The Prophetic Book of Micah. The Prophetic Book of Isaiah I.: Chapters 1-39

The first part of the lecture concentrates upon the book of the prophet Micah by exploring the personality and faith of the prophet, the role of God in the book and various introductory matters related to it.
The theological themes include: judgment and salvation, exodus and covenant traditions, prophetic ethics and the nations. Further topics discussed regarding the book of Micah include: prophetic tradition and how oracles got into books, prophetic sayings and their backgrounds, shepherd-Messiah and the covenant accusation.
The second part of the lecture pays close attention to the first thirty-nine chapters of the book of Isaiah, which are considered to be a result of the authorship of Isaiah of Jerusalem. General matters are also addressed, such as authorship, date, destination, structure, outline and themes of the book. The critical interpretation of Isaiah is also presented, on the lines of the following ideas: identifying Isaiah of Jerusalem, the message of Isaiah of Jerusalem, the composition of Isa 1-39 and 40-66 and reading Isaiah as a unity. Further topics and questions to be discussed include: is prophecy predictive, the song of the vineyard as poetry, life after death in the Old Testament/Hebrew Bible and Isa 35 as centrepiece.