Prophet
From ArticleWorld
The term Prophet refers to a person believed to be a messenger sent by God, to preach the correct path of life. He receives instructions from God by some method of revelation like dreams or visions.
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Types
Max Weber, an eminent sociologist, classified prophets into two categories :
- Emissiary – One who receives direct instructions from God to be sermonized to the common man.
- Exemplary – One who deduces the rightful path or religion from past experience.
Christian concept
For Christians, the term prophet usually denotes one who foretells the future. Conservatively, it stands for a God’s messenger, one who selflessly preaches the word of God. A true prophet must necessarily fulfill the following :
- must make unambiguous prophecies
- all prophecies should be accurate (even one false prediction is enough to discredit them).
- must never speak against the Bible which is considered as a blasphemous act.
Christians, however, acknowledge the fact that prophets are human and hence are not perfect. They may make mistakes as they are subject to the limitations of mankind. A prophet’s primary duty is to spread God’s words among the ignorant.
Some Christians consider Jesus to be the last true prophet as he delivered the “fullness of the law”. Nevertheless, the majority, including the Eastern Orthodox sect regards John the Baptist as a contemporary of Jesus.
Islamic concept
Muslims believe that Allah (God) sent various prophets at different times to teach the religious path to man, the last being Mohammed. Anyone claiming to be a prophet after him is considered a fake. There are 25 important prophets mentioned in the Quran (Holy book of the Muslims) which include Abraham, Moses and Jesus. No distinction is allowed to be made among the prophets; all of them must be treated with equal respect.
The Angel Gabrielle is supposed to have visited Prophet Mohammed in his dreams and delivered God’s message, which was then preached to all.
Famous Prophets
Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) : Some of their prophets are Abraham, Sarah, Isiah, Ezekiel, Job, Malachi and Samuel. According to the Talmud, 7 women prophets also came, Miriam, Hannah and Abigail to name a few.
Christian : The most important prophet is Jesus. Others include Moses, John the Baptist, Matthew and Joel.
Islam : Muhammad was the last of God’s prophets. Some who came before him are Adam, Noah, Moses and Jesus.
Others : Several others who have been accredited as great prophets due to their ability to accurately foretell the future include Buddha, Nostradamus, Shirdi Sai Baba, Madam Blavatsky, William Miller, Hal Lindsey, Mother Shipton, Merlin (The Wizard) and Bobby Henderson.