Prophet

A prophet is a person who is believed to communicate with God, or with a deity. Prophets claim to speak for God (or the gods), with the purpose of delivering a divinely inspired message.

A prophet often operates through some means of divination or channeling. The process of receiving a message from God (or the gods) is known either as prophecy or as revelation. (In this sense, the terms are synonyms.)

In popular usage, especially among Christians, a prophet is believed to be someone foretelling the future. While the Bible certainly does contain examples of this sort of prophecy, the majority of messages from Biblical prophets in the Hebrew Bible were social or religious messages that contained no such predictions. As Greek poets were inspired, Thomas Paine argued in The Age of Reason that "prophet" among the Jews hadsimply meant poet or musician:

"There is not, throughout the whole book called the Bible, any word that describes to us what we call a poet, nor any word that describes what we call poetry. The case is, that the word prophet, to which a later times have affixed a new idea, was the Bible word for poet, and the word 'prophesying' meant the art of making poetry. It also meant the art of playing poetry to a tune upon any instrument of music."

The prophets of the Hebrew Bible were speakers for God rather than "seer-priests" and were absolutely against divination and the like (Allen, 1971). Some prophecies that seem to foretell the future are now widely believed as having been made some time after the event; these propheices are sometimes given the technical name vaticinia ex eventu.

The concept of a prophet is an old one, and is important in numerous religions. The Greek oracles were inherited from autochthonous sacred sites that preceded the Greeks' arrival in the Aegean. The Bible refers to prophets of Yahweh, Baal, and other regional deities (see Bible prophecy). Christians refer to John the Baptist as a prophet of the Christian God, and Muslims refer to Muhammad as the Prophet, the last and greatest of the prophets of Allah, or God. Latter Day Saints also commonly refer to Joseph Smith, Jr. and his successors as prophets.

Sociological taxonomy of prophets

The sociologist Max Weber distinguished two types of prophets, the emissary type and the exemplary. The emissary type believes that s/he has received an important message that must be communicated to others. The exemplary type bases his religious authority on experience that serves as an example to others.

Pagan Greek and Roman oracles

The role of spokesperson for the gods is an archaic one in the Hellenic world. However, the word prophet itself derives from the Greeks, who used the word προφήτης to refer to an interpreter or spokesperson of a deity, who "utters forth." In Greek religion the interpreters of Zeus, Apollo, and other gods were the oracles, at numerous ancient sites, where the god or goddess spoke through women, sometimes identified as sibyls and the utterances, in classical times, were interpreted by men. In various Greek legends, oracles (particularly Apollo's at Delphi) spoke cryptically of the future, and their meaning was frequently misunderstood. In The Iliad the Trojan princess Cassandra warns of upcoming events, but has been cursed such that no one believes her prophecies.

Prophets in the Bible

In Hebrew, the word traditionally translated as prophet is נְבִיא (nevi), which likely means "proclaimer". The meaning of nevi is perhaps described in Deuteronomy 18:18, where God said, "I will put my words in his mouth and he will speak to them all that I command him." Thus, the navi was thought to be the "mouth" of God.

The root nun-bet-alef ("navi") is based on the two-letter root nun-bet which denotes hollowness or openness; to receive transcendental wisdom, one must make oneself “open”. Cf. Rashbam's comment to Genesis 20:7.

According to I Samuel 9:9, the old nave for navi is ro'eh, ראה, which literally means "Seer". That could document an ancient shift, from viewing prophets as seers for hire to viewing them as moral teachers. Allen (1971) comments that in the First Temple Era, there were essentially seer-priests, who formed a guild, divined, performed rituals and sacrifices, and were scribes, and then there were canonical prophets, who did none of these (and were against devination) and had instead a message to deliver. The seer-priests were usually attached to a local shrine or temple, such as Shiloh, and initiated others as priests in that priesthood: it was a mystical craft-guild with apprentices and recruitment. Canonical prohets were not organised this way. The similar term "ben-navi" ("son of the prophet") means "member of a seer-priest guild".

Some examples of prophets in the Tanakh (the Jewish scripture, which Christians refer to as the Old Testament) include Abraham, Sarah, Isaiah, Samuel, Ezekiel, and Job. In Jewish tradition, Daniel is not counted in the list of prophets.

The Tanakh states that prophecy is not limited to Jews, and is remarkable for the many accounts of prophets it contains. It specifically mentions the prophecy of Bilam, a gentile. The accounts include details of men, women and even animals receiving prophecy in various ways. (This section needs to be greatly expanded)

Prophets in Jewish thought

Classical Jewish texts teach that the most direct forms of prophecy ended with the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70 C.E. However, various rabbinic Jewish works, including the midrash, state that other less direct forms of communication between man and God still exist, and have never ended.

Many Jewish works, including the Talmud and Maimonides's Guide for the Perplexed states that gentiles may receive prophecy. However, Judaism generally does not accept that any of the specific people well known in other religions are genuine prophets. Jews have not recognized any specific gentile leader as a prophet, as most people who claim to be prophets in other religions have done so in such a way as to delegitimize or supersede Judaism itself. Judaism (based on Deuteronomy Ch. 13 and 18:20) holds that no true prophet will create a new faith or religion as a successor to Judaism. Thus, the Qur'an's claims that Jews have deliberately falsified the Bible and that only Muslims know the true word of God is rejected.

The Talmud states that minor forms of prophecy still occur. One example of this is the 'bat kol'. (e.g. Tosefta Sota 13:3, Yerushalmi Sota 24b, and Bavli Sota 48b). The Talmud states that each time a Jew studies the Torah or its rabbinic commentaries, God is revealed anew; there is still a link between the God and the Jewish people. Reference: Abraham Joshua Heschel's Prophetic Inspiration After the Prophets: Maimonides and Others (Ktav)

A Jewish tradition holds that there were 600,000 male and 600,000 female prophets. Judaism recognizes the existence of 48 male prophets who bequeathed permanent messages to mankind. Jewish prophets

According to the Talmud there were also seven women who are counted as prophets whose message bears relevance for all generations: Sarah, Miriam, Devorah, Hannah (mother of the prophet Samuel), Abigail (a wife of King David), Huldah (from the time of Jeremiah), and Esther. There were, of course, other women who functioned as prophets, and the last prophet mentioned in the Bible, Noahdiah (Nehemiah 6:14) was a woman.

Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote one of the 20th century's classic commentaries on the prophets, entitled "The Prophets" which has received acclaim in most of the Jewish community, and in part of the Catholic and Protestant Christian community.

Also see: False Prophet for detailed definition of prophet and false prophet in Judaism.

Christian concepts of a prophet

Christians believe a prophet is a person who speaks for God, in the name of God, and who carries God's message to others. Some Christian denominations teach that a person who receives a personal message not intended for the body of believers (where such an event is credited at all) should not be termed a prophet. The reception of a message is termed revelation; the delivery of the message is termed prophecy. For Christians the authenticity of a prophet is judged by their fruits as Jesus said that one should judge a prophet by his fruits, (Gospel of Matthew 7) and by checking whether his predictions come true. Deuteronomy 18:21-22 contains several warnings about false prophets and is very specific about the test of whether a prophet is true or false. A false prophet is considered to be someone who is purposely trying to deceive, or is delusional, or is under the influence of Satan (for detail, see main article False prophet).

Biblical prophecies were often conditional, even if the conditions were not explicitly stated; repentance and faithfulness, as well as their opposite (sin), were common reasons why prophecies were rescinded (Jeremiah 18:7-10). Examples of such prophesies that were not fulfilled as anticipated include Jonah's prophesy concerning the destruction of Ninevah (Jonah 3:4), Ezekial's prophesy concerning the destruction of Tyre (Ezekial ch. 26-29), Jeremiah's prophecy concerning the death of Zedekiah (Jeremiah 34:4-5), Nathan's prophesy concerning Israel's future (2 Samuel 7:5-17), the angel's prophecy concerning Samson (Judges 13:5), Elijah's prophecy of Ahab's destruction (1 Kings 21:17-29), and Isaiah's prophecy of Hezekiah's death (Isaiah 38:1-5).

Christians recognize that anyone they consider prophetic is still human and fallible, and may make wrong decisions, have incorrect personal beliefs or opinions, and sin from time to time; the human characteristics of a prophet are independent of the message God has given him and do not negate the validity of his prophecies.

Nevertheless, most Christians believe the minumum requirements of a true prophet can be summarized as follows:

• clear (not vague) prophecies,
• 100% accuracy in prophecying (i.e. one false prophecy is all it takes to disqualify them as a prophet), and
• must not contradict the Bible.

Most Christians believe these standards create a conundrum for the many other Christians who actively support high profile ministers who have large followings who claim to have received prophecies that have later turned out to be false. Some of these ministers are Benny Hinn, Oral Roberts, and Kenneth Copeland. See Timeline of unfulfilled Christian Prophecy.

Most Christians would also use these guidelines to disqualify, as true prophets of God, these people for the specified reasons:

• Jehovah's Witnesses: Always wrong when they have tried to predict the end of the world.
• Mohammed: Contradicted the Bible regardining divinity of Jesus Christ.
• Nostradamus: Vague prophesies.
• Astrologists: Low accuracy, vague prophesies.

Some Christians, including many who believe in dispensationalism, believe prophecy ended with the coming of Jesus, who delivered the "fullness of the law." Within this group, many Protestants believe that prophecy ended with the last of the Hebrew prophets of the Old Testament of the Bible, leaving a gap of about 400 years between then and the coming of Jesus Christ. The majority, including the Eastern Orthodox, allow an exception for John the Baptist as a prophet contemporary with Jesus.

New Testament passages that explicity discuss prophets existing after the death of Christ include Joel 2:28-31, Revelation 11:10, Matthew 10:40-41 & 23:34, John 13:20 & 15:20, and Acts 11:25-30, 13:1 & 15:32.

Most of Christianity, including Roman Catholicism and the majority of Protestant denominations, reject dispensationalism, while some, such as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, teach a form of dispensationalism yet reject, with the non-dispensationalists, the notion that prophecy was to end with Christ.

Latter-day Saint concept of prophets

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes that God has never ceased to communicate with his children. While anyone may receive revelation for themselves or their own families (through prayer, faith, repentance, etc.), special people have been called throughout history to proclaim God's message to the world. This message, since the time of Adam and Eve, has consistenly been a call for people to repent and exercise faith in God and in the Savior's Atonement. The Book of Mormon describes in detail the supposed ministry of prophets among the ancient inhabitants of the Americas, and it alludes to other prophets who would be raised up among God's children in other nations, not just those recorded in the Bible.

Latter-day Saints believe a prophet is called to lead the Lord's true Church any time it is organized on the earth. Jesus did this during his mortal ministry, and Peter acted in Christ's place after His ascension, but because of persecution the church eventually fell into apostasy. With the latter-day Restoration of the Gospel in 1830 through the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr., Latter-day Saints claim Christ's Church was, for the last time, organized and established upon the earth. The Lord directs his saints through the current President and senior Apostle of the Church; he is called "the Prophet" because he is the only man on earth at any given time who is authorized to receive revelation for the whole world.

The prophet:

• Speaks for God, with divine power and authority
• Communicates God’s will to all people
• Is a special witness of Jesus Christ, testifying of His divinity
• Teaches the gospel and interprets the word of God
• Calls the unrighteous to repentance
• Receives revelations and directions from the Lord
• May see into the future in order to warn the world of coming events

Joseph Smith (1805–44) is called the "Prophet of the Restoration" and was the first in the latter-days. As of September 2005, the current Prophet and leader of the church is Gordon B. Hinckley (1910-). Between these two, in chronological order, were Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, Lorenzo Snow, Joseph F. Smith, Heber J. Grant, George Albert Smith, David O. McKay, Joseph Fielding Smith, Harold B. Lee, Spencer W. Kimball, Ezra Taft Benson and Howard W. Hunter.

Jehovah's Witnesses concepts of a prophet

Jehovah's Witnesses do not consider any single person in their modern-day organization to be a prophet. Their literature refers to their organization collectively as God's prophet on earth; this is understood however in the sense of declaring their interpretation of God's judgments from the Bible by God's guidance of His Holy Spirit. One issue of The Watchtower their magazine 1 Jan 1969, said: "Ever since 'The Watchtower' began to be published in July of 1879 it has looked ahead into the future... No, 'The Watchtower' is no inspired prophet, but it follows and explains a Book of prophecy the predictions in which have proved to be unerring and unfailing till now. 'The Watchtower' is therefore under safe guidance. It may be read with confidence, for its statements may be checked against that prophetic Book." They also claim that they are God's one and only true channel to mankind, and used by God for this purpose 2. They have made many eschatological predictions stating that there were "God's interpretations, not those of men".

David Berg, the founder of the Children of God (now The Family), declared himself a prophet in 1972. ¹

The Unification Church regards its founder, Sun Myung Moon as a living prophet.

The Islamic concept of prophet

Islam holds that Allah (Islamic proper name of God), sent messengers to all nations on earth, at various stages of their histories. These messengers, some who were also prophets, had the task of conveying religious guidance to the people of the world. Certain messengers were sent to guide certain people and they all held the same basic message of Islam. The Qur'an is held by most Muslims to be the uncreated speech of God and revealed via the angel Gabriel to the prophet Muhammad, who is regarded as the final prophet.

The Qur'an specifically mentions the names of 25 prophets, and indicates that there have been many others sent to humanity throughout time. These 25 include Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. These individuals were mortal humans; Islam demands that a believer accept all of the prophets, making no distinction between them. It is Muhammad who is held to be the last prophet, ending a long line of messengers. Also believed, according to tradition, is the return of prophet Isa (Jesus) on the Last Day.

A sect of the Ahmadiyya movement consider Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian to be a prophet. However as he comes after the prophet Muhammad, their teachings are considered heretical and non-Islamic by most Muslims.

Some historical figures who claimed to be a prophet in a more or less Islamic sense of the word include Musaylimah of Yamamah, Ha-Mim of the Ghomara, Salih of the Berghouata, and (possibly less than seriously) the great Arab poet al-Mutanabbi; no groups maintain their prophethood today.

Most Muslims, according to certain schools, distinguish between prophets per se (نبي nabi) and messengers (رسول rasul), the latter being those prophets who have brought a holy book rasila (such as the Qur'an or Bible).

The Bahá'í concept of prophet

The Bahá'í Faith teaches that there have been other great prophets besides the seven cited by Islam, and that God will send more prophets in the future, when necessary. The founder of the Bahá'í faith, Bahá'u'lláh, who came after Muhammad, is one such prophet. In addition, there were other prophets who spoke to the followers of other faiths in other parts of the world. Thus the founders of great non-Western religions, such as Buddha, are also considered prophets of God. The faith teaches that religion is an unfolding process in world history, and the various prophets participated in this process in different times and cultures. This explains the differences in the world's great religions, which are ultimately one and come from God.

The Bahá'í Faith regards not only the prophetic messages as divine, but also the messengers themselves. This disagrees with the Jewish and Sunni Muslim conceptions of prophethood, but is similar to the Shi'i (esp. ghulat) view, and also resembles the Christian view of Christ. To avoid confusion, Bahá'ís will often refer to major prophets as "Manifestations" (mazhar); e.g. "the Manifestation of God for this Age".

The Direct Worship concept of prophet

Direct Worship teaches that God is equally accessible to all mankind, and that God has ordained only one universally common mode of worship for all mankind to follow. As such, any follower of Direct Worship can obtain enlightenment from God provided a certain level of sacrifices is met and that these sacrifices are performed directly in honor of God only. Consequently, prophets in Direct Worship are accorded a normal human status, but are recognised to have received divine revelation as a reward for performing significant prayers and sacrifices.

Tenrikyo concept of prophet

Tenrikyo's prophet, Miki Nakayama or Oyasama [1], is believed by Tenrikyoans to have been a kind of microphone of God, as God spoke through Oyasama, directly, to whomever was in the vicinity. She had three aspects: the Shrine of Tsukihi (the body of the woman was occupied by the mind of God), The Parent of the Divine Model (Oyasama taught the people by instructions and examples), and The Truth of the Everliving Oyasama (she continues to watch humanity develop, even after shedding her body).

Other prophets

Other people throughout history have been described as prophets in the sense of foretelling the future (as opposed to forthtelling the message of the Deity). Examples of such prophets include:

• Nostradamus
• Shirdi Sai Baba
• Sathya Sai Baba
• Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (Madame Blavatsky)
• Deganawidah
• Dan Evehema, Hopi Elder
• Mitar Tarabich
• John Titor
• Jeane Dixon
• Hal Lindsey
• Edgar Cayce
• William Miller
• Merlin the wizard
• Mother Shipton
• St Malachy - see Prophecy of the Popes

Assessment of the prophet's authenticity and false prophets

Jewish views

According to Deuteronomy 18:21-22, one should judge a prophet by checking whether his predictions come true. The book contains several warnings about false prophets and is very specific about the test of whether a prophet is true or false. (For detail, see main article False prophet)

Christian views

According to the Bible, Jesus said that one should judge a prophet by his fruits. (Gospel of Matthew 7). In addition Christianity recognizes the divine nature of the Old Testament, and inherited the same text in Deutoronomy (although as with much of the Old Testament, the degree to which it is considered applicable varies)

Muslim views

According to Islam, Muhammed was the last prophet so any prophet after Muhammed is regarded as false.

The basic reasons for the initiation, continuation and the ultimate termination of the institute of prophethood, are derived by Muslims from various references of the Qur'an, are:

• To guide people to the correct path at such a level that they are left with no excuse for rejecting the basic truths taught by the prophets of God (Al-Nisaa 4: 165). For this particular purpose, God did not only send a few messengers at a particular place and time, but continued sending his messengers for a long period of time and in various nations and peoples.

• To guide people, according to their general socio-cultural and other collective circumstances to the laws of God; with the evolution in these socio-cultural and other collective circumstances, the laws were amended and sequentially brought closer to the ultimate likings of God (Al-Baqarah 2: 106 and Al-Maaidah 5: 3). For this particular purpose, teachings relating to the socio-cultural and other collective aspects of human life were not given in their final shape in the beginning; on the contrary, the final teachings were deferred till the time when man, in his collective capacity, was in a position to bear and follow them.

With the advent of the Muhammad, both these targets of the institute of prophethood were accomplished, and the institute of prophethood was terminated.

Prophets in science-fiction and fantasy

Prophets in fantasy include:

• The seers & druids of Shanara
• The wizards of Middle-earth
• The prophets of Kirthanin
• The Bajoran Prophets from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
• The Prophecies of the Dragon in Robert Jordan's "The Wheel of Time" book series
• Paul of Dune

See also

• seer
  • Rishi
  • Vates
• fortune teller
• "Les Nabis" (the "prophets") an avant-garde group of late 19th century French artists.
• portent

References

ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

• The Family. The Religious Movements Homepage Project @ The University of Virginia. URL accessed on August 5, 2005.
• Prophets. Mormon.org. URL accessed on August 5, 2005.

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