prophet

A figure whose authority is inseparable from persecution and delayed recognition, which Jiang uses to frame Dante's exile.

One who brings the truth of the universe into the human world and constructs it in language that others can access eternally. A truth-speaker rather than merely a future-predictor; prophetic speech accesses eternal truth and therefore can sound predictive because truth contains past, present, and future.

In the view Jiang summarizes, a person inspired by God or made to speak God's direct words, like a messenger carrying divine text.

The student's answer to Jiang's fame question is that celebrity normally becomes idolatry, but a famous person who directs attention toward God could function more like a prophet than an idol.

Jiang uses the read-aloud comment to characterize Dante as a prophet whose life is marked by alienation, persecution, and exile.

Jiang says Dante is confident he is a true prophet and proves it through the beauty of the poetry rather than by making specific predictive hits.

Jiang argues that prophets become memorable through persecution, using Moses and Jesus as examples and treating Dante's suffering as part of that same prophetic pattern.

Jiang summarizes Isaiah as a persecuted prophet and generalizes the point into a rule that prophets are persecuted.

In response to a question about Dante's purpose, Jiang says a true poet or prophet does not choose the role but is chosen by God and channels divine power.

A student proposes that Dante is taught so that he can become a mouthpiece or prophet for others.

The leader who unifies a people need not be a general; a poet, prophet, priest, or thinker can give a people a shared religion or imagination.