The idea of a "prophet" is very closely tied to the idea of the Bible itself, since the Bible was largely written by prophets. At a lower level, prophets represent people who teach from the Bible. At a higher level, they represent the Lord as He reveals himself through the Bible. Viewed in a abstract way, prophets represent the holy parts of the Bible themselves, and also represent doctrine drawn from the Bible. The reason we say "largely written by prophets" and "the holy parts of the Bible" is that not all of the books currently included in the Bible have a complete and continuous internal sense. Some -- like Job, Ruth, and Song of Solomon -- are wonderful literary pieces that got included, but which lack the systematic meanings for words and phrases. Others -- the Acts and Epistles, primarily -- are really doctrinal works, the first attempt by others to extract meaning from Jesus' life and words.

6818. Il faut encore parler du Prochain, car sans la connaissance du Prochain, on ne peut pas savoir comment la Charité doit être exercée. Dans ce qui a été placé devant le Chapitre précédent, il a été dit que chaque homme est le Prochain, mais l'un, autrement que l'autre ; et que celui qui est dans le bien est le Prochain de préférence aux autres, qu'ainsi le bien qui est chez l'homme est ce qu'on doit aimer ; en effet, quand on aime le bien, on aime le Seigneur, car c'est du Seigneur que provient le Bien, c'est Lui qui est dans le Bien et c'est Lui qui est le Bien même.