[OT] 16 - Literary Prophecy: Amos.

We're following through an online course offered by Yale as part of the open Yale course program (RLST 145: Introduction to the Old Testament (Hebrew Bible) (Fall, 2006)).  Each week we go through another lecture.  This week is Lecture 16 - Literary Prophecy: Amos.  Lectures are by Christine Hayes,  the Robert F. and Patricia Ross Weis Professor of Religious Studies in Classical Judaica at Yale.

Overview:

This lecture introduces the literary prophets of both the northern and southern kingdoms. The prophetic books are anthologies of oracles the sequence of which is often determined by literary rather than chronological considerations. This lecture studies the literary features and major themes of classical Israelite prophecy as evidenced in particular in the book of the eighth-century northern prophet Amos. The prophets denounced moral decay and false piety as directly responsible for the social injustice that outrages God. While the Deuteronomist blames the nation's misfortunes on acts of idolatry, the prophets stress that the nation will be punished for everyday incidents of immorality. The literary prophets counterbalance their warnings with messages of great hope and consolation.

Reading assignment:

Bible: Introduction to Amos (JSB pp. 1176-7), Amos 1-9

Class lecture:

• text
• streaming audio or video
• downloadable mp3
• downloadable video