Subject: Are Modern Prophets Always Accurate ? |
Bible Note: Dear Charis…..I welcome your thoughts of course. You wrote:… “It seems (pardon me If I am wrong) that you are being awfully confrontive in your interrogation of our new forum friend.”….Guilty as charged. Confrontation in the defense of the Faith is no vice.(Please excuse the shameless pilfering from Barry Goldwater) You Wrote… “I think that modern prophets are about as accurate as historical prophets, providing that 1) they ARE prophets, and 2) they prophesy in the name of the Lord (Jesus).” Please correct me if I am wrong…..is there a biblical case in point where historical Prophets were wrong? I do not know. If there is no case of a historical Prophet being wrong, meeting the conditions you impose, then there is no case of a contemporary Prophet being wrong meeting those same conditions. I agree of course. So……a contemporary “prophet” that is wrong once, just once, is no prophet of God. Perhaps a dreamer, but no Prophet. The question then remains, and lives or dies on accuracy. You are familiar, I am certain, with the claims of “prophets” that periodically show up at various settings including this web site. Do we forget so soon the “prophets” of doom and destruction, and the fore-tellers of the Second Coming that abounded at the turn of the millenium? Only the Bereans were the nay sayers. You Wrote… “What is prophecy? Many are hung up on the 'prognosticator' aspect of this ministerial gift. According to my Bible, a prophet is a 'forth-teller' of God's word and will, not *necessarily* a future-teller.” …….Dear Friend Charis….What is the difference? Both speak to the future. If there is a semantic problem here it is most likely my error. Please correct me. You Wrote… “It seems that the real question is, "Why are so many charlatans called prophets?" No my friend. The only question I have is on accuracy, not gullibility, and the listener has no choice, especially in a Church setting dominated by false prophets. My concern is for the new Christian. Would a false prophecy lead the new believer to leave the Church by way of the back door? I think it would. In fact I think it SHOULD! A similar situation is found with the Gift of Tongues in some Churches….Would you agree that simple peer pressure leads to endless and meaningless babble at SOME Churches? How do you praise God while laughing and being silly? It must be an affront to our Lord. I am a witness to the silliness. There are churches that use a “primer phrase” that goes like this: “Shoulda Boughta Honda, Shoulda Boughta Honda, Shoulda Boughta Honda” repeated over and over until the Gift “kicks in.” Is that foolish to you? Do we let it go unchallenged, this impertinence to our beliefs in the Gifts? Peer pressure. Group psychology. Mass hypnosis. All are practiced by the stage magician. Well I am a bit over the top sometimes but I do so to defend the Faith: Not excuse the mockery and go on with my life. Make no waves etc. Christianity deals with facts not make believe. A prophet is no Prophet if he is wrong…just once. But I remain open to Scriptural support for the position that sometimes true Prophets of God are wrong. Got Milk? :-) And finally dear Charis you wrote… “Please remember that we do NOT have a record of every word that Isaiah spoke.” The implication of that statement is that perhaps, just perhaps, Isaiah had some false prophecies himself that we do not know of. That is icky. You really do not believe that any more than I. But you are a true peacemaker. And your sense of fair play is honed far greater than mine. God Bless….Jensen |