Modern Day Prophets Essay, Research Paper

What is a Prophet? The most common definition of this word is spokesman, or one who speaks for or on behalf of someone. Prophets were sent out on a well defined and specified mission entrusted to them, by God, to guide mankind along the path of righteousness. They were charged with the responsibility of conveying to the believers the commandments. They were directed to carry good tidings in return for acts of piety and warnings of severe retribution for bad deeds. We can therefore define a prophet of God as a divinely appointed spokesman of God. While the definition of prophet also includes the foretelling aspect of the prophetic message; a true prophet also had a predictive element in the message. Therefore any true prophet would have been able to accurately guess the immediate future. Who were the prophets? The prophets were from all walks of life and class. They were not pawns of the monarchy, nor were they the agents of the priesthood. The prophets did include some priests, a herdsman, the wealthy and the poor. But what they all did have in common was a calling from God, and a willingness to pursue this calling. In modern times, I feel as though there are several prophets. I believe that each individual determines prophets. People need other people to look up to, for inspiration and guidance. I feel as though prophets in modern times aren’t the same as they were back in ancient times; just as the world has changed, so have the prophets.

I believe that priests and other men of the cloth are prophets of modern times. The pope is the highest-powered prophet; he is the Moses of the modern day. I don’t think that God directly talks to the Pope, but through prayer God instructs the Pope. He then would instruct other religious figures to spread the word of God. Priests, in my opinion are the second highest-powered prophets today. They are the ones that spread the word of God the most. They are usually the ones that people go to, in order to solve problems. The priests judge each person fairly, but will also break bad news to a person. They never disobey Gods’ commands; they instruct people to live their lives according to Gods teachings. Prophets can really be anyone, as long as the person is honest and is willing to spread the teachings and words of God. If a person wants to believe in a prophet that is great, just as long as the prophet is preaching correctly.