Ricerc@Sapienza

The essay aims to argue that the way to live in the own community of ancient prophets, particularly in Jewish tradition, is instructive in the actual debate on the role of religions in the public life. Prophet can be conceived at the borders of community although he is completely involved in it, because of his wider view on its state and destiny due to the divine inspiration of his vocation and function. Such inspiration confer him a critical attitude toward the ordinary life of community and opening to normally excluded or marginalized human beings. The prophetic model is described through a view of his function in Jewish and non-Jewish ancient communities. In the third and fourth part of the essay Buber’s and Bloch’s partially divergent interpretations on ancient prophecy and its relation to apocalyptic are discussed. In a short conclusion the potential totalitarianism of apocalyptic outlook and of its philosophy of history is argued through some remarks Ricoeur addresses to political and religious totalitarianism and finally the actuality of prophetic model is supported on the basis of its constitutive limitation