In the 8th century before Christ all over the civilized world the chief end of man was to glorify God and the temple, form had taken the place of substance in men's creed.
"The splendors of worship grew more splendid," writes Miss Hamilton, "the multitudes of priests and devotees perpetually greater; ceremony followed upon ceremony yet the temples and the shrines were empty....And then something happened, one of the most important events that ever happened, which was to result in nothing less than a completely new idea of religion, an altogether different relation of man to God. In a little country of no consequence to the ruling powers...Egypt, Nineveh, Babylon...a man arose, one man, all alone, to set himself against the force of the whole world's conviction; and after him another, and then another, each always by himself against the nations, in all a mere handful of men, who had a vision of a new heaven and a new earth, a new motive power for mankind and a new road to God, and who proclaimed this strange conception with a passion and a power never surpassed in the 3000 years that stretch out between their day and ours."
The Prophets were men of extraordinary minds, able to reflect greatly upon human life and to see deep into human nature. They were men of passion and fire. In the present volume Miss Hamilton brings these ancient Hebrews to life for us as she brought those other ancient peoples to life in The Greek Way and The Roman Way, at the same time interpreting their significance for us today.