How Reliable are prophecies?

[Daviso452]

As far as I know, there are no prophecies that were completely fulfilled in the bible. Granted, I know very few prophecies.

However, so what if the prophecy came true? People seem to believe that if the prophecy came true then that God is true, and that is not necessarily true.

I have two alternatives:

1) The culture knew in advance of the prophecy, and one part of the prophecy came true, everyone else subconsciously acted according to the prophecy. There is a proven effect very similar to this called the Placebo effect. What happens is that when a person takes a pill thinking it would help with pain, the pain goes away, when in actuality it was just a sugar pill.

I realize that these are two different concepts, but the point is that if someone believes something should happen, their body will act accordingly. I am unsure of any tests on this on a large scale, but again this is another POSSIBILITY.

2) What about aliens? Since we humans are here, we have proven that life in the galaxy is possible. Why couldn't it have happened on another planet as well? Perhaps we humans came up with the prophecies all on our own, but an advanced alien race who wished to control us caused those events to happen.

Or, through advanced prediction methods, they were able to predict exactly how events would turn out, then controlled the minds of men to write the prophecies


I consider these more likely because they do not require the existence of a being who's existence is not yet proven. These concepts are based on things that ARE proven. But still, the possibility of god is still there. And yes, this is a debate forum. So please criticize as you please .

[The Doors of Perception]

"Something very bad will happen in the next hundred years". Now, I would be surprised if this didn't come true. I can have followers who tweak it little by little to predict something that will probably happen, such as a specific war. Then my subjects act according to my 'prediction' and make it seemingly true.

As for aliens, I have no doubt the exist. It does seem logical to think they were around a bit in the past, and some evidence shows maybe they're around today. But true and personal involvment in our lives from aliens really pushes the boundary of what is logical to believe. Once you get there, might as well except lizard people run our government and our world leaders teleported to deep space from Mars.

[PolyHedral]

Either not at all, or absolutely, depending on the mechanism of time travel used.

[Storm]

My thoughts on prophecy are... complicated.

I don't believe that the future is set in stone... but possible futures can be glimpsed. Such visions are possible unassisted, but far more detailed and reliable with aid. Adding to the difficulty is the unavoidable symbolism through which we "see."

Anyway, what that means is that even genuine prophecies may never come true. They can be avoided, for good or ill. Some serve as crucial warnings, others give us hope... but that's all they can be relied upon for.

In the end, while I do believe, I find it best not to depend on such things. As the brilliant JMS put it, "Prophecy is a poor guide to the future. You only understand it when the event is upon you" and "Prophecy is a guess that come true. When it doesn't, it's a metaphor."

[ForeverFaithful]

Jeremiah 25:12 "But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt," declares the LORD, "and will make it desolate forever.
Give you a time length, and what the final outcome will be, all fulfilled to the later

[idav]

The most recent prophet Einstein did have predictions that came true so God must be real.

[Daviso452]

Originally Posted by ForeverFaithful

Jeremiah 25:12 "But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt," declares the LORD, "and will make it desolate forever.
Give you a time length, and what the final outcome will be, all fulfilled to the later

except it wasn't for 70 years because it was in 587, not 607.

[nnmartin]

there is a prophecy about the 10 nations.

something along the lines of 'when the 10 dominant powers control the Earth , destruction is at hand'

some people say this is the 10 members of the UN which will soon become the World government.

not sure I really buy that one but is certainly possible.??

[Daviso452]

Could you give the passage?

[nnmartin]

ok, I'll get back to you later on that one.

It's from a Billy Graham book.