SESSION 3 — Prophets and Power

Kings, Courts, and Confrontation

Lecture 3.1 — Prophets and Political Authority

• Kingship and critique
• Why prophets threaten power

Lecture 3.2 — Court Prophets and Outsiders

• Competing prophetic voices
• Loyalty vs. truth

Lecture 3.3 — Former Prophets as Theology

• Joshua–Kings as moral history
• National failure and divine judgment

Lecture 3.4 — Risk, Persecution, and Failure

• Imprisonment, exile, death
• Prophets who “fail”

Biblical Texts: 1 Samuel 8; 2 Samuel 12; 1 Kings 18

Zoom Discussion Focus:

What does faithful dissent look like within religious institutions?