Lay Preaching and Living Saints

Chapter 3 explores the hesitant and outright critical responses to new forms of sainthood that developed within and beyond England at the close of the twelfth century and into the thirteenth. This chapter situates orthodox hostility toward these “new saints” in relation both to the gift of prophecy, to which many charismatics aspired, and to debates about preaching. At this chapter’s centre is an Anglo-Latin rule for anchorites, the Regula reclusorum (c.1280), which is examined alongside several twelfth- and thirteenth-century figurations of preachers and prophets. Here a discourse directed against allegedly “false” prophets and preachers owes much to the collaboration between the charismatic voices that emerged through lay-anchoritic communities and the forms of sanctity that were quickly gaining ascendancy in the thirteenth century. Contemporary anchorites often summoned the demonic nightmare of orthodox culture by replicating and thereby obviating clerical work, as well as by encouraging lay preaching.

Prophetic Conflict in Jeremiah 27-28 and the Question of True and False Prophecy

The Old Testament text of Jeremiah 27-28 presents prophetic conflict between Jeremiah and Hananiah. Jeremiah proclaimed a message of God’s judgment against the rulers and the people of Judah because of their violation of the religious and the legal traditions of the nation but Hananiah opposed him preaching a message of peace and salvation and predicted the deliverance of Israelite nation from the hands of their enemies. Both claimed to have God’s authority. Jeremiah 27-28 provides a window into the problem of discerning a true prophet from a false one. Contemporary Nigerian Christians are also being challenged with such opposing prophecies by prophets who claim that their prophecies come from God. This study adopts exegetical method of interpretation and application of the message of Jeremiah 27-28 to the fact of truity and falsity in prophecy in contemporary Christianity. This study discovered that true prophetic office is a call, and not all comers’ affair. Prophecy lacks empirical proof and is sometimes manipulative and susceptible to barratry. The study further discovered that true prophets prophesy by the spirit of God while false Prophets prophesy from their own mind but also claim to do so by the spirit of God. Just like Prophet Hananiah, there are prophets who could be genuinely called but have refused to stay within their call because of loss of focus and desire for material gains. Thus the prevalent worldview of contemporary Nigerians concerning easy solution to life’s problems that leads to abuse of prophetic consultations needs to be changed.

Reception of Prophetic Oracles in Ancient Israel and the Nigerian Context

Scholars in biblical studies are divided into camps on the source(s) of prophetic oracles by prophets in ancient Israel and contemporary Nigerian society. This is because the prophets at one time or the other labeled one another true or false prophets based on the claim that the oracles of some of their colleagues did not come from God. Biblically speaking, an oracle is a divine message to a person or a group of persons through an appointed person. The thrust of the chapter is to investigate the source(s) of prophetic oracles in ancient Israel with the view of establishing its parallel in the prophetic ministry in the contemporary Nigerian society. Historical method was used for the research. It was discovered that prophets in both contexts claimed to have received their oracles from Yahweh. Also, true and false prophets are found in both contexts. Other sources of prophetic oracles are Satan, self, and circumstances. It is crucial that a prophet as God's mouthpiece receives his oracles from God before delivery.

Spinoza on Superstition

One of the strengths of Spinoza’s philosophy is his recognition that what we can achieve politically depends in part on our affective capacities, an insight illustrated in his account of the distinction between ‘true religion’ and superstition. I argue that superstition, as Spinoza sees it, is an affective state. To be superstitious is to be subject to a pervasive and damaging kind of fear. False prophets, for example, harness the resources of imagination to encourage political division and superstitious anxiety. By contrast, defenders of true religion appeal to existing imaginative resources to foster devotion to God and promote cooperation. However, the boundary between these two strategies is far from distinct. Superstition may play a role in a harmonious way of life.

Hadis Dan Politik: Kebijakan Taqlīl al-Riwāyah pada Masa Abu Bakar al-Shiddiq dan Umar Bin al-Khaṭṭāb

There were differences of attitudes taken by the caliphs Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and Umar bin al-Khattab in the narration of the hadith, as compared to those carried by the Prophet Muhammad. In his time, the Prophet (SAS) invited and motivated the Companions to narrate the hadith to others. But the caliphs Abu Bakr al-Siddiq and Umar bin al-Khattab carried out a different policy between the obligations of the Companions to tighten the narrations of the traditions of the Prophet SAW or called taqlid al-riwayah. The paper aims to discuss taqlid al-riwayah policy based on background, forms, and objectives. They were related to the policy and bring up the positive and negative of the application of the policy to the development of hadith in the aftermath. The results of the study found that there were political and social factors that cause policies to be taken. They oppose politics, oppose false prophets, the number of people who apostatize, and do not run Islamic law with kaffah, exchanging friends who gave false traditions. The taqlil al-riwayah policy takes various forms. They are to reduce narration, strictness (tatsabbut) in accepting competition, punishing and renewing friends who had multiply the narration of traditions. The traditions of the Prophet Muhammad were from mistakes and falsification. Besides, this policy also opposes the development of traditions, both regarding the positive, preserved, authenticity and quality of the traditions of the Prophet SAW and also does not violate false traditions (maudhu ') among Muslims. It is also free of negative impacts. According to part of the distribution and the list of traditions, the Prophet (PBUH), the lively discussion of hadith meanings and the delay in the process of codifying the traditions of the Prophet PBUH.