine article from “the scoundrels.”
Those who have enjoyed Howard Macy’s previous books such as Laughing Pilgrims and Discovering Humor in the Bible will also find laughs and humor in Befriending the Prophets. All will find a helpful primer in making the prophets accessible and inspiring.
Max L. Carter is the retired director of Friends Center at Guilford College. His book Palestine and Israel: A Personal Encounter (Barclay Press) chronicles his long association with Quaker work in the Middle East. He is a member of New Garden Meeting in Greensboro, N.C.
1 thought on “Befriending the Prophets”
Leave a Reply
Comments on Friendsjournal.org may be used in the Forum of the print magazine and may be edited for length and clarity.
This is a short book which can be read in one sitting, and which is well worth reading. The book debunks the way that some people think about the prophets. For example, Carter says: “The several churches in which I grew up largely neglected the biblical prophets except for some folks who liked to speculate about when the world might end. (The answer was always “soon.”).” Carter also says: “’God did not seed prophetic messages with obscure clues for professional prognosticators to tease out 2,000 years later,’ Macy writes.” Even after this debunking, most of us don’t have the time or the patience to read the prophets. As Carter says: “Among the obstacles to accessing the prophetic witness listed by Macy are the difficulties of the King James translation, the specific times and places from which the prophets originate, the poetic nature of the writing, and misleading expectations about what the prophets are doing.” In spite of these challenges, this short book will probably tempt some readers to at least dip their toes into reading some of the prophetic writings. And, at the very least, it will liberate some of its readers from misconceptions about the prophets.