Which Denominations Discuss Prophecy?

[EclipseEventSigns]

The O.P. asked which denominations teach Prophecy. That's prophecy with a capital 'P'. Is that because you are looking for the one place that has everything correct and understands it all? If so, you will be searching in vain. There is no place that understands it all. After 45 years of being a Christian, I've come to the conclusion almost everything that Christians believe is false or based on misunderstandings.
You can thank seminaries and pastors for this. The prevailing view is that prophecy has no bearing on our modern way of life and it has all been fulfilled in the past. I used to attend a very large Baptist (German) church and the pastor personally told me that Israel had no special place in God's plan any more. I left that church.
I'd suggest learning prophetic matters on your own. There are so many resources from very knowledgable and trustworthy sources. The trick is to sift through all the untrustworthy ones. You have to be like the Bereans - check everything against Scripture. There are quite a few wolves out there who are misleading many people with itching ears.
I think the biggest thing is to pray for a mind that is searching for the truth. Do not assume that anything you thought you knew about prophecy is actually correct.

 

[BobRyan]

The O.P. asked which denominations teach Prophecy. That's prophecy with a capital 'P'. Is that because you are looking for the one place that has everything correct and understands it all? If so, you will be searching in vain. There is no place that understands it all. After 45 years of being a Christian, I've come to the conclusion almost everything that Christians believe is false or based on misunderstandings.

At the time of Christ's first coming the one true nation-church started by God at Sinai had a LOT of tradition and bad theology in it - (see Christ slam-hammer their traditions "sola scriptura" in Mark 7:6-23).

BUT - the gift of prophecy exhibited by John the baptizer, Christ, Paul, the NT writers , all those in Corinth according to 1 Cor 14, etc... was used to "correct error" as Eph 4. tells us.

Eph 4:11 And He gave some as apostles, some as prophets, some as evangelists, some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the building up of the body of Christ; 13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14 As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15 but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ

A church that not only teaches the truths of prophecy found in scripture but also exhibits that same 1 cor 12 "gift of prophecy" - has an error-correcting mechanism that works today just as well as it worked in the first century.

Something to think about.

Rev 12 predicts such this end-time condition in the church that we have today.

Rev 12:16 But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and drank up the river which the dragon had hurled out of his mouth. 17 So the dragon was enraged with the woman, and went off to make war with the rest of her children, who keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus.

Rev 19:10 ... the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

 

[EclipseEventSigns]

A church that not only teaches the truths of prophecy found in scripture but also exhibits that same 1 cor 12 "gift of prophecy" - has an error-correcting mechanism that works today just as well as it worked in the first century.
”

Actually, the "error correcting mechanism" is not something that is practiced today at all. If a so-called prophet is not found to be 100% accurate, then they should be stoned - to death. That would shut up a lot of people these days.

 

[BobRyan]

Actually, the "error correcting mechanism" is not something that is practiced today at all. If a so-called prophet is not found to be 100% accurate, then they should be stoned - to death. That would shut up a lot of people these days.

No doubt false prophets are not stoned today and were also not stoned in the NT.. But that did not stop the case in 1 Cor 14 of everyone prophesying.

1 Cor 14
Pursue love, yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 2 For the one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people, but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for edification, exhortation, and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5 Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but rather that you would prophesy; and greater is the one who prophesies than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edification.
...
26 What is the outcome then, brothers and sisters? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. All things are to be done for edification.

Prophets claiming God has given them a direct supernatural message for the church - must be tested "sola scriptura" -

1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now it is already in the world.

Acts 17:11 "They studied the scriptures daily to SEE IF those things spoken to them by the Apostle Paul - were SO"

Gal 1:6-9
6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel, 7 which is not just another account; but there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we (Apostles), or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, even now I say again: if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

 

[BobRyan]

Our "sola scriptura" approved response to prophecy --

1 Thess 5:19-20
19 "Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. 20 Do not scoff at prophecies",


1 Cor 14
Pursue love, yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 2 For the one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people, but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for edification, exhortation, and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5 Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but rather that you would prophesy; and greater is the one who prophesies than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edification.

39 Therefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy

 

[EclipseEventSigns]

This is only Scriptural if the person prophesying is CORRECT and doing so in the Spirit. There are many I've seen who are not correct, who are full of just plain nonsense and some who are actually controlled by demons. Prophecy is not as common as you seem to think.

 

[LoveGodsWord]

This is only Scriptural if the person prophesying is CORRECT and doing so in the Spirit. There are many I've seen who are not correct, who are full of just plain nonsense and some who are actually controlled by demons. Prophecy is not as common as you seem to think.

Your view is not not quite biblical according to the scriptures. It is both a true and an untrue response do you know why? Have you considered that according to the scriptures there are many prophecies in the bible that prophets deliver that are either conditional or unconditional linked? Unconditional prophecies always come true if they are from God, while conditional prophecies from God are dependent on an outcome (see the link above)

Take Care.

 

[EclipseEventSigns]

That is a very typical modern liberal view of Scripture. It is not correct or godly.

 

[LoveGodsWord]

That is a very typical modern liberal view of Scripture. It is not correct or godly.

No not at all. Scriptures provided here linked. All you have provided is your opinion unsupported by the scriptures which makes it unbiblical. Only Gods' Word therefore is true and we should believe and follow them *Romans 3:4; Acts of the Apostles 5:29.

 

[BobRyan]

Our "sola scriptura" approved response to prophecy --

1 Thess 5:19-20
19 "Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. 20 Do not scoff at prophecies",


1 Cor 14
Pursue love, yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 2 For the one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people, but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for edification, exhortation, and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5 Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but rather that you would prophesy; and greater is the one who prophesies than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edification.

39 Therefore, my brethren, desire earnestly to prophesy

This is only Scriptural if the person prophesying is CORRECT .

Hence this post - already made prior to that one.

...that did not stop the case in 1 Cor 14 of everyone prophesying.

1 Cor 14
Pursue love, yet earnestly desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy. 2 For the one who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people, but to God; for no one understands, but in his spirit he speaks mysteries. 3 But the one who prophesies speaks to people for edification, exhortation, and consolation. 4 The one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself; but the one who prophesies edifies the church. 5 Now I wish that you all spoke in tongues, but rather that you would prophesy; and greater is the one who prophesies than the one who speaks in tongues, unless he interprets, so that the church may receive edification.
...
26 What is the outcome then, brothers and sisters? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. All things are to be done for edification.

Prophets claiming God has given them a direct supernatural message for the church - must be tested "sola scriptura" -

1 John 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now it is already in the world.

Acts 17:11 "They studied the scriptures daily to SEE IF those things spoken to them by the Apostle Paul - were SO"

Gal 1:6-9
6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel, 7 which is not just another account; but there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we (Apostles), or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, even now I say again: if anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!

===============

Imagine the chaos if either OT or NT saints went around telling people to ignore God's prophets. That simply is not an option. Testing the prophets is an option though.

 

[ViaCrucis]

I belong to a large Contemporary Christian Church, Baptist but the main focus is positive messages that relate to the real world. My issue is the Book of Revelation is never discussed, or anything in regards to Prophecy. It doesn't have to be a weekly thing but I think it's important to cover every book of the Bible.
My question is, which denominations do? I live in south eastern Massachusetts so my options are limited.

Depends on what you mean by "prophecy". All the historic Churches follow a lectionary in which all of Scripture is read over the course of lectionary cycle. In the Eastern Orthodox Church the reading of the Revelation is not in the ordinary lectionary (since their lectionary readings pre-date the full acceptance of the Revelation as a book of Scripture), and so the Revelation is read on its own separate day. And so there are regular readings from both the Old and New Testaments, that means the books of the Prophets are read regularly in traditional churches.

If your concern is trying to read books of the Bible like ancient diviners used to cast stones to predict the future, well there are certainly a lot of different sorts of churches that do that, but that's something that should be avoided.

-CryptoLutheran

 

[EclipseEventSigns]

Hence this post - already made prior to that one.



===============

Imagine the chaos if either OT or NT saints went around telling people to ignore God's prophets. That simply is not an option. Testing the prophets is an option though.

There was no chaos in the Old Testament. Jeremiah called out the false prophets who were pretenders and telling the leadership and people what they wanted to hear and saying it was "God's will". He told them to their face that they were wrong. And you know what? Within 2 months, the false prophets were dead.

 

[BobRyan]

There was no chaos in the Old Testament. Jeremiah called out the false prophets who were pretenders and telling the leadership and people what they wanted to hear and saying it was "God's will". He told them to their face that they were wrong. And you know what? Within 2 months, the false prophets were dead.

There were a great many bad kings and false prophets in the OT -- not just good ones.

In the Old Testament, we find prophets in Israel who claim to speak for God, but who are clearly false prophets. These would include men like Zedekiah and the 400 “prophets” who assured Ahab and Jehoshaphat that “God” would give Israel the victory over Syria’s army, led by Ben Hadad (1 Kings 22:5ff.). There were those prophets who spoke from their own inspiration, claiming that God had spoken through them (Ezekiel 13:2).

 

[DragonFox91]

I am Baptist. I believe some classes at my church got into prophecy/End Times talk during the Sunday School hour.

Most churches won't really discuss prophecy in regards to current times during the service, but some may address it during the Sunday School hour or offer Bible studies on it. Talk to your churches leaders & let them know your interest.

Revelation should be discussed at some point during sermons tho, tho most messages on it will be pretty basic: "there will be pain & suffering but Jesus will win"

 

[The Liturgist]

Actually, the "error correcting mechanism" is not something that is practiced today at all. If a so-called prophet is not found to be 100% accurate, then they should be stoned - to death. That would shut up a lot of people these days.

Im pretty glad I live in a country where stoning people to death is illegal, as is punishing them for religious speech, true or not. Because that is a risk Christians face in most Muslim-majority countries.

 

[EclipseEventSigns]

Im pretty glad I live in a country where stoning people to death is illegal, as is punishing them for religious speech, true or not. Because that is a risk Christians face in most Muslim-majority countries.

So you are glad that the righteousness and holiness required by God is ignored and trampled upon? Too bad you don't hold Scripture to high regard.
18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, 20 and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear." Deut 21:18-21

 

[BobRyan]

So you are glad that the righteousness and holiness required by God is ignored and trampled upon? Too bad you don't hold Scripture to high regard.
18 “If a man has a stubborn and rebellious son who will not obey the voice of his father or the voice of his mother, and, though they discipline him, will not listen to them, 19 then his father and his mother shall take hold of him and bring him out to the elders of his city at the gate of the place where he lives, 20 and they shall say to the elders of his city, ‘This our son is stubborn and rebellious; he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton and a drunkard.’ 21 Then all the men of the city shall stone him to death with stones. So you shall purge the evil from your midst, and all Israel shall hear, and fear." Deut 21:18-21

Deut 21 describes the civil laws under a God-ordained theocracy - a government where God is literally the president and he communicates directly through Urim and Thumim.

No such government exists today. Law that are legal for God to make - since He is God - are not ok for man to make unless he assigns man that job. Since we have no theocracy today - we have no right to make theocratic laws that bind the conscience. So for example God says not to covet - but today if someone covets their neighbor's car or his dog - there is no civil penalty to pay. This is not a theocracy.

 

[EclipseEventSigns]

Deut 21 describes the civil laws under a God-ordained theocracy - a government where God is literally the president and he communicates directly through Urim and Thumim.

No such government exists today. Law that are legal for God to make - since He is God - are not ok for man to make unless he assigns man that job. Since we have no theocracy today - we have no right to make theocratic laws that bind the conscience. So for example God says not to covet - but today if someone covets their neighbor's car or his dog - there is no civil penalty to pay. This is not a theocracy.

Whoa. Amazing you can just discount the clear teaching of Scripture with your opinionated excuses. Very typical. And your definition of "theocracy" is not at all how that system of governance works.

 

[BobRyan]

Im pretty glad I live in a country where stoning people to death is illegal, as is punishing them for religious speech, true or not. Because that is a risk Christians face in most Muslim-majority countries.

good point

 

[The Liturgist]

Whoa. Amazing you can just discount the clear teaching of Scripture with your opinionated excuses. Very typical. And your definition of "theocracy" is not at all how that system of governance works.

Are you suggesting that people like L Ron Hubbard, the Rev. Elizabeth Clare Prophet, et cetera should be stoned? Because I can’t possibly agree.

Now, if Jim Jones had survived the murder-suicide he orchestrated at Jonestown, an argument for capital murder under US law in 1979 could be made. As a clergyman I am not really comfortable with the death penalty, but in the case of people like Osama bin Laden, who lead terrorist groups and cause mass casualties, which could include false prophets like Jim Jones, David Koresh or Marshall Applewhite, had they not committed suicide with their followers that would pretty much make them terrorists, and I am not bothered that US special forces killed bin Laden, Caliph al Baghdadi, et cetera, but in cases where someone is merely a false prophet or cult leader, execution seems not only unwarranted but a violation of the first amendment, and morally wrong. Like, if we executed Keith Raniere for leading the NXIVM cult, or even the monstrous paedophile pervert Warren Jeffs, it seems this would empower the government to go after any clergy of any religion. Especially leaders, like the Roman Catholic Pope, the Dalai Lama (the PRC would love to execute him), the Patriarch of Antioch, the Archbishop of Canterbury, and so on, because while cults can be defined, prophecy is more nebulous. For example, if a religious leader makes a statement about something they think is likely to occur in the future not based on prophecy (that is to say, personal messages from God), but extrapolations, a hostile government could accuse them of false prophecy and eliminate them.

Also, doing this creates martyrs, which can empower new sects. For example, in 1850, the Persians executed a religious leader and prophet, Sayyed ʻAlí Muḥammad Shírázi, better known as the Bab, and not only did this not lead to the end of Babism as a religion, but it enabled Bahuallah to claim to be his successor and a new prophet, and he launched the Bahai Faith, which despite the positive media reputation they enjoy as a sort of Persian, Orientalist-exotic form of Unitarian Universalism (which does not accurately reflect their beliefs at all), they are a dangerous cult that practices shunning of “covenant breakers,” like Jehovahs Witnesses and Scientologists. Had the Persians left the Bab alone, the Babai faith would not presently be a wolf in sheep’s clothing. And the Persians persecuted but did not execute Bahuallah, and this gave him more power.