Perspectief 2015-30

Perspectief 38 Fred van Iersel to be an harmonious person, who controls his emotions - especially anger - and they will prefer a person who cooperates with his or her military commander, and who skillfully solves problems in an informal and confidential style. A pastoral prophet who starts his talk with soldiers with the words ‘ Thus speaks the Lord ’ as the start of a confrontation, may be not quite fit to open up a process of dialogue and reflection for the commander. Instead, he causes irritation. For his prophetic speech is claiming a religious and moral authority over the audience. This moral authority is the authority of an outsider interfering in internal affairs, who seems to be standing above the soldiers’ situation, and apparently does not share the daily burden of professional performance within the military as an organization, and whose expertise in military affairs may be doubted. Nevertheless, this being said, we must ask ourselves if there is not more to the prophetic role of military chaplains. Today I will unfold this question, not by developing a comprehensive answer, but by illustrating some of the choices that have to be made in any pastoral practice in the military. In this paper I offer three important sources of moral values and virtues in Western culture: first of all the Jewish Bible – especially Nathan as a prophet – , then, secondly, the Hellenistic-humanistic source of Socrates, and finally a soldier in the Christian New Testament. 2 They tell us three examples of prophetic military chaplaincy. In the context of the Judeo - Christian tradition, prophecy as a concept does not imply forecasting the future. Instead, it expresses an intimate relationship between the Unspeakable and His prophet, in the context of which the prophet may utter words of the Unspeakable. The intimate relation is expressed in intense emotional terms. Often one may see four key elements in prophetic speaking, in different sequences. The first element is Gods promise: the vision of a future peace based on justice. The second element is the complaint about sin, the misbehavior of the chosen people. The third element is a conditional threat which culminates in the fourth element; an urgent appeal for conversion. More often, the prophet suffers in person by the contrast between the vision 2 The texts discussed here have been analysed from the point of view of military’s spiritual needs. It appeared that this perspective is almost lacking, both in biblical exegesis and in the interpretation of the quoted early dialogues ascribed to Plato.