prophetic voice

The Hebrew prophets were the first to speak in condemnation of the sacrificial system and in defense of its victims. They were largely ignored, but their words took on a life of their own, eventually becoming the moral ballast of the Hebrew Scriptures and the essential link in the Judeo-Christian revelation. The Gospels carry forward what the Hebrew prophets began, announcing from the supreme perspective of the Cross that those united by their common victim "know not what they do."

Gil Bailie, Violence Unveiled: Humanity at the Crossroads. New York: Crossroad, 1995. 74.