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For other uses, see Prophecy (disambiguation).

Prophecy, generally, describes the disclosing of information that is not known to the prophet by any ordinary means. Information as a concept has a diversity of meanings from everyday usage to technical settings In Religion, a prophet (or prophetess) is a person who has encountered the Supernatural or the divine and serves as an intermediary [1] In religion, this is thought to be a divinely inspired revelation or interpretation. A religion is a set of Tenets and practices often centered upon specific Supernatural and moral claims about Reality, the Cosmos Revelation is the act of revealing or disclosing (see etymology or in the theological perception making something obvious and clearly understood through active or passive communication Although, found throughout the religions of the world, the term has found popular acceptance through the work and influence of the Hebrew prophets. [2]

Contents

Definitions of Prophecy

Rabbinic scholar Maimonides, suggested that "prophecy is, in truth and reality, an emanation sent forth by the divine being through the medium of the active intellect, in the first instance to man's rational faculty, and then to his imaginative faculty. Moses Maimonides ( March 30 1135 – December 13 1204) also known as the Rambam, was a Rabbi, Physician, and God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. Active intellect or agent intellect is a term used in both psychology and philosophy Rationality as a term is related to the idea of Reason, a word which following Webster's may be derived as much from older terms referring to Imagination is the ability to form Mental images/sounds/feelings or the ability to Spontaneously Generate images/sounds/feelings within one's own Mind "[3] This closely relates to the definition by Al-Fârâbî who developed the theory of prophecy in Islam. TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> Abū Nasr Muhammad ibn al-Farakh al-Fārābi ( Nastaliq:) or Abū Nasr al-Fārābi [4] The Catholic Encyclopedia defines prophecy as "understood in its strict sense, it means the foreknowledge of future events, though it may sometimes apply to past events of which there is no memory, and to present hidden things which cannot be known by the natural light of reason. The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia "[5]

Etymology

The English word 'prophecy' (noun) in the sense of "function of a prophet" appeared in Europe from about 1225, from Old French 'profecie' (12th century), and from Late Latin 'prophetia', Latin 'proficio' (advance)[6], from Greek 'prophetia', "gift of interpreting the will of the gods," from 'prophetes' (see prophet). Old French was the Romance Dialect continuum spoken in territories which span roughly the northern half of modern France and parts of modern Belgium Vulgar Latin (in Latin sermo vulgaris, "folk speech" is a Blanket term covering the popular Dialects and Sociolects of the Latin Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly In Religion, a prophet (or prophetess) is a person who has encountered the Supernatural or the divine and serves as an intermediary The related meaning "thing spoken or written by a prophet" is from c. 1300, while the verb 'prophesy' is recorded by 1377. [7]

One of the earliest recorded uses of the term, prophecy, is nevuah, and comes from Hebrew "divrei nevuah", (English - words of prophecy), and forms the name of a major subdivision of the Tanakh, the Nevi'im [נביאים], and means "a prediction", from the root "Nuv" meaning to bear fruit, or make flourish. See also Old testament, Septuagint, Targum, Peshitta The Tanakh (תַּנַ"ךְ (taˈnax or; also Tenakh or Tenak is Nevi'im (נְבִיאִים "Prophets" is the second of the three major sections in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanakh, between the [8] This may relate to the nature of prophecy from the Jewish perspective where, in Rabbinic traditions, Ezra is metaphorically referred to as the "flowers that appear on the earth" signifying the springtime in the national history of Judaism. Ezra ( was a Jewish Priestly Scribe who led about 5000 Israelite exiles living in Babylon to their home city of Jerusalem Jewish history is the History of the Jewish people, faith, and culture.

Components of prophecy

There are many religious systems where prophecy is the core principle of belief recorded orally or in written form. Faith is a Belief in the trustworthiness of an Idea. Formal usage of the word "faith" is usually reserved for concepts of Religion, as in In the case of the written texts, usually called scriptures, the contents often include, though not exclusively, a record of prophecy that include the identification of the Source , the experience of the prophet or prophetess, and the record itself.

Prophecy is itself a part of a process. Most commonly the sequence of changes of properties or attributes of an ordinary human being into a prophet can be describe with the following:

Nature of prophecy

In the earliest Jewish source, the Torah, prophecy often consisted of a warning by God of the consequences should the society, specific communities or their leaders not adhere to Torah;s instructions. term " Torah " ( Hebrew: תּוֹרָה "teaching" or "instruction" sometimes translated as "Law" most commonly refers to God is the principal or sole Deity in Religions and other belief systems that worship one deity. Prophecies sometimes included promises of blessing for obeying God, and returning to behaviours and laws as written in the Torah. Warning prophecies feature in all Jewish works of the Tanakh. See also Old testament, Septuagint, Targum, Peshitta The Tanakh (תַּנַ"ךְ (taˈnax or; also Tenakh or Tenak is

The rabbinic teachings, notably RaMBaM, suggest there were many levels of prophecy, from the highest such as that experienced by Moses, to the lowest where the individuals were able to apprehend the Divine Will, but not respond or even describe this experience to others, such as Noah. Moses Maimonides ( March 30 1135 – December 13 1204) also known as the Rambam, was a Rabbi, Physician, and Moses ( Latin: Moyses,; Greek: grc Mωυσής in both the Septuagint and the New Testament; Arabic: ar موسىٰ Noah in Rabbinic literature. His name According to Midrash Agadah on Genesis v

Maimonides' theory of prophecy contains two elements 1) an explanation of what prophecy is, and 2) a ranking of the various types of prophecy and prophecy-like phenomena. I think we can use the ranking of prophecy implicate in Maimonides to substantiate our thesis that the rationalism of Maimonides is essentially a moral rationalism. [9]

Maimonides in his work, The Guide for the Perplexed, outlines twelve modes of prophecy[3] from lesser to greater degree of clarity:

Of the twelfth mode Maimonides, focuses his attention on its "implicit superiority to the penultimate stage in the above series", and therefore above all other prophetic and semi-prophetic modes. [10]

Experience of prophecy in the Torah and the rest of Tanakh do not restrict it to Jews, or even to human beings if one episode is to be interpreted literally. Balaam ( Hebrew: בִּלְעָם, Standard Bilʻam Tiberian Bilʻām) is a Prophet Nor is the prophetic experience restricted to the Hebrew language, since much of the prophecies of Daniel are in Aramaic. The Book of Daniel (דניאל, originally written in Hebrew and Aramaic, is a Book in both the Hebrew Bible ( Tanakh) and the Christian

Many of the Tanakh prophecies are accompanied by radical changes in the life of the prophets, and their experience is often accompanied by physiological change, including physical stress, experience of extrasensory perception (visions), physical collapse, and changes in their psychological state as a result of the encounter with the Divine. In Spirituality including Religion, visions comprise Inspirational renderings generally of a Future state and/or of a mythical

The prophetic experience is always bestowed on the individual, usually unprepared for the experience, by the Divine, and this often causes the prophet to undergo travel, and often privations and persecution due to the unwelcome contents of the message he or she bring to those for whom it is intended. In Religion, a prophet (or prophetess) is a person who has encountered the Supernatural or the divine and serves as an intermediary

In the Christian New Testament prophecy is often referred as one of the fivefold ministries or spiritual gifts that accompany the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual gifts (or Charismata, according to some Christian denominations such as Pentecostal, are gifts that are bestowed on Christians each having his or her In mainstream Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is one of the three entities of the Holy Trinity which make up the single substance From this many Christians believe that prophecy is the supernatural ability to receive and convey a message from God or the divine. The term supernatural or supranatural ( Latin: super, supra "above" + natura "nature" pertains to entities events The purpose of the message may be to "edify, exhort and comfort" the members of the church or an individual believer. In this context, not all prophecies contain predictions about the future. A prediction is a statement or claim that a particular Event will occur in the Future in more certain terms than a forecast. The Apostle Paul also teaches in Corinthians that prophecy is for the benefit of the whole Church and not just the individual exercising the gift. Paul the apostle (שאול התרסי Šaʾul HaTarsi, meaning " Saul of Tarsus " Σαούλ Saul and Σαῦλος Saulos and [11]

Instances of prophecy

Tanakh

The Tanakh contains prophecies from various Hebrew prophets (55 in total) who communicated messages from God to the nation of Israel, and later the population of Judea and elsewhere. See also Old testament, Septuagint, Targum, Peshitta The Tanakh (תַּנַ"ךְ (taˈnax or; also Tenakh or Tenak is In Judaism, the name of God is more than a distinguishing title See also History of ancient Israel and Judah According to the Bible, the Israelites were the dominant group living in the Land of Israel. Judea or Judæa ( Hebrew: יהודה Standard Yəhuda Tiberian Yəhûḏāh, "praised

Malachi, whose full name was Ezra Ha'Sofer (the scribe), is acknowledged to have been the last prophet of Israel if one accepts the opinion that Nechemyah died in Babylon before 9th Tevet 3448 (313 BCE). Babylonian Talmud, vol. San. 11a, Yom. 9a/Yuch. 1. 14/Kuz. 3. 39,65,67/Yuch. 1/Mag. Av. O. C. 580. 6 

Christianity

The Book of Enoch, while not a part of the Canon of Scripture for most of the Christian Churches, was quoted as a prophetic text in the New Testament (Letter of Jude with also a probable reference in I Peter 3:19,20 to Enoch 6-36, especially 21, 6; 2 Enoch 7:1-5). The Book of Enoch is any of several works that attribute themselves to Enoch, the great-grandfather of Noah and son of Jared (

Prophecy in the Gospels

There are instances in the Gospel writings where individuals are described as being prophets or prophesying, suggestive of a culture that was still open to the possibility of prophecy or hearing from the Divine despite Jewish beliefs to the contrary. This article is about the canonical books of the New Testament Prophecy, generally describes the disclosing of Information that is not known to the Prophet by any ordinary means Culture (from the Latin cultura stemming from colere, meaning "to cultivate" generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic Some examples include Simeon, Anna, and John the Baptist[12]. Simeon the Righteous (also Simeon the Elder, Simeon Senex, Simeon the God-Receiver, or Holy Simeon) is the "just and devout" Anna ( Hebrew: חַנָּה Septuagint Greek: Ἄννα or Anna the Prophetess was a biblical figure mentioned only in the Saint John the Baptist ( heb. Jochanan ben Sacharja, arab. يحيى Yaḥyā or يوحنا Yūḥanna, aram.

The Gospel literature shows several instances where Jesus prophesied. Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) An example of this is the the gospel of John which shows that whilst passing through Samaria, Jesus encountered a woman who had been married five times. Samaria, or the Shomron ( שֹׁמְרוֹן, Standard Šoməron Tiberian Šōmərôn In the story, Jesus relates to her details of her personal life. The woman states that "I can see you are a prophet. "[13] Jesus prophecies about his pending death[14], and about the end times[15] [16] [17]

Prophecy in other Christian literature

Throughout the book of Acts, there are numerous references to individuals prophesying in different ways and contexts. End time, End times, or End of days are the eschatological writings in the three Abrahamic religions and in doomsday scenarios in various other Examples include where the church in Antioch is described as having both prophets and teachers. [18] Also prophet by the name of Agabus predicted a severe famine. Agabus was an early follower of Christianity mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as a Prophet. A famine is a widespread shortage of food that may apply to any Faunal species which phenomenon is usually accompanied by regional Malnutrition, Starvation The author goes on to explain that this came to pass under the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius. The Roman Emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period (starting at about 27 BC Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I ( August 1, 10 BC &ndash October 13, AD 54 ( Tiberius Claudius Drusus from birth to [19] The Apostle Paul, while staying in Caesarea, stayed with Philip the Teacher, whose four daughters all prophesied. Paul the apostle (שאול התרסי Šaʾul HaTarsi, meaning " Saul of Tarsus " Σαούλ Saul and Σαῦλος Saulos and Caesarea (קיסריה Qesarya قيسارية pronounced Kaysaria) is a town in Israel on the outskirts of Caesarea Maritima, the ancient port At the same time, the prophet Agabus comes and warns Paul about going back to Jerusalem, saying that he will be handed over to the Gentile authorities. Agabus was an early follower of Christianity mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as a Prophet. Jerusalem (יְרוּשָׁלַיִם, he-Latn Yerushaláyim; Arabic: ar القُدس, ar-Latn al-Quds) is the [20]

Prophecy in the Pauline Epistles

In the Pauline Epistles, the prophet, is often referred as one of the fivefold ministries or spiritual gifts that accompany the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. The Pauline epistles, Epistles of Paul, or Letters of Paul, are the thirteen New Testament books which have the name Paul (Παῦλος as the first In Religion, a prophet (or prophetess) is a person who has encountered the Supernatural or the divine and serves as an intermediary Spiritual gifts (or Charismata, according to some Christian denominations such as Pentecostal, are gifts that are bestowed on Christians each having his or her In mainstream Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is one of the three entities of the Holy Trinity which make up the single substance The five ministries being; Apostles; Prophets; Evangelists; Teachers and Pastors[21]. The Twelve Apostles (Greek apostolos, "someone sent out" e A pastor is an official person within a Protestant group of people and related to the positions of Priest or Bishop within the Anglican, Roman Catholic From this many Christians believe that prophecy is the supernatural ability to receive and convey a message from God or the divine. The term supernatural or supranatural ( Latin: super, supra "above" + natura "nature" pertains to entities events The purpose of the message may be to encourage the church or an individual believers. [22] In this context, not all prophecies contain predictions about the future. A prediction is a statement or claim that a particular Event will occur in the Future in more certain terms than a forecast. The Apostle Paul also teaches in Corinthians that prophecy is for the benefit of the whole Church and not just the individual exercising the gift. Paul the apostle (שאול התרסי Šaʾul HaTarsi, meaning " Saul of Tarsus " Σαούλ Saul and Σαῦλος Saulos and [23]

Prophecy in the Modern Church

Since the early 1900's, the number of Christians claiming to be endowed with prophecy has greatly increased with the growth of the Pentecostal movement. Pentecostalism is a renewalist religious movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on the direct personal experience of God through the Baptism

The Charismatic movement, which started in the 1960's, started as an acceptance of the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the use of spiritual gifts by groups within mainline churches, one of the movement's beliefs being that one such "spiritual gift" is the modern manifestation of prophecy. In Christianity, baptism ( Greek, "immersing" "performing Ablutions " is the ritual act with the use of water by which one is admitted In mainstream Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is one of the three entities of the Holy Trinity which make up the single substance Spiritual gifts (or Charismata, according to some Christian denominations such as Pentecostal, are gifts that are bestowed on Christians each having his or her

Instances of prophecy have also been witnessed in the Catholic Church. In 1917, three children were reported to have received visions and prophecies at Fatima, Portugal. VisiCorp 's VisiOn was a short-lived but influential Graphical user interface -based Operating environment program for IBM PC compatible Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic (República Portuguesa is a country on the Iberian Peninsula. [24]

Seventh-day Adventist Church
Main article: Inspiration of Ellen White

In the Seventh-day Adventist Church, church co-founder Ellen G. White was considered to have the gift of prophecy. Seventh-day Adventists believe church co-founder Ellen G White was inspired by God as a " Prophet " understood today as a manifestation of the The Seventh-day Adventist (abbreviated " Adventist " Church is a Christian denomination which is distinguished mainly by its observance

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Main article: Prophecies of Joseph Smith Jr.

In the 1840s, Joseph Smith, is said to have translated golden plates through divine revelation by the spirit, thereby producing the Book of Mormon. Joseph Smith Jr, the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement, is viewed as a Prophet in the tradition of the ancient prophets recorded in the Bible by The Book of Mormon is a Sacred text of the churches in the Latter Day Saint movement. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe that their founder was a "latter-day" prophet. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the fourth largest Christian denomination in the United States and the largest and most well-known In Religion, a prophet (or prophetess) is a person who has encountered the Supernatural or the divine and serves as an intermediary

Amerindian prophecy

Several cases of claimed prophecy exist among the Amerindian populations, notably the three Dogrib prophets who claimed to have been divinely inspired to bring the message of Christianity's God to their people. For indigenous peoples in the United States other than Hawaii and Alaska see also Native Americans in the United States. Tłįchǫ First Nation, formerly known as the Dogrib, are a Dene Aboriginal Canadian people living in the Northwest Territories (NWT [25]

Islam

Muslims maintain that Muhammad experienced a prophetic phenomena equated with interpretation of dreams, visions and remote viewing, and thus identify him as a prophet. A Muslim (مسلم pronounced Muslim, not Muzlim) is an adherent of the Religion IMPORTANT PLEASE READ ##### For all questions relating to the addition of (pbuh peace be upon him or other honorifics Dreams are the images sounds thoughts and feelings experienced while Sleeping, particularly strongly associated with Rapid eye movement sleep. In Spirituality including Religion, visions comprise Inspirational renderings generally of a Future state and/or of a mythical Remote Viewing (RV refers to the attempt to gather information about a distant or unseen target using paranormal means or Extra-sensory perception. In Religion, a prophet (or prophetess) is a person who has encountered the Supernatural or the divine and serves as an intermediary

Ahmadiyya

Main article: Prophecies of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad

The founder of the Ahmadiyya Islamic reform movement, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies concerning the Messiah. See also Mirza Ghulam Ahmad Mirza Ghulam Ahmad is known to have made many Prophecies during his lifetime Mirza Ghulām Ahmad of Qadian ( ميرزا غلام احمد) ( February 13, 1835 – May 26, 1908 CE Shawal 14 1250 – This article is about the concept of a Messiah in religion notably in the Christian Islamic and Jewish traditions

Bahá'í Faith

Main article: Bahá'í Prophecies

In 1863, Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, claimed the he is the 'Promised One' of all religions, in other words a prophet. Throughout the Bahá'í writings future events have been prophesied Bahá'u'lláh ( ba-haa-ol-laa "Glory of God" ( November 12, 1817 – May 29, 1892) born Mírzá Ḥusayn-`Alí Nuri The Bahá'í Faith is a Religion founded by Bahá'u'lláh in nineteenth-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind In Religion, a prophet (or prophetess) is a person who has encountered the Supernatural or the divine and serves as an intermediary

Other belief systems

Prophecy has been claimed for, but not by, Michel de Nostredame popularly referred to as Nostradamus who was a converted Christian. Faith is a Belief in the trustworthiness of an Idea. Formal usage of the word "faith" is usually reserved for concepts of Religion, as in Michel de Nostredame (14 December 1503 or 21 December 1503 &ndash 2 July 1566 usually Latinized to Nostradamus, was a French Apothecary However, it is known that he had travelled widely, had suffered several tragedies in his life, and had been persecuted to some degree for his suggestions about the future, reportedly derived through a use of a crystal ball. A crystal ball is a Crystal or Glass Ball believed by some people to aid Clairvoyance.

Scepticism about prophecy

Sceptics believe many apparently fulfilled prophecies can be explained as coincidences (possibly aided by the prophecy's own vagueness), or that some prophecies were actually invented after the fact to match the circumstances of a past event ("postdiction"). This article is about postdiction in the criticism of parapsychology not about the scientific technique also called Retrodiction. Whitcomb in The Magician's Companion observes,

One point to remember is that the probability of an event changes as soon as a prophecy (or divination) exists. . . . The accuracy or outcome of any prophecy is altered by the desires and attachments of the seer and those who hear the prophecy. [26]

See also

References

  1. ^ Prophecy (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)
  2. ^ JewishEncyclopedia.com - PROPHETS AND PROPHECY
  3. ^ (Rambam, The Guide p. In Religion, the term false prophet is a label given to a person who is viewed as illegitimately claiming Charismatic authority within a Religious group Divination (from Latin divinare "to be inspired by a god" related to Divine, Diva and Deus) is the attempt of ascertaining 225) [1]
  4. ^ http://www.csulb.edu/~dsteiger/maimonides.htm The influence of Islamic Philosophy on Maimonides's Thought, Diana Steigerwald Religious Studies, California State University (Long Beach)
  5. ^ http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12473a.htm Catholic Encyclopedia
  6. ^ p. 195, Tucker
  7. ^ Online Etymology Dictionary
  8. ^ p. 1596, The Complete Hebrew - English dictionary, Reuben Alcalay
  9. ^ http://www.meru.org/Advisors/Sunwall/RambamProphecy.html The Suprarational Grounds of Rationalism: Maimonides and The Criteria of Prophecy, Mark R. Sunwall
  10. ^ http://www.meru.org/Advisors/Sunwall/RambamProphecy.html The Suprarational Grounds of Rationalism: Maimonides and The Criteria of Prophecy, Mark R. Sunwall
  11. ^ Corinthians%2014:22;&version=31; 1 Corinthians 14:22
  12. ^ Matthew 21:26
  13. ^ John 4:19
  14. ^ Matthew 16:27-28
  15. ^ Matthew 10:5-7
  16. ^ Matthew 10:23
  17. ^ Matthew 28:64
  18. ^ Acts 13:1
  19. ^ Acts 11:27-28
  20. ^ Acts 21:9
  21. ^ Eph. 4:11
  22. ^ http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12473a.htm
  23. ^ Corinthians%2014:22;&version=31; 1 Corinthians 14:22
  24. ^ The Known Facts
  25. ^ p. 27, Helm
  26. ^ [2] The James Randi Educational Foundation

Sources

Further reading

External links


Dictionary

prophecy

-noun

  1. A prediction, especially one made by a prophet or under divine inspiration.
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