First off, this chapter for sure changed the way I think about prophets. I used to imagine them to be dignified and rather severe characters who were greatly respected. Now I’m more inclined to think of them as being a couple fries short of a Happy Meal. I’m not sure how I feel about this shift.
This chapter made me stop reading and think to myself, “if I had lived in the ancient world, would I have believed in their claimed divine influence, or would I have still seen them as a bit loony?” It was rather a disconcerting thought. I can’t decide if my prejudices are based on my natural outlook on life – I tend to be a rather cynical pessimist – which I would still have had I been born thousands of years before now, or if it is based on the Christian circles I was raised in (if religion isn’t a New England thing than charismatic religion definitely isn’t a New England thing. I can’t even imagine it. I accidentally went to a charismatic church near Messiah one time and might have actually walked out had I not been trapped there because I took the bus). I suppose, as I read accounts of prophets and their actions in the Bible, I always sort of thought that that was just the sort of thing people did back then. After all, it wasn’t just God’s prophets who did it – the prophets of Baal screamed and cut themselves while trying to get his attention and prophets of Lord never did that that I had ever seen. If anything, they seemed tame. While it’s true that Cosby says that prophets were expected to do weird things, his implications that it still wasn’t necessarily a normal, everyday thing makes me wonder how I would have felt about it. It makes me wonder if I would’ve been a Jew or not.
Another thing that I have thought about before but that this chapter brought to my mind again was wondering whether or not I would have believed Jesus if I had met him. It’s a very unsettling thought, because I’m pretty sure I would have thought he was a crazy blasphemer.
Caroline's Encounters 