What are the similarities between the holy man and the prophet? Compare and contrast these two phenomenologies, supporting your argument by the citations from/references to our readings.

 

example #1

 

It is often stated that sheep will always need a shepherd and that people are desperate for leadership. These ideas apply not only to the political arena, but also to the religious realm. Throughout the Jewish tradition before Christ, prophets had always been credited with leading the people towards God and keeping them on the paths of righteousness. Yet after the beginning of the Christian church, leaders that were willing to criticize the establishment quickly became difficult to come by. With the fall of the Graeco-Roman Empire a new figure came to the front in the form of the holy man. These figures continued this tradition of keeping the people in check and revealing the ongoing Word of God. As we will see, the figure of the prophet and the position of the holy man both brought God?s will to the people yet often fulfilled this position in very different ways.

The position that both of these figures have held within the Christian traditions of their times is to bring the help and the message of God to the people. We see this within the Bible as Isaiah and Amos continually state, "This is what the Lord says" (NIV Isaiah 44:24; 45:11; 49:8; Amos 1:3,6,9,11,13; 2:1, 4, 6). This recurrent wording throughout the Old Testament clearly demonstrates that the message the prophets declared was not their own. It was the message of the Jewish God, Yahweh. The same is also true of the holy man as seen through Athanasius` Life of St. Antony as the author constantly refers to Christ`s calling and support of Antony`s dedicated way of life. The similarity between these two titles is also seen in their similar functions, as demonstrated through the Bible and Peter Brown`s article "The Rise and Function of the Holy Man". In this article, Brown states that the holy man used his power as an exorcist, miracle-worker, peace-maker, healer, and confessor. All of these were jobs that the Bible tells us prophets fulfilled in an earlier time. Brown even goes so far as to call the holy man "the heir of the Hebrew prophets" (CP p. 81).

These two positions, however, were not always executed in quite the same manner. One major difference that the two positions show is their relationship to the communities of the time. Prophets had long been established as an accredited part of the Jewish system. They were meant to reveal God`s message and that gave them power. This power they then used in order to convince the people to follow them. Thus, they were well known throughout their world as a holy person and someone to whom the people should listen. This may be seen simply through the writing style that conveys their message. A large portion of the Bible`s stories of prophets, including Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, etc., is written as speeches that the prophet was meant to deliver to the people. This shows the prophet as a public figure able to stand up in front of a crowd and give instructions on how a person should live his or her life. Through these proclamations, the prophet may even have been able to be seen as the highest in the clerical hierarchy.

The holy man, on the other hand, had a very different relationship to the people and the religious system of the time. While the people may have known of the holy man, the majority would not have had the opportunity to interact with him or her and hear the person speak. The holy man was often someone that did not agree with the church of the time for one reason or another, and thus, would often withdraw into a single room, a cave, or the desert. Through this the person would become closer to God and develop a more intimate relationship with Christ. Once established as a holy man, individuals might come to him to ask for advice on a particular situation, but the holy man was not the public speaking figure that the prophet had been. The holy man, at least in the beginning, was more a figure to lead by example from afar than by preaching to the populace. This type of figure may once again be seen within the life of St. Antony. Antony withdrew from the everyday life first to the outskirts of town, then into a tomb with a single acquaintance to bring him food, next into an abandoned fort, and finally into the desert. This lifestyle shows both an unwillingness to work within the religious systems of the day and a focus more on self-improvement and leading by example than on preaching to the general population.

Through these examples we can still see today that these early followers of Christ had similar purposes that they lived out in very different ways. While one figure preached the Word to all, the other spoke often to no one, yet both lifestyles were dedicated to following God with all of their strength. Both of these ways of living continue to inspire many today, still showing that there is no single way to God, only the way that each individual is called to display.

 

 

example #2

 

The prophet and holy man both held important roles in their societies, due to their great power. People listened to and respected prophets and holy men recognizing that they were linked to God. While both the holy man and prophet had links to God, the path they took to acquire their virtue and power was quite different. The holy man became linked to God through the practice of asceticism. According to Peter Brown, in "The Rise and Function of the Holy Man," they were men "who had conquered their bodies in spectacular feats of mortification." Prophets differed in that they were usually directly called by God, and God spoke to prophets through visions and dreams. God spoke to Moses in Exodus 7:1, ?the LORD said to Moses, "See, I make you {as} God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron shall be your prophet. You shall speak all that I command you, and your brother Aaron shall speak to Pharaoh that he let the sons of Israel go out of his land." Prophets and holy men were both spiritual guides and fought for justice. People sought the holy man for spiritual guidance and asked questions such as can a man be saved, should a Christian consult a doctor. Holy men also had a few roles in the society that the prophets didn`t have. They had a significant role as mediators, which they gained due to the fact that they were seen as strangers who would have an unbiased, objective opinion. Holy men were also doctors who proscribed medical treatments to the members of their community.

Prophets were also spiritual guides; however, for the most part, they sought out the people to which they gave advice. God told the prophets who needed advice and they found them, such as in the case of Nathan and David, when David was acting unjustly. It says in 2Samuel 12: 1, "So the Lord sent Nathan to David." Also, God came to Elijah and told him in 1Kings 21: 18 to "Get up and go to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria. You`ll find him in Naboth`s vineyard, where he has gone to take possession of it." The role of prophets differed from that of holy men in that God told them prophesies which they proclaimed to the people.

Both holy men and prophets challenged people who were acting unjustly. Brown mentions a holy man who did this when he says, "He cursed a Persian judge who had given an unjust judgment so that a boulder exploded beside him." In 1Kings 21: 1- 29, the prophet Elijah told Ahab that he was acting unjustly when he had Naboth killed in order to take possession of his land. Prophets and holy men had many followers due to their power and authority. Brown says that Alexander the Sleepless lived with four hundred followers by roaming the steppe-land for a year and that a holy man could collect up to one hundred followers in a season. The prophet Moses had hundreds of followers who followed him through the desert to be freed from the Egyptians. Both holy men and prophets were trusted by members of the community. Leaders such as kings listened to the advice of the prophets. The holy men were trusted because they were seen as outsiders or strangers who would be unbiased and give objective advice. The holy man Ephraim was able to administer food supplies in Edessa during a famine for none of the locals could trust one another.