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 30 PEOPHETS PROTAGORAS Old Testament, by the counter testimony of Christ and the apostles in the New, and also by the concessions of unbelieving interpreters, such as Strauss, who say that the Scriptural wri- ters undoubtedly claim prophetic inspiration, but that the claim is absurd. Among the works written from this standpoint are Prof. Fair- bairn's treatise on "Prophecy, its Nature and Functions" (8vo, Edinburgh, 1856), and espe- cially Tholuck, Die Propheten und ihre Weis- sagungen (Gotha, 1860), who has reviewed the whole subject in a philosophical manner, and concludes that the prophecies cannot be in- terpreted " as the utterance of subjective reli- gious aspirations," and that " the very course of history lias impressed upon these declara- tions the stamp and confirmation of an objec- tive and supernatural inspiration." The reader may also consult various commentaries on the books of the prophets, and that class of works which limit themselves to an interpretation of the " Messianic prophecies " throughout the entire Old Testament, among which Heng- stenberg's Christologie (3 vols. 8vo, Berlin, 1829-'35; English translation, 1836-'9, and in Clark's " Foreign and Theological Library," 1854) is the best known. Besides the works already named, see Koster, Die Propheten de Alten und Neuen Tettament* (Leipsic, 1838) ; Davison, " Discourses on Prophecy " (Oxford, 1839) ; Stuart, " Hints on the Interpretation of Prophecy" (Andover, 1844); Maurice, "Prophets and Kings of the Old Testament" (1853); Pusey, "The Minor Prophets" (Ox- ford, 1801); R. Payne Smith, "Messianic In- terpretation of the Prophecies of Isaiah " (1862); and Stanley, "Lectures on the Jewish Church" (1863). PROPHETS, Books of the, a division of the Old Testament. The rabbis divided the books of the Hebrew canon into three classes : 1. To- rah, law; 2, Nebiim, prophets; 8, Kethubim, writings, hagiographa. The second class was subdivided by them into " former " and " lat- ter" prophets. The former comprised the books of Joshua, Judges, Samuel, and Kings. Among the latter they again distinguished be- tween the three "great" (Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel) and the twelve " minor " proph- ets (Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Mi- cah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Ilaggai, Zechariah, and Malachi). In the arrangement of modern Biblical criticism, Joshua, Samuel, and Kings are not counted among the books of the prophets, who are divided into the four great (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel) and the twelve minor prophets. See also the articles on the several prophets. PROPOXTIS. See MARMOBA, SKA OF. PROSERPINE, or Persephone, in Greek and Ro- man mythology, the queen of the infernal world. She was the -daughter of Jupiter and Ceres, and was beloved by Pluto, who forci- bly carried her off to Hades. There she was found by Ceres, who induced Pluto to consent that her daughter should pass six months of every year in the upper world with her ; and hence Proserpine became a symbol of vege- tation. The Eleusinian mysteries belonged to her in common with her mother, and she had temples at Corinth, Megara, and Sparta, and at Locri in the south of Italy. PROSPER (AQUITANUS), Saint, a church fa- ther of the 5th century, born near Bordeaux about 403, died about 464. He was distin- guished as a chronologist, poet, and theologian, and is chiefly known from the prominent part taken by him in opposing Cassian and the Semi- Pelagians of Marseilles. Among the many works written by him against these and in de- fence of St. Augustine is the Carmen de In- gratis, considered to be one of the best Latin poems written by a Christian author. It is as- serted, but on doubtful authority, that he be- came in 440 secretary or notariut to Leo the Great, and that he wrote the letters on Euty- chianism attributed to that pope. He drew up about 444 a paschal cycle of 84 years, whicn has perished, and a continuation of the chroni- cle of St. Jerome, from A. D. 879 to 455, un- der the title of Chronicon Contulare. Photius ascribes the final overthrow of Pelagianism to his unwearied labors. His feast is celebrated on June 25. St. Prosper appears to have lived and died a layman, though some writers have made him bishop of Riez (Rhegium) in Pro- vence. There are several complete editions of his works, the best being those of Maugeant, with a history of his life, translated from Til- lemont (fol., Paris, 1711), and Foggini (fol., Rome, 1752), reprinted in vol. li. of Migne's Patrologie latine. PROSTATE GLAND (Gr. irpooraTltv, to stand before), a solid, chestnut-shaped glandular body, rather more than one inch in diameter, situated in the male between the neck of the bladder and the membranous portion of the urethra ; so called because it stands in front of the neck of the bladder. The texture of the prostate gland consists of a large number of racemose or compound glandules, surrounded by and imbedded in an abundant fibro-muscu- lar tissue, and opening by several separate ori- fices into the first or prostatic portion of the urethra, which canal it embraces at this point for about an inch. The prostate is liable to become enlarged in advanced life, when it sometimes creates an obstacle to the evacua- tion of the urine. PROTAGORAS, a Greek philosopher, born in Abdera probably about 480 B. C., died about 411. The common story in regard to his ori- gin was that he was a porter, and by the skil- ful manner in which he carried his load at- tracted the attention of Democritus, who un- dertook to educate him. He was the first who assumed the title of sophist, as denoting one who instructed others in the art of becoming wise, and in the arts of eloquence and politics, and was also the first who received pay for his lessons. According to Plato, ho received more money during the 40 years in which he