Report: AMOS - A Prophet For Today?

A personal response to the study day by Anna Gibson

CPW’s latest Zoom study gathering was led by Teresa Saunders and enabled by the technological expertise of Mike Willcox and Tom Dawkes. We were encouraged to consider the book of the prophet Amos, considered to be the prophet of social justice. Greg Ryan then spoke about the prophetic role of Pope Francis. The day constituted an important stage in CPW’s consideration of the role and nature of prophecy for today’s world, as well as being a ‘stand-alone’ day of study.

Teresa began with a fascinating and carefully researched examination of the Book of Amos, shedding light on its content, structure and composition, with interesting insight into the historical and personal background of the prophet himself. For me, some of the most interesting points were: the constant desire of God to forgive his wayward and indeed often cruel people, if they should repent and change their ways; the prophet’s universally relevant descriptions of the injustices, communal and individual, of the powerful, wreaked against the poor; and the colourful description of the ills that result from refusal to follow God’s path. The poetic nature of the book is very striking, and its compact length makes it a great book for an amateur like me to feel a sense of achievement in completing it. I was interested to learn that the final section of the book, where things seem to take a turn for the better, is thought to have been a later addition, not written by Amos himself. Altogether, Teresa’s choice of the book of Amos, and her well-chosen explanations and research opened another window of interest for me, and I’m sure for others, into an area-OT prophets- which is much more accessible and enjoyable than I had previously appreciated.

Breakout rooms provided the opportunity to reflect with others about the relevance today of the message of Amos, considering injustices in our world and church now.

After a break, Greg’s inspirational presentation focused on the prophetic message and method of  the present-day prophet, Pope Francis. Although many of the injustices against which Amos bore witness are still recognisable and challenged today by Francis, there are some significant differences in approach (as well as the historical context) which make Francis’ prophetic message particularly dynamic for the contemporary world. While both are concerned about the gap between privilege and poverty, Francis has a wider vision than Amos, specifically linking the cry of the whole Earth with the cry of the poor. The same kinds of injustices that Amos railed against are now seen in a geopolitical context, demanding an integral ecology, whose scale is so immense that a transcendent dimension is needed. As bishop of Rome, Francis is in a position to effect change in a way the early prophets were not, due to his triple ministry- as prophet, priest and in his governance of the church. There are implications for how the current synodal process in the church may be made to work. One challenge is how to listen to the prophetic voices ‘on the edges’.  Francis refers to the ‘fundamental option for the poor’, that we need to start with looking at and listening to the poor, who have a special understanding of the gospel. In a way not dissimilar to the early prophets, Francis’s documents address ‘kairos’ for the church and world, saying with some urgency that ‘the time is now’. He addresses ‘social poets’ who use their dreams and imagination in a similar way to those early prophets like Amos, and calls us all to use hearts and imagination to ‘dream together’, for the renewal of the church and the healing of the world.

The final small-group discussion dealt with our own dreams for the church and world, asking how these might become shared dreams that can lead to action.