Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
  1. Home
  2. Search

Refine search

Refine search

Access:
Content type:
Publication date:
Apply   From and To filters
Subject: Show more
Journals Show more
Publishers: Show more
Societies Show more
Series: Show more
Collections: Show more

Actions for selected content:

Select all | Deselect all
  • View selected items
  • Export citations
  • Download PDF (zip)
  • Save to Kindle
  • Save to Dropbox
  • Save to Google Drive

Save Search

You can save your searches here and later view and run them again in "My saved searches".

Please provide a title, maximum of 40 characters.
Cancel
×

1 results

  • Conclusion

  • James Bernard Murphy, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire
  • Book:
    The Third Sword
    Published online:
    23 November 2023
    Print publication:
    07 December 2023, pp 177-190

  • Summary

    There is no foolproof way to distinguish true from false prophets – that is one of the challenges prophecy poses to politics. But studying these true prophets does enable us to identify many false prophets, past and present. Today, human rights activists attempt to play a role in our politics comparable to the prophets of old. They also call out the abuses of our religious and political leaders. No one should want to be ruled by a prophet; but we should want our rulers to heed true prophets. Let others build and administer new institutions and policies; let others forge agreements and create consensus. We shall always need prophets with the courage to obstruct the exercise of power, to disrupt our institutions, and to challenge the consensus. According to ancient Greek myth, swans were sacred to Apollo, the god of prophecy. Just before they die, swans were thought to sing. Socrates himself, once he was condemned to death, said that it was time for his swan song, for his moment of prophecy. Indeed, all of our prophets spoke most prophetically only after they accepted their own deaths.