Prophecy - Human nature or miracle?

To Judaism prophecy is fundamental and without it many of our beliefs would not survive. It is therefore a very important aspect of our religion and needs to be well understood. The Rishonim spent a lot of energy trying to define it and explain it. There are basically two schools of thought, each with its own variations. I would name them as the school of the Kuzari and the school of Rambam. Rambam in Moreh 2:32 presents the Kuzari School as follows:

“The first opinion – that of the multitude of those among the pagans who considered prophecy as true and also believed by some of the common people professing our law - is that God selects any person He pleases, inspires him with the spirit of Prophecy, and entrusts him with a mission. It makes no difference whether that person be wise or stupid, old or young; provided he be, to some extent, morally good. For these people have not yet gone so far as to maintain that God might also inspire a wicked person with His spirit. They admit that this is impossible, unless God has previously caused him to improve his ways”.

This approach sees prophecy as a miraculous event rather than a human accomplishment. The way Rambam presents it, especially the tone of the introduction “also believed by some of the common people professing our law” shows that not only does he not accept it but thinks it to be wrong and irrational. In fact Rambam does not place prophecy among things that we accept based on tradition but rather as something that we have to prove to ourselves. In Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah he introduces prophecy as follows:

מיסודי הדת, לידע שהאל מנבא את בני האדם

Note the use of the word , לידע to know rather than a term that would imply belief. It is the same term he uses when discussing the existence of God:

יסוד היסודות ועמוד החכמות, לידע שיש שם מצוי ראשון

Both of these fundamental beliefs are rationally demonstrable and note that both are described as “foundations”. The difference is that belief in God is deemed, יסוד היסודות “foundation of all foundations”, in other words it affects all human thought while prophecy is a foundation of religion, it affects only the religious person.

The way I understand this is that prophecy affects how we perceive God as religious people. It is the analysis of the results of God’s action and it affects how we perceive Him and consequently our own actions. To Rambam prophecy is a key element in our belief in God the Creator, God as having Will, Providence and Reward and Punishment. In other words all the dogmas of Judaism are impacted by prophecy. In his listing of the Ikarim (dogmas) it is listed as the sixth one right after those dealing with God and Avodah Zara.

The purpose of religion is to develop a system that helps us interpret our existence, its provenance and its purpose. It has to be based on reality otherwise it is pure myth. Rambam understood that as the difference between idolatry and Judaism. Just like the existence of God has to be understood objectively, so too prophecy. That is the reason Rambam sees prophecy as human nature. It is the ability of the human being, using all of his faculties and developing them, to grasp abstract concepts. Prophecy is something that is the result of a person reaching the ultimate levels of development and perfection. A religion developed in this way has meaning. It would be irrational to base a religious belief which ultimately is subjective, on another subjective belief. Rambam therefore sees prophecy as a natural phenomenon:

“The philosophers hold that prophecy is a certain faculty of man in a state of perfection, which can only be obtained by study. Although the faculty is common to the whole race, yet it is not fully developed in each individual, either on account of the individual's defective constitution, or on account of some other external cause. This is the case with every faculty common to a class. It is only brought to a state of perfection in some individuals, and not in all; but it is impossible that it should not be perfect in some individual of the class: and if the perfection is of such a nature that it can only be produced by an agent, such an agent must exist. Accordingly, it is impossible that an ignorant person should be a prophet: or that a person being no prophet in the evening, should, unexpectedly on the following morning, find himself a prophet, as if prophecy were a thing that could be found unintentionally. But if a person, perfect in his intellectual and moral faculties, and also perfect, as far as possible, in his imaginative faculty, prepares himself in the manner which will be described, he must become a prophet; for prophecy is a natural faculty of man.”

But here is a twist. The divine will can preclude a person who has developed his abilities, from prophesying. Rambam accepts the philosopher’s concept to a point.

“The third view is that which is taught in Scripture, and which forms one of the principles of our religion. It coincides with the opinion of the philosophers in all points except one. For we believe that, even if one has the capacity for prophecy, and has duly prepared himself, it may yet happen that he does not actually prophesy. It is in that case the will of God [that withholds from him the use of the faculty] According to my opinion, this fact is as exceptional as any other miracle, and acts in the same way. For the laws of Nature demand that every one should be a prophet, who has a proper physical constitution, and has been duly prepared as, regards education and training.”

The positive aspects of prophecy are seen as natural and objective. Prophecy has to be seen as objective and not a religious belief. The fact that someone who has the ability to prophesize does not can be a subjective and religious belief. It is an interpretation of a phenomenon just like miracles and God’s will.

There is much more to come on this subject of prophecy.

I will be away on vacation next week through Labor Day. As I plan to dedicate my time to my grandchildren, I will probably not be posting unless I get very inspired.