Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/491

AMOS 435 AMOS modemi" (Ulm, 1757), botli valuable for their wealth of historical material. In the latter he de- feiuls ecclesiastical jurisdiction against the attacks of contemporary jurists and statesmen. Tlie be.st known of nis works is entitled " l)e revelationibus, visionibus et apparitionibus i)rivatis regidie tutie ox Scriptur.l, Conciliis, Sanctis Patribus ahi.squo optimis auctoribus coUectie, explicata> atque exeniplis illus- trata)" (Augsburg, 1741). It was directed against the "Mystic City of God", the famous work of the Spanish Franciscan nun, Maria tie Agreda, and brought him into conflict with several of her Fran- ci.scan defenders. This learned scholar found time to prepare for the people a number of tlevotional works. His prayer-books. " Kurz und (!ut " and " HreWer eines guten Christen", went through many editions. He also compiled select lives of the saints and wrote a German treatise (Venice, 17.iO) on the invocation of the .saints, besides a smaller and a larger catechism. In the discussions waged during the first half of the eighteenth centurj' concerning the authorsliip of the "Do Imitatione Christi" Amort stood forth as an ardent supporter of the claims of Thomas A Kempis, though his seven works on the subject, praised for their "rare learning and judicious temper", failed to silence the Henedictine champions of Jean Gersen. The more important are: "Scutum Kempense" (Cologne, 172,5); "Plena et succincta informatio de statu totius controversia;" (.ugsburg, 1725), and "Certitudo moralis pro Th. Kempensi" (Ratisbon, 1704). On his portrait by Jungwirth was engraved " Litterarum maxime sacra- rum per Bavariam restaurator eximius". The visitor to Bibermiihle may now contemplate a marble monument erected in honour of a theologian in whom industry, erudition, critical skill, and piety were united in a high degree. De Fkller, Uinnr. Univ. (Pari.s 1845). Ill, 45; We-ster- UAYR. in Kirchcnhi.. I, 754-757; Tolssai.nt, in Diet, de Ihiol. cath.. I, 1115-17; Hut. pulil. BliiUrr. I.XXVl, 107; HuRTER, Nomenclator (Innsbruck, 1895), III, liOl; Baader, Dat geUhrte Bayern (Nuremberg, 1804). I. 20. Thomas J. Shah. . Amos. I. Name. — -The third among tlic Minor Prophets of the Old Testament is called, in the Hebrew Te.xt, " 'Amos." The spelling of his name is different from that of the name of Isaias's father, '"AmOi;"; whence Christian tradition has, for the most part, rightly distinguished lK>tween the two. The prophet's name, Amns, has been variously ex- plained, and its exact meaning is still a matter of conjecture. II. Life and Times. — According to the heading of his book (i, 1) Amos was a herdsman of Thecua, a village in the Southern Kingdom, twelve miles south of Jerusalem. Besicles this humble avocation, he is also spoken of in vii, 14, as a simple dresser of sycamore-trees. Hence, as far as we know, there is no sufficient ground for the view of most Jewish interpreters that Amos was a wealthy man. Thecua was apparently a shepherd's to«-n, and it was while following his flock in the wilderness of Juda, that, in the reigns of OzijLS and Jeroboam, God called him for a sjxjcial mission; "Go, prophesy to My people Israel" (vii, 15). In the eyes of the humble shep- herd this must have appeared a most difficult mis- sion. .i the time when the call came to him, he was "not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet" (vii, 14), which implies that he had not yet entered upon the prophetical office, and even that he had not attended the schools wherein young men in training for a prophet's career bore the name of "the sons of a prophet". Other reasons might well cause Amos to fear to accept the divine mission. He, a Southerner, was bidden to go to the Xorthem Kingdom, Israel, and carry to its people and its leaders a message of judg- ment to which, from their historical circumstances, I.— 28 they were particularly ill-prepared to listen. Its ruler, Jeroboam II (c. 781-741 B. c), had rapidly conquered .Syria, .Moab, and Ammon, and thereby extended his dominions from the source of the Orontes on the north to the Dead .Sea on the south. The whole northern empire of .Solomon thus practi- cally restored had enjoyed a long period of peace and security marke<l by a wonderful revival of artistic and commercial development. .Samaria, its capital, had Ix-en adorned with splendid and sul>- stantial buildings; riches had been accumulated in abundance; comfort and luxury had reached their highest standard; so that the Northern Kingilom had attained a material prosperity unprecedented since the disruption of the empirfe of Solomon. Out- wardly, religion was also in a most flourishing con- dition. The sacrificial worship of the God of I.srael was carried on with great pomp and general faith- fulness, and the long enjoyment of national pro.s- perity was popularly regarded as an undoubted token of the Lord's favour towards His iieople. It is true that public morals had gradually been infected by the vices which continued success and plenty too often bring in their train. Soci.il corruption and the oppression of the poor and helpless were verj' prevalent. But the.se and similar marks of public degeneracy could yc readily excusetl on the plea that they were the necessary accompaniments of a high degree of Oriental civilization. Again, reli- gion was debased in various ways. Many among the Israelites were satisfie<l with the mere otTeriiig of the sacrificial victims, regardless of the inward dispositions required for their worthy presentation to a thrice-holy God. Others availed themselves of the throngs which attended the sacred festivals to indulge in immoderate enjoj-ment and tumultuous revelry. Others again, carried away by the freer a.ssociation with heathen peoples which resulted from conquest or from commercial intercourse. een went so far as to fuse with the Lord's worship that of pagan deities. Owing to men's natural tendency to oe satisfied with the mechanical performance of religious duties, and owing more particularly to the great pronencss of the Hebrews of old to adopt the sensual rites of foreign cults, so long as they did not give up the worship of their own God, the.se irregu- larities in matters of religion did not appear ol)- jectionable to the Israelites, all the more so liecause the Lord did not punish them for their conduct. Yet it wsis to that most prosperous people, thoroughly convinced that God was well-pleased with them, that Amos was sent to deliver a stem rebuke for all their misdeeds, and to announce in God's name their forthcoming ruin and captivity (vii, 17). .inos's mission to Irsael was but a temporarj' one. It extended apparently from two years before to a few years after an earthquake, the exact date of which is unknown (i, 1). It met with strong op- position, especially on the part of Amasias, the chief friest of the royal sanctuary in Bethel (vii, 10-13). low it came to an end is not known; for only late and untrustworthy legends tell of Amos's martjTdom under the ill-treatment of Amasias and his son. It is more probable that, in compliance with Ania- sias's threjitening order (vii, 12), the prophet with- drew to Juda, whore at leisure he arranged his oracles in their well-planned disposition. III. .■VvAI.YSia OK pHOPHETirAI. WlilTINO. — The book of .mos falls naturally into three parts. The first opens with a general title to the work, giving the author's name and the general date of his minis- try (i, 1), and a text or motto in four poetical lines (i, 2), describing under a fine image the Lord's power over Palestine. This part comprises the first two chapters, and is m.ide up of a series of oracles against Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Kdom. .mmon, Moab, Juda, and, finally, Israel. Each oracle begins with the same