Prophet and priest

According to Weber, personal charisma was the key distinguishing feature of prophetic office, and also the feature that most clearly separated prophets from priests: :”the prophet declares new revelations by charisma, whereas the priest serves to a sacred tradition. It is no accident that almost no prophet has come from the priesthood. As a rule, the Indian teachers of salvation were not Brahmins, nor were the Israelite prophets priests. Zoroaster’s case is exceptional in that there exists a possibility that he might have descended from the priestly nobility. The priest, in clear contrast, dispenses salvational goods by his office. Even in cases in which personal charisma may be attached to a priest, he remains as a member of the priestly enterprise of salvation, which legitimizes his office.”

This is unhistorical as it applies to Israel, since Israel’s prophetic books are full of priestly authors (Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Zechariah explicitly, and probably Isaiah as well). Weber’s account is not sociology; it is a secularized, sociologized version of anti-priestly, anti-Catholic liberal Protestantism, masquerading as science.