Definition
A person, publication, or other source of assertions that expresses an opinion, doctrine, or point of view which is ignored or rejected by almost all others; the actual utterance of an unpopular opinion, doctrine, or point of view.
An influential religious personage, especially one who makes prophetic utterances.
Origins
From the Biblical accounts of John the Baptist, as in the Gospel of Mark, 1:2–4: "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee. The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. John did baptize in the wilderness." (King James Version).
In Context
- "Eysenck (1952) was just beginning to seriously question the validity of dynamically oriented therapy, but he was a lone voice in the wilderness at that time. Not until the sixties did opposing points of view . . . begin to gain prominence."
- "A leader without committed followers is an unheard voice in the wilderness."
- "When Justice Denied’s first issue was published in February 1999 it was a ‘voice in the wilderness’ alerting the world to the widespread problem of the unreliability of the legal system."
- "The nation was a mess environmentally, and only a few voices in the wilderness were paying heed. In 1970, environmentalists often were derided and dismissed."
- ""I don't know," said Anne. "He gathers together a little flock of all denominations, who only care to hear the word." "Such a voice in the wilderness as often does good service," said Julius."
- ""I, even I, may be the voice in the wilderness leading the lost sheep back to the fold.""
- "Zhang again acted as a Confucian prophetic voice in the wilderness who called the people to truth."