Prophetic paradigms of divine mercy : a pastoral impulse for new evangelization

Abstract

One of the profound and rich themes of Prophetic Literature is divine mercy. Despite the anger, rebukes, warning and threats of punishment for the sins of idolatry and injustice committed by the Israelites, God’s love and compassion prevail, as witnessed particularly in the literature of the social prophets. This dissertation will explore divine mercy from a Biblical perspective as shown to sinful Israel and the needy, specifically examining the prophecies of Hosea, Isaiah and Ezekiel. The first part of this dissertation will deal with how God himself shows mercy to his people, whom he created in his own image, in various situations of need and sin which they found themselves in. I will expand on how God used the prophets as mediators of his divine mercy to his people. The next step will be to show how, having God’s mercy as a model, the prophets become messengers of the mercy which God demands that his people express towards each other. In other words, after receiving and experiencing God’s loving kindness through the prophets, how is Israel compelled to show love and compassion on the social and communal level? The last chapter will deal with how God’s mercy shown to Israel and the mercy Israel was expected to practise offer pastoral models that aid in the implementation of the New Evangelization.