Catholic Encyclopedia: Prophecy, Prophet, and Prophetess

 I. IN THE OLD TESTAMENT

A. Introduction

Jahve had forbidden Israel all kinds of oracles in vogue among the pagans. If, for a
time, he consented to reply by Urim and Thummim ( apparently a species of sacred lots
which the high-priest carried in the cincture of his ephod, and consulted at the request
of the public authorities in matters of graver moment), yet He always abominated those
who had recourse to divination and magic, practiced augury and enchantment, trusted
in charms, consulted soothsayers or wizards, or interrogate the spirits of the dead
(Deut., xviii, 9 sqq.). Speaking of orthodox Jahveism, Balaam could truthfully say
"There is no soothsaying in Jacob, nor divination in Israel. In their times it shall be told
to Jacob and to Israel what God hath wrought" (Num., xxiii, 23). For the absence of
other oracles, the Chosen People were indeed more than compensated by a gift unique
in the annals of mankind, to wit, the gift of prophecy and the prophetic office.

B. General Idea and the Hebrew Names

(1) <General Idea> -- The Hebrew Prophet was not merely, as the word commonly
implies, a man enlightened by God to foretell events, he was the interpreter and
supernaturally enlightened herald sent by Jahve to communicate His will and designs
to Israel. His mission consisted in preaching as well as in foretelling. He had to
maintain and develop the knowledge of the Old Law among the Chosen People, lead
them back when they strayed, and gradually prepare the way for the new kingdom of
God, which the messias was to establish on earth. Prophecy, in general, signifies the
supernatural message of the Prophet, and more especially, from custom, the predictive
element of the prophetic message.

(2) <The Hebrew Names> -- The ordinary Hebrew word for prophet is  <nabi'>. Its
etymology is uncertain. According to many recent critics, the root <nabi>, not
employed in Hebrew, signified to speak enthusiastically, " to utter cries, and make
more or less wild gestures", like the pagan mantics. Judging from a comparative
examination of the cognate words in Hebrew and the other Semitic tongues, it is at least
equally probable that the original meaning was merely: to speak, to utter words (cf.
Laur, "Die Prophetennamen des A.T.", Fribourg, 1903, 14-38). The historic meaning of
<nabi'> established by biblical usage is "interpreter and mouthpiece of God". This is
forcibly illustrated by the passage, where Moses, excusing himself from speaking to
Pharao on account of his embarrassment of speech, was answered by Jahve: "Behold I
have appointed thee the God of Pharao: and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet.
Thou shalt speak to him all that I command thee; and he shall speak to Pharao, that he
let the children of Israel go out of his land" (Ex., vii, 1-2). Moses plays towards the King
of Egypt the role of God, inspiring what is to be uttered, and Aaron is the prophet, his
mouthpiece, transmitting the inspired message he shall receive. The Greek <prophetes>
(from <pro-phanai>, to speak for, or in the name of someone) translates the Hebrew
word accurately. The Greek prophet was the revealer of the future, and the interpreter
of divine things, especially of the obscure oracles of the pythoness. Poets were the
prophets of the muses: Inspire me, muse, thy prophet I shall be" (Pindar, Bergk, Fragm.
127).

The word <nabi'> expresses more especially a function. The two most usual synonyms
<ro'eeh> and <hozeh> emphasize more clearly the special source of the prophetic
knowledge, the vision, that is, the Divine revelation or inspiration. Both have almost
the same meaning; <hozeh> is employed, however, much more frequently in poetical
language and almost always in connexion with a supernatural vision, whereas <ra'ah>,
of which <ro'eh> is the participle, is the usual word for to see in any manner. The
compiler of the first book of Kings (ix, 9) informs us that before his time <ro'eh> was
used where <nabi'> was then employed. <Hozeh> is found much more frequently from
the days of Amos. There were other less specific or more unusual terms employed, the
meaning of which is clear, such as, messenger of God, man of God, servant of God,
man of the spirit, or inspired man, etc. It is only rarely, and at a later period, that
prophecy is called <nebu'ah>, a cognate of <nabi'>; more ordinarily we find <hazon>,
vision, or word of God, oracle (<ne um>) of Jahve, etc.

C. Brief Sketch of the History of Prophecy

(1) The first person entitled <nabi'> in the Old Testament is Abraham, father of the
elect, the friend of God, favoured with his personal communications (Gen., xx, 7). The
next is Moses, the founder and lawgiver of the theocratic nation, the mediator of the
Old Covenant holding a degree of authority unequalled till the coming of Jesus Christ.
"And there arose no more a prophet in Israel like unto Moses, whom the Lord knew
face to face, in all the signs and wonders, which he sent by him, to do in the land of
Egypt to Pharao, and to all his servants, and to his whole land, and all the mighty hand,
and great miracles, which Moses did before all Israel" (Deut., xxxiv, 10 sqq.). There
were other Prophets with him, but only of the second rank, such as Aaron and Maria,
Eldad and Medad, to whom Jahve manifested himself in dreams and vision, but not in
the audible voice with which He favoured him, who was most faithful in all His house
(Num., xii, 7).

Of the four institutions concerning which Moses enacted laws, according to
Deuteronomy (xiv, 18-xviii), one was prophecy (xviii, 9-22; cf. xiii, 1-5, and Ex., iv, 1
sqq.). Israel was to listen to the true Prophets, and not to heed the false but rather to
extirpate them, even had they the appearance of miracle-workers. The former would
speak in the name of Jahve, the one God; and foretell things that would be
accomplished or be confirmed by miracles. The latter were to come in the name of the
false gods, or teach a doctrine evidently erroneous, or vainly endeavour to foretell
events. Later prophetic writers added as other signs of the false Prophets, cupidity,
flattery of the people or the nobles, or the promise of Divine favour for the nation
weighed down with crime. Balaam is both a Prophet and a soothsayer; a professional
soothsayer it would seem, of whom Jahve makes use to proclaim even in Moab the
glorious destiny of the Chosen People, when He was about to lead them into the
Promised Land (Num., xxii-xxiv).

In the time of the Judges, in addition to an unnamed Prophet (Judges, vi, 8-10), we meet
with Debbora (Judges iv-v), "a mother in Israel", judging the people, and
communicating the Divine orders concerning the War of Independence to Barac and
the tribes. The word of God was rare in those days of anarchy and semi-apostasy, when
Jahve partly abandoned Israel to render it conscious of its feebleness and its sins. In the
days of Samuel, on the contrary, prophecy became a permanent institution. Samuel was
a new but lesser Moses, whose Divine mission it was to restore the code of the elder,
and to supervise the beginning of the royalty. Under his guidance, or at least closely
united to him, we find for the first time the <nebi'im> (I Sam., x; xix) grouped together
to sing the praises of God to the accompaniment of musical instruments. They are not
Prophets in the strict sense of the word, nor are they disciples of the Prophets destined
to become masters in their turn (the so-called "schools of Prophets"). Did they wander
about spreading the oracles of Samuel among the people? Possibly; at all events, in
order to waken the faith of Israel and increase the dignity of Divine worship, they seem
to have received charismata similar to those bestowed upon the early Christians in the
Apostolic days. They may not ineptly be compared with the families of singers
gathered around David, under the direction of their three leaders, Asaph, Heman, and
Idithum (I Par., xxv, 1-8). Doubtless the <bene-nebi'im> of the days of Elias, and Eliseus
the "disciples of the Prophets", or "members of the confraternities of the Prophets",
forming at least three communities, domiciled respectively at Gilgal, Bethel, and
Jericho, must be regarded as their successors. St. Jerome seems to have understood their
character aright, when he saw in them the germ of the monastic life (P. L. , XXII, 583,
1076).

Are we to consider as their degenerate and faithless successors those false Prophets of
Jahve whom we meet at the court of Achab, numbering four hundred, and later very
numerous, also fighting against Isaias and Micheas and especially against Jeremias and
Ezekiel? A definite answer cannot as yet be given, but it is wrong to consider them, as
certain critics do, as authentic as the true Prophets, differing from them only by a more
retrograde spirit, and less brilliant intellectual gifts. After Samuel the first Prophets
properly so called who are explicitly mentioned are Nathan and Gad. They assist
David by their counsels, and, when necessary, confront him with energetic protests.
Nathan's parable of the little sheep of the poor man is one of the most beautiful
passages in prophetic history (II Kings, xii, 1 sqq.). The Books of Kings and
Parapilomen mention a number of other "men of the spirit" exercising their ministry in
Israel or in Juda. We may mention at least Ahias of Silo, who announced to Jeroboam
his elevation to the throne of the Ten Tribes, and the ephemeral character of his
dynasty, and Micheas, the son of Jemla, who predicted to Achab, in presence of the four
hundred flattering court Prophets, that he would be defeated and killed in his war
against the Syrians (III Kings, xxii).

But the two greatest figures of prophecy between Samuel and Isaiah are Elias and
Eliseus. Jahveism was again endangered, especially by the Tyrian Jezabel, wife of
Achab, who had introduced into Samaria the worship of her Phenician gods, and
Israel's faith was tottering, as it divided its worship between Baal and Jahve. In Juda
the danger was not less menacing, King Joram had married Athalia, a worthy daughter
of Jezabel. At that moment Elias appeared like a mysterious giant, and by his preaching
and his miracles led Israel back to the true God and suppressed, or at least moderated,
their leaning towards the gods of Chanaan. At Carmel he won a magnificent and
terrible victory over the Prophets of Baal; then he proceeded to Horeb to renew within
him the spirit of the Covenant and to be present at a marvellous theophany; thence he
returned to Samaria to proclaim to Achab the voice of justice calling out for vengeance
for the murder of Naboth. When he disappeared in the fiery chariot, he left to his
disciple Eliseus, with his mantle, a double share of his spirit. Eliseus continued the
master's work against the Chanaanite idolatry with great success, and became such a
bulwark to the Kingdom of the North, that King Joas wept for his death and took his
farewell with these words: "My father! my father! chariot of Israel and its horsemen"!
Not all the Prophets left their oracles in writing. Several of them, however, have written
the history of their times. Gad and Nathan, for instance, the history of David; and
Nathan that of Solomon; also Semeias and Addo the annals of Roboam; Jehu, son of
Hanani those of Josaphat.....Is it possible that the historical books of Josue, Judges,
Samuel, and Kings were called in the Jewish canon the "earlier Prophets" because of the
belief that they were written by the Prophets or at least based on their writing? To this
query there can be no solution.

(2) <Prophetic Writers> -- The prophetic books were entitled in the same canon the
"later Prophets". Gradually the custom of calling their authors the prophetic writers
crept in. There are four Greater Prophets, that is those whose works are of considerable
length. Isaias, Jeremias, Ezechiel, and Daniel, and twelve Minor Prophets, whose works
are briefer- Osee, Joel, Amos, Abdias, Jonas, Micheas, Nahum, Habacuc, Sophonias,
Aggeus, Zacharias, and Malachias. The Book of Baruch, which is not included in the
Hebrew canon, is united in our Bibles to the Book of Jeremias. The ministry of Amos,
the most ancient perhaps of the prophetic writers, is placed about the years 760-50.
Osee follows him immediately. Next comes Isaias (about 740-700), and his
contemporary Micheas. Sophonias, Nahum, and Habacuc prophesied towards the last
quarter of the seventh century. Jeremias about 626-586; Ezechiel between 592-70. The
prophecy of Aggeus and in part that of Zacharias are dated exactly in 520 and 520-18.
Malachias belongs to the middle of the fifth century. As for Daniel, Abdias, Joel,
Baruch, as well as portions of Isaias, Jeremias, Zacharias, their dates being disputed, it
is necessary to refer the reader to the special articles treating of them.

(3) <The Prophetesses> -- The Old Testament gives the name <nebi'ah>, to three
women gifted with prophetic charismata: Mary, the sister of Moses; Debbora; and
Holda, a contemporary of Jeremias (IV Kings, xxii, 14); also to the wife of Isaias
meaning the spouse of a <nabi'>; finally to Noadia, a false Prophetess if the Hebrew
text is accurate, for the Septuagint and Vulgate speak of a false Prophet (Neh., vi, 14).

(4) <Cessation of Israelitic Prophecy> -- The prophetic institution had ceased to exist in
the time of the Machabees. Israel clearly recognized this, and was awaiting its
reappearance. Its necessity had ceased. Religious revelation and the moral code
expressed in Holy Writ were full and clear. The people were being instructed by the
scribes and doctors- a living magistracy, fallible, it is true, and bound overmuch by
letter of the law, but withal zealous and learned. There was a feeling that the promises
were about to be fulfilled and the consequent apocalypse increased and intensified this
feeling. It was not unfitting, therefore, for God to allow an interval to elapse between
the prophets of the Old Covenant and Jesus Christ, who was to be the crown and
consummation of their prophecies.

D. Vocation and Supernatural Knowledge of the Prophets

(1) <The Prophetic Vocation> -- "For prophecy came not by the will of man at any time:
but the holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Ghost" (II Pet., i, 21). The
Prophets were ever conscious of this Divine mission. I am not a professional or a
voluntary Prophet, Amos practically said to Amasias, who wished to prevent him from
prophesying at Bethel. "I am a herdsman plucking wild figs. And the Lord took me
when I followed the flock, and the Lord said to me: Go, prophesy to my people Israel"
(vii, 14 sq.). Again "the lion shall roar, who will not fear? The Lord God hath spoken,
who shall not prophesy?" (iii, 8). Isaias saw Jahve seated on a throne of glory, and when
a seraph had purified his lips he heard the command "Go!" and he received his mission
of preaching to the people the terrible judgments of God. God made known to Jeremias
that he had consecrated him from his mother's womb and appointed him the Prophet of
nations; He touched his lips to show that He made them His instrument for
proclaiming His just and merciful judgments (i, 10), a duty so painful, that the Prophet
endeavoured to be excused and to conceal the oracles entrusted to him. Impossible; his
heart was consumed by a flame, which forced from him that touching complaint: "Thou
hast deceived me, O Lord, and I am deceived: thou hast been stronger that I, and thou
hast prevailed" (xx, 7). Ezechiel sees the glory of God borne on a fiery chariot drawn by
celestial beings. He hears a voice commanding him to go and find the children of Israel,
that rebellious nation, with hardened heart and brazen face, and without prevarication
deliver to them the warnings he was to receive.

The other Prophets are silent on the subject of their vocation; doubtless they also
received it as clearly and irresistibly. To the preaching and predictions of the false
Prophets uttering the fancies of their hearts and saying "the word of Jahve" when Jahve
spoke to them not, they fearlessly oppose their own oracles as coming from heaven and
compelling under penalty of revolt against God. And the manifest sanctity of their
lives, the miracles wrought, the prophecies accomplished demonstrate to their
contemporaries the truth of their claims. We also separated from them by thousands of
years should be convinced by two irrefragable proofs among others: the great
phenomenon of Messianism culminating in Christ and the Church, and the excellence
of the religious and moral teaching of the Prophets.

<(2) Supernatural knowledge: inspiration and revelation>

<(a) The fact of revelation> -- The Prophet did not receive merely a general mission of
preaching or predicting in Jahve's name: each of his words is Divine, all his teaching is
from above, that is, it comes to him by revelation or at least by inspiration. Among the
truths he preaches, there are some which he knows naturally by the light of reason or
experience. It is not necessary for him to learn them from God, just as if he had been
entirely ignorant of them. It suffices if the Divine illumination places them in a new
light, strengthens his judgment and preserves it from error concerning these facts, and
if a supernatural impulse determines his will to make them the object of his message.
This oral inspiration of the Prophets bears an analogy to the Scriptural inspiration, in
virtue of which the Prophets and hagiographers composed our canonical books.

The entire contents of the prophetic message is not, therefore, within the compass of the
natural faculties of the divine messenger. The object of all strictly so-called prediction
requires a new manifestation and illumination; unaided the Prophet would remain in
more or less absolute obscurity. This, then, is revelation in the full sense of the term.

(b) <Manner of the revelatory communications; Canons for the interpretation of the
prophecies and their fulfilment> -- In the words of St. John of The Cross -- and the
doctors of mysticism have a special right to be heard in this matter -- "God multiplies
the means of transmitting these revelations; at one time he makes use of words, at
another of signs, figures, images, similitudes; and again, of both words and symbols
together" (The Ascent of Carmel, II, xxvii): To grasp accurately the meaning of the
Prophets and judge of the fulfilment of their predictions, these words must be
remembered and completed: The material element perceived in the vision may have a
strictly literal meaning and simply signify itself. When Micheas, the son of Jemla,
beholds "all Israel scattered upon the hills, like sheep that have no shepherd", and hears
Jahve say "These have no master; let every man of them return to his house in peace"
(III Kings xxii, 17), he sees exactly what will be the outcome of Achab's expedition
against the Syrians at Ramoth of Galaad. Again, the meaning may be entirely symbolic.
The almond branch shown to Jeremias ( i, 11 sq.) is not shown for itself; it is intended
solely to represent by its name <vigilant>, the Divine watchfulness, which will not
allow the word of God to be unfulfilled. Between these two extremes there exists a
whole series of intermediary possibilities, of significations imbued with varying
degrees of reality or symbolism. The son promised to David in Nathan's prophecy (II
Kings, vii) is at once Solomon and the Messianic king. In the last verse of Aggeus
Zorobabel signifies himself and also the Messias.

Neither the Prophets nor their clear-sighted, sensible hearers were ever misled. It is
wronging Isaias to say he believed that at the end of time the hill of Sion would
physically surpass all the mountains and hills on the earth (ii, 2). Examples might be
multiplied indefinitely. Yet we are not forced to believe that the Prophets were always
able to distinguish between the literal and the symbolical significations of their visions.
It was sufficient for them not to give, and to be unable to give, in the name of God any
erroneous interpretation. It has likewise been long known that the vision very
frequently disregards distances of time and place, and that the Messias or the Messianic
era almost always appears on the immediate horizon of contemporary history. If to this
we add the frequently conditional character of the oracles (cf. Jer., xviii; xxiv, 17 sqq.
etc.), and remember moreover that the Prophets convey their message in words of
eloquence, expressed in Oriental poetry, so rich in striking colours and bold figures, the
pretended distinction between realized and unrealized prophecies, predictions
substantially accurate but erroneous in detail, will disappear.

(c) <State of the Prophet during the Vision> -- Ordinarily the vision occurred when the
Prophet was awake. Dreams, of which the false Prophets made ill use, are scarcely ever
mentioned in the case of true Prophets. Much has been said about the ecstatic state of
the latter. Possibly the soul of the Prophet may have been at times, as happened to the
mystics, so absorbed by the activity of the spiritual faculties that the activity of the
senses was suspended, though no definite instance can be cited. In any case, we must
remember what St. Jerome (In Isaiam, Prolog. in P. L., XXIV, 19) and St. John
Chrysostom (In I Cor. homil. XXIX in P. G., LXI, 240 sqq.) remarked that the Prophets
always retained their self-conciousness and were never subject to the disordered and
degrading psychic conditions of the pagan soothsayers and pythias; and, instead of
enigmatical and puerile sybilline oracles, their pronouncements were often sublime and
always worthy of God.

 E. The Teaching of the Prophets

(1) <The exterior form> -- They usually taught orally. To this they often added
symbolical acts which accorded with Oriental tastes and caught the attention of their
hearers. Jeremias, for instance, wandered through Jerusalem under a wooden yoke,
symbolizing the approaching subjugation of the nations by the King of Babylon. The
false Prophet Hananias, having taken this yoke and broken it on the ground, receives
this answer, in the name of Jahve "Thou hast broken chains of wood, and thou shalt
make for them chains of iron" (xxviii, 13). Jeremias and Ezechiel make frequent use of
this method of instruction. Amos was probably the first who was inspired to unite the
written to the spoken word. His example was followed. The Prophets thus exercised
wider and more lasting influence, and left moreover an indisputable proof that God
had spoken by them (cf. Isaias, viii, 16). Some prophecies seem to have been made
exclusively in writing, for instance, probably the second part of Isaias and all Daniel.
The greater part of the prophetic books is couched in rhythmic language perfectly
adapted to the popular and, at the same time, sublime character of the oracles. Hardly
any kind of Hebrew poesy is absent; epithalamia and lamentations; little satirical songs;
odes of wonderful lyrism etc. The fundamental law of Hebrew poetry, the parallelism
of the stichs, is usually observed. The metric seems to be based essentially on the
number of accents marking a raised intonation. Most exhaustive researches upon the
construction of the strophes have been made, but without many definitely accepted
conclusions.

(2) <The Teaching>

(a) <Preaching: religion and morals, in general> -- Samuel and Elias sketch out the
programme of the religious and moral preaching of the later Prophets. Samuel teaches
that the idols are vanity and nothingness (I Kings, xii, 21); that Jahve alone is essentially
true, and immutable (xv, 29); that He prefers obedience to sacrifice (xv, 22). For Elias
also Jahve alone is God, Baal is nothing. Jahve chastises all iniquity and punishes the
injustices of the powerful for the feeble. These are the fundamental points emphasized
more and more by the prophetic writers. Their doctrine is based on the existence of one
God alone, possessing all the attributes of the true Divinity- sanctity and justice, mercy
and fidelity, supreme dominion over the material and moral world, the control of the
cosmic phenomena and of the course of history. The worship desired by God does not
consist in the profusion of sacrifices and offerings. They are nauseous to Jahve unless
accompanied by adoration in spirit and in truth. With what greater indignation and
disgust will He not turn away from the cruel and unclean practice of human sacrifice
and the prostitution of sacred things so common among the neighbouring nations. On
being asked with what one should approach and kneel before the Most High God, He
replies by the mouth of Micheas: "I will show thee, O man, what is good, and what the
Lord requireth of thee; Verily to do judgment, and to love mercy, and to walk solicitous
with thy God" ( vi, 8). So religion joins morality, and formulates and imposes its
dictates. Jahve will call the nations to account for violating the natural law, and Israel,
in addition, for not observing the Mosaic legislation (cf. Amos, i-ii, etc.). And He will
do this, so as to conciliate in a Divine manner the rights of justice with the realization of
the promises made to Israel and mankind.

(b) <Prophetic predictions. The Day of Jahve; the Saved; Messianism; Eschatology> --
The constant subjects of the great prophetic predictions of Israel, the punishment of the
guilty nations, and the realization for all of the ancient promises. Directly or indirectly
all the prophecies are concerned with the obstacles to be removed before the coming of
the new kingdom or with the preparation of the New and final Covenant. From the
days of Amos, and clearly it was not even then a new expectation, Israel was awaiting a
great day of Jahve, a day, which it deemed one of extraordinary triumph for it and its
God. The Prophets do not deny, but rather declare with absolute certainty that the day
must come. They dispel the illusions concerning its nature. For Israel, faithless and
burdened with crimes, the day of Jahve will be "darkness and not light" ( Amos, v, 18
sqq.). The time is approaching when the house of Jacob will be sifted among the nations
as wheat is shaken in the sieve and not a good seed drops to the ground ( ix, 9) Alas!
the good seed is rare here. The bulk will perish. A remnant alone will be saved, a holy
germ from which the Messianic kingdom will arise. The pagan nations will serve as
sievers for Israel. But as they have wandered still further from the right path, the day of
Jahve will come for them in turn; finally the remnant of Israel and the converts of the
nations will unite to form a single people under the great king, the Son of David. The
remnant of Ephraem or of Juda remaining in Palestine at the time of the Exile, the
remnant returning from the Captivity to form the post-Exilic community, the Messianic
kingdom in its militant state and its final consummation- all these stages of the history
of salvation are mingled here and there in one prophetic view. The future life looms up
but little, the oracles being addressed principally to the body of the nation, for which
there is no future life. However, Ezechiel (xxxvii) alludes to the resurrection of the
dead; the apocalypse of Isaias (xxvi, 19 sqq.) mentions it explicitly; Daniel speaks of a
resurrection unto life everlasting and a resurrection unto eternal reproach (xii, 2 sqq.).
The broad daylight of the Christian Revelation is coming.

II. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

When this dawn is about to break, prophecy then long silent finds voices anew to tell
the good tidings. Zachary and Elizabeth, Mary the Virgin-Mother, the old man Simeon
and Anna the Prophetess are enlightened by the Holy Ghost and unfold the future.
Soon the Precursor appears, filled with the spirit and power of Elias. He finds anew the
accents of olden prophecy to preach penance and announce the coming of the kingdom.
Then it is the Messias in person who, long foretold and awaited as a Prophet (Deut.,
xviii, 15, 18; Is., xlix, etc.), does not disdain to accept this title and to fulfil its
signification. His preaching and His predictions are much closer to the prophetic
models than are the teachings of the rabbis. His great predecessors are as far below
Him as the servants are below the only Son. Unlike them He does not receive from
without the truth which He preaches. Its source is within Him. He promulgates it with
an authority thereunto unknown. His revelation is the definite message of the Father.
To understand its meaning more and more clearly the Church which He is about to
establish will have throughout all ages the infallible assistance of the Holy Ghost.
However, during the Apostolic times, God continues to select certain instruments like
unto the Prophets of the Old Law to make known His will in an extraordinary manner
and to foretell coming events: such, for instance, are the Prophets of Antioch (Acts, xiii,
1,8), Agabus, the daughters of the Evangelist Philip, etc. And among the charismata (cf.
Prat, `La theologie de Saint Paul", 1 pt., note H, p. 180-4) conferred so abundantly to
hasten and fortify the incipient progress of the faith, one of the principal, next after the
Apostolic, is the gift of prophecy. It is granted "unto edification, and exhortation, and
comfort" (I Cor., xiv, 3). The writer of the "Didache" informs us that in his day it was
fairly frequent and widespread, and he indicates the signs by which it may be
recognized (xi, 7-12). Finally the Canon of the Scriptures closes with a prophetic book,
the Apocalypse of St. John, which describes the struggles and the victories of the new
kingdom while awaiting the return of its Chief at the consummation of all things.

CORNELY, <Historica et crit. introd. in N.T. libros sacros>, II, 2 (Paris, 1897), diss. III, i,
267-305; GIGOT, <Special Introd. to the Study of the Old Testament>, II (New York,
1906) 189-202.

JEAN CALES

Transcribed by Sean Hyland


Taken from the New Advent Web Page (www.knight.org/advent).

This article is part of the Catholic Encyclopedia Project, an effort aimed at placing the
entire Catholic Encyclopedia on the World Wide Web. The coordinator is Kevin Knight,
editor of the New Advent Catholic Website. If you would like to contribute to this
worthwhile project, you can contact him by e-mail at ([email protected]). For
more information please download the file cathen.txt/.zip.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

  Provided courtesy of:

       Eternal Word Television Network
       PO Box 3610
       Manassas, VA 22110
       Voice: 703-791-2576
       Fax: 703-791-4250
       Data: 703-791-4336
       Ftp: ftp.ewtn.com
       Telnet: ewtn.com
       Email address: [email protected]

  EWTN provides a Catholic online
  information and service system.

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Our system web, ftp, telnet and email address are now as follows:

    Web: http://www.ewtn.com
    Ftp: ftp.ewtn.com
    Telnet: ewtn.com
    Email: [email protected]

You are viewing proxied material from gopher.ratthing.com. The copyright of proxied material belongs to its original authors. Any comments or complaints in relation to proxied material should be directed to the original authors of the content concerned. Please see the disclaimer for more details.