Search Results (91)

This paper approaches the corpus of the Dead Sea Scrolls with the aim of underlining how a form of prophecy after (or besides) prophets is constructed in Second Temple Judaism. In contrast and parallel with other religions (saliently Islam), where prophecy is “sealed” and closed after a given event, Judaism links prophecy to text in the process of constructing an authorized corpus, as may be seen in phenomena such as the development of certain forms of exegesis. Nevertheless, some groups, like the Qumran community, give a central role to figures that are, at the very least, typologically related to early (biblical) prophets. I will approach these parallels in a systematic way, trying to define how text and inspiration are involved in the construction of prophets by another name in the corpus. Full article

The Fozu tongji 佛祖統紀 (Comprehensive Records of the Buddha and Patriarchs), compiled by the Tiantai monk Zhipan 志磐 during the Song dynasty, is a seminal work in the history of historiography. This article focuses on its inclusion process during the Ming dynasty, revealing the interplay between textual transmission and political power. Through primary source analysis and textual criticism, this article examines how the Fozu tongji became included in Ming court editions of the Buddhist Canon. Two main conclusions emerge: First, the Fozu tongji—a text documenting the history of the Tiantai school—was formally included through advocacy by Puqia 溥洽 of the seng lu si 僧錄司 (Buddhist Registry Office), signifying the imperial rulers’ recognition of the Tiantai school. Second, to align with state ideology, all prophecy-related content was systematically eliminated from the original text. This case study provides a window into practices of religious governance in the early Ming Dynasty. Furthermore, it enriches the scholarly understanding of the dissemination history of the Fozu tongji and also provides broader insights on the inclusion of Buddhist texts. While inclusion in the canon elevated the Fozu tongji’s influence, the text was altered under the ideological “purification” imposed by the state. Full article

This essay examines how Shakespeare’s King Lear and Tarkovsky’s Nostalghia employ fool figures to articulate truths inaccessible through rational discourse. The Fool in King Lear speaks through riddles, songs, and prophecies, revealing uncomfortable realities about power and identity that direct statement cannot safely convey. His performed madness contrasts with Lear’s genuine descent into insanity, yet both states access knowledge unavailable to those maintaining social position and sanity. Tarkovsky’s Domenico embodies the Russian Orthodox tradition of yurodstvo (holy foolishness), performing sacred madness through impossible rituals and apocalyptic prophecy. His mathematical impossibility—“1 + 1 = 1”—expresses spiritual unity that logic cannot grasp. Both figures draw on Plato’s distinction in the Phaedrus between divine madness and human pathology, where four forms of god-sent mania provide superior insight into rational thought. Through Erasmus’s humanist satire and Foucault’s analysis of reason’s violent separation from unreason, the essay traces how Western culture moved from integrating fool-wisdom to confining it as pathology. The protective mechanisms enabling fool-speech—performance frames, liminal positioning, sacred authorization—reveal society’s ambivalent need for dangerous truths. As contemporary culture increasingly medicalizes cognitive deviation, these masterworks preserve essential epistemological functions, demonstrating why certain truths require the fool’s disruptive voice. Full article

This article investigates some analogies between the narratives of Moses and Joseph and the prophetic tradition, with particular attention to the theme of commissioning and the role of the Hebrew verb šālaḥ (“to send”). Grounded in the premise that call narratives are decisive for understanding prophecy, the study offers a quick overview of the prophetic vocation and the phenomenon of human resistance to the divine commission. It then presents an analysis of Moses’s call narrative in Exod 3–4 and of Joseph’s discourse in Gen 45:1–8. The Exodus narrative highlights divine initiative and Moses’s resistance, while Joseph’s reinterpretation of his past suffering reconsiders it as part of a divine mission, with his use of šālaḥ interpreting the betrayal of his brothers as providential sending, echoing themes found in the book of Jeremiah. By highlighting these parallels, this work contributes to the understanding of prophetic identity within the Hebrew Scriptures. Full article

Our article presents a holistic analysis aimed at discerning patterns from ancient–modern comparative contexts of malaria. The article’s interdisciplinary and consilient methodology is drawn from a range of disciplines: the humanities and social sciences, medical knowledge (particularly epidemiology and pathology), molecular phylogenetics, demography, archaeology, paleopathology, numismatics, complex systems theory, etc. The article begins with a detailed exploration of a 463 BCE epidemic event that likely marked the, ultimately transformative, debut of P. falciparum evolutionary lineage malaria for ancient Roman civilization. It is important to note that the concept of evolutionary lineage is defined herein as a sequence of organisms, descended from a common ancestor and culminating, for the present at least, in the form existing currently. An interdisciplinary retrospective diagnosis methodology is utilized to establish, with what we believe to be a high degree of probability, a conclusion that effectively marks the beginning point for the ancient side of our comparative example. The deep interdisciplinary/historical methods used to elucidate the ancient side of the disease equation both lead to a clear conclusion and suggest potential modern analogies or even “prophecies.” These are used to highlight the threats emanating from the current spread of zoonotic P. knowlesi malaria in Southeast Asia. The article also utilizes six broader holistic and interdisciplinary factors in its contextual and comparative analysis: (A) political, military and security contexts; (B) the effects of cultural perceptions; (C) the role of climate and climate change; (D) additional anthropogenic environmental factors; (E) perceptions, practices and capabilities of prevailing medical systems and (F) holistic underlying states of the health of affected populations. Full article

The prophetic texts from Mari represent the earliest written testimony of the prophetic phenomenon in the Ancient Near East. Approximately sixty-five clay tablets—out of the more than eighteen thousand unearthed at Tell Hariri (Syria)—attest to the prophetic activity of various men and women who received divine revelations primarily intended for the king. However, a detailed reading of the texts reveals that there is no single term used to identify prophetic agents, inviting reflection on the diversity of roles and functions within this phenomenon. Why, then, do scholars refer to them collectively as “prophetic agents” (a term that, moreover, carries a strong biblical resonance)? Can we discern in their actions the counterpart or the very essence of the prophets of Israel? This article explores, based on the original Akkadian texts, the multiple identities of the prophets of Mari through an analysis of the terms employed, their etymology, and their occurrence in Old Babylonian sources. Furthermore, since these individuals are recipients of divine revelation, the study also includes those men and women who bear witness to revelatory dreams. Finally, it raises the question of whether these prophets and their practices can be regarded as precursors to the biblical prophets, given the striking similarities in their behavior and message. This study thus provides grounds to speak of a continuum of prophetic phenomena throughout the biblical Near East. Full article

Although several articles and books on the prophecy of women and LGBTIQ* persons in the Ancient Near East and the Old Testament have been published in recent decades, their outcomes have scarcely been received in traditional research on prophecy. This article will deal with female prophecy, traces of which we find in all parts of the canon: the Torah (Miriam), the Nebiim Rishonim (Deborah and Huldah, the first and last in the succession of Moses), in the prophetic books (the nameless prophetess to whom Isaiah goes in Isa 8, as well as the prophetic daughters in Joel 3), and also in the Ketubim (Noadiah in Neh 6 and the versions of the Chronicler). However, there are also false female prophets like the Women of En Dor (1 Sam 28) and the prophesying daughters in Ezek 13. Prophetic women such as Noadiah, and those in Ex 38:8 and 1 Sam 2:22, and, in the same tradition, Hannah in the New Testament, are also present in cultic places. Additionally, women are also found among the group gathered around a central prophetic figure, such as the women of Shunem. This article, on the one hand, reveals the gender bias in traditional semantic and grammatical analysis, and on the other hand, will show the importance of the stylistic features of the few texts under discussion (e.g., inclusions, exposed positions in compositions), which may provide illuminating conclusions for the whole phenomenon of prophecy. Full article

The paper presents the ecclesiological convictions of the so-called New Prophecy or ‘Montanist’ movement, a prophetic movement that rapidly gained prominence throughout the Empire from the middle of the second century CE. By regarding themselves as the mouthpieces of the Johannine Paraclete-Spirit, the founding prophets conveyed primarily ethical messages to the contemporary church. It is argued that their ascetic imperatives can be regarded as the practical implementation of a more complex ecclesiological and eschatological conviction. In the Montanists’ understanding, their prophetic communities were the earthly realisation of the heavenly Jerusalem, to which the Apocalypse of John attached concrete ethical contours (Rev 21:7–8). Such ‘realistic’ eschatology prevented the prophets and their adherents from seeing the reality of the church in a dualistic way or upholding the sanctification of the individual believer as a futuristic fulfilment. They believed that the coming of the Paraclete had instituted a new era for the church, and the ‘spiritual’ believers must prove to be ready to achieve moral perfection. Such pneumatic-prophetic and ascetic-perfectionist convictions give the contours of Montanist ecclesiology, one that proved to be widespread in the second century and influential on later Christian ecclesiological trajectories as well. Full article

In most periods of the Tang Dynasty, central monastic officials were typically appointed from among government officials, while Buddhist monks could only serve as the Three Monastic Superintendents (sangang 三綱) in the Buddhist state monasteries at the local level. However, during the reigns of Gaozu, Empress Wu, and Zhongzong, a distinct group of monastic officials known as the “Ten Bhadantas” (shidade 十大德)—entirely composed of Buddhist monks—emerged as central monastic officials in exceptional political contexts, overseeing Buddhist affairs throughout the empire. Gaozu’s ten bhadantas were a temporary appointment, yet they constituted a centralized monastic administrative structure and institutional power center at the national level in Chang’an, tasked with supervising Buddhist affairs and monasteries across the empire. This arrangement provided substantial religious support and political guarantee at a time when religious policy remained unsettled and national governance was unstable during the early years of the Tang Dynasty. It helped the newly established regime overcome the difficulties of managing religious affairs in its formative period. Under Empress Wu, the ten bhadantas of the Dabiankongsi chapel offered powerful Buddhist theoretical support for her seizure of the Tang throne and the consolidation of the Wu-Zhou regime. They contributed to the sacralization, authorization, and legitimization of secular imperial power through appeals to heavenly mandate or Buddhist prophecy, thereby securing the reverence and acknowledgment of both monastic and lay communities. During Zhongzong’s reign, the ten bhadantas of the Linguang chapel aided him in leveraging Buddhism to expand his political influence and vigorously cultivating support from both monastic and lay Buddhist adherents within the government and across society, thereby consolidating his rule. Based on the above, this indicates that the ten bhadantas, a special institutional formation in the Tang Dynasty characterized by the functions and status of central monastic officials, exemplified a complex and tension-filled model of state–saṃgha relations. This model vividly reflected the ongoing historical process in which Buddhism was increasingly Sinicized and secularized. Full article

This study investigates the theological function of the contemporary worship song “The Blessing” by addressing the following guiding research question: in what ways does “The Blessing” function as a form of prophetic declaration and communal prayer in contemporary congregational worship? Drawing on frameworks from Pentecostal theology, lyrical theology, and performative speech-act theory, this study analyzes how the song’s language, structure, and performance embody Spirit-enabled proclamation and intercession. Engaging Rice’s Evagrian–LAPT grammar, Glenn Packiam’s theology of worship as encounter, and Steven Félix-Jäger’s model of New Testament prophecy, the textual analysis focuses on the song’s present-tense verbs of divine action and its lyrical constructions. Scripturally grounded in Numbers 6:24–26, “The Blessing” operates as a sung benediction that invokes God’s blessing, sanctification, divine favor and protection, covenantal presence, and peace. The repetitive use of “Amen” functions as a communal seal of affirmation, turning passive reception into active, prophetic participation when sung. This study contends that the song exemplifies how contemporary congregational song serves as primary theology—Spirit-inspired, embodied, and sounded—where proclamation and prayer are nurtured in lived worship. Ultimately, “The Blessing” functions as a pneumatological and ecclesial act of sung prophecy and intercession—an instance of primary theologizing that nurtures the worshiping community and mediates a Spirit-empowered encounter with divine hope. Full article

The aim of this article is to explain the sapiential moment experienced by some Latin American theologies and, in relation to it, the possible emergence of a new look at the origins of the liberation movements of the last century. Firstly, an interpretation of the ethical–spiritual matrix of liberation theologies and the affiliations that have sprung from this experience is summarily presented. Next, an example of the sapiential heirs of Latin American liberation theologies is shown: theogastronomy. Thirdly, a new hypothesis is proposed about the ethical–spiritual matrix presented above, associating it with the women’s emancipation movement. Finally, it concludes with a brief Eucharistic reflection, which gives a paschal meaning to the rereading presented, opening prospects for reconciliation in the contemporary world. Full article

The Holy Bible is the most read book in the world, originally written in Aramaic, Hebrew, and Greek over a time span in the order of centuries by many people, and formed by a combination of various literary styles, such as stories, prophecies, poetry, instructions, and others. As such, the Bible is a complex text to be analyzed by humans and machines. This paper provides a systematic survey of the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and some of its subareas to the analysis of the Biblical scriptures. Emphasis is given to what types of tasks are being solved, what are the main AI algorithms used, and their limitations. The findings deliver a general perspective on how this field is being developed, along with its limitations and gaps. This research follows a procedure based on three steps: planning (defining the review protocol), conducting (performing the survey), and reporting (formatting the report). The results obtained show there are seven main tasks solved by AI in the Bible analysis: machine translation, authorship identification, part of speech tagging (PoS tagging), semantic annotation, clustering, categorization, and Biblical interpretation. Also, the classes of AI techniques with better performance when applied to Biblical text research are machine learning, neural networks, and deep learning. The main challenges in the field involve the nature and style of the language used in the Bible, among others. Full article

A major plank in the Evangelical apologetics platform (especially for the Jewish witness) has always been the predictive prophecy about Jesus in the Hebrew Bible. The number of these prophecies or “predictions” varies widely among Conservative–Evangelical sources. A brief survey of claims about the number of Christ-related Old Testament (OT) prophecies ranges from 50–400+. Regardless, the assertion of direct, intentional Old Testament prophetic pronouncement about Jesus has been a non-negotiable mainstay of Evangelical thought and theology since its beginning. However, today, those who align with the Evangelical movement in general, would disagree on technical grounds with the traditional way that Messianic prophecy has been explained hermeneutically or exegetically. Progressive Evangelicals, however, generally are concerned with the interpretation or exegesis of biblical passages in their grammatical–historical–cultural contexts. The focus is on texts rather than traditions. An irony is that traditional and untraditional Evangelicals who favor contextual exegesis in principle are still very divided when it comes to explaining how the NT used the OT, especially in relation to Messianic prophetic texts. This article describes the problem and illustrates it with examples of how some older and newer Evangelicals disagree when commenting on OT Messianic prophetic passages. Full article

The prediction made by former Vice President of the World Bank, Ismail Serageldin, that the wars of the 21st century will be about water, remains on the international political agenda. Yet, there is enough evidence corroborating that water wars have not occurred in the past and that there are sufficient mechanisms in place to prevent them in the future. Simultaneously, domestic water violent conflicts have been taking place, usually as immediate reactions to localised disputes. More importantly, water weaponisation has been gaining visibility during violent conflicts, violating international humanitarian law without any consequences so far. This paper reviews the water wars and water weaponisation literatures, arguing that there is an under-researched link between these two literatures and practices. This review suggests that the water weaponisation discourse and practice may facilitate the context for the water wars prophecy to become true. Full article

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are widely used to produce various food products, adding flavor, texture, and health benefits. The bacteria are commonly grown on expensive nutrients like glucose, sucrose, and yeast extracts, which makes them commercially unappealing. In the current study, Lactobacillus acidophilus TISTR 1338 culture was studied using spent cell yeast as a nitrogen source and molasses as a carbon source. The drying process used to create starter cultures of Lactobacillus acidophilus TISTR 1338 was vacuum drying. After vacuum drying, this bacterium had a survival rate of 8.08 log CFU/g. The dried strain survived for four months at 37 °C. With wasted cells at 0.5%, molasses concentration at 11% at 2.14 109 CFU/mL at 22 h, precise growth rate at 0.39 h⁻¹, and yield cell mass at 1.67 1011 CFU/g sugar, yeast produced the maximum cell mass. The lower viability of the tested strain was induced by a higher temperature during this prolonged storage. Meanwhile, dehydrated starter culture was subjected to accelerated storage testing at 50, 60, and 70 °C. To determine the vacuum-dried Lactobacillus acidophilus TISTR 1338′s long-term storage viability, a temperature-dependent prophecy model was created. Molasses and spent cell yeast serve as promising carbon and nitrogen sources when optimized conditions are employed. The study also suggests that vacuum drying is a promising method for producing dried cells suitable for non-refrigerated storage conditions. Full article