Study Religious Studies notes on The Prophet Amos for Tertiary. Useful for revision, homework, and exam preparation in Zimbabwe.
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Classical prophets -Canonical -Pre-exilic
Amos
Amos is the first classical prophet. Classical prophets are those whose oracles have come in form of books according to ML BARRE-NJBC
It is important to note that Amos inaugurated a movement which left an indemnable mark on the Israelite religious landscape. In this movement ecstasy is undermined and ignored. It no longer holds the central position as in the O.T prophets. Ecstasy was one of the key features in the O.T but with Amos a more rationalistic approach was inaugurated in dealing with the situation
Reason seems to make sense out of the word of Yahweh
The inaugurated a movement of rationalists who sought to make sense out of the words of Yahweh
A critical analysis of the book of Amos will reveal even the relevance of Amos' thought pattern for Africans in the post-colonial era. Amos can even give lessons to the post-colonial Africans
In African societies, issues regarding dishonest dealings, capitalistic minds and a general moral bankruptcy have become prevalent such that a revisit of Amos for the benefit of Africa has become more than necessary
We are to deal with the date of composition of the book of Amos
Date of composition
Scholars agree in principle that Amos ministered during the $8^{\text {th }}$ century BCE so Amos could have ministered between 799-770 BCE
Arguments have been raised to sustain this dating, amongst such is the superscription which places Amos in the $8^{\text {th }}$ century BCE, a superscription is an introduction i.e. it does not seek to introduce the contents of a given piece of literature
It is an editorial introduction which serves two purposes but none of these introduces the contents of the work
A superscription seeks to introduce the author of a given piece of literature. It identifies the author
The second purpose is to date the contents of that piece of literature
In most prophetic books, the superscription is contained in the first chapter so in Amos the superscription lies in Amos1:1
A superscription is much later in origin than the piece of literature thus it seeks to introduce and it is one area which assists us in dating the time it was written
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