False prophet

False prophet is a label given to a person who is viewed as illegitimately claiming charismatic authority within a religious group. The individual may be seen as one who falsely claims the gift of prophecy, or who uses that gift for demagogy or evil ends.

Prophets are particularly important figures in Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and to prophesy falsely is seen as one of the worst forms of blasphemy since it falsely claims the speaker is acting with divine authority directly on behalf of God. False prophets may still be spoken of as working miracles, but such powers as they have may be believed to be divine gifts misused, or gifts of satanic origin.

The Old Testament defines false prophecy twice, in Deuteronomy 13:1-5, and Deuteronomy 18:20-22. The first reference is to a prophet who works a miracle or makes a true prediction, then advocates the worship of other deities; such a prophet is a test of faith sent by God, and must be put to death. The second passage describes a prophet who speaks in God's name without permission, or speaks in the name of another deity. False prophets of this type are distinguished by their failure to make true predictions. The penalty for this type of false prophecy is also death, but the wording, "shall surely die", is ambiguous as to whether it describes a sentence to be carried out, or predicts the inevitable ordained outcome.

The status of Jesus outside of Christianity and of Mohammed outside of Islam is an important and controversial matter. For the most part Judaism does not regard either as a genuine prophet, but while some rabbis condemn them as false prophets, others deny that they prophesied at all, and blame their followers for misrepresenting their careers. Christian theologians hold a similar range of views concerning Mohammed. Conversely, the Koran explicitly accepts Jesus as a teacher and prophet, while portraying the crucifixion and resurrection as a fabrication.

False prophets in Judaism

Definition

There are two types of "false prophet" recognized in the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh): the one who claims to be a prophet in the name of idolatry, and the one who claims to be a prophet in the name of the God of Israel, but declares that any word or commandment (Mitzvah) which God has said no longer applies, or makes false statements in the name of God. A source for these is Deuteronomy 18:20, which refers to false prophets who claim to speak in the name of God. God's word is true eternally, so one who claims to speak in God's name but in fact diverges in any way from what God himself has said, logically cannot be inspired by divine authority.

• Of the false prophet who describes God and his wishes as different from how they really are, Deuteronomy 13:2-5 states (Hebrew translation)

"If there arise in the midst of thee a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and he give thee a sign or a wonder, and the sign or the wonder come to pass, of which he spoke unto thee saying: 'Let us go after other gods [including other ways and beliefs] which thou hast not known, and let us serve them', thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or unto that dreamer of dreams; for the Lord your God putteth you to proof, to know whether ye do love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. After the Lord your God shall ye walk, and Him shall ye fear, and His commandments shall ye keep, and unto His voice shall ye hearken, and Him shall ye serve, and unto Him shall ye cleave."

• Of the prophet who claims to speak in the name of the God of Israel, Deuteronomy 18:18-22 says

"I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put My words in his mouth, and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which he shall speak in My name, I will require it of him. But the prophet, that shall speak a word presumptuously in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.' And if thou say in thy heart: 'How shall we know the word which the Lord hath not spoken?' When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoken; the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously, thou shalt not be afraid of him."

• Changes to the Law - Deuteronomy 13:1 states simply

"All this which I command you, that shall ye observe to do; thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it."

Interpretation

Thus at a minimum, the criteria for a person to be considered a prophet or speak for God in Judaism are that they must follow the God of Israel (and no other God), they must not describe God differently than He is known to be from Scripture, they must not advocate change to God's word or state that God has changed his mind and wishes things that contradict His already-stated eternal word, and the things they do speak of must come to pass.

It is further understood and expected that a prophet will be a godly person, and speak and act in a manner befitting one transmitting words from the Divine.

Examples

• Chapter 22 of the First Book of the Kings relates how the court prophets, driven by a "lying spirit", encouraged King Ahab to go to war with the King of Syria and meet his death at Ramoth-Gilead.

• The prophet Jeremiah 5:30-31 described the prevalence of false prophets in Judea during the period prior to the Babylonian Exile.

"A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so : and what will ye do in the end thereof?"

False prophets in Christianity

False prophets in the New Testament

Christians refer to the Hebrew Bible as the Old Testament, and in general (see also Old Testament#Christian view of the Law) revere it as part of the eternal word of God. As such, the definitions and examples given above are accepted by Christians as well. In fact, the stricture not to presume to change God's Law is recognized by Jesus in various passages, such as Matthew 5:17, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." (See also Expounding of the Law#Antithesis of the Law).

Throughout the New Testament, there are warnings of both false prophets and false Messiahs, and believers are adjured to be vigilant. The following verses are from the Sermon on the Mount:

Matthew 7:15 - 23 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? So, every sound tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears evil fruit. A sound tree cannot bear evil fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits. Not everyone who says to me Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name and do mighty works in your name? And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you, depart from me you evildoers."

Jesus predicted the future appearance of false prophets. The following verses are from the Olivet Discourse:

Matthew 24:11 - 13 "And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved."

Matthew 24:24 "For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect."

In the Gospel of Luke, chapter 6, Jesus brought out an ethical application for his disciples using the analogy of false prophets in the Old Testament: Verse 26 reads:

"Woe unto you when all men shall speak well of you ! for so did their fathers to the false prophets."

In chapter 13 of the Acts of the Apostles, Paul and Barnabas encountered a man named Elymas in the island of Cyprus. Verse 6 describes him as a false prophet:

"And when they had gone through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew, whose name was Bar-jesus;"

The Second Epistle of Peter, chapter two begins with these words:

"But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction."

The First Epistle of John, chapter four begins with these words:

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God; because many false prophets are gone out into the world."

The most famous of NT false prophets, is the Revelation false prophet whose name is recorded three times in the Book of Revelation. Revelation's False Prophet is the inforcer or agent of the Beast, and he is ultimately cast with the Antichrist into the lake of "fire and brimstone." Who the False Prophet will be is one of the major mysteries in Christian eschatology.

False prophets in Islam

The history of Islam has seen a number of false prophets, such as Musailma and Sajjah.

In recent history the figure of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad has been the subject of much controversy in this regard. He is considered a false prophet by Main-stream Orthodox Muslims. The followers of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, though, revere him as a saint and call themselves Ahmadi Muslims. Ahmadis have been been declared non-Muslims by the government of Pakistan, and their beliefs considered heretical and outside of Islam. Ahmaids claim to be within the fold of Islam and deny the allegations leveled against them.

See also

• Timeline of unfulfilled Christian Prophecy
• Ahmadi
• Mirza Ghulam Ahmad