If I Forget You, Jerusalem! - Studies on the Old Testament - Niels Peter Lemche
8. Sociology and Prophetical Literature
If I Forget You, Jerusalem! - Studies on the Old Testament - Niels Peter Lemche
Niels Peter Lemche [+]
University of Copenhagen
Niels Peter Lemche, has been publishing in the field of Old Testament studies for fifty years. He has been both Assistant Professor at Aarhus University, Denmark, from 1978 to 1986 and Professor of Theology at the University of Copenhagen from 1987 to 2013. He is the founder of the Scandinavian Journal of the Old Testament, and a member of the board of the Copenhagen International Seminar (Routledge). He has recently edited (in co-operation with Dr. Jim West) Jeremiah in History and Tradition (Routledge, 2019).
Description
Sociology helps to create a sociological type of a prophet which differs totally from the prophetical figures which we encounter in the Old Testament. The material from the Ancient Near East – not least Mari – describes a prophet as a religious specialist not very highly regarded by the religious establishment. The biblical prophets are preachers, not really prophets. They are the creation of literary imagination.