YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY THE LIBRARY OF THE DIVINITY SCHOOL PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY A STUDY OF THE PROPHETIC MIND AS MANIFESTED BY THE ANCIENT HEBREW PROPHETS BY JACOB H. KAPLAN, Ph.D. PHILADELPHIA JULIUS H. GREENSTONE 1908 Copyright, 1 908 By Jacob H. Kaplan TO MY PARENTS THIS, THE FIRST FRUIT OF MY LABORS IS DEDICATED This book was originally presented as a thesis through Prof. D. E. Phillips to the faculty of the University of Denver in partial fulfilment of the Ph.D. degree. An extract from Parts II and III appeared in President G. Stanley Hall's " American Journal of Religious Psychology and Education " (Jan.— June, 1907) and has received appreciative com ment from a number of scholars. An excellent review of the magazine article appeared in the Expository Times of Aberdeen, Scotland (September, 1907), in which the reviewer refers to the Psychology of Prophecy as introducing a new era into the interpre tation of the Old Testament. The author himself refrains from expressing quite so high an appreciation of his own work, but believes with Dr. G. Stanley Hall, who read the entire work before publishing the shorter article, that " it throws valuable light on a subject that needs much light." The author is indebted for the greater part of the Bibliography to the late Dr. William Rainey Harper, president of The Uni versity of Chicago. Many of the books suggested by Dr. Harper the author was unable to find either in the libraries visited or through book agents, but feeling nevertheless that these are im portant for a bibliography, his friend, Mr. Max N. Fleischer, of Collingdale, Penna., was kind enough to spend several weeks in the library of the University of Pennsylvania consulting the catalogues of the British Museum, of the National French Library, of the Astor Library of New York, of the Imperial Library of Calcutta and many other catalogues, in order to verify the titles, authors and publishers listed in the Bibliography. The author takes this opportunity of expressing his sincere ap preciation for the valuable services rendered him by his friend Mr. Fleischer both in the matter of the Bibliography and the patient and thorough reading of the proof. PREFACE So far as I know a Psychology of Prophecy has not yet been written. The present attempt at presenting Prophecy from a psychological standpoint can be little more than an outline of how such a study might be pur sued, an analysis only, as it were, of the problem and an indication in what direction the answer may be looked for. Every serious student of Prophecy will accept the fact, I believe, that the Prophets announce the Word of God. The question arises, however: How is this Word of God communicated? In what way does the Prophet become conscious of his Prophecy? Is it primarily an objective or a subjective process? If objective, how does it take place? If subjective, how does the mind proceed? Comparatively simple would be the answer, if Proph ecy were an objective process, that is if the Prophet re peated verbatim or nearly so the words he hears God speak, let us say, like a child repeating the words he hears from his parent or teacher, or like a parrot the words dropped within his hearing. It seems to me that even the strictest literalist will shudder at presenting the problem in so naked an aspect. " Not quite so simple," he will exclaim. And yet it is quite so simple, if God is anthropomorphic and speaks like man. Is Prophecy, then, a subjective process, that is a process taking place primarily in the soul of man? If so, it must be explicable on psychological principles. It will be shown in this book that Prophecy is entirely a subjective process, one taking place in evolution, and so closely related to and connected with Jewish History X THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY that without a knowledge of the latter and a thorough understanding of Jewish religious evolution one cannot hope to hold any intelligent view of the mind-processes of the Prophet. In order, however, not to divert too much attention from the main issue, which is the psychol ogy of prophetic activity, a knowledge of Jewish History and Religious Evolution is taken for granted and only such subjects as will help to elucidate the psychology are touched upon. Light will be thrown upon The Psychology of Prophecy by an examination of the word, Prophet, Nabi, and an investigation of the popular conceptions of the office of Nabi, believing with Spencer that there is a soul of truth in all things erroneous. The miracles, supposed or real, ascribed to prophetic activity will then be examined and brought into relation with the prophet's power, and finally the Prophet will be considered in relation to other men of religious and spirit ual professions, and it will be seen that the prophet is the national type of the Hebrew genius. In Part II, from the results of part one, the prophet's orientation will be found, and this, it will appear, agrees with what a history of prophetism reveals, and finally the distinctive characteristics of a prophetic psychology will be found, and these distinctive prophetic elements will be investigated and psychologically explained in Part III. From the investigations of Parts I and II, and from the psychological explanations of Part III it will appear that prophetic phenomena are subjective and human, and, in one phase or another, appear in exceptional individuals in all parts of the world. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE PREFACE : The Problem Stated and Point of View Indicated ... ix PART I. What is a Prophet? CHAPTER I. Origin of the Word Prophet, Nabi i CHAPTER II. Popular Conceptions of the Hebrew Prophets... 9 (A) Christian Conception 10 (B) Conception of Prophet as Wonder-worker 16 (C) Conception of Prophet as Predictor 23 (D) Conception of Prophet, {a) as Preacher and Teacher of Ethics, {b) as Statesman 27 (E) Summary: In Every Error a Grain of Truth 35 CHAPTER III. Miracles or Supernatural Physics. (A) Nothing gained from Theological and Philosophical Dis cussion of God's power to break His Laws 36 (B) Empiric or Scientific Knowledge of value here 40 (C) Scientific Basis in favor of Miracles. The Objection 41 (D) Explanation in False Historic Perspective 41 (E) Residue of Prophetic Miracles, How Explained? 45 CHAPTER IV. The Prophet in Relation to Other Professions. (A) Prophet and Priest 49 (B) Prophet and Diviner 53 (C) Prophet and Poet 60 (D) Prophet and Genius 67 (E) Similarity of Great Men 72 PART II. Prophetic Genius. CHAPTER I. What Kind of Genius is a Prophet? 74 CHAPTER II. Conclusions from the History of Prophecy 78 CHAPTER III. The Distinctive Characteristics of Prophetic Psychology 81 PART III. Psychology of Prophecy. CHAPTER I. Prophetic Call 83 (A) Premonition the Starting Point 83 (B) The Facts as Presented by the Prophets 83 xi XII CONTENTS PAGE (C) Psychology of Prophetic Call 87 i. Driver and Bertholet 87 2. Preparation for Prophetic Call °7 3. Prophetic Temperament 89 4. My Own Experience 9° 5. Smend and Buttenwieser on Premonition 92 6. Schwartzkopff's Objections 97 CHAPTER II. Premonition, Prescience and Prediction 99 1. Evidence from Old Testament and Other Sources 99 2. Evidence from Modern Life 102 3. Psychology of Premonition 104 CHAPTER III. Revelation. The Word, of God 08 i. Belief in Revelation among all Peoples 108 2. Psychology of Revelation 1 10 CHAPTER IV. Dream, Vision and Audition, Ecstasy 14 (A) Psychology of Dream in Relation to Prophecy 114 (B) Psychology of Vision and Audition in Relation to Prophecy.. 120 (C) Psychology of Ecstasy in Relation to Prophecy 129 CHAPTER V. Inspiration 134 (A) Belief in Inspiration among all Peoples 134 (B) Psychology of Inspiration 135 CONCLUSION 142 BIBLIOGRAPHY ' ' 145 PART I CHAPTER I WHAT IS A PROPHET? i. Etymology and Meaning of the Word Prophet, Nabi, N^J The etymology of the Hebrew word Nabi (kuj) pre sents many difficulties to scholars. According to Land,1 nabi (Knj) comes from the word bo (N3) " to enter," " to walk in " ; nabi is the participle passive and is " thus the object of an entrance; one into^whom_some_j3ne or something eaters-^ here, of course, the life-giving breath of the Deity. He is thus an hideos, an " evdovo-id^mv oxrirep ot deofiavreK." Such a derivation seems to me very forced and un natural. Kuenen2 well points out among other rea sons for not accepting this derivation that some subject as Ruah (nn) " Spirit," " Breath^ should in that case have been expressed, for that is, after all, the important part of the idea, and it is, therefore, inconceivable that the Hebrews should have called a person possessed by the divine spirit simply " one who had been entered," without stating what entered. While it must be granted that the nun (J) in Hebrew words may sometimes be prosthenic as in nazid from zud (tm from nit), nabab perhaps from bub (33J from nn), etc., it seems exceedingly improbable that nabi be kuenen: "The Religion of Israel to the Fall of the Jewish State," London, 1882, Vol. I, p. 214. 'Ib. 2 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY derived from the biliteral root bo (so) because, aside from morphological difficulties, the underlying thought of the nabi, both in the earliest and latest activity, is quite dif ferent from any idea contained in the root bo. This is furthermore borne out by the fact that nebua (nxiSJ), the abstract noun, is regularly formed from a triliteral stem naba, (&OJ), as are also the Niphal and Hithpael, and not from a biliteral bo (S3). Most scholars agree that the word nabi is not of Hebrew origin, but has been borrowed from older Semitic tongues. This is evident, too, from what we know of the history of the word. In a very important parenthetic note in I. Sam. 9 : 9 we read: "Before time in Israel when a man went to inquire of God, thus he said : ' Come, let us go to the Seer (nt*"i), for he that is now called a nabi (xnj) was aforetime called a Seer (n&nn) ' " Roeh was, as we see, the older Hebrew word, while nabi, the later, the foreign word. Nabi (x^j) comes from the root naba (&oj) which means originally " to_ cause to bubble forth," hence to pour forth (words) abundantly as is done by those inspired, especially is the word inspired here used in the primitive sense of madness, frenzy, raving, ecstasy, and utterances in a state of unconsciousness as in trance. The root naba (jnj) still occurs frequently in this sense of bubbling up, or gushing forth, and is evidently the same word as naba' (*aj) with a softening of the ayin into aliph, jdj into xaj. Examples: Prov. 18: 4, "a gushing or bubbling stream." Prov. 1 : 24, " I will pour out upon you my spirit." Ps. 59: 8, "They belch forth with their mouth." Prov. 15: 2, "The mouth of fools poureth forth foolishness." Prov. 15: 28, "The mouth of the wicked poureth forth evil things." It is this primitive form of prophecy, in which mad- WHAT IS A PROPHET 3 ness, frenzy, raving, and other forms of excited emotional activity played an important part, that Israel met in the Canaanitish civilization and imported into his own na tional life. In fact all primitive peoples considered these abnormal, pathological phenomena of the soul-life as signs of prophetic and divine activity,1 and as most of these phenomena are accompanied by the gushing or bubbling forth of words, often even while the agent is unconscious, the utterances were taken as inspired by some deity. With the introduction of the prophetic phenomena Israel also introduced the words by which the person and his utterances were designated, nabi and nebua (xnj, iiKUJ).2 There is no question in my mind but that this gushing forth of wofdlTs of one mad and raving is one of the " principal ideas underlying the profession of Nabi jn_its primitive~torrr7. ~Tt is~the same idea as that expressed 'By the Greek pdvTis from /Maivo/jtai " to rage," " be furious," " rave with anger," or " be mad with wine," especially in Bacchic frenzy. The Latins expressed this idea by " furor " a word more akin to our English fury and madness, and yet one used in the identical sense of gushing forth or bubbling up with inspired utterances through madness, rage, or any high mental excitement: "negat sine furore Democritus poetam magnum esse posse " — Cic. The Hebrew literature, too, is not wanting in material to show that this idea of the prophet's func- 1 Spencer: "Principles of Sociology," Vol. I, p. 226 ff. 2 Some believe, indeed, that the other Semitic languages took the word nabi from the Hebrew, but that is very implausible as we saw from the historic evidence in I Sam. 9: 9. Thus W. R. Smith in the "Prophets of Israel," p. 390, "It is hardly likely that the word is older than the settlement of the Hebrews in Canaan." So also Smend: " Lehrbuch der Alttest. Religionsgeschichte," p. 81. "Das Wort nabi ( NVIJ ) hat keine Hebraeische Etymologic Nebiim hatte auch der phonicische Baal (I Reg. 18: 19, 20, 25, 40. II Reg. 3: 13; 10: 19) und ebenso die Goetter der uebrigen Nachbarn Israels." Cf. also Kuenen (Vol. I, p. 212) who believes the Arabic language bor rowed the word from the Hebrew. 4 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY tion as one in a high state of emotional excitement was prominently retained. When Elisha sends a young man of the school of prophets to anoinQehu_as_ Kingjof Israel, the TourraYtendants asked him: " Wherefore came this insane fdlow to youT" (II K. 9": ijJ^_jK3J?np T,i>NntnWB'»n)ii so also the later prophets speak of the sur vival of this excited frenzy "under "the name~oFpro£hecy: Jer. 29: 26 "for every man that is mad and maketh himself a prophet, that thou put him in prison and in the stocks "; II Kings 3: 15 " and it came- to 'pissTwhen the~minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him," showing emotional excitement caused by ex ternal stimulus such as music, etc. Philology shows that the same word running through different languages of the same family does not always retain the original sense of the root; while other words, again, may in the course of evolution develop new mean ings and shades of meaning alongside with the original.1 Still other words may denote something of the original idea of the root and at the same time connote the different shades of meaning which the word in the different related languages may have assumed, and thus blend, as it were, different shades of meaning into the same word. Now it is my conviction, that, though it may not be possible to say with any degree of certainty from which one of the family of Semitic languages the word nabi was originally imported, it is quite certain that the word has absorbed, in the course of Israelitish development, or as sumed even from the very beginning, all the meanings of the word in the different Semitic tongues in which the Hebrews met the word, for it is evident beyond question that the Hebrew literature preserves the word in all 1E. g., Knave, Knabe; Knight, Knecht; indict, indite; burden, bier, barrow, birth, bairn ; nice in sense of ignorant as in " He was nyce and knowthe no wisdom." ("Three Lectures on Science of Language," by F. Max Mueller, p. 15 ff.) WHAT IS A PROPHET 5 these shades of meaning, and uses it sometimes exclusively in one sense, and again exclusively in another sense, and then again in a sense in which all the meanings are blended into one. In addition, therefore, to the Canaanitish usages and meaning of the word, the Arabic and Babylonian-Assyrian meanings must also be considered, for they, too, have un questionably contributed to the fundamental concept of the nabi. In each the word developed a peculiar shade of the original germinal idea, and all these have blended into one concept in the Hebrew language. Firstly, then, we saw that nabi xnj has the original idea, common to all natural prophecy, that of " bubbling* up," or "gushing forth," derived from the older word jnj naba'. In the second place naba'a (Arabic) means " to show^",. " declare," " proclaim," " aTTnbunce." Here in this Arabic word is evidently one of the most important thoughts of the germ-idea of the common root naba. And this idea has been retained, sometimes mingled with the other idea, but often quite distinctly and exclusively, through all the stages of prophetic development and growth. The nabi is, then, according to the Arabic word, a proclaimer, an announcer, a messenger, one who*"* proclaims, announces, something not his own or for him self, but one who is an agent, a messenger for some one else, and that some one else is always God. With this idea Exodus 7: 1 and 2 harmonize perfectly: "God said to Moses, See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh ; and Aaron thy brother shall be thy prophet." And as if that were not plain enough, the writer continues to explain what he means by nabi, namely, one who speaks for another. He says: "Thou shalt speak all that I command thee, and Aaron, thy brother, shall speak unto Pharaoh." In another place (Ex. 4: 16) Aaron is called 6 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY the mouth of Moses, an idea often expressed by the prophets, calling themselves the mouth of God (mrr 'a). Jeremiah expresses the same idea when he says (23: 13) " I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran; I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied." Thus Amos 5 : 8 " The Lord God hath spoken, shall not the prophet an nounce it? ni The essential ide^i_i^_a2w^ajyj__that_the prophet announces, declares, something for his God. This is so not only in Israel but in all nations. There are prophets of Baal and prophets of Asherah (I K. 18: 19), that is, prophets announcing the message of their gods, as is even more plainly indicated by Jeremiah in Ch. 23 : 13 " they prophesied by Baal " 6j?33 itojnn), that is, spoke in Baal's name, ordered and commissioned by Baal, not of their own accord. As we have seen the Canaanitish conception of the nabi agreeing with the Greek idea of pdvris, so we may note here this Arabic idea agreeing entirely with the Greek conception of a prophet, irpotfrrJTiys (from irp6§r\p,i to speak for some one). The irpo^rqTr)^ was one who spoke for another, an interpreter of the will of a god. "Ato? Trpo its divine authority. If it appears that a large collection of fragmentary records written, with few exceptions, without any designed connection, at most distant times and under the most varied circumstances, yet combined to form a definite whole, broadly separated from others . . . , if in proportion as they are felt to be separated they are felt also to be instinct with a common spirit; then it will be readily acknowledged that however they were united afterwards into the sacred volume, they ate yet legibly stamped with a divine seal as ' inspired of God ' in a sense in which no other writings are."4 Again Orr says in his closing chapter:5 " It is this con nection of Old Testament with New, of Law with Gospel, 1Oehler: "Theology of the Old Testament," p. 489. 2 "The Problem of the Old Testament," p. 33. 'Ib., p. 61. 4Westcott, "Bible in the Church," p. 14, as quoted by Orr, p. 50, note. 5 P. 477- 12 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY of prophecy with Christ, which gives the critical problems we have been studying their keenest interest. . . . What mattered it about Abraham and Moses, so long as Jesus and His Gospel remains? That delusion is passing away. The fact is becoming apparent to the dullest, which has long been apparent to unbiased observers, that much of the radical criticism of the Old Testament pro ceeded on principles, and was conducted by methods, which had only to be applied with like thoroughness" to the New Testament to work like havoc. The funda mental ideas of God and His revelation which underlay that criticism could not, as we set out by affirming, lead up to a doctrine of the Incarnation, but only to a negation of it." There is no need to pile up quotations. What has been quoted shows beyond question, that the Christian religion as conceived by orthodox believers1 must have as its foundation a scheme in which prophets are divinely inspired, and a Book written by God or dictated by Him. Orr in one of the above quotations (from p. 33) indi cates, indeed, the method by which he thinks the mind must reach the conviction necessary for the basis of Chris tianity. He admits that Isaiah in his 53d chapter could not have referred to Jesus, but granting this, he main tains that Christianity2 as now upbuilt makes imperative a foretelling of Jesus' advent by the prophets, and so, relegating the claims of historicity to the rear, he matches the cogency of the reason with the confidence of faith, and, " standing in the shadow of the cross " he supports conviction with religious enthusiasm. Thus his feeling- judgment accepts what his reason-judgment rejects. In fact a great part of the New Testament is written *Not all Christian writers think such a belief necessary for Christianity but they are in the minority and not infrequently are tried as heretics. 2Cf. Smend: "Lehrbuch der Alttest. Religionsgeschichte," p. 228, note 1 and pp. 373 ff. POPULAR CONCEPTIONS OF HEBREW PROPHETS 1 3 by men whose conception of prophecy may be summed up by the phrase, " prediction of the Messiah." This pre diction is the principal business of the prophets, and the Messiah, agreeing so well with the predictions, is proof conclusive of the divine inspiration of these prophets. The whole thing is very superficially done, as the oft re peated phrase and others of similar import show: cer tain things happened, transpired or were done in order " that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophets." In reality, however, people never do> things and events do not transpire, in order that certain other things may be fulfilled.1 1 Very striking in this respect is the ignorance of Hebrew constructions displayed by the writer of the book of Matthew. Zachariah (9: 9) com forts Jerusalem with the hope that the future ideal King, evidently in contrast with the former wasteful splendor, will be meek, riding upon an ass (as contrasted with Solomon's horses), and uses the poetic expression made use of by every Hebrew poet, namely, that of repeating the thought in different words. DlJInX p TJ| 7JN "llDn 7V " upon an ass, yea upon a colt, the foal of an ass." Even the Christian translation of the Bible (revised version, 1881-1885, New York, 1898) translates the verse cor rectly as follows : "... riding upon an ass, even upon a colt, the foal of an ass." Matthew, or whoever wrote that book, not knowing very much about Hebrew syntactical constructions, takes that expression to mean tivo asses, and writes up the facts to agree with his ignorance, as follows: (Matt. 21: 1 ff.) "And when they drew nigh unto Jerusalem, and come unto Bethphage, unto the mount of Olives, then Jesus sent, saying unto them, Go into the village that is over against you, and straightway ye shall find an ass tied, and a colt with her: loose them, and bring them unto me. And if any one say aught unto you, ye shall say, the Lord hath need of them; and straightway he will send them. Now this is come to pass that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through the prophet saying: " Tell ye the daughter of Zion, Behold thy king cometh unto thee, Meek, and riding upon an ass, And upon a colt the foal of an ass." John evidently understood Hebrew syntax a little better, and so he makes Jesus to ride on one ass only. (John 12: 14.) 14 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY From a psychological standpoint, a perfect parallel to this kind of interpretation may be found in everyday life, as the following experiments will show: I have marked an ordinary deck of playing cards in Greek letters (so as to be unintelligible to most people), for the purpose of telling fortunes. There is not one person in the sev eral hundred experiments I have tried (after being in formed that I could tell fortunes with cards), who asked to have his fortune told (thus evincing some degree of credulity in this thing), who did not find, in anything I may have said, something truly prophetic of events or actions about to transpire or contemplated by the sub ject or transpired in the immediate past, and in addition, not infrequently, days or weeks later, the subject reported that such and such things had happened just as I fore told them. This proves to me that the human mind is so constituted that when it believes a certain thing, thought or statement to be true, it will invariably find specific ex amples to demonstrate the truth or reassure the thought.1 In like manner did the writers of the New Testament;2 believing as they sincerely and devoutly did, that they had found the Messiah, they reassured themselves by interpreting every possible utterance of the prophets in terms of this man's life and work. Nay, more, believing that in proportion as this man's life and actions conformed to the predictions of the prophets is the fact of his Mes- siahship established, they sought every expression that might refer to a Messiah, and then most naturally found some event in the applicant's life to correspond to every such prediction.3 'The whole subject of suggestion and auto-suggestion bears out this experiment. 2Cf. Nork, F.: " Rabbinische Quellen und Parallelen zu neutest. Schrift- stellen," Leipzig, 1839, p. iii. 3 This kind of interpretation, perfectly legitimate for homiletical pur poses, and used by the rabbis all through the Talmud, becomes unsound POPULAR CONCEPTIONS OF HEBREW PROPHETS 1 5 The fact cannot be enlarged upon here, but becomes patent1 to the investigating student, who has given no promise to any sect to see things from a given standpoint only. On the other hand, it must not be inferred, that this presentation tries in any wise to detract from the value, the beauty and the truth of many of the thoughts ascribed to Jesus. Now, while my interpretation of the Christian con ception of prophecy will help, as I believe, better to grasp the psychology of the phenomenon, the non-acceptance of it does in no wise invalidate my thesis. For, granting everything that I do not grant, that is, all the conceivable Christian theories, the question still remains: What is and working havoc, when employed for scientific purposes. On Rabbinic origin of New Testament thoughts and method, see the very excellent volume of F. Nork : " Rabbinische Quellen und Parallelen zu neutest. Schriftstellen," Leipzig, 1839. 1 The psychology of the New Testament writers will be better under stood, if we keep in mind that they had thoroughly imbibed the method, and were more or less familiar with the result of rabbinic interpreta tion. Nork, p. 85, says in reference to Matthew 21 : 2 as follows: Koheleth Rabba, fol. 73 col. 3: R. Barachia sagte im Namen R. Isaaks: Aehnliches mit dem Erloeser (aus der egyptischen Gefangenschaft) wird auch der andere Erloeser (aus der Gefangenschaft der Voelker) haben (]1{?X"1 PNIJD )1*iriX 7N1J p); wer war der erste Erloeser? Mose, denn es ist geschrieben, Exod. 4, 20: "Und Mose nahm sein Weib and seine Sohne und fuehrte sie auf einem Esel." Ebenso wird auch auf jenem Esel auch der Sohn Davids reiten. Jarchi in s. Comment, zu Exod. 4, 20: Dieser ist der Esel, welchen Abraham zur Fesselung des Isaaks gesattelt hat, und auf diesem Thiere wird der Messias einst sich offenbaren. vi>y n)bir6 tv&nn "|ta Tnj?E> mm pnr rvrpj^ BiTuk Bant? -norm Nin Jalkut Rubeni fol. 67 col. 3. zu Genes. 22, 3: Dieser (Esel) ist ein Fuellen derjenigen Eselin, welche (bei der Welterschopfung) in der Daem- merung erschaffen worden. Auf diesem Esel war einst Mose geritten, und auf ihm wird auch der sohn Davids reiten. : rwovn jn rurajp pnsn p son : xby iyb in p tjw iionn am nsj>D \bv ant? iinnn Nin The playful method of such interpretations is harmless, if kept as it was, within the colleges as intellectual exercises, or for homiletical pur poses, but could never have been intended to be taken seriously. 16 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY meant by 'divinely inspired ' ? In what way shall we bring to human consciousness a concept of the term ' divinely inspired ' ? Or, shifting the ground, as some do: How does God write books? Or, how does God dictate books to His servants, the prophets? What is it that the prophet hears when God speaks? These are some of the fundamental questions of the meaning of prophecy, and not at all whether or not Jesus was the Messiah; whether or not the prophets foretold his com ing and whether or not they were divinely inspired be cause of this prediction. In the Christian conception of prophecy, as related to this thesis, there may be pointed out one fundamental error and one fundamental truth. The error is the claim of divine inspiration for the prophets, because of the fulfilment of certain of their pre dictions. If we grant this, we must grant that where- ever fulfilment follows prediction, there we find a prophet, which is not true. For many of us have predicted many things that were fulfilled, and yet we are not conscious of being, nor have we ever been taken as, prophets. The truth of the Christian concept is that the prophets . are divinely inspired.1 But this inspiration cannot rest on any fact of the power of prediction, be that prediction whatever it be, for we could then show that they predicted a number of things that were not fulfilled, and therefore, the proposition would be contradicted. (B) Conception of Prophet as Wonder Worker One of the most popularly conceived functions of the Prophet is that of Wonder-Worker.2 For, how else, 'It will be seen in a later chapter what I believe that term to mean what, from a psychological standpoint, the term must mean to our human • consciousness. 2 The explanation of miracles from a psychological point of view will be taken up in the following chapter on Miracles or Supernatural Physics. Here the fact in the belief only is presented. POPULAR CONCEPTIONS OF HEBREW PROPHETS 17 if not through wonderful performances is the prophet to show that he is a prophet, one sent by God to do His will. If he can do things that others cannot do, that is proof c6nclusiye_that divine power~resides in himj that^ he does not come through his own initiative, but is sent by God.1 And the God capable of giving such power commands respect and obedience. As this was the test of a prophet's genuineness in ancient times among all peoples,2 itTsTbut natural thatlucTTiT belief should persist, in some form or other, even in modern times', especially by such as~beiieve" The Bible to be ah inspired Book, one book, or inessence one, because "dictated or "written by the same author, God. ~Xa) Firstly, then, we note that the prophet himself, in order to assure himself that he is speaking to God, and may rely on his help, asks, or expects, some sign or wonder (JTiN or riaio) whereby to gain the moral conviction neces sary to convince his hearers. Says Oehler (p. 17) : " In these operations revelation makes itself known as differing from the natural revelations of the human mind, not only by the continuity and the organic connection of the facts which constitute the history of salvation, but also in its special character {miracle) which points distinctly to a divine causality." And again (p. 124): "The forces and vehicles in which this divine self-presentation and self-witness reaches man from without are the voice, the Malakh, the Shekinah in the sanctuary and miracle." This miracle, however, is not understood by them as any thing supernatural in the sense in which we understand it. To them everything is possible if God so wills it. *Cf. Ex. 8: 15 where the Egyptian magicians, not able to bring forth lice by their enchantments, recognized in this power of Moses "the finger of God." 2Smend, ib. (p. 87): "Die alttestamentlichen Propheten sind auch Wun- derthaeter. Bei ihnen suchte man nicht nur Trost und Rath, sondern auch thatsaechliche Huelfe in aller Noth des Lebens." 1 8 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY Hence when Moses is asked to go to> Egypt to liberate the Children of Israel, he excuses himself in a number of ways, and finally says (Ex. 4: ib ff.) : "They will not believe me, nor hearken To^rhy 'vorice7~f or They wJTTsay, Jahve hath not appeared to thee. And the Lord said unto him, What is that in thy hand? And he said, A rod. And he said, Cast it on the ground; and he cast it on the ground and it became a serpent . . . That they may believej:hat^j3,h.ye ...the God of their fathers, the God^of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the GjQ.d.o£~Jaei>bLJhath appeared unto thee." A second and third miracle Moses is given the power to do, thus " making assurance doubly sure " that Pharaoh will believe his divine commission on account of these wonders. So also< Gideon asked God for a sign (Judges 6: 36 ff.) to prove to him that God will deliver Israel through his hand as promised. In fact all the prophets had to be convinced that they were called by God. As prophecy developed, however, this proof, though always wonderful, became 'more and more subjective instead of objective or, in other words, became more a spiritual manifestation and conviction in- stead of physical signs andjwqnders.1 Elijah makes a barrel of meal and a cruse of oil to last " until the day when Jahve shall send rain upon the earth" (I K. 17: 14). Elisha cures the water by throwing salt into it (II K. 2: 21). He also announces that Jahve shall fill the valley with water, though no rain fall (II K. 3: 17). 1 Oehler, p. 391, note 1. " The many miracles which appear in the history of Elijah and his successor Elisha are peculiar, no miracles being ordinarily attributed to the prophets of the Old Testament. Here, too, as well as at the Exodus from Egypt, it appears that the agency of miracles was chiefly employed when the point at issue was to prove the existence of the living God, as against the worshippers of the false gods." Note, however, that all these miracles are identical with those recorded in the New Testament concerning Jesus. POPULAR CONCEPTIONS OF HEBREW PROPHETS 1 9 Twenty loaves of bread, through Elisha's miraculous power, are enough to feed a hundred men, " and they left thereof, according to the word of Jahve" (II K. 4: 43 ff.). (b) Secondly, we note the wonders which the prophets themselves performed for the people txTshow them that what they announced comes from God, who gave them the power to perform these miracles as a proof that they are divinely commissioned. Biblical examples abound: AIT the plagues of Egypt (Ex. 7: 18-14: 31) were given as miracles to Pharaoh to convince him that Jahve had sent Moses to liberate the Hebrews, and that He, in whose name such miracles are performed, is a powerful God and will command obedience. When Moses ap pears before Pharaoh to deliver Jahve's message, he answers (Ex. 5 : 2) : " Who is Jahve that I should obey His voice to let Israel go? I know not Jahve, neither will I let Israel go." But Jahve had prepared Moses and Aaron for this reception, and had given them the power to perform three miracles which shall prove to Pharaoh that they were sent by Jahve (Ex. 4: 1-10; 7: 14 ff.). When these miracles had not the convincing effect, Jahve sent ten more miracles, each one a powerful chastisement to show Pharaoh that the God who is taking Israel's part was in earnest in His request to have His people free. The children of Israel, too, were as hard to convince as Pharaoh. Finally after they had seen all the signs and wonders done in their behalf, " they feared Jahve, believed in Him, and in His servant, Moses" (Ex. 14: 31). Joshua, too, shows his divine commission by dividing the river for Israel as Moses had done (Josh. 3: 13 ff.). Elijah, by means of his mantle, does the same, and Elisha, his pupil, receives a double portion of his master's power when he sees Elijah ascend into heaven and catches the 20 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY mantle as it falls. Samuel, the grand figure in that turbulent period of Israel's history, convinces his people that his message was genuine by calling upon Jahve for a miracle (I Sam. 12 : 17) "I shall call on Jahve, and he shall send thunder and rain; that ye may perceive that your wickedness is great, which ye have done in the sight of Jahve, in asking for a king." Even Isaiah tells Ahaz (Is. 7: 11 ff.), to request a sign that he may be assured that the prophet's words are from God. Often the prophets performed miracles, or begged God to perform miracles, in order to convert the people to the Jahve religion, as was the case when Elijah brought down fire from heaven to consume the sacrifice, after the1 prophets of Baal had failed to do so, thus showing" publicly the might of Jahve. And the people, were^ con verted, and exclaimed: "Jahve is the God ;_ Jahve _ is the God."1 In general, then, the prophets do things which no> ordi nary man can do, something miraculous and wonderful, to show that they are God-commissioned.2 (c) Thirdly, the power to heal the sick without ap parent physical means has always been indicative of divine power. This miracle is after all the one most related to human life. It may be very interesting to see the rod change into a serpent, but it is more vitally interesting to feel the pain disappear at the touch, or upon the prayer, of the prophet. That the prophets functioned as divine healers is so patent that we cannot well afford to over look it. This healing power, perhaps more than any other, attracts the child-mind of all ages, so that even in our day we have " divine healers." Elijah (I K. 17: 17-24) is reported to have restored *Cf. Spencer: "Principles of Sociology," Appleton, N. Y., 1904, Vol. I, p. 251. 2Cf. Spencer: lb., p. 250. POPULAR CONCEPTIONS OF HEBREW PROPHETS 21 a dead child to life through prayer and physical manipula tion, stretching himself upon, and probably breathing into, the child. Elisha did the same for the Shunamite's dead child (II K. 4: 23 ff.). From the question of the husband in the last quotation, Smend infers that on Sab baths and new moons it was customary for people to visit the prophets for the purpose of being healed.1 So far famed was this healing power of the prophets, that Naa- man, the Syrian captain, heard of it and came to be healed of his leprosy. When Elisha heard that the King of Israel was troubled about Naaman's request of being healed, he sent word to the King saying: " Let him come to me, that he may know there is a prophet in Israel." Similar healing miracles were expected, and are re ported, of the prophets of other nations. The following from Knobel (p. 56, note 4) : " Der thebanische Seher Tiresias soil (als Naturkundiger) die Stimmen der Voegel verstanden haben (Appolod., Ill, 6, 7), gleichwie Melampus (Appolod., I, 9, 11. Plin. H. N. K., 70, XXV, 21), welcher auch als Artzt erscheint, indem er wahnsinnige Frauen heilt (Appolod., II, 2, 2). Chiron's Tochter, Oeyroe, verstand nach Ovid. (Metam., II, 635 ff.), die Arzeneikunde (artes paternas) und die Mantik (fatorum arcana canebat). Ja der Mantis Polydius soil sogar den Glaukus von den Todten auferweckt haben (Appolod., Ill, 3). Bei den Scythen liess der Koenig, wenn er krank geworden war, die Wahrsager herbeiholen, welche ihm Ursache und Ende der Krankheit anzeigen mussten (Herod., IV, 68). Endlich waren auch die Druiden der alten Gallier und Briten Wahrsager und Aerzte zugleich." The New Testament fairly teems with descriptions of the healing power of Jesus2 and his disciples, so much so, 1 Smend: "Lehrbuch der Alttest. Religionsgeschichte," p. 87, Note 1. 2 Matt. 10: 8; 11: 5; 14: 35! *S'- 3°; Mark 16: 20; Acts 2: 43; 4: 16, 22; 5: 12; 6: 8; 8: 6; John 3:2; 9: 16; etc. 22 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY that Christian Science, and Mental Science, Mental Therapeutics, Divine Healing, and all the rest of the mental healing processes claim Jesus as the founder of their respective schools.1 Even in our day, were we just a little less scientific, a successful practitioner in medicine would receive divine homage, and there is no denying the fact that the reason why Christian Science, as a religion, is becoming more and more popular with men and women of fair intel ligence, is because of this healing power of many of its advocates. A toothache or a headache relieved is even in our age a more appreciated wonder than the moving of mountains or the dividing of the Jordan. I remember when as a child I studied the Bible in the original Hebrew the only thing that elicited my unbounded admiration, reverence and envy was the prophet's power of performing miracles. The subtler powers of the soul, the true meaning of the prophet, was not even suspected by me. Many minds, I believe, never grow beyond the childstage in religious conceptions. As some minds carry away only a joke from a serious discourse, so others grasp only the unrelated miracle and wonder in the serious life of the prophet. Here again is pointed out the true and the false in this conception of the prophet. The truth is that the prophet can do wonderful things, things of which the average man is not capable. But these wonderful things are not at all the ones mentioned above, nor are those reported miracles to be taken in any sense as a serious part of the prophet's function and busi ness. For, if so, every one performing miracles, and 1 Hudson in the last chapters of his " Law of Psychic Phenomena " gives an excellent exposition of the whole subject of mental healing based on the suggestions of Jesus's method. POPULAR CONCEPTIONS OF HEBREW PROPHETS 23 there are many such in our age as in every age, would thereby give proof of his divine commission and prophetic power, which is not true. The fallacy in this conception is that the prophet's\ genuineness is based upon something wholly unrelated to the subject. The Prophet is either inspired or not; he is either God-commissioned or not; he speaks either truth or falsehood. Now, none of these facts can be estab lished by reference to the prophet's ability to bring dis order into the physical laws of the universe. There is no causal connection, and to my mind no connection of any kind, between the two. If Dowie claims to be Elijah, t sent by God to teach a certain something to the United States, and as proof should make the trees dance and the mountains skip like rams, I should still say that I was much amused to see such wonderful phenomena, but can not find any causal connection between those miracles and his claim to Elijahship or to divine inspiration, and, there fore, should have to wait for more relevant proof. (C) Conception of Prophet as Predictor By far the most popular conception of prophecy is that of prediction. "lam not a prophet, I cannot tell what will happen," is a remark very commonly heard. And indeed this idea is not without its basis in fact, but, like most popular ideas, it seizes upon one point of view and prejudges from that. This conception of prophet as predictor gained ascendancy, as I believe, for two reasons ; firstly, because prediction was an important element in the*. prophetic activity, and secondly, because Christianity has laid its principal emphasis on the predictive element on account of its specific interpretation of the Messianic pre dictions. " According to popular acceptation, prophecy is essen- 24 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY tially prediction, a fore-telling of events by divinely in spired persons."1 We have already seen that Briggs, too, considers pre- diction the most essential element in prophecy,2 and, know- ing his standpoint, we know, of course, why he lays his emphasis on prediction.3 " The predictive school of interpreters, on the othei hand, ignores very largely any relationship betweer prophecy and history, treats prediction as the most im portant factor in prophecy, and demands an exact fulfil ment in letter or spirit of every predicted utterance. Frorr this point of view, prophecy may be defined as the fore telling, by information granted directly through revela tion, of occurrences which were contingent, and which. therefore, were not to be foreknown by human wisdom."4 It is not the object in this chapter to explain the possi bility of prediction and the psychology thereof, but onl) to state the fact as usually accepted, and the fact is un deniable that the prophets were predictors in a large and general sense of the word. It is easily conceivable how detached statements in the Bible foretelling events anc secrets, veiled from the generality of men, readily lenc themselves to the idea that the prophets were unrelatec to history and knew by direct revelation or divine inspira tion what supposedly could not be known in any othei way. A few examples follow : Samuel is questioned about hi; father's lost asses, and he gives the desired information Furthermore, this same Saul, Samuel is told by God, i; JThe New International Encyclopedia, s. v. Prophecy. 2 Quoted above in Chapter II (A). 3 Knobel in " Der Prophetismus der Hebraeer," quotes a number of Latii writers and also Spinoza, all of whom take revelation and prediction a the principal characteristics of the prophet. 'Harper, W. R.: "The Prophetic Element in the Old Testament' (1905), p. 15. POPULAR CONCEPTIONS OF HEBREW PROPHETS 25 the man who shall be the first king of Israel (I S. 9 and 10). Elisha foretells the Shunamite the birth of a son (II K. 4: 16). He also tells Hazael, the Syrian, " God hath showed me thee as king over Syria" (II K. 8: 13b). Ln_jll_rjhases and^ises_of life their foreknowl edge is sought, often .given of their own initiative, and as often even against the will of the people, especially in cases.. of jyil, .tidings. They predict rain and drought, victory and defeat, sickness, recovery and death. Isaiah predicts the Assyrian invasion in Chapter 1 as also in Chapter 33, " fusing the actual present with the expected future." He foretells the awful conditions after the conquest, when seven women shall take hold of one man saying: " We will eat our own bread and wear our own apparel, only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach" (Is. 4: 1). In the eighth chapter he foretells the great overflow of the Assyrian hosts. The Philistines are warned that their rejoicings are premature (Is. 14) " that the power which they dreaded, though broken, will recover itself, and prove indeed far more formidable than before."1 Speaking in the name of Jahve, Isaiah predicts the downfall of Moab within three years (Is. 16: 14). "The sudden destruction of the Assyrians and the homage of Ethiopia to Jahve " is fore told in Chapter 18. Although Israel always put his trust in Egypt, Isaiah predicts Egypt's downfall and de scribes the material and social decay which will then begin (Is. 19), and so on throughout the book. What is true of Isaiah is true of each and every one of the prophets. They all predict events, great and small, the approach of an enemy, victory or defeat,j^nj5hort^ tfieTplans and purposes of God.2 Jeremiah seems^to think 1 Driver, S. R.: "Isaiah, His Life and Times," London, 1888, p. 87. 2Jer. 1: 9; 15: 16; 18: 1; 27: 18; 37: 2; 28: 9; 49: 14; Ezek. 3: 17; 13: 22; Am. 3: 7; Hos. 12: 11; Hab. 1: 2; 2: 1-3; 3: 2; et al. 26 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY that the true prophet is one who foretells the approach of evrrrmlyTand" if he predict peace, the test of Tiis 'prophetic power Ts to be in fulfilment oLthe.jaxedictiQn XJgx • 2JLl9_1l- The prophets themselves as well as the Israelitish writers oTfenTpropose this test of the fulfilment of prediction as the true test of genuine prophecy. Jeremiah's position we have just seen. Isaiah, or whoever wrote the last chapters of the present book of Isaiah, mentions time and again that prediction and fulfilment are the marks of true prophecy, and these show the superiority of Israel's God.1 Deuteronomy (18: 22) says plainly: "When a prophet speaketh in the name of Jahve, and the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which Jahve hath not spoken." Again is pointed out the truth and the error in this position. The truth is that the prophets were predictors to a very large extent, not indeed of trivial things as in the sense of fortune-telling, but in the true sense of prophetic pre diction, large vision, profound intuition and inspiration. This prediction, however, is not an isolated, unrelated^ detached fact, but a natural, psychological product, "re"- lated to the history of Israel and to the environmentr education and psychology of the prophet. "The error in this position is that prediction, notwith standing that ancient Israel and some of the prophets themselves considered it the important test of true prophecy, is not at all the infallible test of the prophet, for the ancients themselves knew,2 and we certainly know, of men who can predict truly, and yet were not then, and are not now, considered prophets. And again those who in every sense are true prophets have often predicted things that were not fulfilled; prediction, therefore, cannot be 'Is. 40; 41: 21-28; 42: 9; 43: 9-13; 44: 25 ff., et al. 2 Deut. 13: 2-3, Hebrew edition 1-2, Eng. Version. POPULAR CONCEPTIONS OF HEBREW PROPHETS 27 the principle characteristic of prophecy. Oehler (p. 487) very correctly says: " But while, in accordance with the declaration of the Old Testament, we claim for prophecy the characteristic of prediction, we by no means assert the complete identity of the prediction with its fulfilment." (D) Conception of Prophet as Preacher, Teacher and Statesman (a) Preacher and Teacher A somewhat higher and perhaps truer conception of the prophet than any of the preceding is that which con siders him as national preacher, teacher and statesman.1 Whether the form of prophecy be prediction and the ac companiment miracle, the content or substance is always'' ethical, moral, social and political. The prediction and miracles, however considered, were never anything but a means to an end, not an unveiling of the future to the inquisitive eye;2 that was the business of the diviner, wizard and fortune teller, while thejjrophet's mainjjur- pose was religious, moral and political. The rationalistic and historical schools, both, conceived this to be the whole business of the prophet. Says Harper:3 " Prophecy, from this point of view (Rationalistic School), may be defined as a system of thought intended to lift the people to an ethical conception of the Deity "; Again,4 " from this point of view (His torical School) prophecy may be defined as a special form of religious instruction, in which effort is made to illus trate and to formulate the principles in accordance with which the Ruler of the Universe conducts His government of nations and individuals." 1 These, in ancient Israel, were always united because religion and politics, morality and law were inseparable. 2 Cf. on this point Knobel, p. 19. '"Prophetic Element in the Old Testament," p. 15. 'Ib., p. 16. 28 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY "In all these cases (Acts 2: 17, 18; 13: 1; 15 : 32> Rev. 1:3; 13: 3; 6: 10, 18; 16: 6; 18: 20, 24; 19: 10; 22: 6, 7, 9, 10, 18) in the New Testament as in the Old as in the Koran, the prominent idea is not that of predic tion, but of delivering inspired messages of warning, exhortation and instruction; building up, exhorting and comforting; convincing, judging and making manifest the secrets of the heart (I Cor. 14: 3, 24, 25) . The Ancient, Classical and Hebrew sense prevails everywhere. Epi- monides and Mahommed, Elijah and Paul, were prophets not because they foretold the future, but because they en lightened the present."1 Smend (p. 174) " Sie (die Prophetie) steht auch zum Christen thume in Beziehung, nicht sowohl durch die sogenannten messianischen Weissagungen, als vielmehr durch ihre religioesen Grundanschauungen." Smith's Bible Dictionary (Art. The Prophetic Gift) mentions eight characteristics of the prophets, among which are the following: (a) Preachers of morals and spiritual religion (as opposed to ceremonialism, Is. 1: 14-17). (b) Authorized exponents of the Law (Is. 58 : 3-7. Meaning of true fast) ; (Ezek. 18. Sins of fathers not visited on children) ; (Micah, Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God). (c) They were a political power in the state. Davidson2 interprets Jeremiah 28: 8-9 tQ._mean that^ the prophet must pass a moral judgment on his time ; it is that which makes him. a. prophet. The question now arises : Is there any truth in this posi tion? The answer is not far to seek. One cannot be a serious student of the prophetic books without recognizing the prophets' activity directed mainly towards the up- 1 Stanley, A. P.: "Commentary on Corinthians," p. 243, quoted in Cen tury Dictionary. 2 Davidson, A. B. : " Prophecy and Prophets " in Hastings " Dictionary of the Bible," Vol. IV, p. 106. POPULAR CONCEPTIONS OF HEBREW PROPHETS 29 building of religion and the state. As stated in the intro duction, a knowledge of Israel's history is taken for granted, hence no attempt will be made to prove the fol lowing well-known fact, introduced here in explication of the above question: Israel_ like all ancient peoples, be lieved in ajiational God (Jahve}. The favor of this G^^I^J-JS- be^2SiHi3IiEm^h^-sam£ce...and. presents, while the measure of Jahye^s J)ower lay mostly in his ability to grant victory to his people. Should he fail in this, KTsTpFace would have to be taken by some other god whose power might be relied upon.1 Even before Amos some exceptional characters among the prophets, as Nathan and Gad, preached to some extent the ethical and moral nature of Jahve, but from Amos and Hosea to_the close of prophecy, the conception of Jahve's nature,, and dominion .. was_ .entirely changed. Jahve was now the God of the whole universe, a con ception first preached by Amos and not understood by the people " until 'centuries later. . Jahve's nature was no longer capricious, influenced by sacrifice and presents ; it was moral and consistent and demanded moral obedience. His dominion was no longer Palestine alone, but all the earth. Hence victory was still through Him, of course, but — and this is the great moral conception the people never dreamed of before, and which the prophets con tinually preached — even_ defeat, which the people sup- posed^hjm&d^[alLve's ..weakness, the prophets declared proved Jahve's moral nature. For Jahve is a God of 1This is the view of all the higher critics and many not of the critical school also accept it — Wellhausen, Kuenen, Oort, Budde, Smend, W. R. Smith, Driver, etc. Budde seems to explain most satisfactorily how Israel came to accept Jahve as their national God. It was only after he had shown himself capable to deliver the Israelites from Egypt, that they formally accepted him at Mount Sinai as their God. Jahve was Jethro's God, the god of the Kenites, for "by my name Jahve was I not known to them." Budde's argument on this point seems to me irrefutable. Cf. Budde: "Religion of Israel to the Exile," Lecture I. 30 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY justice and punishes sin wherever committed. Israel is only one of the many nations belonging to Jahve, and if Israel has indeed been chosen as Jahve's elect, that insures not greater victory, as the people thought, but greater responsibility and punishment (Amos 3: 2). " Every thing that befell Israel was interpreted by the prophets as a work of Jehova's hand, displaying His char acter and will — not an arbitrary character or a changeable will, but a fixed and consistent holy purpose, which has Israel for its object and seeks the true felicity of the nation, but at the same time is absolutely sovereign over Israel, and will not give way to Israel's desires or adapt itself to Israel's convenience. . . . Now, when we speak of Jehovah as displaying a consistent character in his sovereignty over Israel, we necessarily imply that Israel's religion is a moral religion, that Jehovah is a God of righteousness, whose dealings with his people follow an ethical standard."1 As moral teachers the prophets everywhere emphasize that righteousness leads to life and sin to deathPatid, therefofe7 when evil is predicted, it is mo^tl^_jlwayFwith" the proviso, either expressed or understood, that repent ance, a turning away from sin, may avert -theZpredicted_ evil. As moral teachers and preachers of righteousness a few examples must suffice: Nathan calls David to account in the name of Jahve for his unchastity in the matter of Bath-sheba and his unfairness towards her husband (II Sam. 12: 1-14). Elijah rebukes King Ahab and an nounces destruction to him and his posterity because he had Naboth slain to dispossess him of a coveted vineyard (I K. 21). Isaiah announces in unmistakable terms that sacrifices are an abomination to God and that righteous- 1 Smith, W. R.: "Prophets of Israel," pp. 70-71. Cf. also Cornill: "Prophets of Israel," Chicago, 1895, pp. 141 ff. POPULAR CONCEPTIONS OF HEBREW PROPHETS 3 1 ness is what He requires (Is. 1 : 10-17). (Cf. also Is. 5 : 23 ff., which is an arraignment of natural sins; 6 : 10 ff., shows that Isaiah is to be the teacher and preacher of his people, etc.1). Jeremiah tells how he was ordained to preach and teach, exhort and warn (Jer. 1: 10 ff. ; 4: 3 ff.). Chapters 2 to 6 constantly offer a pardon and release from destruction through repentance; the same idea in beautiful parable is taught in Chapter 18; very noteworthy of this office of preacher is Jeremiah's refer ence to precedence in Israel's history when Micah had preached inevitable destruction in the path of sin, and how repentance averted the evil (Jer. 26: 18 ff.) ; Ezekiel repeats over fifty times the thought that the object of his preaching is " That the people may know God." The children shall not suffer for the sins of the fathers ( Ezek. 18: 2 ff . ) , neither does God desire the death of the sinner, but only that he return (repent) and live, are great moral teachings of Ezekiel. So also Jonah preaches right eousness and Amos, Hosea, Micah and Malachi and others (Hosea 4: 1 ff., 6: 3 ff. in Chapts. 4-8 Israel's guilt predominates, in Chapts. 9-1 1 Israel's punishment is de picted) ; Amos in Chapts. 1-2 preaches God's punishment among all nations for moral breaches ; in Chapts. $-6 he denounces in strong terms all kinds of cruelty and frivolity ; Micah sums up his whole lesson as moral teacher in Chap. 6:8," to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with God"; Nahum's voice is raised against moral and social evil (3 : 4 ff.) ; Malachi attacks chiefly three moral and religious abuses,2 the degeneracy of the priesthood, intermarriage of foreign women and the remissness of the people in the payment of sacred dues. 1 Cf . Driver: "Introduction to Literature of the Old Testament," p. 208. 2 lb., p. 357. 32 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY (b) Statesman In ancient Israel, as is well known, Religion and the State were one, hence as statesmen no less than as preachers and teachers, the prophets' work was invaluable to the nation. Even more than statesmen in the modern sense were they, for not only did they, unappointed and un- elected, act as advisers and counsellors of kings, as spokes men of the people's rights, but, deriving their authority from God, they rebuked, set up and often deposed the rulers, according as they were or were not just and righteous rulers. Sometimes even outside the nation their influence in political affairs was felt. Elijah is instrumental in setting up Hazael as King of Damascus, and Jehu, son of Nimshi, as King of Israel.1 Nathan, the prophet, overthrows the plan of crowning Adonijah, and sets up Solomon instead (IK. Ch. I). Their advice is often asked in war as well as in peace. When Joram, King of Israel, Jehoshophat, King of Judah, and Edom's King formed an alliance to force Mesha, King of Moab, to continue his tribute of rams, lambs and wool, Elisha's advice is first asked (II K. 3: 4 ff.). An unknown prophet (man of God) discourages Amaziah from joining forces with Israel against Seir (II Chr. 25: 5 ff.). " Wenn also wichtige Ereignisse im Volke oder in dessen Umgebungen vorgefallen sind, wenn politisches oder physiches Unglueck hereingebrochen ist, wenn verkehrte unheilsame Plaene im Anschlage sind, wenn Schandthaten begangen worden sind und herschende Laster goettliche Strafen gefuerchten lassen, dann treten sie in gewaltiger Kraft hervor, urn bald heilsame Lehren und Rathschlaege zu ertheilen, bald zu troesten und zu ermahnen u. s. w. Diese Reden halten sie theils oeffent- 1 Elisha is also credited with the same thing. Cf. I K. 19: 15-16 and II K. 9: 1 ff. POPULAR CONCEPTIONS OF HEBREW PROPHETS 33 lich in der Mitte des Volkes, theils in kleinen Kreisen, theils privatim unter vier Augen, je nachdem es die Umstaende erheischen (I K. 12: 22 ff. ; 2 Chr. 12: 5 ff.; 20: 14 ff.; Jer. 17: 19, 20; 22: 157:2; 19: 14; 26: 2; 28: 5; 35: 1 ff.; 36: 5-10, etc.)."1 Of Jeremiah, Driver says : " Politically, the fourth year of Jehoiakim, in which Nebuchadnezzar won his great victory over Pharaoh Necho at Carchemisch on the Euphrates, was the turning point of the age. Jeremiah at once grasped the situation ; he saw that Nebuchadnezzar was destined to achieve further successes; he greeted him with the ode of triumph in C. 46, and declared that the whole of Western Asia would fall under his sway (C. 25), implying thereby what he afterwards taught explicitly, that the safety of Judah lay in yielding to the inevitable and accepting the condition of dependence upon Babylon."2 Ezekiel, though more of a pastor to the people than a statesman, watches with keen interest the events of history and advises time and again the course that the nation had best pursue.3 Concerning Isaiah, perhaps the greatest statesman of all the prophets, Driver, in his excellent volume : Isaiah, His Life and Times, says:4 " Regarded practically, the views which he advocated were clear, consistent and sound. The circumstances of the age threatened to en tangle Judah with foreign powers, and Isaiah lays down the principles by which her action should be guided. In the panic caused by Syro-Ephraimitic invasion, Isaiah alone (so far as appears) retained the power of sober reflection, estimated the danger at its just proportions and 1 Knobel, p. 69. 2 Driver: "Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament," p. 248. 3 lb., p. 279, also " Das Buch Hesekiel," Bertholet, p. xvi. ' lb., pp. 107-08. 34 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY saw that no stress of circumstances could justify the abandonment of principle or neutralize the consequences in case it should be resorted to (8: 12-15). . . . From the first he saw the hollowness of Egyptian promises, and it was doubtless owing chiefly to his exertions and influence that the alliance with Egypt was deferred for so many years. . . . "As a reformer Isaiah labored to correct all political and social abuses. To elevate statesmanship, to purify justice, to reform religion, to fight against inconsistency, to redress social wrongs, were the aims which he set him self in life; and his book discloses to us the persistency and uncompromising earnestness with which he pursued it." And again : " True, this aspect of a prophet's work, to enforce a proper standard of action, to remind a nation of the moral obligations which its professions of religion impose upon it, was in no way peculiar to Isaiah, it is com mon more or less to all the prophets." Note here again what is true and what false in this conception of the prophet. True it is, as is seen from the foregoing, that the prophets may in the highest sense be called preachers, teachers and statesmen, but, notwithstanding the fact that they render incalculable service in these capacities, it is not true that these offices were the highest characteristics of the prophets; they were not even the conscious motif of these prophets (as will be seen in the following chapters) . For it is evident, without further argument, that preachers, teachers and statesmen, no matter how eloquent, pure and far-seeing, are not prophets, and hence the prophet cannot be con verted into these. POPULAR CONCEPTIONS OF HEBREW PROPHETS 35 (E) Summary. A Soul of Truth in Things Erroneous With Herbert Spencer I believe that there is a soul of truth in things erroneous.1 We have seen indeed that the prophets predicted the coming of a Messiah, but as we understand it they meant an ideal king, such an one as would be a worthy descendant of the idealized king David of the golden age; one who might bring order into political chaos, harmony out of. confusion, rule in equity and justice, rejuvenate and re create his people, and be in every sense a prince of peace. These prophets were wonder-workers, indeed, not in the sense of bringing confusion into the physical laws of nature, but in a deeper and truer sense of recognizing the spiritual laws in the unseen kingdom, and creating out of a religion of ceremony, animal and human sacrifice, and superstition, a religion of beauty and truth, of spiritual ized and ethical monotheism, such as the world will per haps some day understand. And finally, whatever the explanation, the fact remains that these men saw many events before their time, and were enabled by their clearer vision and higher aspirations, to preach, teach and lead in national affairs. 1 " First Principles," p. 3. CHAPTER III MIRACLES OR SUPERNATURAL PHYSICS No study of prophecy can afford to overlook the sub ject of miracles inasmuch as the prophet is often sup posed to be a miracle. For, no matter how one views the history of Greece and PersiaT^gypt and China, Eng- land^Trd^MextccVT^^Ts^ry'^oTTsrael is Visually seFaside as in greaTmeasure unrelated touniversallilitor^ifipEte with supernatural and unnatural phenomena. In other nations it is allowed that history works itself out in a natural way, under the guidance of Providence, that is, in accordance with well-known physical and spiritual laws, everywhere operative; while in Israel there was direct interference with the natural laws by su^£matural_agericy. It is not intended to convey the idea that the content and result of Israel's history and religion are identical with, or even similar to, the content and result of the religion and history of other nations. Neither are the content and result of China's history identical with, or similar to, England's, and yet each is in every sense a natural product. Going just one step further, we might easily affirm that there is no similarity and surely no identity between a watch-dog and a lily, and yet the process of cell-building in each is not essentially different, and the relation of activity to growth in each is the same, because all organ isms are primarily descended from a fertilized germ. " And in all cases — in the humblest alga as in the oak, in the protozoon as in the mammal — this fertilized germ results from the union of the contents of two cells."1 Yet, because the lily differs so widely from the watch- 1 Spencer: "Essay on Transcendental Physiology," p. 66. 36 MIRACLES OR SUPERNATURAL PHYSICS 37 dog and the protozoon from the mammal, no one would think of calling either the one or the other a supernatural product. There can be nonobjection to the word Miracle, if by it is meant the impossibility of explaining objects and phe- npmerLa_satisfac.torily, for no man is so presumptuous as to believe that he knows aught of the incomprehensible and forever mysterious way in which the seed grows into' the rose and the germ into the child, or why or how brain activity makes possible consciousness, or consciousness brain activity. Nevertheless these tangible objects and intangible phenomena are called natural, because no mat ter how inexplicable and mysterious they all may be on the one hand, they are all, on the other hand, capable of being studied, and when so studied or observed, are seen to follow definite laws. And by law is not meant a power from without, impelling the thing to> act in a certain way ; but the observed way_or mode in which the thing uni formly acts or operates is called its law. Hence when we find a thing to act, or a phenomenon to appear, in a certain uniform way under definite conditions, we say we have discovered its law. Therefore, whatever can be observed or experienced, whether it be the growth of the embryo or the metamorphosis of the caterpillar, whether the absorption of motion and disintegration of matter or the integration of matter and dissipation of motion, whether the walking on water or conversion of staff into serpent, if these are experienced facts^ phenomena observable or observed, then are they natural phenomena pure and simple. If now we designate the observed uniform ways or modes~iiT^hTcri~the physical universe acts as laws of_ physics, and the observed uniform ways or modes in which mind acts as laws of psychology, then miracles, which are phenomena not classifiable under any known 38 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY law of physics or psychology, would have to be designated by" some such term as not-natural, unnatural or super natural physics or psychology. If miracles are designated by their synonyms : unnatural physics and supernatural psychology, it seems to me, that even the crassest miraclist will p"auslTT moment to think. How, then, shall we study the Bible in order to wrest from her pages the truth? There are three ways of approaching the study of Biblical problems i1 ( I ) To accept everything as literally true; (2) to reject every thing as literally false; (3) to pick out from the great mass of myth, unscientific observation and child-age credulity, the kernel of truth. There is no other way of approach. The first method we must reject unless we believe that we shall be especially interesting to God, if we retain child-like credulity in matters Biblical, no matter how logical and critical we may be in other fields of investiga tion. The second method we must also reject unless indeed we wish to go to the other extreme and deliberately close our eyes to the fact that there is a soul of truth in all things erroneous. Hence the only thing left is to accept the third method. And indeed this method is the most rational and the one most calculated to get at truth. The problem, however, is how to get at this kernel of truth from out of the many layers of tradition, myth, em bellishment and one-sided view-point. Here, in this end less labyrinth, psychology alone can blTour^trtre— gtridey accompanied only by what we ^now~of~fos-. nature—of physical Jaws ; for, in the last analysis, physicatiawT re- quin^jrez^ for jhejr perception and interj^etationT~~ JCf. Budde: "Religion of Israel to Exile," New York, 1898, p. 2, note 1. MIRACLES OR SUPERNATURAL PHYSICS 39 (A) Nothing Gained From Theological Discus sion of God's Power to Break His Laws We gain nothing in this respect by the old theological argument that God is all-powerful, therefore nothing is impossible for Him. If ordinarily a man buried in the grave remains there forever, through the will of God he may arise and live again. The psychology of the un trained mind is easily explicable and to a great extent quite logical. If the caterpillar is metamorphosed into a butter fly, why not a staff into a serpent? If a seed buried in the ground grows and lives, why not a man I1 Such an argument of the all-powerfulness of God has no value whatever. In the first place " God " and " all- powerful " are posited, both conceptions of infinity and we have no experience with infinity. In the second place we can continue the argument by saying : God is all-wise. If so, whatever He made is perfect. The laws of the universe are His laws, therefore they are perfect. If God at any time changes them, that is a confession that these laws were not perfect, therefore God is not perfect, not all-wise, which contradicts the proposition. Therefore, it follows that God cannot change His laws, cannot per form miracles.2 1 Cf . Spencer's very lucid chapter on the Ideas of Death and Resur rection, " Sociology," Vol. I, p. 153 ff. "Most remarkable indeed is the fact that already in the Mishnah the Rabbis saw in these miracles the great stumbling block to the concep tion that God is all-wise. Believing, nevertheless, that the Bible is an authentic record of events, they harmonized the contradiction by accept ing the immutability of God's law, thus establishing His omniscience and perfection, and then explaining the miracles by saying that they were not a change of God's law or mind, but that these seeming breaches of nature had been preordained at the very creation of the world (Pirke Aboth 5:6). While in another place (Rosh Hashanah 3:8) the Rabbis very emphatically declare the impossibility of miracles and explain them symbolically. 40 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY (B) Empiric or Scientific Knowledge of Value Here In any investigation, and, therefore, also in the investi gation of miracles, theoretical knowledge can have no value as explanation, unless the theory is at least ex plicable on principles already known, that is on empiric knowledge. To explain one unknown quantity by an other is begging the question. The problem is to explain miracles, that is, phenomena supposedly not explicable by any known law of nature. Now to explain these miracles by referring them to God, an unknown quantity, to His all-powerfulness, another un known quantity, to His will, another unknown quantity, is to beg the question with a three-fold begging. Explanation may often mean simply classification. The first step in every investigation is classification. The botanist, the geologist, the astronomer, the biologist, the psychologist, each begins by classifying. A thing or a phenomenon is explained when classified among other things and phenomena. An object may be found wholly different from anything known, and, therefore, unclassi- fiable, and yet when it is designated by the very vague name " thing " it is already classified and becomes an object of science and, therefore, a natural object and not a supernatural one. So also an appearance may be so unlike anything previously experienced by the individual or the race as to be unclassifiable, yet by the very vague designation " phenomenon," or " appearance," it becomes an object of psychology or some other branch of science, and thereby it is included in natural phenomena and not in supernatural. In general, then, whatever is experi enced, whether the dividing of the river or the resurrection of the dead, if it is an experienced phenomenon, it is a natural phenomenon, although no satisfactory explanation be at any time forthcoming. The problem, however, with MIRACLES or supernatural physics 41 most so-called miracles is not one of physical science, but of plyihology, that is, not how did the thing happen, but howj:ame the writer to record it as fact. (C) Scientific Basis In Favor of Miracles. The Objection The argument drawn from archebiosis might be ad vanced as a scientific basis in favor of miracles. It might be argued that as no scientist to-day has succeeded in creating living protoplasm out of existing matter under existing conditions, and yet nearly all believe in archebiosis, that is that living matter has in some past epoch originated in accordance with natural laws,1 so in the same way might it be argued, that all these miracles reported in the Bible, though physically impossible now, under present cosmic conditions, were possible then, and were, therefore, natural in the same identical sense in which our physical laws to-day are natural. There is, however, a serious objection to this kind of argument. While in the strictest sense cosmic conditions are not identical this moment with the preceding moment, yet for so vast a change in natural law, as, for example, to change sand into lice, a thing impossible now, cosmic conditions certainly require a vastly greater period of time than three thousand years. From all that we learn from contemporary sources there were no perceptible dif ferences between cosmic conditions in Biblical times and now. The explanation must, therefore, be sought in a different direction. (D) Explanation in our False Historic Per spective It is clear from the foregoing that I seek an explana tion of miracles not in the realm of physics but in psychol- 1Fiske, in his "Cosmic Philosophy," Vol. I, Chap. 8, presents an ex cellent account of " The Beginnings of Life." 42 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY ogy. In otherjwiLrds,JUs-rADJL^^ need explanation as the minds that believe them. Every increased knowledge of nature increases _trle conviction of the impossibility of miracles. For, not excluding the possibility of the existence of phenomena unknriwnTto us, or inexplicable by us, I hold that whatever is an object of experience is by that very fact natural. The whole problem of miracles exists solely because of our false historic perspective. We read for example (Josh. 10: 12-13) ^at Joshua made the sun and the moon to stand still and still we say : That is something that so far as we know no one can do, hence we conclude that it is a miracle, a direct interference of God with His own laws, and we ask: How do you explain that? What we should do is to get the proper historic perspective and ask: Did the author who chronicled the event Tnterid It aTfact or fiction? If fact, who saw or experienced thaffacT? Were those who experienced that fact, assuming and granting that they were honest and unbiased, capable to observe accurately and report correctly ? Answering these questions we find the very noteworthy fact that not a single prophet of the really great, prophets who wrote their own sermons and_recorded contemporaneous history mentions any miracles or supernatural events about him self or his time, and that all the miracles recorded in the Bible were written by historians who lived many centuries after the events which they chronicle. Granting, as I do, that in many cases the writer or compiler embodies older manuscripts,1 the fact above stated is worthy of serious 1 Harper, p. 28. Three schools of interpretation exist: (1) The school which maintained that the material of these documents is contemporaneous with the events described or words uttered; (2) the school which main tains that the material has no historic value, since it is largely, if not wholly, the creation of the later author, and, (3) the school which believes that these writers made use of the earlier writings. MIRACLES OR SUPERNATURAL PHYSICS 43 reflection, and can lead to but one conclusion:1 "Most natural events, if they be handed down by tradition, be come exaggerated and assume of themselves, as it were, the character of miracles."2 We could even go further and show that some of the compilers themselves had at least their doubts as to whether they were record ing facts, as is evident from the above example chosen at random. The compiler's only authority for the state ment that Joshua made the sun and moon to stand still, as he himself states (Josh. 10: 13), is the fact that it is written in the book of Jasher. If we remember how in our own age of scientific ac curacy the biographer often sees in the subject of his biography a hero, no matter how ordinary and common place he may have appeared to others, we can understand how, in an age of child-like credulity the truly great man who had impressed his personality and character on his age and time to such an extent as to live in the memory and tradition of his people, how such a man should grow into a hero, a god, a wonder-worker and what-not.3 This element of the miraculous we find not only among Israel in his early stage, but among all ancient peoples and among modern in a low stage of development. If Moses performed miracles so also did the Egyptian magicians (Ex. 7: 11). If Elijah, Elisha and Jesus healed the sick without physical means, so also did the 1 One thing we must not forget, namely, that when the prophets and other Biblical writers speak of Jahve as doing this or that they mean nothing more or less than that without Jahve nothing either small or great can happen. Jahve to jhem means exactly what nature means to us. Cf. W. R. Smith,"" " Prophets of Israel," pp. 313 ff. Also Maimonides, who already in the twelfth century explained that Scripture ascribes phe nomena produced by the natural causes to God as the first cause of. all things. ("Guide for the Perplexed," Ch. XLVIII.) 2Kuenen: "The Religion of Israel," Vol. I, p. 20. 3 Cf. Carlyle's " Heroes and Hero Worship." 44 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY Greeks and Romans in all ages;1 and so also' do the medi cine men among uncivilized tribes, and so do the Christian scientists and mental healers and divine healers of to-day. If these men raised the dead to life, so did Polyeidus restore Glaucus to life.2 If some of the Biblical char acters brought down rain from heaven, so do the Indian and Australian " rain makers."3 If Sampson had super natural strength, so also had Hercules. If Joshua pro longed the day, so also did the Greeks and the Romans,4 and so also do the Australian Blacks of to-day.5 If the birth of Jesus is wrapped in mystery and wonder, so also is the birth of Etana and Rustem in the Babylonian- Assyrian and Armenian and Mandaean legends6 and so is the birth of Zoroaster, Buddha and Mohammed.7 If Elijah ascended to heaven, so did many Greeks and Romans.8 In fact the whole list of miracles must be explained from a psychological standpoint upon the credulity and exaggeration of the child-age in civilization. Georg Lorenz Bauer in his volume in two parts entitled, " Hebraeische Mythologie des alten und neuen Testa- mentes " has shown one hundred and four years ago what many to-day cannot yet understand, that all these wonder ful things belong to the field of mythology, and he ar ranges all the Biblical miracles under three heads: (i) Philosophical Myths; (2) Historical and Historical- Philosophical Myths; (3) Poetic and Mixed Myths. 'Cf. Rohde: "Psyche," Freiburg, 1890, Vol. II, p. 76, note 1. 2 Bauer: "Hebraeische Mythologie des Alten und Neuen Testamentes," Part II, p. 167. "Brinton: "Religions of Primitive Peoples," New York and London, 1897, p. 174. * Iliad, Book II, lines 412-417. Also Plautus and Sosia, quoted by Bauer, Book II, pp. 18 and 22. "Brinton, p. 13. "Jastrow, Morris: "Religion of Babylonia and Assyria," p. 520 ff. 7 Silberstein, M.: " Im Himmel und auf Erden," Breslau, 1896, pp. 5-19. 8 Cf. on this point Rohde on " Psyche," Vol. II, pp. 373 ff., and notes. MIRACLES OR SUPERNATURAL PHYSICS 45 And not only does he show the supernatural to be mythical, but also shows in most cases the parallel existing between Old and New Testament mythology and Greek and Roman mythology.1 To conclude, then, the Biblical miracles belong in the\ same class as the non-biblical miracles, and should be ex plained not by asking: How did they happen?, but how came the ancient writers to believe them? (E) Is There A Residue of Prophetic Miracles Not Yet Explained ? Is there a residue of prophetic miracles not explained on the above theory? I do not hesitate to answer in the affirmative. The objection might be raised, I am well aware, to the explanation of miracles in the last section on the ground that if the possibility of some miracles is granted, then must the possibility of all be granted. The objection would indeed be a valid one, if I granted the possibility of any miracles, but I do not grant that possibility. I have picked out one particular recorded event, so unusual and so seemingly contradictory to the laws of nature, that even to-day few would hesitate to call it a super natural affair, a miracle, and it is quoted just because of this miraculous element in it, to show that while most miracles belong to the field of mythology or psychology, there may be some that cannot be so explained, and yet I emphasize my theory that whatever is is natural, no matter whether an explanation be forthcoming or not. And now to the miracle! In the book of Daniel (3: 15 ff.) we read that Shadrach, Meshach and Abed- 'Brinton, "Religions of Primitive Peoples," groups the most prominent mythical cycles under several heads in which many of the Biblical miracles may well find their place (p. 118 ff.). 46 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY nego were cast into a fiery furnace because they would not obey Nebuchadnezzar's decree to worship the golden image, but lo and behold! they were walking around in the midst of the furnace unharmed, " not an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed nor had the smell of fire passed on them." This miracle surely seems to contradict the possible, and yet I single out this one as truth, because it can be done and is done to-day by many uncivilized tribes, ac cording to authentic reports quoted by Andrew Lang in his book " Magic and Religion," Ch. XV. His quota tions are from eye-witnesses of the highest scientific stand ing and so convincing that I cannot reject the evidence of the possibility of the feat, in spite of the fact that I find no ready explanation, nor does he offer one. He simply states that it is a subject worthy of physiological and psychological investigation. In a larger work than this thesis it would indeed be worth while to quote the entire chapter so that the facts from which I judge might be patent, but as this cannot be done here, I give a few short excerpts from one of the numerous reports there given : An Account of the Fiji Fire Ceremony By Dr. T. M. Hocken, F.L.S. " The lovo, or oven, was circular, with a diameter of 25 or 30 feet; its greatest depth was perhaps 8 feet, its general shape that of a saucer, with sloping sides and a flattish bottom, the latter being filled with the white-hot stones. Near the margin of the oven and on its wind ward side, the thermometer marked 1 14°, " And now they came on, seven or eight in number, amidst the vociferous yells of those around. The margin reached, they steadily descended the oven slope in single miracles or supernatural physics 47 file, and walked, as I think, quickly across and around the stones, leaving the oven at the point of entrance. The leader who was longest in the oven was a second or two under half a minute therein. . . . " Just before the great event of the day I gained per mission to examine one or two of the fire-walkers prior to their descent into the oven. This was granted without the least hesitation by the principal native magistrate of the Rewa district, N'Dabea by name, but generally known as Jonathan. This native is of great intelligence and influence, is a member of the Na Galita Clan, and has himself at various times walked through the fire. On this occasion he took no other part in the ceremony than that of watching or superintending it. The two men thus sent forward for examination disclosed no peculiar feature whatever. As to dress, they were slightly garlanded round the neck and the waist; the pulse was unaffected, and the skin, legs and feet were free from any apparent application. The foot-soles were comparatively soft and flexible — by no means leathery and insensible. Thus the two Suvan theories were disposed of. This careful ex amination was repeated immediately after egress from the oven and with the same result. To use the language of Scripture, ' No smell of fire had passed upon them.' . . . " Various natives, being interrogated for an explana tion, replied, with a shrug, ' They can do this wonderful thing; we cannot. You have seen it; we have seen it.' Whilst thus unable to suggest any theory or explanation, I am absolutely certain as to the truth of the facts and the bona fides of the actors. A feature is that, wherever this power is found, it is possessed by but a limited few. I was assured, too, that any person holding the hand of one of the fire-walkers could himself pass through the oven un harmed. This the natives positively assert." Now then, while on the one hand, I assert the impos- 48 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY sibility of arriving at knowledge except through the nat ural channels, this section, on the other hand, is to em phasize the thought that not all objects of experience are capable of satisfactory explanation, and yet, if these phe nomena are objects of experience, then are they in every sense natural. This last thought is especially important because in the chapters that follow there may perhaps be some elements in the prophetic mind not capable of ex act explanation any more than the very concept " mind " is capable of exact explanation, and yet " mind," " prophetic mind," " poetic mind," " artistic mirid," though none can be exactly defined, still are each and all natural products, subject to definite, though not always jexplicable, laws. Nor is it necessary that the student of prophecy~shail ' explain all the contradictions, supposed or real, of the laws of psychology in the prophetic activity, any more than the physicist is called upon to explain the supposed contra dictions of physical law, as when in the presence of the " psychic medium " the table walks and the trumpet flies up, while in every known scientific laboratory the table stands still and the course of the trumpet is always to the floor, not to the ceiling. The physicist may, if he so desires, venture an explanation of these contradictions, but his reputation as a scientist does not depend upon a correct explanation of the tricks of the medium. So also do I emphasize the fact that a study of miracles in general, and the psychology of the prophet in particular, is in no wise hindered by some of the supposed or real contra dictions of the known and ascertained physical and mental laws. CHAPTER IV THE PROPHET IN RELATION TO OTHER PROFESSIONS A general survey of the office of prophet we found in the etymological and philological study of the word Nabi ; from the various popular conceptions we have gleaned some idea of the many-sided activity of the prophet, as seen from the different popular view points; and, having dis posed of miracles in the history of Israel, it is evident that we shall find the prophet human, related to other human beings. Our task in this chapter will be to- consider the prophet in his relation to other professions. Not the differences especially, and these are, of course, many and are taken for granted, but the likenesses and similarity between the prophet, on the one hand, and the priest, diviner, poet and genius, on the other, will be the subject of investigation here. (A) Prophet and Priest In the Babylonian-Assyrian religion the priest func tioned in the capacities of priest, prophet, poet and magician. He was the guardian of the temple and its rights and palladia; he was the ramku and nisakku,1 the " libation-pourer," and officiated at all sacrifices, for no one, not even kings, who in Assyria and Babylonia as well as in Israel were divinely appointed, could approach the deity with his sacrifice without the priest's assistance. He it was through whom, by means of sacrifice, the desired answer was obtained (ibid., p. 331) ; he was the mediator between the penitent and his god, and through him recon ciliation was to be had and only through him (p. 315) ; "Jastrow, M.: "Religion of Babylonia and Assyria," p. 657. 5 49 SO THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY he alone could offer prayers efficaciously and wrest from the gods the coveted favor (p. 353). In the capacity of prophet he was the interpreter of oracles and omens, the prognosticator of the future (p. 329) and determined the will of the gods; he was the shailu, the " inquirer " who obtains oracles through the dead and through the gods (p. 657 ff.) ; above all he was the theologian and religious teacher, " setting the fashion in theological thought," and in general he was the intel lectual leader of the people. Related to this was the office of scribe and judge also held by the priest. As poets these priests functioned in the capacity of dirge-singers and hymn-singers, " wailers " and " howl ers," but also as the composers of these hymns and prayers, incantations and magical texts, each sanctuary having its own characteristic services (p. 248 ff.). The most popular function of the priest, however, was that of magician, charmer, restrainer of demons, soothsayer, healer (p. 657 ff.). Now, whether or not Israel's religion is directly con nected with that of Assyria and Babylonia is not a proper subject for discussion here, but certain it is that, all re ligions in their early stages are similar, and especially are the early Semitic religions similar in form and content. It is to be regretted that we have not more Biblical ma terial to judge from, but even from the meager accounts it appears, almost beyond dispute, that in ancient Israel, too, the prophet and priest were originally one.1 Moses was priest and prophet both.2 So was Aaron. Samuel was brought up by Eli, the priest, and it seems that at least the early part of his life he functioned as priest, while later he assumed more and more the role of "The same holds true of the Philistines. Compare I Samuel 6: 2. 2 Compare Deut. 18: 5; 33: 4, 8, 9; Ps. 99: 6; Nu. 12: 6 ff.; Hos. 12: 13, 14; see also W. R. Smith: "Old Testament in Jewish Church," pp. 302-3. THE PROPHET IN RELATION TO OTHER PROFESSIONS 51 prophet. And yet, even here, it is already seen that the two offices were united in one person, because, while act ing in the capacity of prophet, he is still looked upon as, and performs the duties of, priest, as when at the sacrificial meal his presence was necessary to bless the offering (I Sam. 9: 13 ff.). Ezekiel is certainly as much priest as prophet, as active for sacrifice and temple as for ethical action, and " the official prophets of Judah appear to have been connected with the priesthood and the sanctuary until the close of the kingdom."1 They interest themselves, as do the priests, in the building of the Temple (Ezra 5 : 2 ff., II Sam. 7) ; in the music for the Temple (II Chr. 29 : 25) ; the prophet, Gad, advises David to build an altar (II Sam. 24: 18). In short, in these and other respects the prophets are identical with the priests.2 Kuenen3 objects to the theory that the prophet and priest were originally one, chiefly on the ground that the office of priest was hereditary, while that of the prophet was not. This seems to me to be a very superficial ob jection because we have seen that in other Semitic religions the two were one,4 and even the priestly office itself, while later hereditary, was originally quite likely not so, as everyone was permitted to offer sacrifice, while the dis tinctive office of the priest was to consult the oracles.5 In the same way it might be reasoned that the theatre and the church are unrelated because to-day the two insti tutions are dissimilar and often at opposite extremes, and yet, in spite of this, the theatre is the product of the church. The same opposition in fact we find among the prophet 1 Smith, W. R. : " Old Testament in Jewish Church," pp. 292 ff. 2Knobel, pp. 207-8. 3 Kuenen: " Hibbert Lectures," London, 1882, pp. 96 ff. 4 So also in Arabic Kahin is seer, while in Hebrew the same word Kohen means priest. B Later this function of oracles was shifted to the prophet, while the priest became the official sacrificer. 52 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY and priest, the one emphasizing spiritual religion and often condemning sacrifice and rite, the other carefully guarding and emphasizing ritual and sacrifice. Other scholars, however, such as Smend, Knobel and W. R. Smith accept the theory that the two were originally one.1 Again we find that the two offices often overlapped each other, thus showing, as I believe, that, when according to modern phraseology the division of labor or specialization took place, the two were not yet clearly defined. There were prophetic as well as priestly oracles (I Sam. 28 : 6). David asks Gad, the prophet, for advice, to inquire of God, and then turns to Abiathar, the priest, to get the information by means of the ephod (I Sam. 14: 18; 22: 5, 10; 23: 9). Elijah and Elisha occasionally offer sacri fices themselves as well as the priests (I Kings 18 : 30 ff.) . " When all is said," acknowledges even Kuenen,2 " points of contact between prophet and priest remain. Both passed in the eyes of the people for the trusted inter preters of the deity. . . . There were doubtless circum stances under which the prophet or the priest might be consulted with equal propriety. If the special circum stances occasionally determined the choice, there were likewise times when no- choice was open." Not only, then, are prophets related to the priests, but they were originally one and the same person. When they finally did become separate persons with separate offices we still find them related in the following points: They were both mediators between the people and their God. Both prayed in times of need to God in behalf of Israel (Smend, p. 88). "Smend: " Lehrbuch der alttest. Religionsgeschichte," pp. 92 ff. W. R. Smith : " Old Testament in Jewish Church," pp. 293 ff. Knobel, pp. 208 ff. 2 " Hibbert Lectures," pp. 97-8. THE PROPHET IN RELATION TO OTHER PROFESSIONS 53 Both were consulted regarding the will of God; the one answered by means of the Ephod, Urim and Thumim, the other directly through visions, dreams and intelligent insight. Both worked for the religion of Israel in the name of Jahve. The priests were often judges of the people, so were the prophets in a higher sense, judging priests, kings and people alike. Both gave advice in critical periods, the one when asked, the other, the prophet, often unbidden. The object and aim of both, in a general sense, was the same, namely, to make Israel holy, obedient to the laws, the Torah of Jahve; the one tried to gain his object through ceremony, sacrifice and rite, the other through righteousness and justice. Hence, it is evident that in these related points the psychology of the prophet is in no wise different from the psychology of the priest, and might well be eliminated in an investigation of the distinctive features of the psy chology of prophecy. (B) Prophet and Diviner In the priest of the Babylonian-Assyrian religion were centered all the offices which later, in other nations, were branched off from the parent root into prophet, diviner, charmer, poet, magician and all the rest of religious and kindred workers. Indications are not wanting to show that in Israel, too, these offices, if not always vested in one person, were at least so closely related that the functions of the one were at no time very clearly marked off from those of the other, so that no clear demarcation is pos sible.1 "Cf. Mic. 3: 5 ff.; Is. 3: 2, 3; Ezek. 13; Hos. 4: 12 ff.; Lev. 19: 26, 31; 20: 6, 27; I Sam. 15: 23. 54 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY " We shall presently have occasion to notice more than once, that though sorcery was opposed by some of the most advanced Israelites, until at last it was forbidden in the Law, yet the sorcerers, wizards and necromancers played a great part in the national life of Israel, by the side of seers, dreamers, priests and prophets. The prophets especially were given to meddling with these arts."1 The Teraphim, the Lot, the Ephod, the Urim and Thumim were all divining instruments used in Israel, and the necromancers were by no means discredited in Israel, as even the king in distress goes to inquire of them regarding the outcome of the battle (I Sam. 28). The many persecutions of these diviners, wizards, etc., are not a proof that Israel did not believe in them or did not practice their arts, but, on the contrary, it is just because Israel did believe in the power of these and practiced their arts, that the more zealous workers for the Jahve religion opposed them so bitterly.2 The great religious revival which Deuteronomy introduced indicates clearly that those nations believe in the diviners, but Israel must not, " for you, God will raise up a prophet from the midst of you " (Deut. 18 : 13 ff.). It was because these others were inspired by " strange gods " that they were forbidden, while Israel's prophets prophesied in the name of Jahve and were, therefore, trustworthy. Now to compare the prophet to the diviner may seem a little unfashionable, for evidently there is fashion in religion as well as in society. Says Andrew Lang (p. 47) : "If a minister of the kirk was clairvoyant or second-sighted that was proof of godliness and inspira tion. But if a lay parishioner was second-sighted, he was in danger of the stake as a witch or wizard." In the 1 Bible for Learners, Vol. I, p. 220. 2Cf. Bible for Learners, Vol. I, pp. 450-451, 532; Smend, pp. 89, 9c, I54> 279. 194- THE PROPHET IN RELATION TO OTHER PROFESSIONS 55 same way the prophet of Israel who foretold the future, • gave advice about the present, directed the religious and political affairs of the nation, and worked incessantly in behalf of the Jahve religion, was divinely inspired, while-' in other nations the one doing the same things, was a diviner, a magician and all the rest of it. True it is, that as the propJ3gtS-J3£carne--m.oxe _and_more ethlcalTand profound*, these cruder forms of divination fell into dis repute and were finally eliminated from Israelitish and JuHean prophetic activity. The Hebrew prophets, how ever-,. -as. I conceive it, are different only in the degree of their intuition, inspiration and profundity of religious and ethical thought, not different in kind from other prophets by whatever name designated. KnobeTpoints out two kinds of diviners in the classic* age. The one considered and practiced divination as ' a business and an art (Te%w/o?). To this class belong the interpreters of dreams (ovetpop.dvre^, bvetpoiroXot) , the augurers, interpreting the flight and songs of birds (ouovofiavTeis, oIcovoo-kottoi), and those who interpreted the will of God from the intestines and the liver of sacrifices. Indeed as Rohde points out,1 only this phase of prophecy is known in the Homeric poems. " Aber die aus momentaner Begeisterung kommende kunstlose und unlehrbare Wahrsagung ist den Homerischen Dichten nicht bekannt." Now Knobel does not believe that the Hebrew prophets were in any way related to this class of diviners (p. 22), and yet I believe they are very closely related to these in the early stages of Hebrew prophetic activity, for the very fact that there were schools of prophets in Israel shows that the art was learned and practiced in common by whole bands or schools of prophets. These schools and their practices fell into disrepute naturally with advancing civil- x" Psyche," Vol. II, p. 56 &• 56 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY ization and remarkable prophetic intelligence as we note from the derogatory surprise : " Is Saul also among the prophets? " Amos's emphatic denial that he was " a son of a prophet " also shows that the former prophetic arts were not practiced by him. And the well-known fact that Elisha served Elijah as an apprentice serves his master seems to me to indicate that there was much of the prophetic art to be taught and learned in ancient Israel. It is often urged that the diviner uses his inspiration for particular, private ends,1 that is, plies his vocation for pay and is thus distinguished from the prophet. Even this distinction does not hold when we compare the diviner with the early Israelitish prophet. Samuel, too, is asked very trifling questions and receives pay for the answer, as when Saul asks about his father's lost asses and is worried that he has not enough money to pay the seer. The language used indicates that payment was the usual thing, not the exception (I Sam. 9: 7-8). The second class of diviners, however, such as Tiresias, Kalchas and others are certainly very closely related to the Hebrew prophets.2 To tins class_ belong_those men of all nations who^did notjearn prophecy as an artPbut delivered jheir ^messages in_a high state of nervous j:x- citement, in ecstasy, and very often the unconscious utter ances in the many different pathological conditions of the mind were taken as divine jnessages. They were~the fav^ ing sybils ( trtfivWai ) the Trpondvrev;, irpo^rfTat Trpor]Tt,Ba<;. That there were many such prophets or diviners (the name is of little consequence) who in a state of ecstasy uttered farseeing and important truths no serious student will deny. Rohde in his scholarly work on Psyche (Vol. II, pp. 20-21) says: "Aus dem enthusiastischen Cult der thrakischen Dionysosdiener stammt die 1 Cf. Spencer: "Sociology," Vol. I, p. 239. 2 Cf. Knobel, p. 23. THE PROPHET IN RELATION TO OTHER PROFESSIONS 57 Begeisterungsmantik, jene Art der Weissagung, die nicht (wie die Wahrsager bei Homer durchweg) auf zufaellig eintretende und von Aussen herantretende, man- nigfach deutbare Zeichen des Goetterwillens warten muss, sondern sich unmittelbar, im Enthusiasmus, mit der Goetter — und Geisterwelt in Verbindung setzt und so, in erhoehetem Geisteszustand, die Zukunft schaut und verkuendigt. Das gelingt dem Menschen nur in der Ekstasis, im religioesen Wahnsinn, wenn ' der Gott in den Menschen faehrt.' " In all parts of the world na tions find in the ecstatic uterances of some of their tribe the certain proof of inspired persons whose knowledge comes from some higher than human source.1 Now the Hebrew prophets unquestionably belong to^ this lasir class" of iris^reTdyTneTiT^calied by many names among~ditterent peoples, prophet"s^~rhl.htH7_dIvin^rspetcr Their activity, hoWeTeT7~"fheir "mode ""of operation and their psychologicaTlnakeupHare identical"" in all. " What Manticism sought," says Oehler (p. 485), a rather con servative Christian writer, " was to make known to man the will and counsel of God in all the important events of life ; to give him information, especially at critical sea sons, how to do what was right and pleasing to God. / Such an interpretatio divinae voluntatis as heathenism in vain endeavored to furnish, the word of prophecy afforded." It is of very little importance for the present investigation to know that the Hebrew prophets succeeded in what the others failed, the fact to be noticed here is that the diviners or mantes were so closely related to the prophets from a psychological standpoint, that were it not for this fact of the higher truths which the latter an nounced, the two would be indistinguishable. Again the distinction is made by many that the diviner 2Cf. Rohde: "Psyche," Vol. II, p. 23. Also Spencer: "Sociology," Vol. I, pp. 236 ff. 58 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY receives his inspiration in an ecstatic state,1 while the Hebrew prophets were calm and deliberate when receiv ing their inspiration and revelation. Now this explana tion, too, is perhaps more gratuitous than correct. _In-_ spiratjon^JwJhaj:everjt_majf mean. now, certainly meant_for_ the most jgart this very ecstatic state of mind, the high nervous excitement, ... oftea even _indjsjdnguishable_JxQm madness and insanity. The early prophets used external means such as music and dance and wine to bring about this excited state just as the Grecian prophets did. Saul was half naked and mad in their company (I S_am. 19: 24). Joshua urgeT'Moses to stop Eldad and Medad~from prophesying in the camp which evidently was acting__en- thusiastically and excitedly, arid 'Mfoses answered: " Would that all were as enthusiastic as these young men " (Nu. n: 26 ff.) . Some of them were taken For" outright mad and are reFerred to as insane. All the prophet£wexe~ certainly more or less in a highly excited nervous state, as their intense, passionate sermons show, T>ut the strongest example perhaps is the prophecy of Ezekiel in Chapter 3: 10-15, which Bertholet (' Das Buch Hesekiel,' P.T9) with many other scholars shows to have been uttered in a high nervous excitement due to catalepsy. To sum up, then, we find, from a ^psychological stand point, the prophets and diviners related in the Following points : (a) Divination was a forecasting of the future, so was prophecy. (b) Divination procured oracles for private guidance, and was indispensable for the guidance and the conduct of the state, the same offices were performed by prophecy.2 *Cf. Knobel, pp. 140 ff. and notes. Also Smith: "Prophets of Israel," p. 219. 2 Cf. Smith: "Old Testament in Jewish Church," Edinburgh, 1881, p. 284 ff. Deut. 18: 10-11. THE PROPHET IN RELATION TO OTHER PROFESSIONS 59 (c) Our conception of prophecy is a moral converse with God and an enlightenment of the people. These, however, are relative terms, and insofar as divination sought the same object it is related to prophecy.1 (d) The prophets were originally seers, and the seers were orignally nothing more than diviners, and so the - prophets and diviners started from the same point.2 (e) If, through observation of signs and times, the diviner, by his own reasoning powers, sees God's inten tions (Brinton, p. in), so did the prophets, in a higher * sense, often see God's intention and moral government by observation of historical events and actions7 (/X If the prophets were certain of announcing jhe " Word of God^so also were the~diviriefs of all nations,^ especially when in ecstatic, cataleptic and other patholog ical states oFthe mind. ( g) If the diviners thought they were able to ward off danger by their magic and power divine,3 so also did thev prophets of all ages and times by means of righteousness and obedience to the will of God. (h) If the prophets were considered and looked up to as the counsellors and leaders in matters of religion « and the state, so were many of the diviners held in the same high esteem among all nations.4 Hence, again, in these related points, the psychology of the prophet is in no wise different from the psychology of the diviner and might also' be eliminated in our in vestigation of the distinctive features of the psychology of prophecy. 1 Cf. Oehler, p. 486. 2 Cf. Smend, p. 154. ' Cf . Jastrow, M. : " Religion of Babylonia and Assyria," pp. 269 ff., also Julian Morgenstern : " The Doctrine of Sin in the Babylonian Re ligion," pp. 73 ff. * Cf. Knobel, p. 23. 60 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY (C) Prophet and Poet Carlyle is right when he says: See deep enough, and you see musically.1 It is a well known fact that " the natural expression of religious emotion is universally metrical";2 deep religious feeling always expresses itself in poetry and song. The Romans called their poets vates, and Horace says they are non sine dis.3 Among the Greeks they were priests of Apollo, who was the inspirer of poet and prophet alike. Socrates points out the relation in the fol lowing way:4 "I soon discovered this, therefore, with regard to the poets, that they do not effect their object by wisdom, but by a certain natural inspiration, and under the influence of enthusiasm, like prophets and seers." The poets and prophets alikejwere^ the chosen instru- ments of God, carried away, .as b.y_sorn£-Jiughty_fqrce, to announce the deep things in human life. The poets, Too7 have been far-sighted and prophetic,- mar^hjngjrL£5Fvanj- guard of humanity, feeling with the certainty of inner illumination that their thoughts an^djtheh^jTiessages~weTe~ immortal like those of the prophets- Both were stiiriu^ lated and strengthened by the ever preseat^thaaghtjSaJi they worked for the good and the right. In the psychology of the poet, then, shall we find to a very large extent the psychology of the prophet. Not only in the depth of feeling and the breadth of vision, but in form, style and diction are the prophets true poets.5 Wherever feeling is deep and rich, wherever enthusiasm 1 " Heroes and Hero- Worship," Lect. III. 2 Brinton: "Religions of Primitive Peoples," p. 239. 3 Schwartzkopff : "Die Prophetische Offenbarung," Giessen, 1896, p. 86 ff. * Apology to Athenians, quoted by Hudson in the "Law of Psychic Phenomena." 5K3J and K3Jrin are used in both senses, especially in the sense of singing and playing. Cf. I Chr. 25: 1 and 3. THE PROPHET IN RELATION TO OTHER PROFESSIONS 6 1 is strong and overpowering, whereyex^pa.triotism is su preme and religious^emotion at its highest and purest, there the faculties of the~^ouTstruggle_mightily within to aid the tumultuous stream of thought, and the sweep is sublime.__ The mountains and the seas, the hills _and valleys, the forests and rivers, the flowers, the plants, the animals, all things in heaven j.nd earth are jsudHehly wakened into life to stimulate imagination, fancy and thought, and wUerTthe" heart and mind are thus wedded for a holy cause, expression assumes of itself the many- colored garb of most impassioned, sonorous and richest poetryi_ " Die Idealitaet der Ziele, die Ergriffenheit des GeFuehls und die Anschaulichkeit der Form charakter- isieren aber noch mehr den Dichter als den Redner. So wird demnach wiederum die religioese Begeisterung des Propheten die Gesamtform seines Vorstellens und Darstel- lens im dichterischen Sinne beeinflussen."1 And again:2 " Auch durch diese Tiefe des idealen Hintergrundes allgemein wertvoller Gedanken wird der Prophet, zumal in seinen Weissagungen, mehr die Art des Dichters, als des Redners an sich tragen." The very conception " The Word of_God_l'_ which the prophets so often make use~oF, thinks Schwartzkopff (p. 96) , is a metaphor, the" chUcTof the intense religio-ethical feeling, the highest and boldest poetic expression.^ The Hebrew prophets are so _£kisely_xelated_tQ„ poets tliat-their^^Gmpqsitions are filled" with poetic productions of every variety, poetic in thought, in expression, in form, in diction, among which are some belonging to the best of which universal literature .amjboast. This subject has been treated fully by Knobel in his book published in 1837, and more recently by Richard G. 'Schwartzkopff: "Die Prophetische Offenbarung," p. 93. 'Ib., p. 94. 62 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY Moulton, of the Chicago University.1 Here it is pos sible only to give the barest outline of their works. These prophets were men whose feeling and imagina tion were stimulated to the highest pitch.2 In their writings, therefore, they employ word-pictures, apostro phes, prosopopeias and theophanies. For the lively de scription of their thoughts they make use of similes, metaphors, allegories, also symbolic and parabolic treat ment. Rhythm, parallelism and strophe, parenomasiaT" poetic diction and all forms of prosody were woven into the prophetic works. Isaiah, Joel, Nahum, Habakkuk, in a less degree Jere miah and Ezekiel, are masters of picturesque description. Events of especial interest they picture so vividly and life like that the reader sees these events transpiring before his eyes. A few examples of highly poetic description follow : How Assyria enters the Holy Land (Is. 10: 28) ; How they attack Jerusalem (Is. 22: 1 ff.) ; The fall of Nineveh (Nahum Chaps. 2 and 3). Cf. also Is. 21: 1 ff. ; 15: 16; 44: 12-17; Joel 2: 2 ff-5 Ezek. 27; Jer. 46. The prophets often introduce speakers as in dramatic poetry. Examples: Is. 10: 8 ; 19 : 11 ; 37 : 24; Ezek. 28 : 2; 29: 3, 9. Often they address the heavens, the earth, the moun tains, trees, plants, even Jahve himself is often introduced on the scene, all of which is, of course, highly poetic and shows a lively imaginative activity. Micah 6 : 1-8 repre sents God's controversy before the mountains; Hosea 9-14 dramatizes the Yearning of God; and Jeremiah 10: 17-25 is a dramatic scene of Panic and is a link be tween this type and rhapsody. Especially rich are the 1 Valuable suggestions may be found in Schwartzkopff, ib., pp. 86-100; cf. also Driver's " Isaiah," pp. 168 ff. 2 Based on Knobel, Part IV, and Moulton: "Literary Study of the Bible," Book Sixth. THE PROPHET IN RELATION TO OTHER PROFESSIONS 63 prophetic writings in similes, metaphors, parables, alle gories, the last especially by Ezekiel. The Doom-Song is especially numerous, of which the following examples will give an idea of the variety and beauty: Against Nineveh, Nahum; against Assyria, Isaiah 14: 24-27; against Babylon, Isaiah 13-14: 23; also Jeremiah 50-51 ; against Egypt, Isaiah 19; Jeremiah 46: 3-12 and verses 14-28; Ezekiel 29-32; against Edom, Jeremiah 49: 7-22; Ezekiel 25 : 12-24; Obadiah; a whole cycle of Dooms especially beautiful and rhythmic is Amos, 1 and 2.1 In Chapter XVIII of Moulton's Literary Study of the Bible is presented a highly interesting account of The Rhapsody in Prophetic Literature. This species of poetry is perhaps the highest form of poetic art, and the prophets certainly show themselves masters of this art. Speaking of Habakkuk's short book, Moulton calls it the simplest example of The Rhapsody, and yet characterizes the third part as follows: The third section of this rhapsody is the most mag nificent of Biblical odes: the promised intervention of Deity is no longer contemplated as a future event, but is realized as immediately present. After a prelude of trembling anxiety — "O Lord, I have heard the report of thee, and am afraid: O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years, In the midst of the years make it known; In wrath remember mercy ! " — the Vision bursts upon the prophet. Its antistrophic form is an exact reflex of the thought. The strophe presents all nature convulsed with the approach of Deity. " God cometh from Teman, And the Holy One from Mount Paran, His glory covereth the heavens, 'See Moulton, ib., p. 522, for complete list of Doom-Songs. 64 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY And the earth is full of his praise. And his brightness is as the light; He hath rays coming forth from his hands; And there is the hiding of his power. Before him goeth the pestilence, And fiery bolts go forth at his feet. He standeth and shaketh the earth; He beholdeth, and driveth asunder the nations; And the eternal mountains are scattered, The everlasting hills do bow; His ways are everlasting. I see the tents of Cushan in affliction; The curtains of the land of Midian do tremble." Then the antistrophe puts the question: Is it merely against inanimate nature that this power is being mani fested ? "Is the Lord displeased against the rivers? Is thine anger against the rivers, or thy wrath against the sea, That thou dost ride upon thine horses, Upon thy chariots of salvation? Thy bow is made quite bare, Sworn are the chastisements of thy word. Thou dost cleave the earth with rivers; The mountains see thee and are afraid; The tempest of waters passeth by; The deep uttereth his voice, And lifteth up his hands on high; The sun and moon stand still in their habitation At the light of thine arrows as they go, At the shining of thy glittering spear. Thou dost march through the land in indignation, Thou dost thresh the nations in anger." At length the epode may answer the question with the true meaning of the judgment that is descending. " Thou art come for the salvation of thy people, For the salvation of thine anointed: Thou dost smite off the head from the house of the wicked, Laying bare the foundation even unto the neck. Thou dost pierce with his own staves the head of his warriors: (They came as a whirlwind to scatter me, Their rejoicing was as to devour the poor secretly:) THE PROPHET IN RELATION TO OTHER PROFESSIONS 65 Thou didst tread the sea with thine horses, the surge of mighty water." The theophany is completed: there remains a postlude in which the seer trembles through terror into confidence. " I heard, and my belly trembled, My lips quivered at the voice; Rottenness entered into my bones, and I trembled in my place:- That I should rest waiting for the day of trouble, When he that shall invade them in troops cometh up against the people. For though the fig tree shall not blossom, Neither shall fruit be in the vines; The labour of the olive shall fail, And the fields shall yield no meat; The flocks shall be cut off from the fold, And there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I shall rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation. Jehovah, the Lord, is my strength, And he maketh my feet like hinds' feet, And will make me to walk upon mine high places." Simple as this prophecy is, it has exhibited all that is essential in rhapsodic literature: a problem of current history has been stated in the form of dramatic dialogue, solved in the mingled recitative and rhythm of the Doom- form, and then the solution is realized in the full splendor of a lyric ode. Other examples of rhapsody are the following: Rhapsodies of Judgment, Isaiah 24-27; of Salvation, Isaiah 33; of the Drought, Jeremiah 14-15; of the Locust Plague, Joel; of the Judgment to come, Amos 1-9. Not only, however, is the prophetic content highly poetic, but the diction and structure show equally plainly the stamp of poetic genius. The number of words used by the prophets, not used in ordinary prose writings, is too large to be enumerated here. Harper in Appendix C to his " Prophetic Element in the Old Testament," has 6 66 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY prepared a prophetic vocabulary containing the more im portant terms of the prophetic writings with their Greek and English equivalents.1 Under poetic structure, rhythm may be mentioned first, and by rhythm in Hebrew poetry, though often seen in the measured choice of words and thoughts, is meant especially rhythm of thought, that is, a parallelistic structure of sentences. The sentence is divided into two, sometimes three parts, each repeating the thought of the first clause in different words, thus presenting a symmetry of clauses in a verse, e. g., (Is. 14: 25) " I will break the Assyrian in my land, And upon my mountains tread him under foot; Then shall his yoke depart from off them And his burden from off their shoulders." 2 Another form of rhythm is the synthesis of thought and structure, i. e., stating a similar thought in similar words in different clauses of a verse, e. g., (Is. 11 : 5). " And righteousness shall be the girdle of his loins, And faithfulness the girdle of his reins." (Hos. 5:7) " Ye who turn judgment to wormwood, And leave off righteousness in the earth." Also three and four members to each verse, e. g. (Mic. 7:7) " Therefore will I look unto the Lord, Will I wait for the God of my salvation, My God will hear me." (Mic. 3:6) "Therefore night without vision shall be yours, And darkness yours without divining, And the sun shall go down upon the prophets, And dark shall be their day." 'Cf. also Knobel, pp. 389 ff. 2Cf. also Isaiah, 5: 21, 22; 11: 1, 4; 32: 16, 17; 33: 12-13; Hos. 5: 3. 12; 6:4; Joel 1:2; 2: 6; Am. 5: 10, 20, 24; Nah. 1: 13; Hab. 1: t6; 2: 12; 3: 15, 18. THE PROPHET IN RELATION TO OTHER PROFESSIONS 67 Often, too, the refrain is used, either at the beginning or at the end of stanzas, just as in non-Biblical poetry, e. g., Is. 9 : 7 to 10: 4, where each stanza closes with the lines : " For all this his anger is not turned away, But his hand is stretched out still." In Amos (Chaps. 1 and 2) each stanza opens with the same refrain, thus: " Thus saith Jahve : For three transgressions of , yea, for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof." From what has been indicated above in this section, it ' must certainly be evident that, were it not for the fact that the Hebrew prophets more than the prophets of other peoples stand in European civilization as the in spired teachers of religion par excellence, they would be identified with poets of the highest classic order, and the psychology of prophecy would be very nearly, if not entirely, identical with the psychology of poetry. Nor is this a singular suggestion, for the Iliad and Odyssey, which to us stand only for examples of grand and beauti ful epics, were to the Greeks just exactly what the prophetic writings are to us. Hence here again, in these related points, the psychology of the poet might well be eliminated from an investigation of the distinctive fea- tures of the psychology of prophecy. (D) Prophet and Genius Prophet is one of the_species of the genus genius. It deperilisnrporrTKe_people among whom the genius is born, also upon the circumstances and environment, as to whether the particular species shall be prophet, poet, statesman or soldier. " The hero can be Poet, Prophet, King, Priest, or what you will, according to the kind of 68 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY world he finds himself born into. I confess, I have no notion of a truly great man who could not be all sorts of men."1 From a psychological standpoint it is evident that the particular kind of man a genius shall be is very largely accidental. For there can be no a priori experi ence, the mental condition only can be a priori. In other words, there can be no concepts without percepts, and this, it must be emphasized, holds as true of the prophet or any other species of genius as of the ordinary mind. As little as the blind can conceive light, and the deaf sound, so little can a genius know a priori in what channels his energy shall be directed until, from contemporary life and experience, his concepts are shaped. " By itself," says Schopenhauer,2 " genius can produce original thoughts just as little as a woman by herself can bear children. Outward circumstances must come to fructify genius, and be, as it were, a father to1 its progeny." Now while the Greek genius was shaped. into. sculptor or phTlosopfierTthe Roman genius into soldier and statesman, the Hebrew genius assumed the character and form of the prophet. As untrue, however, as it is to say that the "Greeks are the only ones who produced sculptors and philosophers, and the Romans the only ones who produced soldiers, statesmen and law-givers, so little of truth holds the state ment that the Hebrews were the only ones who- produced prophets. The Greeks had prophets, the Romans had philosophers, and the Hebrews had both, only each na tion's history was especially favorable for genius to as sume the particular mould which we find predominating. There is no other explanation conceivable. If then we find every test of genius to apply to the prophet, it will be evident that the prophet and genius are very closely related, the prophet being a species of genius, 'Carlyle: "Heroes and Hero- Worship," Lect. III. "Essay on Genius. THE PROPHET IN RELATION TO OTHER PROFESSIONS 69 that is, the prophet is par excellence the Hebrew genius, as the philosopher and sculptor are the Greek genius. " The power of applying the attention, steady and un- dissipated, to a single object is the sure mark of a superior genius."1 And_James rgmarksjthat it is tfie genius that makes him attortiv^jiot^the attention that~maTes "bne"a genius. This overpowering attention to one Supreme sub- jecf_or thought is, as James hints, an involuntary act, an overmastering impulse. Note here that thjs_characteristic of genius is the ^characteristic of the Hebrew prophets. They have " the power of applying their attention, steady and undissipated, to a single object," namely, the Ethical Jahve Religion, and they do this with an overmastering passion that is truly involuntary. Jeremiah expresses this" thought with true prophetic force: " I thought I would speak no more in the name of God, buT~it "was-within -me like a burning fire, strut up in my bones; I thought to withstand it but I could not" (Jer. 10: 9). 2 In thisV connection it is of great interest to1 psychology, to note that all geniuses, and the prophet among them, have often been taKen~for insane. J Now, Nordau observed that art; is the slight beginning oT~a deviation from complete health, _and Ribot remarks : " To demand that we shall create or enjoy without excitement, remaining all the time in the level, prosaic calm of every-day life, is to expect the impossible." If wejissume with Nordau that complete health means unemotional71inexHted7"herv6us condition, perfect nelffothrrest— then"it is evident that he is correct wherr^el5ays^art, which is a high state of .emotional excitement, is a deviation from health. Now genius and insanlty~lire both the greatest deviation"" fronr;peTfecti heaJth^hTTEat assumed^ sense because both are_intense emoBonM7"nxrvtras"afcitemeWtr" The insane, and espe- 1 Chesterfield, by James, "Psychology," Vol. I, p. 423, note. * Cf. Am. 3 : 8. 70 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY dally the monomaniac and megalomaniac, is one who through intense over-attention and nervous excitement, usually " steady and uridissipated to a .single 6bject7"^has set up a greater katabolism of brain cells than the natural anabolism can repair, and the lesion thus caused ii. in sanity. The genius is doing psychoTogicallythe identical thing, namely, " applying an attention, steady and undis- sipated, to a single object," and the genius sometimes be comes insane because his intense emotional activity "causes the same great katabolism of brain-cells ; but because~the great nervous activity of the genius is usually notwholly morbidlyJselfishjjheTiatural anabolism going onTegularly is sufficiently great to repair the loss regularly. When, however, the genius, as may often be the case, finds him self near cerebral lesion through the same overintense emotional activity, he is then occasionally taken for insane. That this is the correct explanation seems to me evident further from the fact that a man may be insane on one subject and sane on all others, that is the cerebral cells mostly operative on the one subject of intense emotional interests have been broken down, perhaps beyond repair, while all others are intact. Again, " genius, in truth," says James,1 " means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way." This definitiori__of--geniu5 -also-applies in every sense and detail to the Hebrew prophets. TheTFnfocTe of thinking was so"uhhabitual that, as often happens in such cases, they were hated and feared, reverenced and haunted, imprisoned and persecuted. The people habit ually thought that Jahve was a God of favoritism whose good will couldTie obtained through presents-and sacrifice ; the prophets announced that Jahve was a God of justice whose favor could be gained only through righteousness. The people thought that Jahve was a national God who '"Psychology," Vol. II, p. no. THE PROPHET IN RELATION TO OTHER PROFESSIONS 7 1 could not destroy Israel because, being a national God, he would destroy his own field of activity and usefulness by destroying the people whose God he is. The prophets said that Jahve is the God of the whole earth, and by destxoying~one liatjoh "his dominion " is not impaired. Israel's defeats did not show~J-a-hve's- weakness, as thought the peopTe,~"but Jahve's moral nature, as thought the prophets. Jahve is a God of love, announced Hosea eight cerit"uries~before the Christian era, the first one, so far as we know, who uttered so unhabitual a thought. There fore, the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way was in the highest sense a prophetic faculty, and hence again we see that the prophet is a genius. Professor Bain's definition1 that the leading fact in genius~~oT every order is a~n^HvT~taletit~foT perceiving analogies_also applies very^well to the prophetr — The prophets certainly, each and all, have this native talent for perceiving analogies in a superb degree ; so grand and startling are these analogies that they have not yet spent their original force. Sublime indeed is Hosea's example of analogy between his relation to his faithless wife and God's relation to faithless Israel. Even as he loves his faithless wife, desiring only that she return and sin no more, infinitely more so does Jahve love His spouse, Israel, desiring only repentance and return to righteousness. Isaiah's analogy of the gardener's disappointment in his vineyard to God's disappointment in Israel is another striking example of this power of genius. (Is. ch. 5.) It is plain, therefore, that the prophet is not only re- latecTto genius7~but is in the truesFsehse"a" genius^ iFis" the history- of Israel, as a study of that history reveals, that shaped the Hebrew genius into prophet just as truly and indentically as the histories of other people shaped their geniuses into other moulds. 1 James: "Psychology," Vol. I, p. 530. 72 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY We have now completed the study of prophecy from every standpoint, and we have been led to the conclusion that the prophet is the Hebrew national type of genius. We know, of course, what is meant by a poet-genius, or music-genius, but we may not be quite clear as to the meaning of prophet-genius. It now remains, therefore, to determine what kind of genius the prophet is, and then to explain the psychology of this particular species of genius, the prophet. Before going any further, however, it may be well to indicate in few words the similarity of all great men known as geniuses. (E) Similarity of Great Men Nature makes no leaps. There are gradations of in tellect as there are gradations in all other manifestations in the known universe. The difference in degree between the intellect of the highest ape and the lowest man is not as marked as is the difference between the lowest man and the highest, namely genius. If in all ages the lowest mind has not been able to grasp the laws of the highest mind or the laws of a higher mind, that is not the fault of genius or of the higher mind. Both the highest and the lowest minds, as the largest and the smallest plant, are natural in all their various manifestations and activ ities, and act, as each must, in accordance with universal natural laws. The difference between the great mind and the small mind is a difference of degree, not of kind, the former is capable of continued attention and steady appli cation, both of which the latter lacks. Theigreatest mind, that is the mind of genius, is simply the greatest power of attention and application, usually to some "great and noble purpose. I say usually, because genius may devote"Tts energies to low unworthy objects and succeed equally well. It is all a matter of temperament, environment and per- THE PROPHET IN RELATION TO OTHER PROFESSIONS 73 ceptions, in the sense of life experiences and contemporary history, that determines the channel in which the energies of genius shall flow. All great men are similar, perhaps even identical, in this one respect, to wit, they all focalize their brain activity with such intense interest, emotion and concentrated passion that they see more deeply, act more nobly and think and utter more profound truths than other classes of men.1 Schwartzkopff very correctly observes (p. 87) : " So liesse sich eine grosse Anzahl von Beispielen auffuehren, wo bedeutende Dichter, Denker, Geschichtsforscher, Staatsmaenner die grosse Zukunft der von ihnen verkuen- digten neuen Gedanken in religioeser, sittlicher, sozialer, politischer Hinsicht ahnten und voraussagten. Hierher gehoeren auch die grosse Maenner der That, die Helden der Weltgeschichte, welche neue Epochen heraufgefuehrt haben. Sie konnten das nur, weil sie sich als die willens- kraeftigen, von der Gottheit berufenen Vertreter grosser, sittlich bedeutsamer Gedanken fuehlten. " In diesem sittlichen Inhalt und in dieser religioesen Begruendung ihres Berufes erkennen wir zugleich die tiefere Verwandschaft mit dem eigentlichen Propheten- thum. Dies gab ihnen jene wunderbare Zuversicht, vermoege deren sie den Sieg an ihre Fahnen gekettet wussten. Man denke an Alexander den Grossen, Caesar, Napoleon I., Luther." *Cf. James: "Psychology," Vol. II, pp. 366 ff. \ PART II PROPHETIC GENIUS CHAPTER I WHAT KIND OF GENIUS IS THE PROPHET? Our study of prophecy has made it plain that the prophet was the national spokesman of Jahve. He ut tered an abundance of words, through great mental and emotional excitement, "of ten deep ancTprofound truths, the import/of which, because of ignorance" of psychological law, was often not known or intelligible to the prophet himself. These _rnysterious^ mind-phenomena of alT de- scriptiOT^jrojri_jimple^iireams to and through all the stages of psychological illusions, from clairvoyance and clairaudience to convulsion, delirium, epilepsy, madness and ^insanity, in short all the mental phenomena deviating in the slightest degree from the every-day norrnaTjKefe considered, by agent and witness alike, as direct inspira tions and revelations^ either mediately through spirits, good or evil, or immediately from God. The_prophet was, therefore, always God-inspired and God-commis sioned, and his words, whether profound wTsdomTas" often was the case, or~not, as was just as often true, were nevertheless considered asr messages from God through His agent the prophet. In later times" as well as in earlier, the prophet was considered and considered him self, or rather was known to be and knew himself to be, the mouthpiece of God. Not in any figurative sense, but in a literal sense, not only to the • ancients, but to us 74 WHAT KIND OF GENIUS IS THE PROPHET 75 to-day, the prophet is the mouthpiece of God. Only it must be noted that the meaning of that phrase changes with growing intellect and study. Secondly, we have seen that the prophet was a loving child of his nation, a patriot in the sublimest sense, in a sense in which the fewest of us to-day are capable of understanding that term. Whenever in the great crises of his people the prophet saw inevitable ruin and con fusion, he soared aloft on prophetic pinions, comforting his own bleeding heart and the hearts of his people by the message of peace that some day the ideal king, the Messiah, will bring order out of chaos and harmony out of confusion, that he will not despoil his people but be a royal and loyal counsellor, a faithful servant of his God and his people, a messenger of peace and joy. We have. seen, too, how the prophet must have been a great student of nature and of his times, healing the sick and binding up wounds, doing great and wonderful things with a loving and wise heart, things that have always been, and are yet to-day, when a great, loving soul works among us for noble ends, wonderful, miraculous and awe-inspir^ ing. We have gleaned also some hints as to the wonder ful prescience of the„ prophets, such as only the great, souls^of humanity have been gifted with, that enabled therrLJ^wjurn^and^ to preach" andj;o_teach,_to_announce and to proclaim. Then we have seen these prophets active as preachers of morality and teachers of ethics, not ordained preachers and ap pointed teachers, serving in the pulpit or in the professor's chair, but voluntarily, or rather involuntarily, pressed into service by the great and mighty 7 ojrce of thejFsoul,. preacK ing because of an awakened righteous indignation against oppreJsToli~aircrsIh7j:ncf SacKflgL because, they could jiot help uttering their aspirations and longings, thejrjteep insight^andjheTFpl^QunSjLbdorn. And lastly, we have seen the great patriotic sons of Israel flowering forth into 76 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY statesmen, not waiting to be asked or appointed to office, but each one ever ready to offer his services with his " Here I am, send me." Nay, not waiting to be sent but like a hero, instinctively and without thought, diving into the mad stream to save some helpless one struggling against a watery grave, so did the prophets instinctively and with heroic courage plunge into the great stream of the national life to save the sinking ship, or steer it out of harm's reach into safe harbor. The prophets were statesmen by virtue of their heroic patriotism, by author ity of their divine, far-seeing and deep-seeing insight and foresight. In all these activities, it was then shown, the prophet acted not through miracle or supernatural power, but in and along with natural laws, displaying all the beauty and power of the human mind and heart under the favorable conditions of oppression, danger, confusion, poverty, im prisonment, love, hatred, ambition and, above all, re ligious and patriotic enthusiasm. Finally, it has been pointed out that the prophet is very closely related to the great minds of other peoples of all times who do not claim to be prophets in the sense in which our European civilization has filled out the content of that word. Especially intimate did we find the rela tion of prophet to priest and diviner, the three being originally, perhaps even in Israel, one and the same per son. While the poet, we found, was among all peoples in spired of the muses and gods, expressing his wisdom in that mysterious manner of highly excited nervous states and, therefore, designated by the vague terms inspiration, revel ation and the like, the prophet, it was seen, was not only related to these poets, but was in every sense a poet, using all the technique of expression, form and rhythm, and displaying as well the highly imaginative faculties of the poet. This study led to the conclusion that the prophet was a genius, bearing the stamp of genius WHAT KIND OF GENIUS IS THE PROPHET 77 wherever one is found, and in whatever field he is active. The prophet was a distinctly Hebrew genius, and be it distinctly understood that it is not meant to convey the idea that the prophet is a species of genius that grew only in Israel ; on the contrary the prophet-genius was not even indigenous to Israel's soil, but was transplanted from foreign soil. But here, as in many cases of transplanting, the prophetic flower grew to a beauty and size that it never had in its original soil, and would perhaps never have attained but for the transplanting into the rich and fruitful soil of Israel. To say that the prophet was the Hebrew national type of genius does not yet explain definitely the kind of genius he was. No clear definition, however, can be given of the prophet-genius that would mark him off from the other species as we mark off a musical genius from a philosophical genius, for in ancient times no man and no genius devoted himself exclusively to one thing as is done to-day. The prophet I should say was a religio-poetic and philosophical-political genius all in one In" the large .and rough, a rich^oid-_Qre with a large proportion of other metals. __ He._was a natural genius who, not as Carlyle says, can be all sorts of men, but was all sorts of men. He was the watershed on the mountain top from which rivers flow in all directions. He felt the mighty stir of his soul as he lay there in the open fields, felt the mad storms of his nation's history ruffling his mighty spirit as the wind shakes the bosom of the ocean, and being unbounded by custom's river banks, but free like a vast restless ocean, his force and energy flowed in all direc tions instead of being channeled in one course. He was poet, preacher, teacher, scientist, healer, leader, statesman, all in one. The keynote, however, of all the prophet's offices was a nafiohaT religio-political activltylrrttejervrce ! of JaKve^ THis~was""the unfettered Hebrewjgenius, the prophet.™ CHAPTER II CONCLUSIONS FROM THE HISTORY OF PROPHECY The results obtained from a study of the growth and development of Hebrew prophecy would agree entirely with the results in this thesis obtained by a totally dif ferent method of procedure. Here will be presented a skeleton outline of what a history of prophecy would contain, in order to keep clearly before the mind the con clusions such a history offers for a concise and clear con cept of the prophet-genius. Then we shall see what elements in the prophetic mind need psychological ex planation. Were I to write a history of prophetism I should divide the subject into three periods: First, the Early Period from the earliest times to Samuel; second, the Transition Period from Samuel to Amos ; and third, the Later Period from Amos to the close of prophecy. It would then appear that the early Hebrew prophecy was not only similar to, but identical with, in every respect, prophecy everywhere, among all peoples. They used in Israel as among the Greeks, Romans, Persians, Indians and others, external means such as dance, music, wine, for bringing about subjective, mental and emotional excitement such as ecstasy, delirium, vision, voices, trance, etc. These ab normal and highly excited, uncontrolled nervous states were considered the indwelling of the divine spirit. The Teraphim, the Lot, the Urim and Thumim were another kind of external means for inquiring into the future and obtaining an answer from God for private and national needs. The second, the Transition Period, shows an advance 78 CONCLUSIONS FROM THE HISTORY OF PROPHECY 79 in intellectuality and moral concepts and a decided advance in the interest displayed in behalf of the Jahve-religion. In this period such men~as Gad^ -Nathan,- J£Hjah~~and Elisha stand out_p_re_eminently as _ -the-nattenal . prophets who had risen above the level of the- earlier natural prophets. These were zealous f or_Tahygx the national Gc>d3>F~Tj5rael7 _and _were ^yji5l.entat-times_an.d-even reck less in their opposition to everything that detracted from th^^up^enority^oF lsra"eTs~reIigion and God. For this reason they KtterTy~opposeoT witchcraft, magic, necro mancy and all forms of divination that were so plainly of foreign origin. Israel had brought into Canaan the seed of an ethical religion in that they had voluntarily, as no other nation had done, accepted Jahve at Mt. Sinai as their national God,1 because he had brought them out of the land of slavery. It was this ethical seed that now took root and grew through the help of the prophets. These prophets, it could easily be shown were closely related to the prophets of the early period and as closely to those of the later period. In the third period Hebrew prophecy becomes with Amos, as many writers have shown, a unique phenomenon. Amos flowered forth into a prophet-genius, and the genius is always in a sense unique. Israel's sons, prince and pauper alike, had become conscious, perhaps through the work of the former prophets, that they must serve Jahve, but this service was still a service of sacrifice and rite. Faults Israel had, but sacrifices would atone for them; besides, Jahve could not be too severe and destroy totally, for he was Israel's God only, and by destroying Israel he would destroy his own field of activity and hence be no God at all. For, thought Israel, as little as a king can be sovereign without subjects, so little can Jahve be God without worshippers. Amos, with true prophetic 1 Budde, Karl : " Religion of Israel to the Exile," New York, Putnam, 1898 (Amer. Lect. on Religions). 80 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY genius, saw that Jahve was God of the whole earth who rules nations with equal justice. Israel was no favorite in the sense of being permitted to disobey His laws. Jahve had punished Damascus and Gaza, Tyre and Edom, Ammon and Moab, each one for the transgression of some moral laws, therefore He will punish Judah and Israel for any transgression of moral law. In other words, a history of prophetism would show that with Amos, as the first prophetic, genius, the prophet„saw, what no one else as yet saw, that Jahve was a God of the whole earth, one who rules all alike in justice. The prophet_seasoned this justice with other qualities oF love and mercy, emphasizing always the universality and the ethical or moral nature of Jahve. Recognizing with all the power of therr prophetic genius that Jahve is a being whose nature is moral, the prophets devoted themselves with all the heroic passions of their great souls to the various departments of human conduct, state, society and religion, to the end that all these departments of human life especially in Israel shall be lived in accordance with the laws of justice and righteousness, in harmony with Jahve's nature. God cannot be influenced through sacri fice to guard Israel from misfortune, rather must Israel change his mode of life that no misfortune befall him. Hence a history of prophecy would show that as these profound views of life had never before been uttered with such clearness, force and single-minded purpose the prophets were in every sense unique ; unique, however, only in this sense that they excelled, as all genius excels, in what others vainly tried ; unique in the sense in which the Indian jugglers and the Greek sculptors and philosophers are unique. It would appear that the Hebrewjrjrophets were the perfected embodiments of the Hebrew genius, that is, they were the political, economic, social and re ligious geniuses of Israel, all in one. CHAPTER III THE DISTINCTIVE CHARACTERISTICS OF PROPHETIC PSYCHOLOGY From the above outline oF the history of prophecy it is not yet clear what are the distinctive characteristics of the prophetic genius, in what way the psychology of prophecy differs from a psychology of any other political, religious or other species of genius. Neither has this been elucidated in the chapter on " What Kind of Genius Is the Prophet? " nor in any of the chapters or sections of Part I of this thesis. These distinctive characteristics of the prophet, the things that mark off the prophet from other professions and geniuses, have not been overlooked, but intentionally ignored, because the object of all that has thus far been said was to get the prophet's orientation, to emphasize not wherein the prophet differs from, but wherein he is at one with, kindred spirits. It has been admitted that a soul of truth is found in all the popular views of prophecy. It has also been shown and em phasized that the prophet cannot be explained on any theory of miracles or supernaturalism, and finally the close relation of the priests, the diviner and the poet to the prophet has been pointed out, and the prophet has been placed in the category of genius, somewhere among the poetical-political-religious geniuses. If now we gather up all the legitimate claims of the prophet's faculties, and then eliminate all those faculties which have been shown to be possessed by other men and other geniuses in a degree greater or at least equal to those possessed by the prophet, there will remain all those faculties and powers that are peculiarly the posses- 7 81 82 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY sion of the prophet and, explaining them, we shall explain the psychology of prophecy. That this is all that is necessary, nay, that anything more than this would be unnecessary and superfluous becomes evident as soon as we consider that in a psychology of the poet it were un necessary to begin by examining how the poet eats, sleeps drinks and speaks, for these are characteristics not only of the poet but of the bookkeeper and the lawyer as well. Gathering up, therefore, and eliminating, I find the fol lowing peculiarly prophetic elements that require ex planation in the Psychology of Prophecy: Prophetic call, premonition, revelation, dream, vision, audition, ecstasy and inspiration. To an investigation of these prophetic elements Part III will now devote itself. PART III PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY CHAPTER I PROPHETIC CALL (a) Premonition the Starting Point Prediction or rather premonition is the starting point of prophecy. This theory held by Smend, and taught even more clearly and emphatically by Dr. Moses Butten- wieser of the Hebrew Union College of Cincinnati, Ohio, is one that seems to me to be the key to the whole subject of the psychology of prophecy. Dr. Paul Schwartzkopff in his excellent work, " Die Prophetische Offenbarung "* attacks Smend's theory with such cogency and force that for over six months I have almost daily weighed the argu ments on both sides, and now believe that, in spite of the very weighty objections of Schwartzkopff, which will be given below, the theory of Smend, and especially as en larged and elucidated by Dr. Buttenwieser, my former teacher and friend, is the only one conceivable in an ex planation of prophetic psychology. (b) The Facts As Presented by the Prophets First as to the facts. The prophets_ar£_all-€eftsclous of a divine call. _They " do not speak of a resolution or purpose, framed by themselves, to devote themselves to their vocation ; but they describe a moment in which they receive a call — i. e., to speak from a human point of view, 1 Chap. Ill, Sec. 3 D. 83 84 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY were conscious of a sudden intuition, impressing itself upon them with irresistible clearness and force, and, in certain instances, communicated to them in the form of a vision." Setting aside for the moment Driver's explanation, the fact is patent that the prophets describe a moment when they became conscious of a call from God to the office of prophet. Moses (Ex. 3 : 4 ff.) is said to have heard the voice of God calling him to liberate the children of Israel. " When Jahve saw that he turned aside to- see, He called him from out of the bush and said: Moses, Moses, and he answered: here am I." Samuel is described as hear ing Jahve's voice at a time when " the word of God was precious" (Sam. 3: 1 ff.) : "And Jahve called as at other times, Samuel, Samuel; then Samuel answered, Speak, for thy servant heareth." Amos (Chap. 7: 14- 15) denies any relationship to those schools of prophets who learned prophecy as an art, but emphasizes that Jahve called him to the office of prophet, and the call had to be obeyed (3 : 8), as is the case with all geniuses; " Then answered Amos and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet neither was I a prophet's son, but a herdsman was I and a gatherer of sycamore fruit: and Jahve took me as I followed the flock, and Jahve said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel." And again the irre sistible force of the call: "The lion hath roared, who will not fear? The Lord, Jahve, hath spoken, who can but prophesy? " Jeremiah, too, (Jer. 1 : 4-10) describes how God made it known to him that He had appointed him a prophet even before he was born : " Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying : Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou earnest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, Ah, Lord God! behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child. PROPHETIC CALL 85 But the Lord said unto me, Say not I am a child, for thou shalt go to whomsoever I will send thee, and whatso ever I will command thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of them, for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Then the Lord put forth his hand and touched my mouth. And the Lord said unto me, behold I have put my words in thy mouth. See I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build and to plant." Reference has already been made to the fact that Jeremiah h^cTliot^oh^talTlTl^hosen the profession of prophet (20: 7-9), in fact he tried hard not to heed the call;J)ut God's will must be obeyed. " It was within me like a burning fire, I tried to withstand it but could not." Ezekiel in the first three chapters of his book describes more elaborately than any other prophet a scene in heaven which he saw in a vision, and how the strong hand of God forced him into the prophetic office. " And I heard a voice speaking unto me; Son of man, I send thee unto the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me (2:3). And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear. Be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briars and thorns be with thee and thou dost dwell among scorpions " (2 : 5-6) . Isaiah also (Chap. 6) gives the date of his call and describes with majestic grandeur a scene in heaven which he saw in a vision: " In the year that King Uzziah died I saw also Jahve sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and His train filled the temple. "Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain He covered His face and with twain He covered His feet, and with twain He did fly. " And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, 86 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY holy is the Lord of hosts ; the whole earth is full of His glory. " And the posts of the door moved at the voice of Him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke." Then he becomes conscious of his unworthiness when one of the seraphim touches his lips with a live coal, and with generous ardor he offers himself for the work. " He does not yet know what is required of him; but his com mission, when its terms are disclosed to him, proves a strange and disheartening one. He is to be the preacher and teacher of his people; but with the result of making them only less ready to listen, less fit to1 recover moral and intellectual soundness. The very earnestness of his preaching will but confirm them in their unwillingness to obey. Whatever it may accomplish secretly, his work is to be in appearance fruitless. Is this to continue always ? he wonders. He asks anxiously, How long ? and, in reply, another prospect as discouraging, though in a different way, as the first, is opened before him; it must continue until the desolating tide of invasion has swept over the land, and purged to the utmost the sin- stricken nation; so severe should the judgment be that even though a fraction ("a tenth") should escape, or recover, from the first assault, a second and a third should follow till the purgation was complete (v. 13 a). But the dark prospect is not left without a gleam of hope; a new figure abruptly shapes itself in the prophet's imagination: as a terebinth or an oak, which, when it is felled and left apparently without chance of recovery will yet germinate afresh, for its stock remains unim paired, so that core of the Jewish nation will survive the judgment, and burst out afterwards into new life; it is a "holy seed," and, as such, is indestructible (v. 13b). In the words just explained we have the germ of an idea which will frequently meet us in Isaiah, and which we PROPHETIC CALL 87 shall find to be one of his most characteristic doctrines. " Such was the moment in which Isaiah beheld as through a veil the glory of his God, and was given to understand his mission in life. The truths thus vividly presented before him left upon his mind an indelible im pression."1 Thus we see that the prophets describe a moment in which they become conscious of God's call to prophetic activity. (c) Psychology of Prophetic Call 1. Driver and Bertholet Driver tells us, as quoted above, that a prophetic " call" is a consciousness on the part of the prophet of a sudden intuition, impressing itself with irresistible clearness and force, and, in certain instances, communicated in the form of a vision. And the vision in which the prophet receives the call consists, as Bertholet tells us,2 in this, that the prophet's eye is open for things which the ordi nary man does not see, just as Samuel's ear was open to the audition of words which the laity did not hear. This moment in which the prophet sees or hears the deep things of life is the " call." 2. Preparation for Prophetic Call In Ex., chapter 3, verse 4, is given in a naive way, as I believe, the psychology of the prophetic call. " When God saw that Moses turned aside to see, He called him." It is not chance or caprice on the part of God to call a man to prophetic office, it is only after a man has turned aside to see that he may be called from on high. In -, other words the " call " comes only when one is occupied 'Driver: "Isaiah, His Life and Times," p. 18. 2 " Das Buch Hesekiel," p. 14- 88 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY with the subject to which he is called, when his mind has been at work thinking, planning, aspiring, hoping, fear ing, that a solution, a revelation, a great light will flash in upon him, or rather may flash in upon him, and that flash of light is the " call." That great mediaeval Jewish philosopher, Maimonides,1 had remarkably clear concep tions on this subject of prophecy. He says : " Prophecy is impossible without study and training ; when these have created the possibility, then it depends on the will of God whether the possibility is to be turned into reality." He goes further and explains minutely that a prophet must be perfect physically, mentally and morally before he can attain to the office of prophecy.2 " The substance of the brain must from the very beginning be in the most perfect condition as regards purity of matter, composition of its different parts, size and position; no part of his body must suffer from ill health; he must in addition have studied and acquired wisdom; ... his intellect must be as developed and perfect as human intellect can be; his passions pure and equally balanced; all his desires must aim at obtaining a knowledge of the hidden laws and causes that are in force in the universe; his thoughts must be engaged in lofty matters; there must be an ab sence of the lower desires and appetites; ... A man who satisfies these conditions, whilst his fully developed imagination is in action, influenced by the Active Intellect according to his mental training, such a person will un doubtedly perceive nothing but things very extraordinary and divine, and see nothing but God and His angels."3 He is explicit, too, in saying that a man who fulfills those 111 Guide for the Perplexed," Part II, Chapter XXXII. 2 Ibid., Chap XXXVI. s Smith, W. R.: "Old Testament in Jewish Church," p. 289. "The first condition of such prophecy are pure lips and a heart right with God. Isaiah's lips are purged and his sins forgiven before he can go as Jahve's messenger. (Is. 6: cf. Jer. 15: 19.) " PROPHETIC CALL 89 requirements does not on that account become a prophet;1 he may be called and receive a message, but unless he be constantly in this receptive condition, that is, as we under stand it, unless he be occupied with the subject, " turn aside to see," he will receive no more messages. 3. Prophetic Temperament. We can readily understand this subject when we think of genius of another order, say, a musician. It is cer tainly necessary that the musical genius prepare himself by studying technique and expression and all things per taining to music, but this study alone does not make him a musician; it depends upon the will of God or, as we should say, upon his genius, his temperament. Now, the prophets received the " divine call_" not only^ecayseTfrey^ were prepared and educated, but because their minds were preoccupied with the profound mystery of life and were by temperament and genius able to turn those ex periences into the living channels of prophetic activity.1 We find these prophets expressly confessing that not only had they heard God's call to prophetic office, but by tem perament from the very moment of their birth, nay even before born, were they dedicated to become prophets. This I take to mean nothing else than that they were born geniuses not studied artists, who were moulded into " Prophet-Genius " by Jewish history. Of Jeremiah it is said: " Before I formed thee in the belly I took cognizance of thee, and before thou earnest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations."2 The very psychology of prophetic vision as will be shown later means essentially this, that the soul 'Schulz: "Old Testament Theology," p. 239. "And probably there were as among the Greeks certain families in which the prophetic faculty was particularly strong." 2Cf. also Isa. 49: 1 and 5. 90 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY of the prophet was by temperament and , experience satu- rated with the mental elements that combine^Jnto the vision. 4. My Own Experience Emerson in his Essay on History says : " Every step in his (everybody's) experience flashes a light on what great bodies of men have done, and the crises of his life refer to national crises . . . The fact narrated must corre spond to something in me to be credible or intelligible." And further in the same essay he says : " I have no ex pectation that any man will read history aright, who thinks that what was done in a remote age, by men whose names have resounded far, has any deeper sense than what he is doing to-day." For my own part I must confess that I cannot conceive how else we can comprehend the psychology of prophecy unless it be in terms of our own consciousness. Hence the prophet, when speaking of the thoughts and words of God, speaks, and can speak, only in terms of his own con sciousness. I find, therefore, in an experience of my own life the beginning of an explanation of the prophetic call; and I mean this not in any figurative sense, but in a strictly literal way. My mother belongs to a family of great learning and piety. My father, too, had been at school till the day of his marriage, and had been brought up with that respect and reverence for learning with which the Jew, who for centuries had no other fort and comfort than his Talmud, is more imbued perhaps than any other people. From the womb, therefore, I believe, I was dedicated to a student's life. When only five years old my ambition was to become a rabbi, and I stated this ambition to my father while we were both promenading near the river in our little city in Germany. A short time afterwards PROPHETIC CALL 9 1 I visited my uncle who was then, and is still, teacher in a neighboring city. I saw him walking up and down his room studying some foreign language, evidently Latin. Immediately I was seized with the ambition of walking up and down the room also studying some foreign lan guage; that seemed to me the highest ambition in life. In the course of events, however, we left Germany and came to the United States, and at the age of twelve I was taken from school and devoted myself to a business career in my father's business. For six years I was in that business, occasionally " turning aside to see " long ingly, without the slightest hope or idea however that I should ever be called to a student's life. No means and no opportunity presented themselves. One cold winter evening I visited all alone the German theatre. The music made me sad. I felt oppressed, alone and miserable. All the inheritance of my ancestors was sud denly awakened into life, and in a very serious and sincere sense of the word I felt the call to the higher life. I cared not what it was, but something it had to be, some thing that would unveil the mysteries of the world, pre pare me to be a student, a helper and guide among people. That night I walked home several miles in deep snow and was assured, I felt certain, I was determined that I would become a student, though the opportunity and the means for obtaining that end were as vague as are my opportunities at present for becoming King of Prussia. From that moment to this the ambition and the hope has never for a single moment left me that I would be a student, a teacher and a helper among men. Now, I believe with Emerson that we shall never under stand the psychology of the Prophetic Mind, if we believe v that the laws of their mind were in any wise different from the laws of our own mind. I am convinced that the psychological experience of the prophets which they de- 92 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY scribe as the "call" to prophetic activity is not only similar, but identical, in essence and principle to the psychological experience that awakened me into a student's life. What that psychological experience was that we designate by the term " Prophetic Call " will now be investigated. 5. Smend and Buttenwieser What is the psychological experience which the prophet designates as the Call from Jahve to prophetic office? .1 believe with Smend and Buttenwieser that it is_a pre- imonition on the part of the prophet jof_the^dj3wjrfalI~oF~ ithe natiphr^TF we Twill but think that in ancient Israel- some of the gravest sins were punishable by " cutting off that person from the midst of his people," that is, by excommunication, and that such a punishment was evi dently worse than death, for it meant the renouncement of nation and kin, of God and custom, it meant that out side of one's nation, one had no right as a human being, we will understand vaguely what the prophets, the na tional geniuses of Israel, must have felt at the awful thought that Israel was doomed to destruction, the whole people to be cut off from their patrimony. The problem has, however, been reversed by most scholars. It has been thought that the prophet, seeing the many sins of I which Israel was guilty, preached the destruction of the I nation on the principle that God's rule is justice. This I is in every sense, as I believe, an anachronism. To-day every school boy knows that a plant must acclimatize itself or die. He knows, too, that the universe is moral, and - man must acclimatize himself to the moral nature of the universe, or the punishment is death. Philosophy of his tory teaches to-day that any nation that violates the laws ,- of morality is doomed to destruction. No prophet need rise from the grave to tell us that. But that law had to be discovered, and Amos, the Hebrew Prophet, was the PROPHETIC CALL 93 first, as far as we know, to discover that law. The prophets never dreamed of reasoning from the sins to the necessity, the absolute certainty, of Israel's destruc tion. Israel had sinned before, and God had always forgiven. But now the prophet, Amos, an obscure genius, a herdsman and a gatherer of the sycamore fruit, is seized with the premonition, that evil foreboding of the nation's destruction"," and he rises to the situation with the, true genius that makes him a prophet. As a true student of history Tie~couIcTprobaHy have seen with the vision of a statesman the approach of Assyria, but that alone could never have awakened him to the certainty of Israel's downfall, could never have made a prophet of him. The premonition does not necessarily make a prophet of one. Others, such as Queen Louise, Scipio, Leibnitz, Maid of Orleans, and many other persons reported as authentic by the Psychic Research Society of England and the United States, had premonitions and they were not prophets. Others before Newton had seen an apple fall to the ground, they were not scientific geniuses ; it was * the awakening of the soul, by the experience of the apple's fall, that makes us call Newton a scientific genius. And" so it was the awakening of the soul of the Hebrew genius into poet, statesman, preacher, teacher, adviser and ex- horter, as a result of the premonition, that made prophets of the Hebrew geniuses. It seems to me that the prophecies of Amos show clearly the truth of this position. When after the awful pre monition of Israel's downfall, he looks about for some cause, some reason for this threatened calamity, he finds it naturally enough in the sins of Israel, and his imagina tion sees as means of this destruction a locust.plague ( Ch. 7 : 1-3 ) , but the Lord repents of this evil, and it is not to be. He then sees a drought that shall devour and dry up, but of this also God repented and it was not to be. 94 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY And finally he beholds Jahve on a wall with a plumb- line. He sees that Jahve's rule is not locust, not plague, but undeviating righteousness is the characteristic of Jahve, and hence this great downfall of Israel must fol low, he now feels certain, after the premonition, because he sees the great moral wrongs of his people. The ap proach of Assyria is the means of Jahve's plan. " It might appear," says Smend, " that the cognition of Israel's sin was first and the certainty of his downfall last. But as much as Israel's sin might have provoked Jahve, the corollary that he must destroy Israel, could not have followed from such a cognition of sin. Jahve could according to traditional belief punish Israel, but not destroy. The Assyrians threatened Israel, and from the certainty that Jahve would through them destroy Israel, followed, on the contrary, the immensity of Israel's sin. It is of psychologic interest, however, that Amos thought first of a locust plague and then of a drought. Amos's prediction was, of course, conditioned by his be lief in divine retribution, and the conditions of Israel at that time, but is not explicable by that any more than by the mere fact that Israel was threatened by Assur." Therefore, as a result of the testing of the premoni tion, there follows, for the first time in the history of human thought, the wonderful revelation of Amos and the other prophets, that God is just and moral, and to be on intimate terms with God means moral intimacy. It is only through some such overpowering experiences as a premonition of Israel's downfall that so vast a concep tion as that of Jahve's universality and justice is at all intelligible to any one who comprehends the vastness and grandeur of the religious conceptions of the prophets. It was a religious revelation of so unique a character that we can well comprehend how these men have been be lieved, and believed themselves, to stand in direct com- PROPHETIC CALL 95 munion with God, speaking to Him mouth to mouth. " By threatening danger," says Smend, " they realize and announce that destruction is approaching. In nothing more and nothing less consists their prevision." (Jer. 6: 17.) " The sins for which Israel is paying the penalty of de struction are, of course, always present. In view of them, the prophet is strengthened in his threatening prophecy (Jer. 34), while the punishment of particular sins of in dividuals, he announces in particular ways (Am. 7; Jer. 20, 28, 29). The threatening danger becomes thus a basis for his certainty, but originally it is not that. As the cause of the destruction there arises the thought of sin in the prophet's consciousness, when the danger ap proaches, and, contrariwise, his thoughts of sin recede with receding premonition of danger. " The prevision of the future was certainly vouchsafed these prophets from Heaven, and no one could take that power to himself. It stood in closer relation to the entire religious life of Israel, it was the highest blossom of the historical Jahve religion, and is not founded on magic illumination." More explicit than Smend is Dr. Buttenwieser's article " Essence of Prophecy " : It was not, then, the realiza tions of Israel's guilt that undermined the prophets' peace of mind, shocked their moral consciousness and brought them to the conviction " long before the political skies were overcast " that their people was doomed. On the contrary, the primary fact in the prophets' conscious ness was their sudden inexplicable foreboding of the ap-" proaching catastrophe, and from this followed, as they inquired into the cause of the judgment, their awakening to the absolute righteousness of God and the sinfulness of their people. N That the process could not have been reversed, namely, 96 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY recognition of moral depravity, and the nation's downfall as a result, is to me still more evident from the fact that often the prophets are so overwhelmingly certain of the destruction they announce that neither repentance nor anything else can avert the catastrophe (Jer. 9-10), which could not have been the case had the idea of doom been the result of cognition of Israel's sin, for then it would follow that when the sin is removed, the punish ment would be removed. It becomes evident, therefore, provisionally at least, that the prophetic call was nothing but the moment in which the prophet became conscious of that sudden, in explicable and awful premonition of the nation's im minent fall. As in most cases, however, the exception proves the rule, so here, the truth that the prophetic call is a psychological experience of so profound a nature that a new, awakened life is the result, is reinforced by the exception that not all prophets receive their call in the form of a premonition. In the case of Hosea, it seems, the prophetic call came at the moment when a light suddenly flashed across his soul, as a result of his love for his faithless wife. The awak ened life, the bold thought that Jahve's relation to faith less Israel was but an intensified love which he bore his faithless wife, was the psychological experience that as sured Hosea that the very act of wedding such a wife was the express order of God, intending thus to teach him the prophetic message to his people. It appears to him afterwards as a divine arrangement, that he had to marry just this particular wife, but it seems to him now that even then God had said to him : " Take unto thee the wife of whoredom, and children of whoredom " (Hos. 1:2). Hence, to speak in general terms, the prophetic " call " is the psychological moment when the prophet becomes suddenly conscious of profound truths, on the occasion of PROPHETIC CALL 97 the strange phenomenon of premonition or some other equally strange and profound psychological experience. • 6. Schwartzkopff' s Objections Schwartzkopff 's main objection to Smend is that, if we accept the theory that premonition of Israel's downfall is first and the cognition of sin last, then it would follow that the closer the threatened evil approaches, the more sinful Israel must be judged. Very logically indeed does he argue that the true prophets, the national pastors (Seelensorger), the religious geniuses of Israel, could not possibly declare white to be black and black white, could not possibly condemn the morally guiltless and excuse the guilty, according as misfortune threatened or not. Schwartzkopff's whole argument is that the prophets^ recognized the great " World-Order," the ethical nature of the universe, and from that standpoint and with that law they measured and could measure the cause and effect in world-history. No one would dare deny that this moral law is the principle by which we determine and predict cause and effect in the world-history, and the prophets did that very thing in all their activity ; but, and this is the important thing which Schwartzkopff overlooks, that law had to be discovered, and it is not discovered by, a mere glance or even a thorough study of Israel's sins. It is discovered through some accidental, psychological experience, in the case of the prophets through the sudden, inexplicable, depressing and awful premonition of the nation's doom. Being a moral universe, ruled by an ethical and just God, such a calamity could only be the result of disobedience to those laws, and seeing the inevit able approaching result, they looked about for the cause and found it in the moral corruption of the people. Now then, were Israel free from moral corruption, then such a foreboding would have had no explanation and would 8 98 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY have led not to the sublime conclusions of the prophets but to utter confusion. I am, therefore, convinced that the prophetic call was this great psychological experience, in most cases a pre monition of Israel's doom and the discovery of the basic principles of a moral universe was the result of the " call," for it is evident to even the cursory reader of the prophetic works that they became preachers as a result of the " call," and not in any instance did they ascribe the " call " to a result of what they preached. CHAPTER II PREMONITION, PRESCIENCE AND PREDICTION That the Old Testament writers believed in the phe nomenon of prediction is evident from almost every page of the various books. Deuteronomy 18: 22 takes the power of prediction as the true tests of the prophet's genuineness. " When a prophet speaketh in the name of God, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken." Isaiah (48 : 6-7) seems to indicate that it was not calculation of future events but actual prediction that characterized the prophet. In fact the belief in the power of prediction is common to all peoples. Says Brinton : " The word from the Gods is clothed under two forms, the Laws and the Prophets, in other terms, Precept and Prediction. In every religion, from the most primitive to the highest, we find these two modes of divine utterance." " The second form of the ' Word from God ' was when it was uttered as a prophecy, a prediction of the future. In this form it appears throughout the world under the innumerable aspects of divination or oracles, prophetic utterances, forecasts of time to come, second- sight, clairvoyance and the like." Cassandra is supposed to have had the power of pre diction but no one believed her. Jesus Ananiae,1 " four years before the outbreak of the war, and at a time when as yet undisturbed peace and prosperity prevailed in Jerusalem, appeared there during the Feast of Taber nacles and began of a sudden to cry aloud : ' A voice from sunrise, a voice from sunset, a voice from the four quar- 1 Quoted from Buttenwieser's article " Essence of Prophecy." 99 IOO THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY ters of the earth; a voice against Jerusalem and the temple, a voice against bridegroom and against bride, a voice against the whole people ! ' This was his cry, as he went about by day and by night through all the streets of the city. He was arrested, beaten, and finally taken before Albinus, where he was flogged till his bones were laid bare; all this torture he suffered without a groan, but crying out at every stroke of the scourge, ' Woe to Jerusalem ! ' He was thought to be a madman and dis missed. But for the remainder of his life he did not asso ciate nor converse with anyone ; nor did he curse those who beat him, nor thank those who gave him food. His one reply to everybody was : ' Woe to Jerusalem ! ' This cry he kept up continually for seven years and five months until, during the siege of the city, a stone hurled from one of the catapults struck him and silenced him forever. " Similarly, Scipio's foreboding of the later fate of Rome, and Leibnitz's utterance in 1703 to the effect that a great revolution was approaching left no impression whatever on history; they were but the visions of wise men bearing no fruit in the sphere either of politics or religion, whereas the presentiments and predictions of the Israelitish prophets stirred up and went hand in hand with a movement which, for intensity and persistence and wide- reaching consequences, stands without parallel in the his tory of mankind." Queen Louise's prediction in 1808, given at length by Schwartzkopff and compared in every detail with the prophetic predictions, that Prussia will not be destroyed but be finally victorious, is another example to the point. Yet another example of premonitory dream well known among all the hosts of Dr. I. M. Wise's pupils and ad mirers' may be read in " Reminiscences of I. M. Wise," pp. 14-15. And anyone who knows aught of the life work of this great Jewish reformer, the noblest Jewish PREMONITION, PRESCIENCE AND PREDICTION 10 1 spirit of the nineteenth century, knows how true in detail that premonitory dream was. As in Hosea's case, quoted in the last chapter, the interpretation and full import of a previous experience came later, so here the full import and meaning of the dream was not realized until the course of events showed the dream to have been a re markable premonition. It might be said that this premonitory dream was the result of his feverish brain, of his agitated soul, which is fundamentally true, because only he could haye dreamed such a dream ; smaller minds, with less thought of Jewish life, with less interest for the welfare of his people, with less of an indomitable spirit and conquering genius, could never have dreamed that dream. Not only do I admit this, but I emphasize it again and again that all mind phe- . nomena are subjective and individual, and yet the point of interest here is the fact that occasionally, somehow and somewise, some minds can rise to the mountain tops of , human history and behold events that are not seen in the vale of humdrum existence. Premonition on a smaller scale, that is, of less impor tant events than those cited above and those of the prophets, occur almost daily. Not unconscious of the fact that premonition may be rejected as a psychological phenomenon by some scholars, I nevertheless am forced to accept it as a fact, and I hasten to say that it was just as difficult to accept these so-called " mystical phenomena " as it was to reject some of the most cherished orthodox views of my childhood. No scientist has much respect for the dogmatic certainty of hide-bound theologians and cock-sure thinkers, and yet it never dawns upon half the scientific world that it is equally dogmatic to reject the infinite varieties of mental experiences of countless men and women, and labeling all these experiences " mystic phenomena " and the like, 102 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY simply because they have not all been sworn to before a notary public with college degrees. Now, all conscious ness is mysterious. Mystic beyond all power of descrip tion is to me the mind phenomenon of those who catch sounds and reproduce them on the piano or on the violin. Mystic to the blind are the quibblings about the beauty of the flower and the sublimity of the mountain. Mystic is the whole field of human feeling. Mystic is the su preme emotion of love, and had we not all experienced this mystic feeling of love, we should doubtless confine in the insane asylum all those who spoke of, and tried to make plain, their feelings of love. To deny, therefore, what thousands upon thousands assert as phenomena of their mental life, is, to say the least, unscientific and dogmatic. From the volumes upon volumes of evidence which I have read, and from the countless greater number which are extant and vouched for by men and women of scien tific training and good sense, and from the evidence of personal friends, relatives and acquaintances, whose evi dence in all other matters I accept unconditionally, I must conclude, I cannot help but conclude, that premoni tion as well as many other so-called mystic phenomena are undisputed and indisputable facts of the human mind. This explanation I offer for my acceptance of the fact of premonition as a mental experience, as well as for the other psychic phenomena with which the rest of this thesis will deal. To return, therefore, the Psychic Research Society of the United States and England furnishes a vast number of what they consider authentic premonitions. One may be cited here in brief. A mother away to dinner in a neighboring town suddenly grows uneasy and feels that she must go- home, that something has gone wrong with her son. She is urged to stay, but to no avail. She PREMONITION, PRESCIENCE AND PREDICTION 103 drives home as fast as possible and comes just in time to save her boy from suffocation. A case of premonition on the occasion of a sad event in my own home is perhaps even more remarkable. A letter reached us one morning from my aunt inquiring anxiously about my brother's health. Nothing was wrong with my brother, and the letter was a mystery. That same day my brother went out swimming and was drowned. A friend of mine with so-called psychic powers had a number of remarkable experiences, only one of which will be mentioned here. One day she was very strongly impressed that something had happened to her husband who was then in New York. She telegraphed to find out, and received the answer that her husband had fallen from an elevator and had dislocated his shoulder blade. An example of premonition which I experienced is in every sense similar to the premonitions of the prophets, only, of course, not of so profound a nature, or of any great vital consequence, nor followed by any great awakening of spirit, as in the case of the prophets. When not eleven years old, I was going home towards evening in the little city in Germany in which my parents then lived, and looking across to where the horizon meets the vast expanse of field, dotted with flowers and winding rivers, there came over me a feeling so strange and sub lime that the memory of it has remained with me to this day, a feeling that I was to be carried across the expanse of the universe, a premonition, if you will, an assurance, a feeling not of hope or desire only, but of certainty that I would sail on the vast ocean that was somewhere on this earth. And I remember distinctly that when unhoped-for circumstances suddenly prepared a way to the United States, my mind instantly reverted with mingled feelings of awe, religious fear and reverence to the premonition 104 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY of the previous year. So indelibly has this event written itself upon my mind that I have often mentioned that fact to friends and acquaintances. Chapter VII, of " Phantasms of the Living," presents a number of examples in which the premonition is always of some calamity, similar in this respect to the prophetic premonitions. Other examples from many sources might well be cited, but unnecessarily, I believe, for it is patent from what has already been said, that premonition is a fact of psychic life, not only with the prophets of Israel, but with count less men and women not prophets. Not the premonition, however, we must bear in mind, but the awakened spiritual life of so profound a nature that we call it a unique ex ample in the history of mankind was the fact that stamps the Hebrew geniuses as Prophets. Psychology of Premonition The results of modern psychological studies show us that we are but now beginning to understand something of the infinite mystery of human mind. No one has as yet been able to grasp, or in any way clearly perceive, " mind-substance," nor has any one been so presumptuous as to say what are the limits of mind phenomena. ¦ Even that greatest of all mind certainties, namely, " the ego," / think, therefore / am, is slipping away, as I believe, when we contemplate double and multiple personalities as presented with scholarly force by1 Binet in his " Alter ations of Personality." We can no longer say / think, I am, / perceive, / am immortal; for well might we pause to ask, which is the / in the several equally real and potent egos of double, triple or multiple personalities in physically one human being? Why is it my friend listens attentively to the sweet sounds of the distant music while 1 Binet, Alfred: "Alterations of Personality," New York, Appleton, 1896. PREMONITION, PRESCIENCE AND PREDICTION 105 I perceive nothing ? Why is it that I see yonder mountain clearly and distinctly, while my friend wonders what there can be out yonder beyond the range of his vision that I see? It is simply that one mind may be better adjusted than another to catch the vibrations of the universe. Every one knows that the dog barks at the approach of a stranger long before a human being becomes conscious of such approach. One man says: " It will rain to-day be cause my corns hurt me." I laugh at him because I am conscious of no approaching rain, and yet his pain is real to him, and whenever the changes in atmospheric pressure are such as they are before approaching rain, he feels it in the pain of his corn. I say again there is an adjust ment of the individual mind to the universal conditions which I possess not. A very excellent example of finer adjustment of individual consciousness to universal condi tions I have culled from an article of Dr. S. Weir Mitchell, in the Literary Digest of March 17, 1906. " A perfectly normal lad I once saw possessed of the power of distinguish ing by smell the handkerchiefs of the family after they had been washed and ironed. I made a personal test of this lad's power to pick out by their odor from a heap of clean handkerchiefs mine and those of others, the latter belonging to his father and mother. " I have seen a woman who can distinguish by mere odor the gloves worn by relatives or friends. This lady, who likes cats as pets, is able to detect by its odor the presence of a cat when I and others cannot. " These remarks prepare us to consider the means by which certain persons are aware of the nearness of unseen cats and are thus thrown into a state of agitation and general nervousness. They are usually not conscious of the unseen cat as odorous. " It seems to me possible that either they smell the cat too slightly to be able to define the odor or else receive an olfactory impression of which they are not conscious as an odor, but only in the form of such symptoms as the visible cat would also evoke. "To be influenced by an olfactory impression, of which (as odor) the subject rests unconscious, may seem a hypothesis worthy of small respect and beyond power of proof. Nevertheless, it seems to me reason able. There are sounds beyond the hearing of certain persons. If they ever cause effects we do not know. There are rays of which we are not 106 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY conscious, as light or heat or except through the other effects to which they give rise. There may be olfactory emanations distinguished by some as odors and by others felt, not as odors, but only in their influential results on nervous systems unusually susceptible. No other explanation seems to me available." Premonition, therefore, as I conceive it, is simply an intuition, an instinctive cognition of future events. As everything happens by law, through cause and effect, premonition is simply the finer adjustment of the indi vidual mind to the universal mind or universal conditions or universal cause and effect. The rudimentary form of premonition I find to- be in all the simplest instinctive knowings and adjustment of present conditions to future conditions, as when the dog and the fox " exhibit a well- marked anticipation of future events, in hiding food to be eaten hereafter " •} more clearly even, and more in tuitively and instinctively, when some animals, as is said, grow a heavier fur before the approach of a heavy winter. Call you this instinct, nature? I shall not deny it; I have no intention of calling a premonition of the highest kind, such as those of the prophets and others cited above, contra-natural, they are in every sense natural, the unex-s plained, yet vaguely comprehensible phenomena of the human mind. In view of the nescience of science as to the limits of mind phenomena, and in view of the knowl edge of finer, more delicate adjustments of some minds to infinite mind, who will say what are the limits and the possibilities of human mind for catching the vibrations of infinite mind? As Brinton has well put it: "Who dare measure the height and the depth of the subconscious in telligence? It draws its knowledge from sources which elude scientific search, from the strange powers which we perceive in insects and other animals, almost, but not wholly, obliterated in the human line of organic descent; 1 Fiske, John : " Outlines of Cosmic Philosophy," Boston, Houghton Mif flin & Co., 1903, V. 2, p. 84. PREMONITION, PRESCIENCE AND PREDICTION 107 and from others, now merely nascent or embryonic, new senses, destined in some far off son to- endow our pos terity with faculties as wondrous to us as would be sight to the sightless. " More than this : the teachings of the severest science tell us that matter is, in its last analysis, motion, and that motion is naught less than mind ; and who dare deny that in their unconscious functions our minds may catch some overtones, as it were, from the harmonies of the Universal Intelligence thus demonstrated by inductive research, and vibrate in unison therewith?" I repeat, therefore, that premonition is the delicate intuitive adjustment of human mind for catching the dis-* tant vibrations, or " overtones," of the operations of the universe. CHAPTER III REVELATION. THE WORD OF GOD. Revelation, we must remember, is a fact believed in by all peoples, from the lowest to the highest. The cornerstone of every creed on earth is the corollary, " to wit, the direct communion between the human and the divine mind, between man and God." Brinton con tinues: "Prophets and shamans, evangelists and Indian medicine-men, all claim, and all claim with honesty, to be moved by the god within, the deus in nobis, and to speak the word of the Lord." There is no other element in them in which all join with like unanimity. From the rudest to the ripest they echo the verse of the evangelist philosopher when he wrote : " In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word is God." The highest teachings of them all are expressed in the formula: " And the word of the Lord came saying: " " We may go back to the earliest forms of the ancient Egyptian religion, and we find the doctrine that the man who had learned and could pronounce the divine words revealed by the god Throth (Thought, Mind) by their utterances would be elevated to the god, and be blended with him, as one inseparable." " The ' Word of God ' as understood by the wor shipers, is the kernel and core of every faith on earth. Every religion is, to its votaries, a revelation. None is so material, none so primitive, as to claim any other foundation than the expressed will of divinity. None is so devoid of ritual as to lack some means of ascertaining this will." 1 08 REVELATION, THE WORD OF GOD 109 That the prophets themselves were firmly convinced they were speaking Jahve's message, we have seen time and again. Jeremiah in the face of death (26: 15) clings to the fact that the message he announces is not his own but from God: " But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of a truth Jahve hath sent me unto you to speak all these words in your ears." And the people ac cepted such utterances literally (Jer. 26: 16). "Then said the princess and all the people unto the priests and to the prophets; this man ought not to be put to death for he hath spoken to us in the name of Jahve, our God." How, then are we to understand the certainty of the prophets that their words were from God? Surely we cannot believe that God speaks as man. We should have to ascribe to Him a body with vocal organs, and speech modelled after ours, with our grammatical and rhetorical construction. This is the only logical way in which we can conceive God as speaking, if we mean it in the sense of human speech. If, on the other hand, we say that God speaks in a divine language, audibly or otherwise, ' we must not forget that man can understand nothing but human language, that is, speaking psychologically, the language of birds and flowers, of nature and God, to become intelligible to man, must be translated into, or conveyed in, terms of human consciousness. Maimonides says: "When we are told that God addressed the prophets and spoke to them, our minds are merely to receive a notion that there is a Divine Knowledge to which the prophets attain: we are to be impressed with the idea that the things which the prophets communicate to us come from the Lord, and are not altogether the products of their own conceptions and ideas." Note that even Maimonides observed " not altogether IIO THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY the products of their own conceptions and ideas." We must not forget that no matter what we accept Revelation to have been, the fact is irrefutable that the form in which prophetic revelations have reached us is the peculiar product of each individual prophet. That is to say, the prophet received the revelation and then clothed it in his own words, in all the art of the poet and orator, inter preting the message according to the best of his ability. Thus it could easily be shown that the poetic imagery, the sonorous rhythm, the grandeur and sublimity of ex pression depends in each case upon the vigor of the indi vidual prophet's mind, upon the peculiar genius of each one, while, as is natural, the figures of speech, similes and illustrations of each prophet are drawn from the scenes and experiences of his every-day life which are most familiar to him. / Revelation, as I conceive it, therefore, is a sudden mysterious awareness of an inflow of thought, an inunda tion of spirit, an awakening of mind, seemingly from un accountable sources, and, therefore, believed to be from not-natural channels through supernatural agency. When we speak of thought flashing across our mind we experience the same phenomenon that the prophets ex perienced when receiving what we call a revelation. No thought will flash across our minds unless we are thinking people, and then the flashes will be along the lines of our thoughts and interests. The prophets could never have ''received revelations unless they had been busied with the subjects of their revelations. The psychology of the prophet's revelation is explicable on the theory of the prophetic call as outlined above. These prophets were shaken to the very depths of mind and soul by the terrible premonition of Israel's destruction. This was God's call to prophetic office. They then devoted themselves with all the powers of their genius to the call of God, and REVELATION, THE WORD OF GOD III hence revelation followed as a result of profound thought. Once awakened to the highest pitch of mental activity, as those prophets must have been by the thought of the awful doom overhanging their people, contemplation wrought the profound results in religious, social and political matters which the mind of genius was capable of. It is interesting in this connection to note that revela tion, different from inspiration, always comes from silent contemplation. The cause of the contemplation may be, as in the case of the prophets' premonition, profound mental agitation, but revelation of truth is not the out come of that. Says Flagg: "Neither Zoroaster in his cave, Buddha beneath his bo-tree, Moses on Sinai, Jesus on the Mount of Olives, nor Mohammed in his grotto, had any body to keep him company there. And the presence of supernatural intruders, in the shape of gods and saints, devils and demons, such as the practicer's own imagination objectifies when he reaches the stage of visions and voices, is no more desirable than the presence of real persons would be, since they equally break the spell of his solitude." Perhaps the best way of getting at this subject of revela tion is to contemplate a hypnotized subject to whom it was suggested that he do a certain thing in his normal state, days and weeks after the hypnotization. The sub ject awakes and nothing is said or done of what has been suggested, and the subject himself is not aware of any im pression in his general stream of consciousness until at the suggested time there is an " uprush " from the subliminal consciousness to consciousness itself and the subject then does or says what has been all this time a suggestion in his mind of which, however, because below the threshold of consciousness, his mind was not aware. Revelation is some such " uprush " of impressions from the subjective mind to the objective mind, or from below 112 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY the threshold of consciousness to consciousness itself. And as in the evolution of the physical life each body is the effect of countless accumulations and modifications during infinite asons of time, and as there are in almost every individual special outcroppings of physical characteristics, such as shape of nose, fingers, diseased stomach, color of eyes and innumerable others from past generations, so in the evolution of the human mind or soul there are firstly, the general accumulated and evolved or " a priori " fac ulties and conditions, and secondly, and this is something which no psychologist so far as I know except G. Stanley Hall has ever hinted at, there are often these " up- rushes " of countless generations of soul life. It is this occasional uprush into consciousness, I feel strongly in clined to believe, of ideas,, predispositional view-points, impressions, characteristics, in general faculties of infinite aeons in the past processes of evolution that has made philosophers and poets of all ages speak and sing of "trail ing clouds of glory do we come," consciousness of past states, transmigration of soul, and all similar convictions that we have either been here before, or have come from above with faint recollections of experiences in another state. As Tennyson has beautifully said: " Moreover, something is or seems, That touches me with mystic gleams, Like glimpses of forgotten dreams — Of something felt, like something here ; Of something done, I know not where ; Such as no language may declare." Now then, while it may not be possible for me to form ulate at present any satisfactory definition of revelation, I am convinced that such a definition must be sought in this yet unexplained field of psychology. Revelation, then, is profound thought, the result of REVELATION, THE WORD OF GOD 1 13 deliberation after intense mental excitement, such as may cause an " uprush " of the soul's contents into conscious ness, a psychological experience of extraordinary intensity similar to that described as " Prophetic Call." The in tense psychological experience coming with a force never before experienced makes it certain that it is the hand of God in visitation, and the clearness and profundity of thought makes it equally certain that the result is a reve lation from God. In the ultimate analysis our minds are impressed by infinite mind for " trailing clouds of glory do we come," and the contents of all mental experiences are from God, the rewording however is ours. It is beyond question therefore that the prophets1 " must be understood to imply the conviction that the substance and purport of what they utter is not their own, only the form in which it is cast bearing the stamp of their own y genius and literary art."2 1 Driver: "Isaiah, His Life and Times," p. 16. 2 Schwartzkopff handles this subject of Revelation more thoroughly than any of the writers I have consulted, and while he is emphatic in stating that revelation is a psychological experience, a subjective phenomenon, he derives the prophet's certainty that they deliver God's words, not as shown above, but from their intense religio-ethical feelings. He argues that the prophetic certainty is similar to the certainty the pious soul after prayer feels that his prayer has been answered. This is a very fine psychological analysis of the process, and contains a great deal of truth, but does not state the whole truth. The prophets certainly possessed this religio-ethical feeling of which Schwartzkopff speaks, they could not have functioned as p.-ophets without it, but the certainty was unquestionably the result of the prophetic call, the great overpowering experience of premonition of that awful doom, and it, the certainty, was more likely the cause than the result of the religio-ethical feeling. CHAPTER IV DREAM, VISION AND AUDITION, ECSTASY (A) Psychology of Dream as Related to Prophecy The whole subject of dreams can be made clear in few words. It has been shown by Ribot that all sensations can be resensed or refelt, not all by all people, however. Very few, for instance, can resense the sense of taste. Visual impressions are most easily reproduced. Because the sense of sight is the most highly developed, the one most active in filling the mind with psychological content in waking states, it is, therefore, the one most operative in sleeping states, in dreams. In spite of all hasty observa tions to the contrary, as when one affirms that his dreams contained elements that were never in his consciousness in waking states, it may be shown that the mind in sleep can dream, that is, reproduce only those impressions that have reached it in waking states, through regular channels of sense perceptions. If there is any doubt of this, it must disappear when we consider the following facts discussed in1 Joseph Jastrow's " Fact and Fable in Psychology." One born without legs or arms, never dreams of them, while one who has lost either legs or arms, or both, continues to dream of them as before. More conclusive still are the following facts from Jas trow's book. Of 58 cases of total blindness, 32 of which have become blind before the fifth year, not one sees in dreams. Of six persons who became blind 'Jastrow, Joseph: "Fact and Fable in Psychology," Boston, Houghton, Mifflin & Co., 1900. 114 DREAM, VISION AND AUDITION, ECSTASY 1 15 between the years of five and seven, four dream of seeing, but two dream seldom and vaguely, and two never dream of seeing. Of twenty cases who became blind after the seventh year, all see in dreams. These cases show that when vision has become part of consciousness, and the im pressions are strong enough as they are after very early age, the dreams reproduce the impressions. Still more conclusive is the example of Laura Bridgeman quoted by Jastrow from an unpublished manuscript of G. Stanley Hall. Sight and hearing are absent from her waking states, and hence they are always absent from her dreams. More than this, as the tactual motor sensations are the only ones through which she communi cates with her fellow beings, these are the only ones operative in her dreams. This is proven by the fact that when she dreams of the approach of an enemy, say an animal, she awakens with suddenness and fright, be cause, while in the case of those endowed with sight and hearing such a dream does not often startle, since the approach of the animal or enemy is conveyed through those avenues of sight and hearing long before the enemy is near, in her case she is conscious of such approach only through the tactual sense, that is when the enemy is actually upon her, and hence the awakening with a sudden start and fright in case of such dreams.1 Hence we note the first conclusion as regards prophetic dreams, namely, prophetic dreams, as non-prophetic dreams, are conditioned absolutely by the content of the dreamer's consciousness,2 which content in all cases is again conditioned by psychological experiences through regular avenues of sense and perception. In other words concepts in the waking as well as in the sleeping state depend upon percepts. Note further that3 " an injury done to any part of an organism is apt to give rise to appropriate dream-images. In this way very slight disturbances which could hardly disturb waking consciousness may make themselves felt during sleep. Thus, for example, an incipient toothache has been known to suggest that the teeth are being ex- 1 For other examples proving the same thing see " Sleep," by Manacei'ne, M. de, London, Scott, 1897, p. 254; cf. also the very valuable interview of Dr. G. Stanley Hall with Laura Bridgeman, quoted by Jastrow, ib., pp. 348-349. 2 Bearing in mind, however, the full meaning of "the content" of con sciousness as indicated in the last chapter on Revelation. ""Illusions, a Psychological Study," by James Sully, pp. 146-7- New York, Appleton, r882. Il6 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY tracted. ... It is this fact which justifies writers in assigning a prognostic character to dreams." Heraclitus has already observed that in waking states \ we have all a common world, while in sleep we have each a world of our own. While the prophets, therefore, \ move and live in the common world around them, in their I sleep they move and live in the world that had been re- j vealed to them through the prophetic call. This be comes still more clear when we consider that feeling, as some writers believe, is the great and even exclusive cause of dreams. " If feelings of distress occupy the mind, distressing images will have the advantage in the struggle for existence which goes on in the world of mind as well as in the world of matter." And since furthermore " the rays of the sun or the moon are answerable for many of the dreams of celestial glory which persons of highly religious temperament are said to experience," it becomes plain how these prophets in their own private world of dream, moved by the promptings of their intense feelings, saw the glorious splendor of the heavens and heard the things nearest their hearts, and how the incipient imagina tion, unobserved in waking life, intensified by their almost inconceivably intense patriotic and pious feelings, gave rise to those vivid prophetic dreams which were so realistic that they could be interpreted in only one way, namely, as revelations, direct communications from God. Spencer shows1 how among all ancient peoples, with no explanation of psychological laws, with no words even to designate these phenomena, there could be and there was no other conclusion than that the individual soul in sleep left the body and visited the scenes, and encountered the experiences, of his dreams.2 Now while I am a great 1 Spencer, Herbert: "Principles of Sociology," New York, Appleton, 1904. Vol. I, Chap. X. 2Cf. Rohde, E.: "Psyche," Tuebingen und Leipzig, Mohr, 1903, Vol. II, pp. 58 ff. where he shows the same phenomena among the Greeks. DREAM, VISION AND AUDITION, ECSTASY 117 hero-worshiper and am carried away with youthful en thusiasm by the grandeur and sublimity of the prophets' character and work, I cannot help observing that they were, in spite of their unmatched religious genius, after all, but children of their age, and their dreams, caused as above indicated, were to them as real as they were to all peoples. They could, therefore, say with all the sincerity of their sincere nature, and without even the slightest suspicion of doubt, that God hath showed them and hath spoken to them all that they saw and heard in their dreams. The conclusion is therefore evident, in the second place, that the prophets' great mental agitation, primarily as a result of the prophetic call, and secondarily as a result of the awakened life that followed, gave rise to countless incipient fears and hopes which worked themselves out in more or less distinct and elaborate dreams often of a prognostic character. But, it may be objected, how is it that ordinary dreams contain no great revelation of truth, quite on the contrary, are often very foolish and far from any conception of truth, while the prophetic dreams recorded in their books reveal a mass of ethical, religious and sociological truth of the highest and profoundest nature? Modern psychology has made it plain that cerebral activity is constantly going on beneath the threshold of consciousness. I may illustrate very simply as follows: I sit and read, suddenly I feel a shooting pain in my leg, that is, I become conscious of a pain and localize it in my leg. Now, some process has been going on for some time to cause the disorder that gave rise to the pain, and some thing has been recorded of that process in the central organ, but the record was beneath the threshold of con sciousness, and I was unaware. When the impression became strong enough, I was made conscious of the dis- Il8 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY order and felt the pain. Or, again, I hear the sound of approaching music; as the music draws nearer, or I draw nearer to it, the sounds become clearer and clearer. Now, all this time the music has been playing the vibrations have made some kind of impression on my brain, but I was not aware of it until the intensity of the vibrations brought the impressions above the subliminal consciousness to consciousness itself. These impressions on the brain that are below the threshold are as real as those registered above the line, but our directing activity in the waking state takes no notice of them in exactly the same way as it takes no notice of countless other impressions that are not in the immediate stream of conscious activity. In a hypno tized subject we see the same law exhibited. It is usually supposed that the hypnotized subject on awaking has no knowledge of any of the suggestions made to him during sleep, but it has been shown by many experimenters that although he is not aware of any impressions that may have been made on his subjective mind, his hand without his knowledge often writes those impressions on the Planchette table, thus showing that impressions may and do exist in the human mind even though consciousness itself in the waking state takes no notice of them. Dur ing sleep, however, when the reins of consciousness are loose, that is, when the power of holding attention and directing is relaxed, all these impressions may rise and flow into the stream of the dream-image. How association of ideas, even in dreams, from phys ical conditions or biological conditions, not yet known to the conscious mind, may take place, the following example will illustrate : " A man who had spent some time in Egypt and there suffered severely from inflammation of the eyes, some ten years later after he had long been living in another country began to dream every night of different places in Egypt and scenes of his old life in that country. He was ab solutely unable to explain the strange frequency of these Egyptian dreams DREAM, VISION AND AUDITION, ECSTASY 119 which continued persistently. At last inflammation of the eyes showed itself which served to explain the dream. It was evident that for some time the premonitory symptoms of the disease had existed although unper- ceived in the waking state, and hence by force of association the sensation of discomfort from the eyes produced dream-images of the old life in Egypt where the previous attack of inflammation had taken place." Nearly everybody has had the experience, when working on, or thinking of, some profound subject, or after some great nervous strain, that his subconscious mind, or sub jective mind, as many call consciousness below the thresh old, has worked out the problem or solved the difficulty more profoundly than he could have done in the waking state1 because the subconscious mind can seize upon all the recorded knowledge as data for the solution.2 The following illustrations of what we may call prophetic dreams are from Manacei'ne (p. 323) : " It has already been pointed out that our reminiscences of the past may be more vivid in the sleeping than in the waking state. The various forms of paramnesia or delusions of memory as noted by Miss Caulkins and others abound in dreams. This abnormal heightening of memory which occasionally occurs during sleep has led to the belief in prophetic dreams, in which facts are revealed which seem to the consciousness of the waking man to be outside his knowledge. Thus Abercrombie for several days tried to recall a verse of the Bible he had learned as a child of seven. His efforts were unsuccessful, but one night in a dream he saw before him this verse and the chapter in Jeremiah in which it oc curred. The same author mentions the case of a bank clerk, who in making up his accounts found a deficit of six pounds (sterling). He sought in vain to remember what he had done with the money. At night, however, he saw in a dream a stammering man who begged him to give him this sum at once and he handed it over immediately in order not to keep him waiting. On awaking he reflected on the dream and was able to prove its accuracy." ^he opposite of this is also true and proves again the truth of the above conclusions. Cf. Manacei'ne, " Sleep," p. 271. " The more uncultured and confined a man's mind is the more his dreams are marked by the illogical, uncouth and rudimentary character." 2 Numerous examples of this kind of profound results obtained during sleep may be found in Hudson's "The Law of Psychic Phenomena," Chicago, McClurg, 1893, and still more numerous are the examples of the Society for Psychical Research. 120 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY On this subject Brinton has the following to say: " By far the majority of the impressions on our senses leave no trace in conscious recollection although they are stored in the records of the brain; that what seems lost to memory, still lingers in its recesses; and that mental action is constantly going on and reaching results, wholly with out our knowledge. " The psychologist calls this process by the terms ' unconscious cerebra tion,' or ' psychic automatism.' It is the function of the ' sub-liminal consciousness,' or for short, the ' sub-consciousness.' Not only is it com mon, it is constant, and the results of this unperceived labour of our minds is often far more valuable than those of our intelligent efforts. The most complex mechanical inventions, the most impressive art-work of the world, even the most difficult mathematical solutions, have been attained through this unknown mechanism of mind. They seem real in spirations, but we may be sure that the mind through long conscious effort has been storing the material and laying the foundation for the perfect edifice which sprang so magically into existence." A third conclusion, therefore, concerning prophetic dreams becomes evident; it is this: The prophets consid ered their dreams as direct revelations from Jahve and well might they so consider them, for in them, through wide knowledge, overpowering experience, concentrated passion and undivided attention, they became conscious of truths so profound, of solutions of religion, of state and society so far-reaching and sublime, that they themselves were startled at the results and felt with sincere piety : Not unto me, O Lord, but unto Thee, belongs all glory.1 (B) Psychology of Vision and Audition in Rela tion to Prophecy Vision has sometimes been classified with dreams, some times with the waking states, in reality, however, vision 1 James, William: "Principles of Psychology," Vol. 2, p. 367. New York, Holt, 1902. " If focalization of brain activity be the fundamental fact of reasonable thought, we see why intense interest or concentrated pas sion makes us think so much more truly and profoundly." dream, vision and audition, ecstasy 121 is a phenomenon of the human mind in the waking state, usually just before falling asleep. These waking visions are by no means as rare occurrences as many seem to be lieve. I have discussed the subject of vision with two prominent physicians, psychologists both, one from San Francisco, the other from Albuquerque, and both assured me that they had often seen most realistic visions just before falling asleep. External means are often used to bring about those coveted visions, especially among primitive people, where they were considered the sure gift of the gods. Speaking of this phenomenon among the Greeks, Rohde, in " Psyche," says (Vol II, pp. 16-17) : " Die Schauer der Nacht, die Musik, namentlich jene phrygischen Floeten, deren Klaengen die Griechen die Kraft zuschrieben, die Hoerer ' des Gottes voll ' zu machen, der wirbelnde Tanz : dies alles konnte in geeigne- ten Naturen wirklich einen Zustand visionaerer Ueberreizung hervor- bringen, in dem die Begeisterten alles ausser sich sahen was sie in sich dachten und vorstellten. Berauschende Getraenke, deren Genusse die Thra- ker sehr ergeben waren, mochten die Erregung erhoehen, vielleicht auch der Rauch gewisser Samenkoerner, durch denen sie, wie die Skythen und Massageten, sich zu berauschen wussten. Man weiss ja, wie noch jetzt im Orient der Haschischrausch Visionaere macht und Verzueckungen erregt. Die ganze Natur ist dem Verzueckten verwandelt." In New Mexico there are Indians of whose practice of inducing these wonderful visions by means of drugs called mesquite beans or mescal buttons (Anhalonium Lewinii) I have read several elaborate accounts. " With wide open eyes they (all primitive peoples) see specters and apparitions, such as are not unknown, but are ever growing scarcer in civilized lands. These waking visions are assiduously cultivated and become, as I have already said, the chief bond between man and divinity."1 Dr. Mitchell, in the above quoted book " Sleep," also tells of a wonderful vision of his own and says he is 1 Brinton, p. 66. 122 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY unable to describe the hundredth part of what he saw. In this connection James1 says : " Nitrous oxide and ether, especially nitrous oxide, when sufficiently diluted with air, stimulate the mystical consciousness in an extraordin ary degree. Depth beyond depth of truth seems revealed to the inhaler. This truth fades out, however, or escapes, at the moment of coming to, and if any words remain over in which it seems to clothe itself, they prove to be the veriest nonsense. Nevertheless, the sense of profound meaning having been there persists; and I know more than one person who is persuaded that in the nitrous oxide trance we have a genuine meta physical revelation. " Some years ago I myself made some observations on this aspect of nitrous oxide intoxication, and reported them in print. One conclusion was forced upon my mind at that time, and my impression of its truth has ever since remained unshaken. It is that our normal waking con sciousness, rational consciousness as we call it, is but one special type of consciousness, whilst all about it, parted from it by the filmiest of screens, there lie potential forms of consciousness entirely different. We may go through life without suspecting their existence; but apply the requisite stimulus, and at a touch they are there in all their completeness, definite types of mentality which probably somewhere have their field of application and adaptation. No account of the universe in its totality can be final which leaves these other forms of consciousness quite disregarded." There is another kind of vision of which numerous ex amples are cited by the Psychic Research Society, and of which I have heard many cases seen by friends, acquain tances and by my own father, namely, a vision of events or scenes about to happen or just passed, as when a child was run over by a team of horses and killed and the scene was seen by the child's sick mother in a vision, or when someone about to die was seen dead in a vision by some one else. Since, then, vision is so common an occurrence, there is no reason to doubt that the prophets occasionally had visions in a real sense2 as they themselves describe them, 1 " Variety of Religious Experiences," pp. 387-8. 2 Davidson, A. B., in Hastings' Bible Dictionary, art. Prophecy and Prophets, says: "Dreams and visions are creations of the mind; they des cribe the mental experiences of the prophets, and not mere figurative speech." DREAM, VISION AND AUDITION, ECSTASY 1 23 not in any figurative or poetic sense as some scholars believe.1 Now then, while I agree to some extent with W. R. Smith that visions were of rare occurrence among the greatest prophets, and that " as a rule the supreme re ligious thought which fills the* prophet's soul, and which comes to him not as a result of argument but as direct intuition of divine truth, as immediate revelation of Jehova, as developed by the ordinary process of the intel lect," I can nevertheless not overlook the fact that the prophets do occasionally speak of visions, and when they do so they must be taken as phenomena of the same char acter and kind as those above described, and which an cient Israel as well as all ancient peoples and some modern ones believed, because of the strangeness and vividness, to come direct from deity. That these visions so vivid and full of mystery should have been taken by the prophets in a literal sense as induced by God, and described by " thus Jahve showed me," is not at all surprising; in fact, we should have been more surprised had they not been so taken, for even to-day, men of more than ordinary education find no other satisfactory explanation for these and other mys terious phenomena than that they are caused by spirits. Witness all the great host of spiritualists and the count less intelligent men and women who daily believe to hold intercourse with, or believe themselves influenced by, in visible spirits. A very remarkable case is recorded by Spencer2 which I quote here in brief because of the fact that F. G. Flea, the Shakesperean scholar, surely of more than average intelligence, finds such visions induced by spirits : " About 1845," he says of himself, " I woke up at mid- 1 " Bible for Learners," Vol. II, p. 226. 2 " Sociology," Vol. I, p. 787 ff. 124 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY night and saw my brother (then living) lying on the bed. I attempted to take hold of him but my arm passed through him. His subsequent death convinced me that this was no illusion, but that he had actually visited me in his sleep. I mean that his ' soul ' had been with me ... my belief, previously pure materialistic (second stage, first being pagan), became a sort of spiritualistic Christianity." I cannot help observing in this connection that another vision by the same author, also quoted by Spencer, in which he sees among other things a shower of human heads passing through a window in a cascade, reminds us strongly of Ezekiel's vision of the valley of dry bones. Of the first kind of vision above named, Ezekiel gives us the finest example with most elaborate coloring in the first three chapters of his book; and his vision was due, as Klostermann's thorough investigations show,1 to a pathological condition of his mind caused by catalepsy.2 Nor is it in anywise degrading to the prophet to say that so grand a vision was due to catalepsy. The fact remains, nevertheless, according to Ezekiel's own description of his symptoms, and from a religious standpoint we can but say with Orelli : " Auch so ist dann natuerlich die Krank- heit als ein Gottgeordenetes Mittel zum Zweck der Weissagung anzusehen." 1 Bertholet: "Das Buch Hesekiel," p. 19. 2 According to Ribot, "Psychology of the Emotions" (p. 326), Ezekiel's vision must have been due to ecstasy because he thinks in catalepsy there is complete oblivion. Cf., however, Bertholet's full account, p. 19. Cases have been recorded where persons in self-imposed trance-conditions can visit distant scenes and report correctly all that is there taking place, as if they were actually there, just as Ezekiel does in his first three chapters. Frank Podmore in his " Studies in Psychological Research " gives an ex cellent example of this kind of vision. A young girl, Alma, was hypno tized by Baron von Rosen and in this state she saw and described every thing that was contained in H. J. Aukarkrona's home (in which she had never been), and told all that was taking place in the home at that time. DREAM, VISION AND AUDITION, ECSTASY 1 25 Here belong also the visions of the other prophets. When Zachariah, for example, continually repeats the ex pression " I lifted my eyes and saw," he evidently means nothing more than that with his mind's eye he saw the visions he described, and which were unquestionably of a highly realistic and vivid nature. The second class of visions, those in which one sees as actually present future and distant scenes and events, is also mentioned by the prophets, and here, too, there is no need of considering those visions in any but a literal sense. When Jeremiah, for example, (14: 18) says: "If I go into the field, then behold the slain with the sword. And if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine," he evidently means that literally and there is no reason, from what we have seen of the possibility of prognostic visions and dreams, to take it in any other sense. I am convinced, therefore, that the prophetic visions like other visions are a species of mental illusion, due some-' times to the high mental activity and profound interest of the prophet, sometimes, perhaps, to external stimulus, and again, to pathological conditions of mind as in the cataleptic state of Ezekiel, but always, it must be em phasized, built up from the elements already existing in the prophet's consciousness. As little as the born blind can dream visions of light and as little as the born deaf can dream auditory dreams, so little can any man, whether prophet or poet, see visions that contain aught that is not compounded of the elements that have reached the mind through the regular avenues of sense and perception. It must be emphasized again that impressions may exist in the mind without the person's recollection or knowl edge even of having received those impressions, but noth ing which is npt part of the contents of the mind can combine in dream or vision images, unless, as stated be- 126 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY fore, the person has the power, to me as yet imperfectly comprehensible, of seing distant scenes, and if he has such power, his vision discloses to him only what each can see for himself if he goes nearer within the radius of vision. The following case of Flea, also recorded by Spencer (p. 78) will illustrate the truth of the above contention: "In 1851-2, when an undergraduate, I woke up one morning, and on opening my eyes (not having been dreaming of a thing) I saw Raphael's Madonna ' in the chair ' on the ceiling in full colours. I had often seen engravings of this picture, but no coloured copy as I supposed. I there upon noted the colours carefully, and was surprised on inquiry to find them accurate. By chance, several weeks after, I was told of Baxter's oleograph, and found I had passed one in a shop window in Trinity Street, Cambridge, the night before my vision." Now as to- prophetic audition, the case is similar to that of vision. The auditory nerves are less employed in conveying impressions to consciousness than the optic nerves, and, therefore, the impressions being fewer, the cases of self-excited or centrally excited audition impres sions are naturally fewer than the cases of self-excited vision centers. I again reject the theory of poetic phraseology in cases of prophetic audition, but take it lit erally when the prophet says he heard the voice of God, for everyone has had similar audition experiences, or at least knows of others who have had such experiences. " We all know these phenomena more or less. We have sometimes heard melodies or sometimes a voice calling us by name in the absence of any exterior sound. All such phenomena are the results of the subjective ac tivity of the audition apparatus, while the same phe nomena are observed in all the other sensory spheres."1 Now then, in the cases where a person hears the voice of a friend or relative in distress or about to die, the explanation may be something like this : Just as in wireless telegraphy one instrument will catch at a great distance 1 " Sleep," Manace'ine. DREAM, VISION AND AUDITION, ECSTASY 1 27 the vibrations sent by another, which is attuned to the same pitch, so from a physiological standpoint, it may be that the instrument of one brain is so attuned to that of another, especially among nearest kin, that the vibra tions sent out by the one will be caught by the other even when a great distance apart. I offer this simply as a suggestion, not as a scientific explanation of the matter. While in the case of prophetic audition, I believe an ex planation must be sought in the centrally excited cerebral cells. The prophet, it must be remembered, was the . national preacher. He spoke aloud to himself and to others the message nearest his heart. His mind was agitated and thoroughly impressed with his subject, and under these circumstances it is easily seen how the brain- _ cells most repeatedly and passionately exercised would, on the slightest provocation, become centrally stimulated and the prophet would hear, and this very literally, or, perhaps, re-hear the words impressed on his mind and thus believe them, he could not help but believe them, to be the words of God. Add to this the fact that these words were often the best and noblest of what the prophet 1 thought, felt or spoke, and we can understand how the thoughts nearest his heart, when coming to him in audible words, could assure him and reassure him in only one thing; that these words are not the reflex of his own con sciousness, but come direct from God. Morgan says: " The prophet sees, hears questions and replies, but the broad sense in which Vision is used makes it clear that the pictorial image was not the cause of his knowledge or revelation but rather that the truth having taken possession of his mind and heart created the vision as its imagina tive clothing."1 Now then, while it can easily be shown that the prophet's vision and audition are not exactly as they ap pear in their writings with the poetic imagery and artistic 1 Morgan, W., in Hastings: "Bible Dictionary," New York, Scribner, 1904, article on Vision. 128 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY touch, I do not agree with Morgan that the knowledge comes first and the pictorial image second. This is the process of the artist of to-day; thought first, pictorial vision and garb last; it is not, however, the process of genius as a rule, and was not, could not have been, the order of the prophets who came fresh from the hand of nature. They saw visions, very vividly and very literally, and then interpreted them for themselves, for Israel and for the world. This, however, must be granted and em phasized as has already been done above, for it is the psychological explanation of the united facts, namely: that they would never have had visions or heard voices, had they not constantly " turned aside to see," had they not been profoundly stirred and passionately interested in their nation's welfare. This is not a distinction without a difference; it is of vital importance to our study of the Psychology of Prophecy. They would, in that case, not have been prophets, speaking in the name of Jahve with that terrible earnestness that defies all laws of human making. They would have been modern preachers and teachers, or second rate poets, who catch an idea and then look about and clothe the idea pictorially. It was be cause they believed these visions and these voices to come from God, that they interpreted and presented them to refractory and stiff-necked Israel with that force and eloquence that still carries conviction to-day. The point I wish to make is this, the general psycho logical make-up of the prophet is the cause of vision. The grandest and the humblest visions are all made up from the elements already existing in the mind. But this vision comes with such peculiar mystic effect that the re sult in all ages, and there are countless examples of it to-day, is taken to be direct communication from God. This vision is then interpreted by the prophets and clothed in their poetic imagery. James cites a number of ex- DREAM, VISION AND AUDITION, ECSTASY 1 29 amples from modern life of such illumination, unspeak ably wonderful indeed, and yet I insist that these visions, though I know not how put together, are nothing but wonderful blendings of elements from the individual con sciousness. The following example of Saint Teresa will illustrate perfectly : " Our Lord made me comprehend in what way God can be three per sons. He made me see it so clearly that I remained as extremely sur prised as I was comforted, . . . and now when I think of the holy Trinity, or hear It spoken of, I understand how the three adorable per sons form only one God and I experience an unspeakable happiness." It requires very little argument to see that no matter how pious and visionary I might be, no matter how prophetically, poetically, musically and saintly inclined I might be, such an illumination or vision as that of Saint Teresa is for me a psychological impossibility. Not be cause God cannot enlighten me, as He did her in what way God can be three persons, but because He never does enlighten on subjects that are of little or no interest; He never calls unless one turns aside, and I have never shown the slightest interest in trying to understand that problem. Prophetic vision, therefore, as well as prophetic audi tion are subjective phenomena, usually the result of cen trally stimulated cerebral impressions, indirectly the re- suit of profound interest and thought, and direcdy again, the well-spring whence flowed the life-giving waters of deep and profound thought. (C) Psychology of Ecstasy in Relation to Prophecy Ecstasy is a phenomenon known to all peoples and be lieved by all to be a state of the human mind in which the human communes with the divine. So Rohde : " In der Ekstasis, der Befreiung der Seele aus der beengenden Haft des Leibes, ihrer Gemeinschaft mit dem Gotte, wachsen ihr Kraefte zu, 130 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY von denen sie im Tagesleben und durch den Leib gehemmt nichts weiss. Wie sie jetzt frei als Geist mit Geistern verkehrt, so vermag sie auch, von der Zeitlichkeit befreit, zu sehn, was nur Geisteraugen erkennen, das zeitlich und oertlich Entfernte." And again (p. 23) "Und es fehlt in alien Theilen der Erde nicht an Voelkern, die solche ekstatische Ueberspannungen als den eigentlich religioesen Vorgang den einzigen Weg zu einem Verkehr des Menschen mit einer Geisterwelt ansehen und ihre religioesen Handlungen daher vor- nehmlich auf solche Veranstaltungen begruenden, die erfahrungsgemaess Ekstase und Visionen herbeizufuehren geeignet sind." As definite examples of persons who were especially gifted with deep insight through ecstatic vision, Rohde mentions Aristias (p. 92) ; Epi- menides of Crete (p. 96-97) and others.1 The following vision seen by a North American Indian prophetess in a state of ecstasy shows again that what the prophet sees in ecstasy is only a heightened form, with brilliant colors, of the contents of his own consciousness : " A North American Indian prophetess once related the story of her first vision. At her solitary fast at woman hood she fell into an ecstasy, and at the call of the spirits she went up to heaven by the path that leads to the open ing of the sky; there she heard a voice, and standing still, saw the figure of a man, standing near the path, whose head was surrounded by a brilliant halo, and his breast was covered with squares ; he said : Look at me, my name is Ashauwauegeeghick, The Bright Blue Sky." The most striking example of ecstasy, with vision and illumination and all the rest, is one experienced by Dr. Bucke who has, after the experience, made a great study of the phenomenon of ecstasy among others. I quote from a number of other experiences cited by James in his chapter on Mysticism ("Varieties of Religious Ex periences"). " I had spent the evening in a great city with two friends reading and discussing poetry and philosophy. We parted at midnight. I had a long drive in a hansom to my lodging. My mind, deeply under the in fluence of the ideas, images and emotions called up by the reading and talk, was calm and peaceful. I was in a state of quiet, almost passive en- 1" Psyche," Vol. II, Edition 1903. DREAM, VISION AND AUDITION, ECSTASY I3I joyment, not actually thinking, but letting ideas, images and emotions flow of themselves, as it were, through the mind. All at once, without warning of any kind, I found myself wrapped in a flame-colored cloud. For an instant I thought of fire, an immense conflagration somewhere close by in that great city; the next, I knew the fire was within myself. Directly afterward there came upon me a sense of exultation, of immense joyousness accompanied or immediately followed by an intellectual illu mination impossible to describe. Among other things, I did not merely come to believe, but I saw that the universe is not composed of dead matter, but is, on the contrary, a living Presence ; I became conscious in myself of eternal life. It was not a conviction that I would have eternal life, but a consciousness that I possessed eternal life then; I saw that all men are immortal; that the cosmic order is such that without any per- adventure all things work together for the good of each and all'; that the foundation principle of the world, of all the worlds, is what we call love, and that the happiness of each and all is in the long run absolutely certain. The vision lasted a few seconds and was gone; but the memory of it and the sense of the reality of what it taught has remained during the quarter of a century which has since elapsed. I knew that what the vision showed was true. I had attained to a point of view from which I saw that it must be true. That view, that conviction, I may say that consciousness, has never, even during periods of deepest depression, been lost." Thus Briggs acknowledges the possibility of profound thought and prophetic vision in this ecstatic state among prophets outside of the Hebrew nation. He says: " The Shamans of Eastern Asia use a tambourine and stimulants until they cast themselves into an unconscious state and then are aroused to answer questions which are put to them. Their answers are often sur prisingly accurate, although they know nothing that has transpired when they awake into consciousness again. Grecian prophetesses inhale foul gases from clefts in rocks (Delphi, Donona). At the present day the dervishes of Mohametans cast themselves in a circle or by howling for a long time. The Indian Fakirs cut themselves with knives as did the an cient prophets of Baal. There are also in the unconscious somnambulism and the gift of second sight kindred phenomena. In these ecstatic con ditions involving unconsciousness to the outside world the inner emotional and intellectual nature moves with great rapidity and freedom and, as in the dream, reaches solutions of difficult problems and discerns the issue of events far and near. As in the dream so in the ecstatic states there may be instinctive prediction and instinctive guidance through difficulties, or there may be entire failure. " There is also a higher order of prophets who through retirement and contemplation of the sacred mysteries of religion have been spiritually enlightened to discern truths of a higher order tiian their fellows and to 132 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY experience emotions of a deeper and more absorbing intensity. They have wondrous powers of insight and forecast." We conclude, therefore, that whenever the subject be comes oblivious of the surrounding world and devotes , himself with " long-sustained contemplation " to any one subject the result is ecstasy, the same phenomenon which many people to-day are practicing as a result of the im portation of Indian philosophy under various names, es pecially under the name of Yogi philosophy. Most of the so-called " higher-thought " writers of whom the number is legion have absolutely nothing to offer by way of getting at truth, health, insight, inspiration and all the rest of it, except this relaxation of all thought and action and the contemplation of one subject, until the result attained shall be divine union of individual mind with universal mind, the highest attainment of truth and well- being. If this is believed and practiced to-day to an extent that one, who has not been among people of un trained scientific habits but of more than ordinary intel ligence, can hardly imagine, how can we wonder, espe cially since it is an importation from the East and prac ticed by most orientalists, that the Hebrew prophets, too, children of their age and time, gifted with the highest powers of mind and soul and with the secrets of attaining to that highest, should have indulged in ecstasy and seen visions and heard voices, and believed them, nay, knew absolutely and unmistakably that these were the means of God to reveal truth. There could be no other explana tion; there is, at bottom, no other explanation yet. There is, therefore, no necessity for supposing, as many scholars do, as most scholars do,1 that ecstasy is not a butcher, Prof. S. H., in the Lit. Dig., February 4, 1905, says: "The Delphic priestess seized and subdued by an apparently divine possession lifted out of herself in transport, presents a contrast to the Hebrew prophet whose reason and sense remain undisturbed under the stress of inspira tion." Delitzsch: "System of Biblical Psychology," p. 404, also tries to make this same distinction. DREAM, VISION AND AUDITION, ECSTASY 133 characteristic of the Hebrew prophets, or at any rate, a phenomenon of rare occurrence. It seems to me, such accounts of the prophetic activity are the results of an overzealous religious piety and an under-zealous respect for psychological laws. Vision and audition are not possible without some degree of ecstasy, nay, revelation, the direct intuition of truth of a high order, such as the prophets under any or all theories must be credited with, is actually impossible without some degree of ecstasy.1 Why then make the distinction between the Hebrew prophets and other prophets? All things natural are divine, and all things divine are natural. True it is that ecstasy of the wild and mad kind was seen only in the early stages of Hebrew prophecy when wine and dance and music and other external means were used for bring ing about this state, but the subdued elevated ecstasy due to, religious temperament and patriotic fervor, due to constant and profound contemplation, was certainly the characteristic of the later prophets. I^onclude, therefore, with Algazali, the Arabian philosopher,2 against most of the scholars I have read, that " whoso knows not ecstasy knows prophetism only by name." Without ecstasy revelation, vision, audition, dream, are impossible, and vice versa, all these in turn produce ecstasy. Ecstasy is usually the spring whence all the other prophetic streams flow. " The hand of the Lord is upon me " is an expression of the prophet's ecstatic state, and, therefore, with Morgan3 I take ecstasy to be " a religious exaltation of spirit in which the free activity of the mind is not suppressed but heightened. Such a state is behind vision as a psychological condition." 1See Flagg, W. J.: "Yoga or Transformation," New York, Bouton, 1898. "Lewes, G. H.: "Biog. Hist, of Phil.," New York, Appleton, 1880, p. 368 ff. "Article, Trance. CHAPTER V INSPIRATION The most abused of all prophetic conceptions is the term inspiration. This is not the place, however, to enter into a theological discussion as to what Biblical inspiration has been taken to mean. An excellent treatise on that subject may be found in " Die Schriftinspiration " by P. Dausch, a Roman Catholic writer. Ignoring all religious discussions, Jewish, Patristic, Protestant, both early and later, Roman Catholic and others, we shall investigate only the psychological aspect of the problem. What is inspiration, or divine inspiration, considered as a psychological process? It will be remembered that it was granted that prophets were divinely inspired. We now ask what does that term mean in terms of human consciousness ? We found the prophetic call to be the psychological moment in which the prophet became conscious of his life's mission, and we saw that this was a psychological experience of so profound a nature as to awaken the prophet into a new spiritual life and fit him as national preacher, teacher, statesman, savior. We found pre monition to be that psychological experience, and we in vestigated the psychology of premonition. We then found revelation to be the result of deep, profound con templation, and found that all religious teachers re ceived revelations as a result of silent contemplation, usually in retirement from all surrounding disturbing in fluences. As a result of silent contemplation came ecstasy, an experience of all religious recluses of which ancient civilizations as well as medieval Europe furnish countless 134 INSPIRATION I3S examples. As a further result of contemplation and reve lation came prophetic dream with all its wonderful results in soul life;1 and as another result of ecstasy came vision and audition with their mysterious effects on the spiritual life. We now ask what is the psychological experience called inspiration or divine inspiration ? From the lowest savage to the highest philosophers of ancient Greece the conception of inspiration was that God or some higher powers occasionally used some men as their instruments through whom they worked, or as the mouth-piece through whom they spoke ; that is, the inspired person did things and uttered thoughts not his own but God's. Josephus makes Balaam excuse himself to Balak in these words: When the spirit of God seizes us, it utters whatsoever sounds and words it pleases without any knowledge on our part, for when it has come into us, there is nothing in us which remains our own.2 Of Socrates it is said that he was a profoundly religious man, " A man of that bilious melancholic temperament which has in all times been ob served in persons of unusual religious fervor, such as is implied in those momentary exaltations of the mind which are mistaken for divine visits; and when the rush of thought came upon him with strange warning voices, he believed it was the gods who spoke directly to him."3 Thus Philo says of himself: " Sometimes, when I have come to my work empty, I have suddenly become full; ideas being in an invisible manner showered upon me, and implanted in me from on high; so that through the influence of divine inspiration, I have become greatly excited, and have known neither the place in which I was, nor those who were present, nor myself, nor what I was saying, nor what I was writing, for then I have been conscious of a richness of interpretation, and enjoyment of light, a most penetrating insight, a most manifest energy in all that was to be done; having 1 Cf. " Sleep," by M. D. Manaceine, p. 323, where he gives two ex cellent examples of wonderful results of dreams and shows these to be the "stuff" that prophetic dreams are made of. 'Smith, Sir W.: "Bible Dictionary." 'Lewes's "Biog. Hist.," p. 167. 136 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY such effect on my mind as the clearest ocular demonstration would have on the eyes."1 To be inspired, then, meant to have the gods breathe their spirit into the human being so that he might act more wisely or speak more profoundly than at other times. " We are now so remote from this doctrine of inspiration,"2 says Spencer, "As to have difficulty in thinking of it as once accepted literally. Some existing races, as the Tahitians, do indeed show us, in its original form, the belief that the priest when inspired ' ceased to act or speak as a voluntary agent, but moved and spoke as entirely under supernatural influence ' ; and so they make real to us the ancient belief that prophets were channels for divine utterances. But we less clearly recognize the truth that the inspiration of the poet was at first conceived in the same way. ' Sing, O goddess, the destructive wrath of Achilles,' was not, like the invocations of the Muses in later times, a rhetorical form; but was an actual prayer for possession. The Homeric belief was, that ' all great and glorious thoughts . . . come from a god.' " " Greater deviation in non-essentials has left unchanged the same es sentials in the notions current throughout Christendom; beginning with the ' inspired writer,' whose words were supposed to be those of an in dwelling holy spirit, and ending with the Pope, who says his infallible judgments have a like origin." So Brinton tells us: "Prophets and shamans, evangelists and Indian medicine men, all claim, and claim with honesty, to be moved by the god within, the deus in nobis, and to speak the words of the Lord." And that this is not meant in any figurative sense we are further assured by Brinton that in these inspired seers and priests of all nations missionaries of higher Faiths ' have ever found their " most resolute foes and successful opponents," and this because " the shaman has himself been face to face with God, has heard his voice and felt his presence. His faith, therefore, is real and cannot be shaken by any argument." Apollo also inspires his priests and priestesses by 'James, W.: "Varieties of Religious Experience," p. 481, New York, Longmans, 1902. 2 " Sociology," Vol. I, 237 ff. INSPIRATION 1 37 speaking his words through their mouths,1 or allows them to see the hidden things of the future which, in this in spired state, they were able to do. " Der Gott, so war der Glaube,2 faehrt in den irdischen Leib, oder die Seele der Priesterin, von ihrem Leibe ' geloest,' vernimmt mit Geistersinn die goettliche Offenbarungen. Was sie dann ' mit rasendem Munde ' ver kuendigt, das spricht aus ihr der Gott; wo sie 'ich' sagt, da redet Apollo von sich und dem was ihn betrifft. Was in ihr lebt, denkt und redet, so lange sie rast, das ist der Gott selbst." We see then that inspiration was among all peoples taken to mean a process by which God used man as his instrument for doing his work, for speakfng his words. Among the Hebrews also the idea of inspiration was that of a divine force emanating from God and entering- the human being, making him thus more skilful in his work, more heroic in action and more eloquent in speech. Thus Israel can speak of skilled workmen as men in whom is " the spirit of God." The fact is that certain people in certain pathological conditions of mind become so violent and physically powerful that they have always been thought to be " pos sessed " by evil spirits, and men are not wanting to-day who can cast out devils and the like. In like manner, in certain other pathological conditions, the human mind becomes more active, stronger, more penetrating and in every way more powerful than in normal conditions, and at such times the person is also considered inspired, that is taken hold of by spirits, this time by beneficent spirits, by the divine spirit, by God.3 Most Biblical writers make the distinction that non- Israelitish prophets delivered their message, as already 1 Cf. Rohde, " Psyche," Vol. II, 58 ff. "Ibid., 60-61. 3 Binet Alf., in " Alterations of Personality," p. 72, tells of a hypnotized subject, who, similar to the possessed or inspired subject, wrote twelve pages of a novel in one hour in the hypnotized state. 138 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY mentioned, in a state of unconsciousness, while the Israel itish prophets delivered theirs in the full possession of their mental powers. This distinction is entirely gratui tous. Inspiration is the same mental process wherever manifested. The distinction however that should be made is this: in all early stages of mental development, among all nations, and of course among the Hebrews as well, inspiration meant the unconscious utterances, in a state of trance or similar mental state, or sometimes the mad, violent utterances and actions in certain diseased states of mind; while in higher civilizations, as among the higher prophets of Israel, higher in the sense of more intellectual and moral, inspiration ceased to be connected with those former phenomena, and was taken to mean the no less mysterious but the more profound utterances, the more eloquent products of the highest activities of the deeply moved, stirred, passionate human soul. James throws the following light on this subject: The great field for this sense of being the instrument of a higher power is of course " inspiration." It is easy to discriminate between the religious leaders who have been habitually subject to- inspiration and those who have not. In the teachings of the Buddha, of Jesus, of Saint Paul (apart from his gift of tongues), of Saint Augustine, of Huss, of Luther, of Wesley, automatic or semi-automatic composition appears to have been only occasional. In the Hebrew prophets on the contrary, in Mohammed, in some of the Alexandrians, in many minor Catholic Saints, in Fox, in Joseph Smith, something like it appears to have been frequent, sometimes habitual. We have dis tinct professions of being under the direction of a foreign power and serving as its mouthpiece. As regards the Hebrew prophets, it is extraordinary, writes an author who has made a careful study of them, to see — INSPIRATION 139 " How, one after another, the same features are reproduced in the prophetic books. The process is always extremely different from what it would be if the prophet arrived at his insight into spiritual things by the tentative efforts of his own genius. There is something sharp and sudden about it. He can lay his finger, so to speak, on the moment when it came. And it always comes in the form of an overpowering force from without, against which he struggles, but in vain. Listen, for in stance, to the opening of the book of Jeremiah. Read through in like manner the first two chapters of the prophecy of Ezekiel. " It is not, however, only at the beginning of his career that the prophet passes through a crisis which is clearly not self-caused. Scattered all through the prophetic writings are expressions which speak of some strong and irresistible impulse coming down upon the prophet, determining his attitude to the events of his time, constraining his utterance, making his words the vehicle of a higher meaning than their own. For instance, this of Isaiah's: 'The Lord spake thus to me with a strong hand,' ... an emphatic phrase which denotes the overmastering nature of the impulse, . . . ' and instructed me that I should not walk in the way of this people.' ... Or passages like this from Ezekiel : ' The hand of the Lord God fell upon him,' ' The hand of the Lord was strong upon me.' The one standing characteristic of the prophet is that he speaks with the authority of Jehovah himself. Hence it is that the prophets one and all preface their addresses so confidently, ' The word of the Lord,' or ' Thus saith the Lord.' They have even the audacity to speak in the first person, as if Jehovah himself were speaking. As in Isaiah : ' Hearken unto me, O Jacob, and Israel my called; I am He, I am the first, I also am the last,' . . . and so on. The personality of the prophet sinks entirely into the back ground; he feels himself for the time being the mouthpiece of the Al mighty." From what has been said it will easily be seen that divine inspiration can never mean that the human ceases at any point to operate and becomes passive in the power ^ of some non-ego, but rather that the human rises with all the splendor and pristine glory of its native forces to the highest pinnacle of its own power. Were the Infinite One to speak through any finite being it were of no avail to Him or to us, we should still insist that He speak to us in terms of our own consciousness, in our own language, lest it be like the distant roar of the cannon, mighty and fearful but not as intelligible or translatable as the tiniest voice of the human babe. Were inspiration a literal 140 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY speaking of the Infinite One through the mouthpiece of the prophets, then all inspired books are dictated by the same author and should bear the same characteristics of style, rhetoric and language throughout, which needless to say is not the case; to say nothing of the necessity of presenting us with unmistakable ultimate truth and not with a progression or development of truth as we find it. Furthermore, such inspiration should have presented pre dictions literally true in every detail, which again is not the case with any prophet, of any people, time or clime; neither of Moses nor Buddha, neither of Jeremiah nor of Jesus, neither of Swedenborg nor of Joan of Arc can it be said that all the inspired utterances, predictions and the like are literally true. Even Delitzsch, the orthodox writer, acknowledges: "The divine thoughts take their way to the Ego of the prophet through his nature. They clothe themselves in popular human language, even according to the prophet's individual manner of thinking and speaking; and they present themselves in a form manifoldly limited, even accord ing to the existing circumstances and the horizon of contemporary history." More in harmony with our own thoughts is Farrar's statement: " Inspiration is neither infallibility, nor verbal diction, nor abnormal miracle, nor — to quote the favorite metaphor of Montanus — the playing of the spirit upon the harp of man's being as upon a passive instrument; it is the inmost harmony of the spirit of man with the spirit of God within the sphere of human limitation." Or as Ralph Waldo Trine puts it, the prophets " come into con scious realization of their oneness with the Infinite Life." Inspiration, it must, therefore, be granted, is the highest eloquence of thought, speech or action, a result of the temperament, power, inheritance, energy of genius, under the exhilaration and stimulation of some great enthusiasm and mental excitement, an eloquence so far above what genius himself is ordinarily capable of, that it is easily INSPIRATION 141 believed to be not his own work, thought or action, but the result of some higher power than self. Therefore we shall define inspiration as that state of the human mind in which mental activity, accelerated it may be externally by means of drugs, wine, music, dance and the like, or subjectively by strong emotion and passionate feeling and interest, is so rapid that in this state of mental energy the mind's reaction time is practically nil, and the subject finds at his command all the conscious and un conscious impressions of his mind and occasionally or often the trailing clouds of glorious thoughts from count less generations of soul evolution, all of which rises suddenly in majesty to meet the occasion, and the result whether in art, in sculpture, in music or in religion is so profound and beyond the subject's normal ability as to carry the conviction that some mysterious power, the spirit of God, has wrought the result through him; and in the ultimate analysis this is literally true; for there is no distinction of kind in mind. Human mind and divine mind are one mind. Mind is in essence one. If the genius of the prophet has channeled a larger stream of mind to turn the machinery of his being he has been helped in his work by divine mind, by a larger stream of divine mind than other men find possible to utilize. CONCLUSION So long as we shall read one nation's history as sacred and another nation's as profane, so long shall we remain profoundly ignorant of the unfolding of humanity and of humanity's soul, mind, religion. And worse than this, so long as we do this, so long shall we continue to weave our ignorance into the web and woof of life in the patterns of higher and lower, heathen and civilized, prejudice and fear, damned and saved, and the like. Every creature is divine, and if you will not allow that much, then at least every genius is divine, insofar only, however, as he has more of the divine spirit than others. But Israel, having listened to brooks and babes, having heard the myriad voices of nature that are ever musical and sweet, and interpreted them with his religious serious ness, was called supernatural instead of more divine than others who do not see and hear the manifestations and voices of God. We can comprehend this only by assum ing boundary lines to human mind and calling a certain amount of ignorance the standard measure, those nations which have the required ignorance are natural; those nations falling below the standard of ignorance are sub- natural, barbarous, heathen; those above the standard are supernatural, divine. The fact is there is only one universe, and that universe is divine. There is for us only one interpretation of that universe, and that is human and natural. Flagg so admirably states the point for which I con tend that I shall quote his thought in full i1 " So far as we have any good account of their beginnings, all religions and all their great embranchments and graftments have had a like origin, however different their contents. None has been by the god of it given '"Yoga," p. 104. 142 CONCLUSION 143 directly to mankind, but each has come through an immediary prophet, having natural or acquired receptivity for so-called supernatural inflow, and also miraculous, so-called, to exhibit as sanction for his authority to speak for God and control man. Such was Zoroaster, Pythagoras, Moses, Saul of Tarsus, Mohammed, and such was Swedenborg. No devotee of any faith can trace the sources of it further back than to something lying within his own self the revelation he transmits, be it given to him by intellectual illumination, symbolic visions or talking ones, clairaudience, clairvoyance, automatic or direct writing, trance-speaking, or whatever other of the now well-known to have been always common methods by which the hidden word speaks to the manifest one the medium was adapted to. The mystic already religious, treading the path of contemplation, in search of the source of his being, already believed to be a god, in hope to attain communion with it, comes upon his own very self (but his inward self) as objectified by itself in form of that god of his mes senger, and forthwith bows down and worships himself; and then what ever revelation is thus vouchsafed to him he communicates to the world with the zeal that comes through absolute conviction, as the absolute truth all men long for, to meet with more or less acceptance according as time, place and circumstances may suit." Prophecy, as I have shown in the foregoing pages, is a human and subjective phenomenon of the mind; divine it is, not only in the narrow sense of being superinduced by God, but in the larger and truer sense that all phenomena, and certainly, above all conceivable possibility of doubt, mind phenomena are divine phenomena, are the manifesta tions of the Infinite One in a literal sense of the word. The subject of prophecy to be intelligible to us must be analyzed as a psychological process, as has been attempted in this thesis, and since this subject, so> far as I am aware, has never before been handled entirely from a psycho logical standpoint, the preceding pages have in most cases dared only to indicate the direction in which a solution of the problem is to be sought and a comprehensive study begun. It cannot be emphasized too often that prophecy is a human process, a mind process, and must be studied from a human point of view as a branch of psychology, just as philosophy, poetry and music are human phe nomena and are studied as psychological processes. The 144 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PROPHECY reason why prophecy alone of all phenomena has usually been excluded from the field of psychology as a branch worthy of the same serious investigation as other branches is simply because on the interpretation of prophecy de pend the interpretation of religion, for which a super natural origin has always been sought. Especially sad and bitter is the opposition to this psychological investiga tion of prophecy from orthodox Christian sources be cause of the many involved dogmas as to the divinity of Jesus and the predictions of His coming by the Hebrew prophets. The time is coming, however, when it will be seen, through a new adjustment of finite mind to infinite mind, that the highest ideal is to be natural, and not supernatural, for to be natural is to be at one with the divine; therefore, the highest being is a human being, a man, for to be a man is to partake in the highest sense of God. This thesis, then, far from destroying or detracting aught from the glory and sublimity of the prophetic life, thought and earnest devotion to a life of oneness with God, simply explains how such a life grows and operates, and adds glory and divinity to all human life by showing that prophetic life is natural life, and natural life is divine life. Scholars are beginning to accept the theory of the omnipresence of consciousness. To me it is the only conceivable theory of these orderly and mathematically exact operations of every particle of the universe. In the same identical sense, therefore, in which the flowers and the stars reveal themselves to our mind without voice or word, so does the infinite mind reveal his essence and his thoughts to finite mind without words or voice but through the inaudible, intangible and invisible modes of mind. BIBLIOGRAPHY. Anrich, Gustav. Das antike Mysterienwesen in seinem Einfluss auf das Christentum. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht: Goettingen, 1894. Bauer, Georg Lorenz. Hebraeische Mythologie des alten und neuen Testaments. . Leipzig, 1802. Baur, Gustav Adolf Ludwig. Der Prophet Amos. 1847. Binet, Alfred. Alterations of Personality. Appleton & Co.: New York, 1896. Binet-Sangle. Les Prophetes Juifs. Paris, 1905. Boissier, Gaston. La Religion Romaine d'Auguste aux Antonins. Paris, 1874. Borchert. Die Visionen der Propheten ; in " Studien und Critiken." 1895. Briggs, Charles Augustus. Messianic Prophecy. T. & T. Clark: Edin burgh, 1886. Brinton, Daniel Garrison. Religions of Primitive Peoples. 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