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In religion
Religion is usually defined as a social- cultural system of designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relates humanity to supernatural, ...
, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being
Divinity or the divine are things that are either related to, devoted to, or proceeding from a deity.divine< ...
and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the supernatural
Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...
source to other people. The message that the prophet conveys is called a prophecy
In religion, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain divine will or law, or prete ...
.
Claims of prophethood have existed in many cultures and religions throughout history, including Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...
, Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
, Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
, ancient Greek religion
Religious practices in ancient Greece encompassed a collection of beliefs, rituals, and mythology, in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. The application of the modern concept of "religion" to ancient cultures has been ...
, Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion and one of the world's History of religion, oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian peoples, Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a Dualism in cosmology, du ...
, Manichaeism
Manichaeism (;
in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian ...
, Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
, and many others.
Etymology
The English word ''prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
'' is the transliteration
Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one writing system, script to another that involves swapping Letter (alphabet), letters (thus ''wikt:trans-#Prefix, trans-'' + ''wikt:littera#Latin, liter-'') in predictable ways, such as ...
of a compound Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
word derived from ''pro'' (before/toward) and ''phesein'' (to tell); thus, a προφήτης (''prophḗtēs'') is someone who conveys messages from the divine to humans, including occasionally foretelling future events. In a different interpretation, it means advocate
An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...
or speaker
Speaker may refer to:
Society and politics
* Speaker (politics), the presiding officer in a legislative assembly
* Public speaker, one who gives a speech or lecture
* A person producing speech: the producer of a given utterance, especially:
** I ...
.
In Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
, the word נָבִיא (''nāvî''), "spokesperson", traditionally translates as "prophet". The second subdivision of the Tanakh
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''
In addition to writing and speaking messages from God,
''
Nevi'im
Nevi'im (; he, נְבִיאִים ''Nəvīʾīm'', Tiberian: ''Năḇīʾīm,'' "Prophets", literally "spokespersons") is the second major division of the Hebrew Bible (the ''Tanakh''), lying between the Torah (instruction) and Ketuvim (wri ...
), is devoted to the Hebrew prophets. The meaning of ''Navi'' is perhaps described in Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...
18:18, where God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
said, "...and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him." Thus, the ''Navi'' was thought to be the "mouth" of God. The root nun
A nun is a woman who vows to dedicate her life to religious service, typically living under vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience in the enclosure of a monastery or convent.''The Oxford English Dictionary'', vol. X, page 599. The term is o ...
-bet
Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los A ...
-alef
Aleph (or alef or alif, transliterated ʾ) is the first letter of the Semitic abjads, including Phoenician , Hebrew , Aramaic , Syriac , Arabic ʾ and North Arabian 𐪑. It also appears as South Arabian 𐩱 and Ge'ez .
These letter ...
("Navi") is based on the two-letter root nun-bet which denotes hollowness or openness; to receive transcendental wisdom, one must make oneself "open".
Abrahamic religions
Judaism
In addition to writing and speaking messages from God, Israelite
The Israelites (; , , ) were a group of Semitic-speaking tribes in the ancient Near East who, during the Iron Age, inhabited a part of Canaan.
The earliest recorded evidence of a people by the name of Israel appears in the Merneptah Stele o ...
or Judean
Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous sout ...
''nevi'im'' ("spokespersons", "prophets") often acted out prophetic parables in their life. For example, in order to contrast the people's disobedience with the obedience of the Rechabite
The Rechabites () are a biblical clan, the descendants of Rechab through Jehonadab.
Biblical sources
The Rechabites belonged to the Kenites, who accompanied the Israelites into the Holy Land and dwelt among them. The main body of the Kenites dwel ...
s, God has Jeremiah
Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish ...
invite the Rechabites to drink wine, in disobedience to their ancestor's command. The Rechabites refuse, for which God commends them. Other prophetic parables acted out by Jeremiah include burying a linen belt so that it gets ruined to illustrate how God intends to ruin Judah's pride.Commentary on Jeremiah 13, Jeremiah, The Anchor Bible, Doubleday, 1984 Likewise, Jeremiah buys a clay jar and smashes it in the Valley of Ben Hinnom in front of elders and priests to illustrate that God will smash the nation of Judah and the city of Judah beyond repair. God instructs Jeremiah to make a yoke from wood and leather straps and to put it on his own neck to demonstrate how God will put the nation under the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar
Nebuchadnezzar II (Babylonian cuneiform: ''Nabû-kudurri-uṣur'', meaning "Nabu, watch over my heir"; Biblical Hebrew: ''Nəḇūḵaḏneʾṣṣar''), also spelled Nebuchadrezzar II, was the second king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, ruling ...
, king of Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
. In a similar way, the prophet Isaiah
Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named.
Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...
had to walk stripped and barefoot for three years to illustrate the coming captivity, and the prophet Ezekiel
Ezekiel (; he, יְחֶזְקֵאל ''Yəḥezqēʾl'' ; in the Septuagint written in grc-koi, Ἰεζεκιήλ ) is the central protagonist of the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible.
In Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, Ezekiel is acknow ...
had to lie on his side for 390 days and eat measured food to illustrate the coming siege.
Prophetic assignment is usually portrayed as rigorous and exacting in the Hebrew Bible,Isaiah (Commentary), John Goldingay, Hendrickson, 2001 and prophets were often the target of persecution and opposition.’’Jeremiah (Prophet)’’, The Anchor Bible Dictionary Volume 3, Doubleday, 1992 God's personal prediction for Jeremiah, "Attack you they will, overcome you they can't," was performed many times in the biblical narrative
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a v ...
as Jeremiah warned of destruction of those who continued to refuse repentance and accept more moderate consequences. In return for his adherence to God's discipline and speaking God's words, Jeremiah was attacked by his own brothers, beaten and put into the stocks by a priest and false prophet
In religion, a false prophet is a person who falsely claims the gift of prophecy or divine inspiration, or to speak for God, or who makes such claims for evil ends. Often, someone who is considered a "true prophet" by some people is simultaneou ...
, imprisoned by the king, threatened with death, thrown into a cistern by Judah's officials, and opposed by a false prophet. Likewise, Isaiah was told by his hearers who rejected his message, "Leave the way! Get off the path! Let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel!" The life of Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
being threatened by Pharaoh
Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian: ''pr ꜥꜣ''; cop, , Pǝrro; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') is the vernacular term often used by modern authors for the kings of ancient Egypt who ruled as monarchs from the First Dynasty (c. 3150 BC) until the an ...
is another example.
According to I Samuel
Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...
9:9, the old name for navi is ''ro'eh'', רֹאֶה, which literally means "Seer". That could document an ancient shift, from viewing prophets as seers for hire to viewing them as moral teachers. L.C. Allen (1971) comments that in the First Temple
Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple (, , ), was the Temple in Jerusalem between the 10th century BC and . According to the Hebrew Bible, it was commissioned by Solomon in the United Kingdom of Israel before being inherited by th ...
Era, there were essentially seer-priests belonging to a guild, who performed divination
Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...
, rituals, and sacrifices, and were scribes; and beside these were canonical prophets, who did none of these things (and condemned divination), but came to deliver a message. The seer-priests were usually attached to a local shrine or temple, such as Shiloh, and initiated others into that priesthood, acting as a mystical craft-guild with apprentices and recruitment. Canonical prophets were not organised this way.
Some examples of prophets in the Tanakh include Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...
, Moses, Miriam
Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus.
The Tor ...
, Isaiah, Samuel
Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...
, Ezekiel, Malachi
Malachi (; ) is the traditional author of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Nevi'im (Prophets) section of the Tanakh. According to the 1897 ''Easton's Bible Dictionary'', it is possible that Malachi is not a proper name, as it simply mean ...
, and Job
Work or labor (or labour in British English) is intentional activity people perform to support the needs and wants of themselves, others, or a wider community. In the context of economics, work can be viewed as the human activity that contr ...
. In Jewish tradition Daniel
Daniel is a masculine given name and a surname of Hebrew origin. It means "God is my judge"Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 68. (cf. Gabriel—"God is my strength" ...
is not counted in the list of prophets.
A Jewish tradition suggests that there were twice as many prophets as the number which left Egypt, which would make 1,200,000 prophets. The Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
recognizes 48 male prophets who bequeathed permanent messages to mankind. According to the Talmud, there were also seven women counted as prophetesses whose message bears relevance for all generations: Sarah
Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...
, Miriam
Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus.
The Tor ...
, Devorah, Hannah (mother of the prophet Samuel), Abigail
Abigail () was an Israelite woman in the Hebrew Bible married to Nabal; she married the future King David after Nabal's death ( 1 Samuel ). Abigail was David's second wife, after Saul and Ahinoam's daughter, Michal, whom Saul later married ...
(a wife of King David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
), Huldah
Huldah ( he, חֻלְדָּה ''Ḥuldā'') was a prophet mentioned in the Hebrew Bible in and . According to the Bible, she was a prophetess. After the discovery of a book of the Law during renovations at Solomon's Temple, on the order of King J ...
(from the time of Jeremiah), and Esther
Esther is the eponymous heroine of the Book of Esther. In the Achaemenid Empire, the Persian king Ahasuerus seeks a new wife after his queen, Vashti, is deposed for disobeying him. Hadassah, a Jewess who goes by the name of Esther, is chosen ...
. The Talmudic and Biblical commentator Rashi
Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...
points out that Rebecca
Rebecca, ; Syriac: , ) from the Hebrew (lit., 'connection'), from Semitic root , 'to tie, couple or join', 'to secure', or 'to snare') () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical ...
, Rachel
Rachel () was a Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban. Her older sister was Leah, Jacob's first wife. Her aun ...
, and Leah
Leah ''La'ya;'' from (; ) appears in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two wives of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. Leah was Jacob's first wife, and the older sister of his second (and favored) wife Rachel. She is the mother of Jacob's first son ...
were also prophets.
Isaiah 8:3-4 refers his wife "the prophetess", who bore his son Maher-shalal-hash-baz
"Maher-shalal-hash-baz" (; he, מַהֵר שָׁלָל חָשׁ בַּז, ' – "Hurry to the spoils!" or "He has made haste to the plunder!") was the second prophetic name mentioned in Isaiah chapter 8– 9.
Biblical accounts
The name is menti ...
; she is not referred to elsewhere.
Prophets in Tanakh are not always Jews, for example the non-Jewish prophet Balaam
Balaam (; , Standard ''Bīlʿam'' Tiberian ''Bīlʿām'') is a diviner in the Torah (Pentateuch) whose story begins in Chapter 22 of the Book of Numbers (). Ancient references to Balaam consider him a non-Israelite, a prophet, and the son of Beo ...
in Numbers
A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
22. According to the Talmud, Obadiah
Obadiah (; he, עֹבַדְיָה – ''ʿŌḇaḏyā'' or – ''ʿŌḇaḏyāhū''; "servant of Yah", or "Slave of Yah HVH) is a biblical prophet. The authorship of the Book of Obadiah is traditionally attributed to the prophet ...
is said to have been a convert to Judaism.
The last ''nevi'im'' mentioned in the Jewish Bible
The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''
Christians who believe that the
Joseph Smith, who established the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints), Church of Christ in 1830, is considered a prophet by members of the Latter Day Saint movement, of which
The Ahmadiyya movement in Islam believes that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a non law-bearing Prophet, who claimed to be a fulfillment of the various Islamic prophecies regarding the spiritual second advent of Jesus of Nazareth near the Eschatology, end times.
''Prophecy and Power among the Dogrib Indians''
University of Nebraska Press. * Clifford A. Pickover. (2001). ''Dreaming the Future: The Fantastic Story of Prediction''. Prometheus Books. * James Randi. (1993). ''The Mask of Nostradamus: Prophecies of the World's Famous Seer''. Prometheus Books. * H. H. Rowley. 1956. ''Prophecy and Religion in Ancient China and Israel''. New York: Harper & Brothers. vi, 154 p.
Etymology of the English word "prophet"
* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=554&letter=P Entry for prophecy and prophets at the Jewish Encyclopedia]
Prophetic Midrash: An interdenominational, multilingual list of prophets, broadly defined
* * {{Authority control Prophets, Religious belief and doctrine
''
Haggai
Haggai (; he, חַגַּי – ''Ḥaggay''; Koine Greek: Ἀγγαῖος; la, Aggaeus) was a Hebrew prophet during the building of the Second Temple in Jerusalem, and one of the twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible and the author of t ...
, Zechariah, and Malachi
Malachi (; ) is the traditional author of the Book of Malachi, the last book of the Nevi'im (Prophets) section of the Tanakh. According to the 1897 ''Easton's Bible Dictionary'', it is possible that Malachi is not a proper name, as it simply mean ...
, all of whom lived at the end of the 70-year Babylonian exile. The Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...
(Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Aramaic: סַנְהֶדְרִין; Greek: , ''synedrion'', 'sitting together,' hence 'assembly' or 'council') was an assembly of either 23 or 71 elders (known as "rabbis" after the destruction of the Second Temple), ap ...
11a) states that Haggai, Zachariah, and Malachi were the last prophets, and later times have known only the "Bath Kol
In the Abrahamic religions, the voice of God is a communication from God to human beings, heard by humans as a sound with no apparent physical source.
In rabbinic Judaism, such a voice was known as a ''bat kol'' ( he, בַּת קוֹל ''ba ...
" (בת קול, lit. ''daughter of a voice'', "voice of God").
Christianity
Traditional definitions
InChristianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
, a prophet (or seer) is one inspired by God through the Holy Spirit
In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...
to deliver a message. This includes the prophets of ancient Israel as well as those who function(ed) as prophets in the Church. Concerning the latter concept, some Christian denominations
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...
limit a prophet's message to words intended only for the entire church congregation, excluding personal messages not intended for the body of believers; but in the Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
on a number of occasions prophets were called to deliver personal messages. The reception of a message is termed revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities.
Background
Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...
and the delivery of the message is termed prophecy.
The term "prophet" applies to those who receive public or private revelation
Private revelation is, in Christian theology, a message from God which can come in a variety of types.
Roman Catholic theology
According to the ''Catechism of the Catholic Church'', public revelation was complete in New Testament times, but dep ...
. Public revelation, in Catholicism, is part of the Deposit of faith
The deposit of faith ( or ''fidei depositum'') is the body of revealed truth in the scriptures and sacred tradition proposed by the Roman Catholic Church for the belief of the faithful. The phrase has a similar use in the US Episcopal Church.
Ca ...
, the revelation of which was completed by Jesus; whereas private revelation does not add to the Deposit. The term "deposit of faith" refers to the entirety of Jesus Christ's revelation, and is passed to successive generations in two different forms, sacred scripture (the Bible) and sacred tradition.
The Bible applies the appellation 'false prophet
In religion, a false prophet is a person who falsely claims the gift of prophecy or divine inspiration, or to speak for God, or who makes such claims for evil ends. Often, someone who is considered a "true prophet" by some people is simultaneou ...
' to anyone who preaches a Gospel contrary to that delivered to the apostles and recorded in Sacred Scripture. One Old Testament
The Old Testament (often abbreviated OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew writings by the Israelites. The ...
text in Deuteronomy
Deuteronomy ( grc, Δευτερονόμιον, Deuteronómion, second law) is the fifth and last book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called (Hebrew: hbo, , Dəḇārīm, hewords Moses.html"_;"title="f_Moses">f_Moseslabel=none)_and_th ...
contains a warning against those who prophesy events which do not come to pass and says they should be put to death. Elsewhere a false prophet may be someone who is purposely trying to deceive, is delusional, under the influence of Satan
Satan,, ; grc, ὁ σατανᾶς or , ; ar, شيطانالخَنَّاس , also known as Devil in Christianity, the Devil, and sometimes also called Lucifer in Christianity, is an non-physical entity, entity in the Abrahamic religions ...
or is speaking from his own spirit.
Ongoing prophecy
Christians who believe that the Holy Spirit
In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...
continues to give spiritual gifts
A spiritual gift or charism (plural: charisms or charismata; in Greek singular: χάρισμα
''charisma'', plural: χαρίσματα ''charismata'') is an extraordinary power given by the Holy Spirit."Spiritual gifts". ''A Dictionary of the ...
to Christians are known as continuationists. These charismata may include prophecy, tongues, miraculous healing
Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healing ...
ability, and discernment (Matthew 12:32 KJV "Whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him: but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come."). Cessationists believe that these gifts were given only in New Testament times and that they ceased after the last apostle
An apostle (), in its literal sense, is an emissary, from Ancient Greek ἀπόστολος (''apóstolos''), literally "one who is sent off", from the verb ἀποστέλλειν (''apostéllein''), "to send off". The purpose of such sending ...
died.
The last prophet
The last prophet, or final prophet, is a term used in religious contexts to refer to the last person through whom God speaks, after which there is to be no other. The appellation also refers to the prophet who will induce mankind to turn back to Go ...
of the Old Covenant
The Mosaic covenant (named after Moses), also known as the Sinaitic covenant (after the biblical Mount Sinai), refers to a covenant between God and the Israelites, including their proselytes, not limited to the ten commandments, nor the eve ...
before the arrival of Jesus is John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
(cf. ). New Testament
The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...
passages that explicitly discuss prophets existing after the death and resurrection of Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...
include Revelation
In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities.
Background
Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...
11:10, Matthew
Matthew may refer to:
* Matthew (given name)
* Matthew (surname)
* ''Matthew'' (ship), the replica of the ship sailed by John Cabot in 1497
* ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith
* Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Ch ...
10:40–41 and 23:34, John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Secon ...
13:20 and 15:20 and Acts
The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...
11:25–30, 13:1 and 15:32.
The ''Didache
The ''Didache'' (; ), also known as The Lord's Teaching Through the Twelve Apostles to the Nations (Διδαχὴ Κυρίου διὰ τῶν δώδεκα ἀποστόλων τοῖς ἔθνεσιν), is a brief anonymous early Christian tr ...
'' gives extensive instruction in how to distinguish between true and false prophets, as well as commands regarding tithes to prophets in the church. Irenaeus
Irenaeus (; grc-gre, Εἰρηναῖος ''Eirēnaios''; c. 130 – c. 202 AD) was a Greek bishop noted for his role in guiding and expanding Christian communities in the southern regions of present-day France and, more widely, for the dev ...
, wrote of 2nd-century believers with the gift of prophecy, while Justin Martyr
Justin Martyr ( el, Ἰουστῖνος ὁ μάρτυς, Ioustinos ho martys; c. AD 100 – c. AD 165), also known as Justin the Philosopher, was an early Christian apologist and philosopher.
Most of his works are lost, but two apologies and ...
argued in his ''Dialogue with Trypho'' that prophets were not found among the Jews in his time, but that the church had prophets. ''The Shepherd of Hermas
''The Shepherd of Hermas'' ( el, Ποιμὴν τοῦ Ἑρμᾶ, ''Poimēn tou Herma''; la, Pastor Hermae), sometimes just called ''The Shepherd'', is a Christian literary work of the late first half of the second century, considered a valuab ...
'' describes revelation in a vision regarding the proper operation of prophecy in the church. Eusebius
Eusebius of Caesarea (; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος ; 260/265 – 30 May 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilus (from the grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος τοῦ Παμφίλου), was a Greek historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian ...
mentions that Quadratus Quadratus is Latin for square. Quadratus was also a cognomen from the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. It may refer to:
People
* Lucius Ninnius Quadratus, a tribune of the plebs in 58 BC and a warm friend to Roman Senator Marcus Tullius Cicero
* G ...
and Ammia of Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
were both prominent prophets following the age of the Twelve Apostles. Tertullian
Tertullian (; la, Quintus Septimius Florens Tertullianus; 155 AD – 220 AD) was a prolific early Christian author from Carthage in the Roman province of Africa. He was the first Christian author to produce an extensive corpus of L ...
, writing of the church meetings of the Montanists (to whom he belonged), described in detail the practice of prophecy in the 2nd-century church.
A number of later Christian saints were claimed to have powers of prophecy, such as Columba of Iona
Columba or Colmcille; gd, Calum Cille; gv, Colum Keeilley; non, Kolban or at least partly reinterpreted as (7 December 521 – 9 June 597 AD) was an Irish abbot and missionary evangelist credited with spreading Christianity in what is toda ...
(521–597), Saint Malachy
Malachy (}; Modern ga, Maelmhaedhoc Ó Morgair; ) ( 1094 – 2 November 1148) is an Irish saint who was Archbishop of Armagh, to whom were attributed several miracles and an alleged vision of 112 popes later attributed to the apocryphal ...
(1094–1148) or Padre Pio
Francesco Forgione, OFM Cap., better known as Padre Pio and as Saint Pius of Pietrelcina ( it, Pio da Pietrelcina; 25 May 188723 September 1968), was an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic. He is venerated as a s ...
(1887–1968). Marian apparition
A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance by Mary, the mother of Jesus, or a series of related such appearances during a period of time.
In the Catholic Church, in order for a reported appearance to be classified as a Marian ap ...
s like those at Fatima
Fāṭima bint Muḥammad ( ar, فَاطِمَة ٱبْنَت مُحَمَّد}, 605/15–632 CE), commonly known as Fāṭima al-Zahrāʾ (), was the daughter of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his wife Khadija. Fatima's husband was Ali, th ...
in 1917 or at Kibeho
Kibeho is a small town in south Rwanda, which became known outside of that country because of reported apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary and Jesus Christ occurring between 1981 and 1989. It is also known for the Kibeho Massacre, in April ...
in Rwanda in the 1980s often included prophetic predictions regarding the future of the world as well as of the local areas they occurred in.
Prophetic movements in particular can be traced throughout the Christian Church's history, expressing themselves in (for example) Montanism
Montanism (), known by its adherents as the New Prophecy, was an early Christian movement of the late 2nd century, later referred to by the name of its founder, Montanus. Montanism held views about the basic tenets of Christian theology simil ...
, Novatianism
Novatianism or Novationism was an early Christian sect devoted to the theologian Novatian ( 200–258) that held a strict view that refused readmission to communion of '' lapsi'' (those baptized Christians who had denied their faith or performed ...
, Donatism
Donatism was a Christian sect leading to a schism in the Church, in the region of the Church of Carthage, from the fourth to the sixth centuries. Donatists argued that Christian clergy must be faultless for their ministry to be effective and t ...
, Franciscan
The Franciscans are a group of related Mendicant orders, mendicant Christianity, Christian Catholic religious order, religious orders within the Catholic Church. Founded in 1209 by Italian Catholic friar Francis of Assisi, these orders include t ...
ism, Anabaptism
Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...
, Camisard
Camisards were Huguenots (French Protestants) of the rugged and isolated Cévennes region and the neighbouring Vaunage in southern France. In the early 1700s, they raised a resistance against the persecutions which followed Louis XIV's Revocation ...
enthusiasm, Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
ism, Quakerism, Quietism, Lutheranism
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...
and Radical Pietism
Radical Pietism are those Ecclesiastical separatism, Christian churches who decided to break with denominational Lutheranism in order to emphasize certain teachings regarding holy living. Radical Pietists contrast with Church Pietists, who chose t ...
. Modern Pentecostals and Charismatics, members of movements which together comprised approximately 584 million people , believe in the contemporary function of the gift of prophecy, and some in these movements, especially those within the Apostolic-Prophetic Movement, allow for idea that God may continue to gift the church with some individuals who are prophets.
Some Christian sects recognize the existence of "modern-day" prophets. One such denomination is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
, which teaches that God still communicates with mankind through prophecy.
Islam
TheQuran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
identifies a number of men as "Prophets of Islam
Prophets in Islam ( ar, الأنبياء في الإسلام, translit=al-ʾAnbiyāʾ fī al-ʾIslām) are individuals in Islam who are believed to spread God's message on Earth and to serve as models of ideal human behaviour. Some prophets ar ...
" ( ar, نبي ''nabī''; pl. ''anbiyāʾ''). Muslim
Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...
s believe such individuals were assigned a special mission by God
In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
to guide humanity. Besides Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
, this includes prophets such as Abraham (''Ibrāhīm''), Moses (''Mūsā'') and Jesus (''ʿĪsā'').
Although only twenty-five prophets are mentioned by name in the Quran, a hadith
Ḥadīth ( or ; ar, حديث, , , , , , , literally "talk" or "discourse") or Athar ( ar, أثر, , literally "remnant"/"effect") refers to what the majority of Muslims believe to be a record of the words, actions, and the silent approval ...
(no. 21257 in ''Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal
''Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal'' ( ar, مسند أحمد بن حنبل) is a collection of musnad hadith compiled by the Islamic scholar Ahmad ibn Hanbal (d. 241 AH/855 AD) to whom the Hanbali fiqh (legislation) is attributed.
Description
It is one ...
'') mentions that there were (more or less) 124,000 prophets in total throughout history. Other traditions place the number of prophets at 224,000. Some scholars hold that there are an even greater number in the history of mankind, and only God knows. The Quran says that God has sent a prophet to every group of people throughout time and that Muhammad is the last of the prophets, sent for the whole of humankind. The message of all the prophets is believed to be the same. In Islam, all prophetic messengers are prophets (such as Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
, Noah
Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...
, Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...
, Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
, Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
, and Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
) though not all prophets are prophetic messengers. The primary distinction is that a prophet is required to demonstrate God's law through his actions, character, and behavior without necessarily calling people to follow him, while a prophetic messenger is required to pronounce God's law (i.e. revelation) and call his people to submit and follow him. Muhammad is distinguished from the rest of the prophetic messengers and prophets in that God commissioned him to be the prophetic messenger to all of mankind. Many of these prophets are also found in the texts of Judaism (The Torah, the Prophets, and the Writings) and Christianity.
Muslims often refer to Muhammad as "the Prophet", in the form of a noun. Jesus is the result of a virgin birth in Islam as in Christianity, and is regarded as a prophet.
Traditionally, four prophets are believed to have been sent holy books: the Torah (''Tawrat'') to Moses, the Psalms (''Zābūr'') to David, the Gospel(''Injil'') to Jesus, and the Quran to Muhammad; those prophets are considered "Messengers" or ''rasūl''. Other main prophets are considered messengers or ''nabī'', even if they didn't receive a Book from God. Examples include the messenger-prophet Aaron (''Hārūn''), the messenger-prophet Ishmael (''Ismāʿīl'') and the messenger-prophet Joseph (''Yūsuf'').
Although it offers many incidents from the lives of many prophets, the Quran focuses with special narrative and rhetorical emphasis on the careers of the first four of these five major prophets. Of all the figures before Muhammad, the significance of Jesus in Islam is reflected in his being mentioned in the Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
in 93 verses with various titles attached such as "Son of Mary
Mary may refer to:
People
* Mary (name), a feminine given name (includes a list of people with the name)
Religious contexts
* New Testament people named Mary, overview article linking to many of those below
* Mary, mother of Jesus, also calle ...
" and other relational terms, mentioned directly and indirectly, over 187 times. He is thus the most mentioned person in the Quran by reference; 25 times by the name Isa, third-person 48 times, first-person 35 times, and the rest as titles and attributes. Moses (''Musa'') and Abraham (''Ibrahim'') are also referred to frequently in the Quran. As for the fifth, the Quran
The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Classical Arabic, Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation in Islam, revelation from God in Islam, ...
is frequently addressed directly to Muhammad, and it often discusses situations encountered by him. Direct use of his name in the text, however, is rare. Rarer still is the mention of Muhammad's contemporaries.
Several prominent exponents of the Fatimid
The Fatimid Caliphate was an Ismaili Shi'a caliphate extant from the tenth to the twelfth centuries AD. Spanning a large area of North Africa, it ranged from the Atlantic Ocean in the west to the Red Sea in the east. The Fatimids, a dy ...
Ismaili
Isma'ilism ( ar, الإسماعيلية, al-ʾIsmāʿīlīyah) is a branch or sub-sect of Shia Islam. The Isma'ili () get their name from their acceptance of Imam Isma'il ibn Jafar as the appointed spiritual successor (imām) to Ja'far al-Sa ...
Imams
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, serve ...
explained that throughout history there have been six enunciators () who brought the exoteric () revelation to humans, namely: Adam
Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...
, Noah
Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...
, Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...
, Moses
Moses hbo, מֹשֶׁה, Mōše; also known as Moshe or Moshe Rabbeinu (Mishnaic Hebrew: מֹשֶׁה רַבֵּינוּ, ); syr, ܡܘܫܐ, Mūše; ar, موسى, Mūsā; grc, Mωϋσῆς, Mōÿsēs () is considered the most important pro ...
, Jesus
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
and Muhammad
Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 Common Era, CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Muhammad in Islam, Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet Divine inspiration, di ...
. They speak of a seventh enunciator (), the Resurrector (Qa’im), who will unveil the esoteric () meaning of all the previous revelations. He is believed to be the pinnacle and purpose of creation. The enunciators (sing. ) who are the Prophets and the Imams
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, serve ...
in their respective times, are the highest hierarch (). The enunciators () signal the beginning of a new age () in humankind, whereas the Imams
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, serve ...
unveil and present the esoteric () meaning of the revelation to the people. These individuals are both known as the ‘Lord of the Age’ () or the ‘Lord of the Time’ (). Through them, one can know God, and their invitation to humans to recognize God is called the invitation ().
According to Shia Islam
Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, m ...
, all Prophets and Imams
Imam (; ar, إمام '; plural: ') is an Islamic leadership position. For Sunni Muslims, Imam is most commonly used as the title of a worship leader of a mosque. In this context, imams may lead Islamic worship services, lead prayers, serve ...
are infallible
Infallibility refers to an inability to be wrong. It can be applied within a specific domain, or it can be used as a more general adjective. The term has significance in both epistemology and theology, and its meaning and significance in both fi ...
and the belief in their abstinence from intentional and unintentional sins is a part of the creed. Thus, it is accordingly believed that they are the examples to be followed and that they act as they preach. This belief includes some ʾAwliyāʾ such as Lady Fatima and Lady Mary.
Ifá and other African traditional religions
Divination
Divination (from Latin ''divinare'', 'to foresee, to foretell, to predict, to prophesy') is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic, standardized process or ritual. Used in various forms throughout histor ...
remains an important aspect of the lives of the people of contemporary Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, especially amongst the usually rural, socially traditionalistic segments of its population. In arguably its most influential manifestation, the system of prophecy practiced by the Babalawo
Babaaláwo or Babalawo in West Africa (Babalao in Caribbean and South American Spanish and Babalaô in Brazilian Portuguese) literally means 'father of the mysteries' in the Yoruba language. It is a spiritual title that denotes a high priest o ...
s and Iyanifa is a term in the Yoruba language that literally means Mother of Mysteries or Mother of Wisdom (''Ìyá'': “mother”; ''awó'' “mysteries"). Some adherents use the term "Mamalawo," which is a partially African diaspora version of the Yoruba ter ...
s of the historically Yoruba
The Yoruba people (, , ) are a West African ethnic group that mainly inhabit parts of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. The areas of these countries primarily inhabited by Yoruba are often collectively referred to as Yorubaland. The Yoruba constitute ...
regions of West Africa
West Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of Africa. The United Nations defines Western Africa as the 16 countries of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Liberia, Mali, Maurit ...
have bequeathed to the world a corpus of fortune-telling
Fortune telling is the practice of predicting information about a person's life. Melton, J. Gordon. (2008). ''The Encyclopedia of Religious Phenomena''. Visible Ink Press. pp. 115-116. The scope of fortune telling is in principle identical w ...
poetic methodologies so intricate that they have been added by UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
to its official '' intangible cultural heritage of the World list''.
Native Americans
TheGreat Peacemaker
The Great Peacemaker (''Skén:nen rahá:wi'' kʌ̃.nːʌ̃.ɾahaːwiin Mohawk), sometimes referred to as Deganawida or Tekanawí:ta (as a mark of respect, some Iroquois avoid using his personal name except in special circumstances) was by tradit ...
(sometimes referred to as ''Deganawida'' or ''Dekanawida'') co-founded the Haudenosaunee league in pre-Columbian
In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...
times. In retrospect, his Great Peacemaker#Prophecy of the boy seer, prophecy of the boy seer could appear to refer to the conflict between natives and Europeans (white serpent).
From 1805 until the Battle of Tippecanoe that falsified his predictions in 1811, the "Shawnee prophet" Tenskwatawa led an Indian alliance to stop Europeans from taking more and more land going west. He reported vision (spirituality), visions he had. He is said to have accurately predicted a solar eclipse. His brother Tecumseh re-established the alliance for Tecumseh's War, that ended with the latter's death in 1813. Tecumseh fought together with British forces that, in the area of the Great Lakes, occupied essentially today's territory of Canada.
Josiah Francis (Hillis Hadjo), Francis the Prophet, influenced by Tecumseh and Tenskwatawa, was a leader of the Red Stick faction of the Muscogee, Creek Indians. He traveled to England in 1815 as a representative of the "four Indian nations" in an unsuccessful attempt to get Great Britain to help them resist the expansionism of the white settlers.
20 years later (1832), Wabokieshiek, the "Ho-Chunk, Winnebago Prophet", after whom Prophetstown, Illinois, Prophetstown has been named, (also called "White Cloud") claimed that British forces would support the Indians in the Black Hawk War against the United States as 20 years earlier (based on "visions"). They did not, and he was no longer considered a "prophet".
In 1869, the Northern Paiute, Paiute Wodziwob founded the Ghost Dance movement. The dance rituals were an occasion to announce his visions of an earthquake that would swallow the whites. He seems to have died in 1872.
The Northern Paiute Wovoka claimed he had a vision during the solar eclipse of January 1, 1889, that the Paiute dead would come back and the whites would vanish from America, provided the natives performed Ghost Dances. This idea spread among other Native American peoples. The government were worried about a rebellion and sent troops, which lead to the death of Sitting Bull and to the Wounded Knee massacre in 1890.
Clifford Trafzer compiled an anthology of essays on the topic: American Indian Prophets.
Prophetic claims in religious traditions
In modern times the term "prophet" can be somewhat controversial. Many Christians with Pentecostalism, Pentecostal or Charismatic Movement, charismatic beliefs believe in the continuation of the gift of prophecy and the continuation of the role of prophet as taught in Epistle to the Ephesians, Ephesians 4. The content of prophecies can vary widely. Prophecies are often spoken as quotes from God. They may contain quotes from scripture, statements about the past or current situation, or predictions of the future. Prophecies can also 'make manifest the secrets' of the hearts of other people, telling about the details of their lives. Sometimes, more than one person in a congregation will receive the same message in prophecy, with one giving it before another. Other movements claim to have prophets. In France, Michel Potay says he received a revelation, called ''The Revelation of Arès'', dictated by Jesus in 1974, then by God in 1977. He is considered a prophet by his followers, the Pilgrims of Arès.Claims in Abrahamic religions
Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith refers to what are commonly called prophets as "Manifestations of God" who are directly linked with the concept of Progressive revelation (Baháʼí), progressive revelation. Baháʼís believe that the will of God is expressed at all times and in many ways, including through a series of divine messengers referred to as "Manifestations of God" or "divine educators". In expressing God's intent, these Manifestations are seen to establish religion in the world. Thus they are seen as an intermediary between God and humanity. The Manifestations of God are not seen as incarnations of God, and are also not seen as ordinary mortals. Instead, the Baháʼí concept of the Manifestation of God emphasizes simultaneously the humanity of that intermediary and the divinity in the way they show forth the will, knowledge and attributes of God; thus they have both human and divine stations. In addition to the Manifestations of God, there are also minor prophets. While the Manifestations of God, or major prophets, are compared to the Sun (which produces its own heat and light), minor prophets are compared to the Moon (which receives its light from the sun). Moses, for example, is taught as having been a Manifestation of God and his brother Aaron a minor prophet. Moses spoke on behalf of God, and Aaron spoke on behalf of Moses (Book of Exodus, Exodus 4:14–17). Other Jewish prophets are considered minor prophets, as they are considered to have come in the shadow of the dispensation of Moses to develop and consolidate the process he set in motion.Christianity
= Catholicism
= A number of modern catholic saints have been claimed to have powers of prophecy, such asPadre Pio
Francesco Forgione, OFM Cap., better known as Padre Pio and as Saint Pius of Pietrelcina ( it, Pio da Pietrelcina; 25 May 188723 September 1968), was an Italian Franciscan Capuchin friar, priest, stigmatist, and mystic. He is venerated as a s ...
and Alexandrina Maria da Costa.
In addition to this many modern Marian apparition
A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance by Mary, the mother of Jesus, or a series of related such appearances during a period of time.
In the Catholic Church, in order for a reported appearance to be classified as a Marian ap ...
s included prophecies in them about the world and about the local areas. The Three Secrets of Fátima, Fátima apparition in 1917 included a prophecy given by Mary to three children, that on October 13, 1917, there would be a great miracle for all to see at Fátima, Portugal, Fátima, Portugal, and on that day tens of thousands of people headed to Fátima to see what would happen including newspaper journalists. Many witnesses, including journalists, claimed to see the sun "dance" in the sky in the afternoon of that day, exactly as the visionaries had predicted several months before. The Our Lady of Kibeho, Kibeho apparition in Rwanda in the 1980s included many prophecies about great violence and destruction that was coming, and the Rwandan genocide only ten years later was interpreted by the visionaries as the fulfilment of these prophecies
Several miracles and a vision of the Prophecy of the Popes, identity of the last 112 Popes were attributed to Saint Malachy
Malachy (}; Modern ga, Maelmhaedhoc Ó Morgair; ) ( 1094 – 2 November 1148) is an Irish saint who was Archbishop of Armagh, to whom were attributed several miracles and an alleged vision of 112 popes later attributed to the apocryphal ...
, the Archbishop of Armagh (1095–1148).
= Jehovah's Witnesses
= Jehovah's Witnesses do not consider any single person in their modern-day organization to be a prophet. Their literature has referred to their organization collectively as God's "prophet" on earth, in the sense of declaring their interpretation of God's judgments from the Bible along with the guidance of God's holy spirit. Their publishing company, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Watch Tower Society has asserted: "Ever since ''The Watchtower'' began to be published in July 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 they are God's only true channel to mankind on earth, and used by God for this purpose. They have made various unfulfilled Watch Tower Society predictions, false predictions, and ''The Watchtower'' has acknowledged that Jehovah's Witnesses "have made mistakes in their understanding of what would occur at the end of certain time periods."= Latter Day Saint movement
=
Joseph Smith, who established the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints), Church of Christ in 1830, is considered a prophet by members of the Latter Day Saint movement, of which the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
(LDS Church) is the largest denomination. Additionally, many churches within the movement believe in a succession of modern prophets (accepted by Latter Day Saints as "Prophet, seer, and revelator, prophets, seers, and revelators") since the time of Joseph Smith. Russell M. Nelson is the current Prophet and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...
.
= Adventism
= Baptism, Baptist preacher William Miller (preacher), William Miller is credited with beginning the mid-19th century North American religious movement now known as Adventism. He announced a Second Coming, resulting in the Great Disappointment.Seventh-day Adventist The Seventh-day Adventist Church, which was established in 1863, believes that Ellen G. White, one of the church's founders, was given the Spirit of Prophecy (Adventist), spiritual gift of prophecy.
Branch Davidians The Branch Davidians are a religious cult which was founded in 1959 by Benjamin Roden as an offshoot of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church. David Koresh, who died in the well-known Waco Siege in 1993, claimed to be their final prophet and List of people claimed to be Jesus#20th century, "the Son of God, the Lamb" in 1983.
= Other Christian movements
= * Montanus, founder ofMontanism
Montanism (), known by its adherents as the New Prophecy, was an early Christian movement of the late 2nd century, later referred to by the name of its founder, Montanus. Montanism held views about the basic tenets of Christian theology simil ...
, an early Christian movement of the 2nd century.
* Bernhard Müller, also known as Count de Leon, was a German Christian mystic.
* Emanuel Swedenborg, founder of Swedenborgianism, an 18th-century Swedish scientist, philosopher, theologian, revelator, and mystic movement.
* Hong Xiuquan, established the Heterodoxy, heterodox Christian sect which was named the Taiping Rebellion, "Heavenly Kingdom of Great Peace" (; ).
* John Alexander Dowie, a faith healer who founded the city of Zion, Illinois, and the Christian Catholic Apostolic Church.
* Nona L. Brooks, described as a "prophet of modern mystical Christianity", was a founder of the Church of Divine Science.
* William M. Branham, Christian minister, usually credited with founding the post-World War II faith healing movement.
* Gerald Flurry, founder and head of the Philadelphia Church of God, who claimed he is 'that prophet' mentioned in Gospel of John, John 1:21–22.
Islam
= Ahmadiyya
=
The Ahmadiyya movement in Islam believes that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was a non law-bearing Prophet, who claimed to be a fulfillment of the various Islamic prophecies regarding the spiritual second advent of Jesus of Nazareth near the Eschatology, end times.
= Other Islamic movements
= * Noble Drew Ali, Prophet and founder of the Moorish Science Temple of America, founder of the Moorish Divine and National Movement, 1913 AD, Newark N.J. * Rashad Khalifa, founder of the religious group United Submitters International (USI).Judaic Messianism
Nathan of Gaza was a theologian and author who became famous as a prophet for the alleged messiah, Sabbatai Zevi.Claims in other religious traditions
* Aleister Crowley, founder of Thelema. * Lou de Palingboer, founder and figurehead of a new religious movement in the Netherlands. * Mani (prophet), Mani, founder ofManichaeism
Manichaeism (;
in New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian ...
, a quasi-Gnostic movement of late antiquity.
* Marshall Vian Summers, founder of the New Message from God religious movement.
* Tenrikyo's prophet, Nakayama Miki, is believed by Tenrikyoans to have been a messenger of God.
* Zoroaster, founder of Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religions, Iranian religion and one of the world's History of religion, oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian peoples, Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a Dualism in cosmology, du ...
.
Secular usage
In the late 20th century the appellation of ''prophet'' has been used to refer to individuals particularly successful at analysis in the field of economics, such as in the derogatory ''prophet of greed''. Alternatively, social commentators who suggest escalating crisis are often called ''prophets of doom.''See also
* Oracle * Major prophet * Mediumship * Prophethood (Ahmadiyya) * Table of prophets of Abrahamic religionsReferences
Further reading
* Ashe, Geoffrey. 2001. ''Encyclopedia of Prophecy'', Santa Barbara, ABC-Clio. * * Jürgen Beyer. 2002. 'Prophezeiungen', ''Enzyklopädie des Märchens: Handwörterbuch zur historischen und vergleichenden Erzählforschung'' [''N.B''.: In English renders as "Encyclopedia of the fairy tale: Handy dictionary for historical and comparative tale research"]. Berlin & New York: Walter de Gruyter. In vol. 10, on col. 1419–1432. * Stacey Campbell. 2008. ''Ecstatic Prophecy''. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Chosen Books/Baker Publishing Group. . * Marcus Tullius Cicero. 1997. ''De divinatione.'' Trans. Arthur Stanley Pease. Darmstadt: Wissenschaflliche Buchgesellschaft. * * Elst, Koenraad (1993). ''Psychology of prophetism: A secular look at the Bible''. New Delhi: Voice of India. * Leon Festinger, Henry W. Riecken, Stanley Schachter. (1956). ''When Prophecy Fails: A Social and Psychological Study of a Modern Group that Predicted the Destruction of the World''. University of Minnesota Press. * Christopher Forbes. 1997. ''Prophecy and Inspired Speech: in Early Christianity and Its Hellenistic Environment''. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson. . * Clifford S. Hill. 1991. ''Prophecy, Past and Present: an Exploration of the Prophetic Ministry in the Bible and the Church today''. Ann Arbor, Mich.: Vine. . *June Helm. (1994)''Prophecy and Power among the Dogrib Indians''
University of Nebraska Press. * Clifford A. Pickover. (2001). ''Dreaming the Future: The Fantastic Story of Prediction''. Prometheus Books. * James Randi. (1993). ''The Mask of Nostradamus: Prophecies of the World's Famous Seer''. Prometheus Books. * H. H. Rowley. 1956. ''Prophecy and Religion in Ancient China and Israel''. New York: Harper & Brothers. vi, 154 p.
External links
Etymology of the English word "prophet"
* [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=554&letter=P Entry for prophecy and prophets at the Jewish Encyclopedia]
Prophetic Midrash: An interdenominational, multilingual list of prophets, broadly defined
* * {{Authority control Prophets, Religious belief and doctrine