Odbicie sytuacji politycznej w nauczaniu proroków

Abstract

The studied examples of the history and the teaching of prophets convince us that they were not estranged from the political situation, in which they lived and acted. They were well-informed about it, but they always viewed it as one of many signs of God, which they were to read and interpret. This interpretation, passed on to those who were in power, was always directed at finding God's message, which awaited obedience to God's intentions on everyone's part. Most frequently religious interpretation of a situation did not go along thoughts and plans of those addressed by prophets and that was why, a prophet, who was always a sign of protest opposition, suffered frequent persecutions. Prophets, therefore, dealt with political issues, but they were not politicians. In the field of politics, which consists of conscious and voluntary human activities, they were concerned with the moral aspect and and cared for ethical conduct of their audience in every situation. They were teachers of morality and not the art of policy making, though at times they recommended concrete activities. They had their own opinions about political situation, but these were not their political choices, but the choice of God, who is the Lord of everything, including history with its meanders. Prophets fought for God's sovereignty over people's hearts in the whole context of their life. We should draw proper conclusions from the lives of prophets. The prophet-like charisma of the Church compels the Church to voice its opinions including the sphere of politics, assessing the moral aspect of all activities in the political life of the society. This assessment and pointing out proper moral stance is not making politics or meddling with it, but a service to God, who is the Lord of everything and the service to people through showing them the way to the true goodness, which can only result from moral conduct in every sphere, including politics.