Thursday, October 10, 2013

False Prophecy

In religion, a false prophet is one who falsely claims the gift of prophecy or divine inspiration or who uses that gift for evil ends. Often, someone who is considered a "true prophet" by some people is simultaneously considered a "false prophet" by others, even within the same religion as the "prophet" in question. The term is sometimes applied outside religion to describe someone who fervently promotes a theory that the speaker thinks is false.

The penalty for false prophecy is capital punishment (per Deuteronomy 18:20).

Christianity
Throughout the New Testament, there are warnings of both false prophets and false Messiahs, and believers are adjured to be vigilant. The following verses (Matthew 7:15–23) are from the Semon on the Mount:

 
"Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them."
 
Islam
According to the Quran, Muhammad is the Seal of the Prophets, which is often understood to mean that anyone who will emerge to be a new prophet after Muhammad is a false prophet. All mainstream Muslim scholars' perspectives from both Sunni and Shia sects do not see the second coming of the Messiah as the coming of a new prophet, as the Islamic Messiah Jesus had already been an existing prophet, and will rule by the Qur’an and Sunnah of Muhammad, bring no new revelation or prophecy.

At odds with this, the Ahmadiyya Muslim movement, which is largely seen as heretical amongst mainstream Muslims, believes that any kind of prophethood which is independent of Muhammad has closed, and thus the coming of Jesus of two thousand years ago allegedly violates the principle that Muhammad is the final prophet, as he was a prophet independently of Muhammad.

Use Outside Religion
The term false prophet is sometimes applied outside religion, to describe promoters of scientific, medical, or political theories which the author of the phrase thinks are false. Paul Offit’s's 2008 book Autism’s False Prophets applied the phrase to promoters of unproven theories and therapies such as the thiomersal controversy and chelation therapy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_prophet

No comments:

Post a Comment