Isaiah, son of Amoz

 Text: Elvis Duspara

 Some time ago I found myself at a gathering where a respected professor of theology gave a lecture about the Bible. The beginning was good. The professor was of a very nice appearance. He spoke in a nice way. It was evident that he was highly educated. He was even, if I may say so, a very elegant and refined man. I had heard that this professor was a pleasant character, too. After the lecture, as I heard, people were generally delighted by what he had said. But the nuisance within me was, unfortunately, not much thrilled. There were several reasons for that.
The first reason in fact is the least important reason, but I am putting it in the first place so I do not have to come back to it later. So, the first reason was that the professor gave his lecture and that was it. To whom it was clear – great, to whom it was not – nobody seemed to care. That was clearly not a situation I had expected as I had a few questions, but there was no opportunity to ask anybody. Such an approach leads to the conclusion that the professor is the main authority and that is it – take it or leave it. At least that is what I had to conclude. As at the lecture was held mainly for lay people I even more could not understand why we were not given an opportunity to ask questions. Could it be that a professor of theology did not want to answer questions of his audience? Whatever the case was, I act as if it was an omission. Never mind.

Right at the beginning, in the introductory part of his lecture, the professor made a statement that really punched me in the face. He namely, presented as a known fact that the book of the prophet Isaiah was not written by one person, but by tree different man.

At that point I froze and started listening very carefully because when someone presents me something he KNOWS as undeniable FACT then I expect him to have information I do not have. It was hard for me to believe what the professor claimed so I thought he must have some documents on which he bases his arguments and which would explain everything. So he started speaking: “We know that the FIRST Isaiah was a highly educated man addressing a king. His language is sophisticated, unlike the SECOND Isaiah who was illiterate and uneducated with a completely different style… “

Well, here he lost me. Looks like the second or third Isaiah, who was illiterate, needed someone who he could dictate to. It must have been the professor to whom Isaiah dictated, because the professor was both, literate and sophisticated. The professor surely knows. He had been watching while the book was being created so he knows all the facts. There is no other way for him to know what he “knows”. The “different styles” argument that the professor used, did not hold water at all. And here is why. When I turn to my wife I usually say: “My dear”, when I turn to my children I say: “My babies” or “My children” …. To my parents I say: “Mom and Dad “, to friends I speak in various ways…. when I write a business letter to a business partner I write: “Dear Mr. so and so”. If one day this professor would analyze my way of addressing people he would come to the conclusion that there were at least fifteen Elvises. And here I am, a single person. In order to please the professor I would have to address my children with: “Dear Miss child” and to my wife I would have to say: “Dear Misses wife”. To my parents of course I would have to say: “Dear Miss mother and Sir Father”… It would have to be written uniformly so the professor could accept that I am a single person. Complete nonsense, no facts at all!
What a hillbilly like me could conclude after that professor’s presentation about the prophet Isaiah was that some three rednecks out there through ages, not knowing what to do, wrote the book of Isaiah. They themselves illiterate, while among their sheep, played smart guys and somehow their words were put down on paper.
Now I will say what I know. If the professor knows, I do too. I may not be of his appearance or education, but I know there was a single Isaiah and he had a direct divine revelation. That same, one and only Isaiah, strengthened my faith in Jesus Christ so much that I do not allow any professor of theology to take away my faith. If it was true that the book of Isaiah was written by more than one Isaiah (and we of course know that this is not true), it would destroy the whole messianic story that revolves through the book of Isaiah! Dear professor, I do not allow this because my Jesus was announced by God through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz. Not through the mouths of some smarties who for centuries quibbled and corresponded and adjusted the text. I know of some ecclesiastical decrees of the Pontifical Biblical Commission from the twentieth century and written in the time when this commission was the official organ of the teachings of the Church and which state that there was one Isaiah.
I wonder why do we constantly fail to mention that many eminent Catholic theologians reject the historical critical method and the documentary hypothesis, which some professors of theology represent and which attempts to challenge the unique authorship of Isaiah?
The professor even claimed that God creates out of chaos. I repeat – in a full church the professor said: “God creates out of chaos!” It is my sincere hope that this was an omission because God does not create out of chaos but God creates out of nothing! Ex nihilo. Or however it is said in Latin… The god who creates out of chaos is a god of a group of people who Pope Leo XIII described as the ones who we, the Catholics, are obliged to expose. They have a motto: Order out of Chaos.
My God created everything out of NOTHING.
Dear professor, I hope you will not be angry with a little layman who listened to you with great attention. God bless you, professor, and please consider one Isaiah.