Prophecy and Discernment (Cambridge Studies in Christian Doctrine) by R. W. L. Moberly

Cambridge Studies in Christian Doctrine

by R.W.L. Moberly

If people claim to speak for God, what enables us to know when to credit or discredit the claim? This book analyses the criteria for discernment of prophetic authenticity in the Old Testament, and for discernment of apostolic authenticity in the New Testament; and also considers their validity and viability in a contemporary context. After explaining the biblical concept of prophetic and apostolic speech on God's behalf, Moberly offers close readings of the biblical text so as to bring to life the distinctive voices, especially those of Jeremiah and St Paul, which speak of critical discernment. He addresses contemporary difficulties with the whole idea that humans might speak for God and analyses the nature of authentic spirituality. Throughout the discussion the premise is that the biblical treatment of discernment illuminates the fundamental human issue of the need to know who may be trusted and why.

Genres: Christianity

Paperback

First published March 2, 2006

About the author

Walter Moberly (PhD, University of Cambridge) is an English theologian and professor of theology and biblical interpretation at Durham University.

He was awarded an M.A. at Oxford and both an M.A., Ph.D. Cambridge, UK. He is also an ordained priest in the Church of England.

Also known as Walter Moberly.

Reviews

[Chad D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Walter Moberly's books are always careful, sound exegesis, well-versed in the wide variety of scholarship but/and stubbornly committed to essential spiritual truth carried by the Bible, useful for the church and useful for your life and mine.

This book is extraordinarily useful, however. It uses passages from Old and New Testaments to answer the question: how would we know if someone claiming to speak for God is speaking for God? His Biblical answer is pretty simple: "Sincerity or strength of conviction are beside the point. . . . The visible gives access to the invisible; the moral gives critical purchase on the spiritual. Claims to speak for God can be meaningfully tested both in terms of the moral character, disposition, and behaviour of the speaker and in terms of the moral and theological content of the message" (p. 225).

[Jack Hayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moberly sees this as a sequel to his other Cambridge Studies in Christian Doctrine, ‘The Bible, Theology, and Faith: A Study of Abraham and Jesus.’ He intends to demonstrate how to approach topics within the Bible’s terms. He contends that this endeavor is not vapid or a power play but a valid approach that takes seriously the Bible’s intent to describe the God-human relationship and his relationships with others.

This volume focuses on the question of how we discern prophecy biblically. It boils down to three points: the morality of their life, the truthfulness of the method, and its power to transform. These underly more or less all stories of biblical prophecy. Moberly traces this theme through the OT to the NT. Along the way, he interacts with a hermeneutics of suspicion that tries to paint prophecy as just psychology or just a power play to dominate. Anyone interested in this topic should check out this volume.

Though a scattered book, it is a good book that stretches to deal with many topics. Maybe too many.

93% Paul is cruciform

[Toby · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this excellent discussion of authentic calling and the discernment of the same, Moberly takes us through some key passages in the Old and New Testament, focusing in particularly on what it means to be a true, rather than a false prophet or, in Paul's case, a true apostle. Moberly does not start at the obvious place, Deuteronomy 18, with its definition of a true prophet as one whose words come true. The difficulty with this yardstick is that of the need to wait until words do come true before deciding whether or not the prophet can be relied on: something somewhat impractical in the heat of the moment.

Instead Moberly begins with Jeremiah and what it means to know YHWH and to know his counsel. He moves on to Micaiah, Elisha and Balaam before engaging with 1 John and 2 Corinthians in the New Testament. Moberly always provides helpful context for each passage that he discusses and avoids falling into the trap of providing an alternative commentary. His comments are pithy and well-chosen and my mind was illuminated on passages that I hitherto had thought well known. Moberly ends with some interesting modern case studies (MLK and Bin Laden) before some brief points of application to the modern church.

The common thread running through each passage is that of integrity of life and visible closeness to YHWH. False prophets are false not simply because they fail to speak true words, but because their lives reveal the lie in their hearts and they entice others to falsehood also. Paul's mark of authenticity added to this the cruciform shape of the Christian life. His life is not only marked by integrity but also by suffering. In Philippians 2 style, the closer a Christian resembles the kenotic pattern of Jesus Christ, the more seriously his or her words should be taken.

Moberly acknowledges that space meant that he could not deal with prophesy in the modern charismatic and pentecostal movements, although the same principles apply. An invigorating read.