is;?] PROPHECY AS A FACTOR IN HISTORY 349 



divided into a part which has only historical value and a 

 part which is ideal truth. The highest previsions of the 

 prophet are inextricably intertwined with the narrowest 

 limitations of his historical standpoint ; and if we lose 

 hold of the one side we shall never be able to apprehend 

 the other. 



These remarks are of necessity very fragmentary, and 

 I fear in some parts obscure. The ideas on which I have 

 touched will come up from time to time, and will, I hope, 

 be clearer when they occur in more concrete shape in con 

 nection with the actual history of prophecy. To this 

 history we must now turn. 



I. WAS THE PROPHETIC INSPIRATION SUPERNATURAL? 



In carrying out in further detail our inquiry into the 

 prophetic inspiration, several courses may suggest them 

 selves to us. In the first place, we may follow either a 

 purely inductive or a constructive method. The in 

 ductive method will simply take note of the result which 

 we have already reached the fact that no other religion 

 presents phenomena strictly parallel to the self-conscious 

 ness of the prophets of Israel. It will then endeavour to 

 describe the phenomena of Hebrew prophecy as fully as 

 possible without, in the first instance, assuming that they 

 are necessarily supernatural. Having got the phenomena 

 arranged, it will then begin to ask what the phenomena 

 involve, and will either seek a natural explanation for 

 them, or, failing to find any natural explanation, will 

 infer with more or less confidence the reality of a special 

 divine power in the prophets. 



If such a rigorous investigation could really be applied 

 in all strictness and carried through to a successful con 

 clusion, there is no doubt that it would prove most 

 valuable. It may, however, be doubted whether in the 

 nature of things any purely religious fact falls within the 

 range of strict induction. The facts of religion are tran 

 scendental ; they involve the possibility and reality of 



