ABSTRACT
Isaiah is the third historically of the prophets, the social background and utopianism of whom we are considering, his period of activity extending from about 740 to 700 B. C. Isaiah realized in anticipation the noble ideal of a single-hearted statesman sketched four centuries afterwards by the Athenian patriot, Demosthenes: To discern events in their beginnings, to be beforehand in the detection of movements and tendencies, and to forewarn his countrymen accordingly. Isaiah, more emphatically than any other, insists that mankind endures, progresses, attains perfection, not so much by means of material forces or the prevalent doctrine of economic necessity, as by the purely ethical and spiritual forces. The utopianism of the prophets did not displace politics but reinforced it. Furthermore, the prophetic identification of Jehovah with morality meant little or nothing to the Gentiles, who had no interest in this strange tribal God of a people steeped in race pride.
