Prophecy, prophets and the problem of truth in Latin late Antiquity and the early Middle Ages

Between the 4th and 9th century AC, many Latin Christian thinkers explore the nature and possible definitions of ‘prophecy’ from a philosophical point of view. The two main theories are found in the works of Augustine of Hippo and Gregory the Great, who agree on the idea of prophecy as «divine message», but diverge on the role of the prophet, who for the former is an interpreter with an active role, for the latter is a medium of the message rather than its author. Gregory’s theory seems to be more common – being more easily understandable – in the Early Middle Ages. All thinkers quoted in the essay (apart from Augustine and Gregory, Cassiodorus, Isidore of Seville, Alcuin of York and Rabanus Maurus) also deal with the problem of truth in relation to prophecy and prophets: is there a criterion with which to establish with certainty who is a real prophet and who is a false one? This article attempts to demonstrate, on the basis of the De doctrina christiana of Augustine and of the Liber visionum of Othlo of Sankt Emmeram, that one of the signs of the truthfulness of a true prophet could well be the nature and form of language he uses.