CHURCH TEACHING
We often confuse “prophet” with a fortune teller (manghuhula) who predicts
what the future holds. The Old Testament prophets were not like that. They were men
called by God to speak His word to the people, interpreting their present situation in the
sight of God and telling them what He would do with them. Most of all, the prophets
called the people back to the Covenant. For despite God’s constant fidelity, Israel’s
history is a series of infidelities. After the first stage of God’s saving acts in liberating His
people from their slavery in Egypt, a second stage concerns their deliverance
proclaimed by the prophets, both before and after the Exile, if only they would turn
back to the Lord (CFC 428).
This prophetic hope is, first of all, grounded on the memory of God’s great saving
acts in the past. “Look to the rock from which you were hewn, to the pit from which you
were quarried. Look to Abraham, your father, and to Sarah, who gave you birth” (Is 51:1-
2). Thus grounded, hope works against the rootlessness with which modern secularism
plagues us all. Second, prophetic hope looks essentially also to the future and to
posterity. It thus helps us to overcome our excessive individualism. “My salvation shall
remain forever, and my justice shall never be dismayed” (Is 51:6). Third, in freeing us from
the guilt of sin, the prophets’ promise of God’s forgiveness brings comfort. “Comfort, give
comfort to my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem . . . her guilt is
expiated” (Is 40: 1-2) (CFC 437).
Fourth, the prophetic hope sketches a new life that drives out resignation and
despair. “They that hope in the Lord will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles’
wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint” (Is 40:31) (CFC 438).
Lastly, the prophetic hope bursts out of all narrow pragmatic and utilitarian views
by offering a vision of the future that only God can create. “Lo, I am about to create
new heavens and a new earth; The things of the past shall not be remembered or come
to mind (CFC 439).
Thus, when God Himself spoke to Israel through the
mouth of the prophets, Israel daily gained a deeper and
clearer understanding of His ways and made them more
widely known among the nations (see Ps. 21:29; 95:1-3; Is.
2:1-5; Jer. 3:17). The plan of salvation foretold by the
sacred authors, recounted and explained by them, is
found as the true word of God in the books of the Old
Testament: these books, therefore, written under divine
inspiration, remain permanently valuable. "For all that was
written for our instruction, so that by steadfastness and the
Mother Teresa:
encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope" A Modern-Day Prophet. (2012).
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The following are suggested criteria to validate who modern-day-prophet-an-angel-
from-god/
might be regarded as a prophet these days from Ian Knox:
1. The prophet never claims to speak on his or her own behalf, but always on
behalf of God (it is God’s message, not the prophet’s).
2. The prophet’s message will, in the long term, make for unity in the church (“that
they all may be one”), promote the reign of God, even though in the short term
the prophetic word may bring discord and pain. Jesus said that he had come to
bring fire on earth and that his message would set brother against brother.
3. The example of a prophet’s life must be part of the message. They must live by
the words they speak.
4. True prophecy is never for show, for display, or for personal gain.
5. Prophecy must be clear enough to be understood by the majority of people, not
so esoteric as to be available only to a few.