Christian prophets of our time and the modern church

Bible Questions and Answers

Published 10/06/2012

Are there modern Christian prophets in the church of our time? What do you think, what if someone comes up to us today and tries to tell you about your future? He is trying to look into your life. Do you believe that today there are people like Barnabas in the New Testament, for example? Should there be apostles and prophets in the modern Christian church? What is the practice and teaching of the church on this matter?

Answer:

Christian Prophets in the Church of Our Time

The modern person who says he or she is a prophet of God and has a direct prophecy for your life is either deceived, or trying to deceive you, or both. There are many similar people. It is especially easy to find such people in the charismatic or Pentecostal movements. Such groups believe that there are modern prophecies and revelations, so some of them believe that they are modern Christian prophets for the church.

My advice is this: avoid such people, stay away from them like the plague. Don't listen to such people. They are not real prophets, but speak from themselves, not from God. Those who do this may even be very sincere in fact. In this case they are simply deceived, I guarantee that they are not Christian prophets.

Look what Paul says in 2 Timothy 3:5-6

“They have the appearance of worship, but deny its true power. Stay away from them, for some of them will sneak into houses and take possession of the souls of frivolous women, full of sin and guided by all sorts of desires.”

It is quite possible that this person is deceived himself and is trying to deceive others. In doing so, they can truly believe that they have a better understanding of God's will for other people. Over time, such people tend to become cynical and end up manipulating other people with their “prophecies” to guide them.

How can you know this is true? First, Paul talks about this. Secondly, I know that we do not have modern revelation. Holy Scripture is God's complete revelation to us and is sufficient:

“Every passage of Scripture, as it is inspired by God, is useful in teaching the truth and convincing sinners, and also in helping people to take the right path and correct themselves, so that the man of God can do all that is required of him and be equipped for doing good deeds."

There is no longer any need for personal revelation. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13 that prophecy will cease. There is one very interesting prophecy in the book of Zechariah 13:1-6

“But at this time a new source of water will be opened for David’s family and for other residents of Jerusalem. And this fountain will be designed to wash away sins and cleanse people. The Lord Almighty says: “In those days I will remove all the idols from the earth, and people will not even remember their names. And I will remove from the face of the earth false gods and false prophets, as well as unclean spirits. And if any person continues to prophesy, he will be punished. Even his parents will tell him: “You are telling lies in the name of God, so you must die!” His own mother and father will strike him for his divination.

During these days, diviners will be ashamed of their visions and prophecies. They will not put on rough clothes that show that the person is a soothsayer. They will not wear these clothes to fool the people with lies that they pass off as oracles. And these people will say: “I am not a soothsayer. I'm a farmer. I’ve been cultivating the land since childhood.” But other people will say: “What are those welts on your back?” And he will answer: “They beat me at my friends’ house.”

God tells His people that some time after the coming of salvation (presumably the Gospel), prophecies will cease. And those who continue to claim that they are prophets will be put to shame.

Important Note

Also, misguided people spread a false opinion about the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him), that he was allegedly attached to worldly goods and therefore married many women. Without a doubt, the heart of the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) was not attached to women. Among the inhabitants of Mecca, even before the prophecy, he was known as the Truthful Muhammad, who had no equal in beauty of character. He was not a lover of courting women, as atheists and other non-believers have imagined. If this were so, then shortcomings would have been revealed for which the inhabitants of Mecca could have reproached him after he began to call them to worship the One Creator and renounce paganism.

If the heart of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) had been attached to women, he would have married several women before reaching fifty years of age, like many men. Also proof that the heart of the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was not attached to women is the hadith transmitted by Imam Muslim from the wife of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) Aisha: “When it was my turn, then in the middle of the night the Prophet (peace be upon him) blessings upon him) went to the Baki cemetery to read a prayer to the deceased,” and this despite the fact that she was young and beautiful.

Should there be apostles and prophets in the modern church?

The apostles and prophets are no longer part of the New Testament Church. Apostles, by definition, are to be living witnesses of Jesus Christ:

And so we need one more person to join us and witness the resurrection of Jesus. This man must be one of those who were among us all the time that the Lord Jesus was with us, from the very time when John began to baptize people until the day when Jesus ascended from us into heaven.” And they offered two: Joseph, called Barsaba (also known as Justus), and Matthias. Then they prayed, saying: “Lord, You know what is in everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two You have chosen and (Acts 1:21-24)

It is obvious that today there are no more candidates for the position of apostle! As for the prophets in the church, they were men (and women!) with the wonderful gift of prophetic utterances. They can speak with authority under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. I cannot absolutely "prove" that this ministry has stopped, but I believe the biblical reason for there being no more prophets is very strong.

The proof is that only the apostles could possess such miraculous gifts:

And they listened to him because for a long time he amazed them with his magic. But when they believed Philip, who preached the good news of the Kingdom of God and the greatness of Jesus Christ, both men and women were baptized. Simon himself believed, having been baptized, and was with Philip all the time, and, seeing great signs and wonders taking place, he was amazed.

Hearing that the people of Samaria had accepted the word of God, the apostles, who were still in Jerusalem, sent Peter and John to them. Arriving there, they prayed for the believers that the Holy Spirit would descend on them, for although they had already been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit had not yet descended on any of them. Then Peter and John began to lay hands on them, and the Holy Spirit came upon them. (Acts 8:11-17)

Paul says such miraculous gifts will end (1 Corinthians 13:8). The book of the prophet Zechariah predicted that prophecies would cease soon after the ministry of the Messiah:

The Lord Almighty says: “In those days I will remove all the idols from the earth, and people will not even remember their names. And I will remove from the face of the earth false gods and false prophets, as well as unclean spirits. And if any person continues to prophesy, he will be punished. Even his parents will tell him: “You are telling lies in the name of the Lord, so you must die!” His own mother and father will strike him for his divination.

During these days, diviners will be ashamed of their visions and prophecies. They will not put on rough clothes that show that this person is a soothsayer. They will not wear these clothes to fool the people with lies that they pass off as oracles. And these people will say: “I am not a soothsayer. I'm a farmer. I’ve been working the land since childhood.” But other people will say: “What are those welts on your back?” And he will answer: “They beat me at my friends’ house.” (Zechariah 13:2-6)

The reason for miraculous gifts has ended (Hebrews 2:3-4). For all these reasons, I believe that there is no prophet today. The Church is fundamentally led by evangelists, elders and teachers:

And He Himself granted to some to become apostles, others to become prophets, others to become preachers of the gospel, and others to become shepherds and teachers, so that they could teach and care for the people of God. (Ephesians 4:11)

I hope this helps.

Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him)

In the Holy Quran, in verse 51 of Surah Al-Anbiya, it is said: “Allah protected Ibrahim (peace be upon him) from unbelief, granting him to always be on the path of Truth .

Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him), like all the prophets and messengers of Allah, had deep faith in the One God and was protected from unbelief both before and after the prophecy was sent to him. He did not worship anyone other than the Almighty.

The words of the prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him), which he said when he saw the star (Sura Al-Anam, verse 76), mean: “Is this my God?!” .

With these words, Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) denies the false belief that a star can be God. This verse in no way means, as non-Muslims and some misguided believe, that Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) saw a star and doubted whether it was God or not. The correct interpretation of the verse is: “Is this worthy to be my God?!” . This means that Prophet Ibrahim (peace be upon him) knew very well, without any doubt, that divinity belongs only to Allah. The verse goes on to say that when the star disappeared from sight, the prophet said: “I do not like what goes down.”

That which passes from one state to another needs something, and need is a lack. He who is deficient cannot be God. When people did not understand his words, he, seeing the moon, repeated the same thing that he said about the star. He was again not understood, and when he saw the sun, he said the same thing he said about the star and the moon, hoping that this time he would be understood. When he did not meet with understanding, he declared his non-involvement in their false beliefs, in their worship of idols.

Final Thoughts

I love prophecy and prophetic ministry. I believe in its reality! And I also believe that we need to sharpen our theology on the issues of prophets and prophecy, and have greater accountability and responsibility so that we can better serve the Body of Messiah. We need to hear from God in our day.

Author - Ron Cantor / messiahsmandate.org Translation - Anna Ivashchenko for

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Testimony of the Spirit

The Old Testament prophets (and saints) could not test the word by the “testimony” of the Holy Spirit to their spirit. This is the primary way the Spirit speaks to most believers—through inner testimony. The Old Testament prophet had serious authority. Again, imagine how Nathan stood up to the king of Israel. People depended heavily on prophets. They did not go home and pray for a word for Jeremiah. Look at how Moses responded to the incident of the golden calf:

“And he took the calf which they had made, and burned it with fire, and ground it to dust, and scattered it on the water, and gave it to the children of Israel to drink.” (Ex. 32:20)

Imagine if your pastor tried to do that!

The Old Testament prophets also could not verify the word from the Bible. For a long time it was not recorded, and even after it was recorded, it was not available to everyone. The Old Testament saints relied heavily on the prophet.

The New Testament prophets do not need the same authority as Elijah or Moses because:

1. The Holy Spirit dwells within every individual believer.
2. We have the Word of God.

What does it mean to prophesy from your soul?

What is interesting about Jeremiah's words regarding those prophets who proclaim only peace is that he never calls them false prophets. These were true prophets who prophesied only what they wanted to be true. I believe this is the problem of today. I have heard so many words about a coming revival and 99.9% of them never came to pass because they came from the desire of the heart and not from the mouth of God. (I'm all for awakening.)

In Scripture, when there are two sets of prophets prophesying conflicting messages, those with the bad news are usually right. Why? Because prophesying good news is easy . It doesn’t take much courage to say: “God loves you, everything will be fine.” It takes courage to point the finger at King David and call him an adulterous murderer, just as the prophet Nathan did.

In the case of Micah (1 Kings 22), the text says that Jehoshaphat is seeking the prophet Yahweh, as if to say that other prophets represent another god. But the Hebrew says, “Is there not another prophet of the Lord here?” The word here is עוד or “other.” In other words, the prophets who were wrong were also prophets of Yahweh. Also, verse 8 does not say: “There is, however, one person through whom you can inquire of the Lord.” It says, “There is one more person through whom the Lord can be questioned,” which means that Micaiah was another of Yahweh’s prophets. These were true prophets who became corrupted.

The Age of Kingdoms - the time of prophecy

Undoubtedly, in the Bible the main bearers and chanters of God's Will have always been God's chosen people of Israel. From the very beginning of the history of the Old Testament, one can see that Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob many times conveyed the Will of the Lord to their families and entourage, which in those days made up the people.

However, the heyday of prophetic ministry comes in the era of Kings. By this period, the Jewish people had already taken shape as such, and in spiritual terms there was a serious danger of returning to paganism and understanding faith purely from the formal side, as a set of rules (which is what the scribes and Pharisees of the New Testament came to later). We can say that to constantly “adjust” the understanding of faith, prophets appeared, who constantly reminded God’s chosen people of their destiny.

Daniel - biblical prophet, descendant of a noble Jewish family

After the exodus of the Jews from captivity, the prophecies gradually fell silent and practically disappeared several centuries before the birth of Christ. Therefore, when the first New Testament prophet appears - John the Baptist - the Jews are very distrustful of him, and wonder whether he is the Messiah or not.

Warning

After Paul lays out his clear teaching on prophecy, he makes it clear that if you disobey this teaching and reject it, you are not a prophet.

“Whoever considers himself a prophet or a spiritual person must admit that everything that I write to you is an institution of the Lord Himself. If anyone does not acknowledge this, do not acknowledge him either.” (1 Cor. 14:37-38; NIV)

This is a good illustration of the fact that prophets were not to serve outside apostolic control. Paul, the apostle, uses his apostolic authority to influence the issue of prophecy, prophets, and order in the New Testament ministry of worship. There is a reason why Paul in 1 Cor. 12, when listing ministers in communities, names apostles before prophets. Prophets must be under authority for their own good and the good of their hearers. An apostle does not have the flamboyant gift of a prophet, but he has the wisdom to lead a prophet in a team.

Note: John and the two witnesses are exceptions, and for a reason. John wrote New Testament biblical prophecy as the author of the apostolic scripture, and the two witnesses of Revelation 11 do not come as communal prophets in the form given in Eph. 4:11, but by becoming like the Old Testament prophets. There is a reason John said that no one could add anything to his words—to prevent future prophets from influencing Scripture.

Prophet of God Elijah

Brief life of the Holy Prophet of God Elijah.

The saint's memory is celebrated on July 20/August 2.
There are few saints in whose lives the destinies of the Old and New Testaments are so closely intertwined, as in the prophet Elijah. Born nine centuries before the coming of Christ the Savior into the world, the prophet Elijah saw the glory of His Transfiguration on Mount Tabor (Matthew 17:3; Mark 9:4; Luke 9:30). The holy prophet was the first in the Old Testament to perform the miracle of resurrecting the dead (1 Kings 17:20-23), and he himself was taken alive to Heaven, thereby prefiguring the coming Resurrection of Christ and the general destruction of the dominion of death. His ardent call to repentance and menacing denunciations were addressed to his contemporaries, his compatriots, mired in wickedness and idolatry. The inhabitants of the Earth will hear the same accusations and call to repentance before the Second Coming of Christ, when many, having deviated from true faith and piety, will live in the darkness of errors and vices. Both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament Church, the holy prophet Elijah is revered for his indestructible firmness of faith, the impeccable severity of his virgin life, and his fiery zeal for the glory of God. He is often compared to “the greatest of those born of women,” the Forerunner and Baptist of the Lord John, about whom it is said that he came “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17).

The holy prophet Elijah was born in the 10th century BC in Thesbia of Gilead and came from the tribe of Levi. According to legend, his father Sovakh, at the birth of his son, saw how bright angels talked with the baby, swaddled him with fire and fed him with a fiery flame. From a young age, Saint Elijah retired to the deserted Mount Carmel, where he grew and strengthened spiritually, spending his life in strict fasting, prayer and contemplation of God.

After the death of King Solomon, the state was divided into two kingdoms - the Kingdom of Judah with its capital in Jerusalem and the Kingdom of Israel with its capital in Samaria. And if in Judea the former piety was preserved to some extent, then the kingdom of Israel very quickly deviated from the faith of its fathers to serving the pagan gods. Impiety especially increased under King Ahab, whose wife Jezebel, being a pagan, vigorously propagated the cult of the idol of Baal.

The holy prophet Elijah, zealous for the glory of the True God, entered public service as a formidable and bold denouncer of the sharply increased idolatry and moral depravity. He announced to the king that, as punishment for the iniquities of the Israelites, there would be neither rain nor dew for a long time, and this disaster would end only through the prayer of the prophet (1 Kings 17:1). Ahab did not listen to the prophetic voice and did not repent. Then the terrible sentence of Saint Elijah was carried out - for three and a half years the people of Israel suffered from heat, drought and famine. The prophet himself, at the command of God, took refuge from the wrath of his fellow tribesmen and the persecution of Ahab in a secluded place near the stream Horath, where every morning and every evening ravens brought him food - bread and meat. According to the explanation of St. John Chrysostom, the Lord commanded the ravens to take care of the prophet’s food in order to teach him to be more merciful and lenient. “Look, Elijah,” says the saint, as if on behalf of God Himself, “at their (the ravens’) love for mankind; those who do not have love for their own chicks serve you as if they were hospitable... Imitate the change of the ravens, and be lenient towards the Jews.”

About a year later, when the stream of Horath dried up, the Lord sent the prophet Elijah to the small Phoenician city of Zarephath of Sidon to a poor widow who, along with her family, was in dire need. The Prophet Elijah, wanting to test the faith and virtue of the widow, ordered her to bake bread for him from the last remnants of flour and butter. The widow fulfilled the command, and her selflessness did not go unrewarded: according to the word of the prophet, flour and oil in this house were miraculously constantly replenished throughout the famine and drought. Soon the Lord sent a new test of the widow’s faith: her son died. In inconsolable grief, she decided that the holiness of the prophet Elijah, incompatible with her sinful life, became the cause of the boy’s death. Instead of answering, the holy prophet took her dead son in his arms and, after three times intense prayer, resurrected him (1 Kings 17, 17-24).

After three years of drought, the Lord sent Saint Elijah to Ahab to announce the end of the disaster. At the same time, the prophet ordered the king to conduct a “test of faith.” All the inhabitants of Israel and all the priests of Baal gathered on Mount Carmel. When two altars were built, Saint Elijah invited the priests of Baal to pray to their gods for fire to descend from heaven onto the sacrifice. The priests prayed all day, but there was no fire. Then the holy prophet Elijah ordered to pour a large amount of water on the altar he had prepared, so that it filled the entire ditch around the altar. Then he turned with fervent prayer to the True God and immediately fire came down from heaven and burned the sacrifice and even the stone altar and the water around it. Seeing this, the people fell to the ground in fear and exclaimed: “Truly the Lord is God!” (3 Kings 18, 39). The prophet Elijah ordered the capture of the priests of Baal and killed them at the stream of Kissova. Through the saint’s prayer, the sky opened and it began to rain.

Despite the prophet’s ardent zeal and the abundance of God’s grace that strengthened him, he was not alien to natural human weakness, especially manifested in the Old Testament, before the coming of the Savior. The Prophet Elijah, after a miracle on Mount Carmel, expected Israel to turn to God, but it happened differently. Jezebel's hardened heart burned with anger and she threatened to kill the prophet for exterminating the priests of Baal. The weak-willed Ahab, who repented of the terrible sign, took the side of his wife, and the prophet Elijah had to flee to the south of Judea, to Bathsheba. All his efforts to eradicate wickedness seemed helpless to him, and in great sadness he went into the desert and there he cried out to God: “Enough already, Lord, take my soul, for I am no better than my fathers” (3 Kings 19:4). The Lord consoled the saint with a vision of an Angel, who strengthened him with food and commanded him to go on a long journey. The prophet Elijah walked for 40 days and 40 nights and, having reached Mount Horeb, settled in a cave. Here the Lord, with a special vision, again called him to be more merciful. In sensory images - a storm, an earthquake and fire - the meaning of his prophetic ministry was revealed to him. To contrast with these visions, the Lord appeared to him in the breath of a quiet wind, making it clear that the hearts of sinners are softened and turned to repentance more by the action of God’s mercy, and the formidable manifestations of God’s power are more likely to lead to horror and despair. In the same vision, the Lord revealed to the prophet that he was not the only one who worshiped the True God: there were still seven thousand people in Israel who did not bow the knee to Baal. At the command of God, the prophet Elijah again went to Israel to consecrate Elisha to the prophetic ministry.

The holy prophet Elijah came to the court of the Israeli kings twice more. The first time was to expose Ahab for the illegal murder of Naboth and the appropriation of his vineyard (1 Kings 21). Hearing the prophet’s reproof, Ahab repented and humbled himself, and for this God softened His anger. The second time - to expose the new king Ahaziah, the son of Ahab and Jezebel, for the fact that in his illness he turned not to the True God, but to the Ekron idol. The holy prophet predicted to Ahaziah the fatal outcome of his illness for such unbelief, and soon the prophet’s word came true (2 Kings, 1).

For his fiery spiritual zeal for the glory of God, the prophet Elijah was taken alive to Heaven in a chariot of fire. His disciple Elisha witnessed this ascent and, together with the mantle of Saint Elijah that fell from the chariot, received a prophetic gift twice as great as that of the prophet Elijah.

According to Church tradition, the prophet Elijah, together with the forefather Enoch, who was also taken alive to Heaven (Genesis 5:24), will be the Forerunner of the Second Coming of Christ to Earth. For three and a half years, Saints Enoch and Elijah will preach repentance and perform many miracles. With their preaching they will convert people to the true faith. They will be given the power, as during the earthly life of the prophet Elijah, to “shut the heavens so that it does not rain in the days of their prophecy” (Rev. 11:6). After three and a half years of their preaching, the Antichrist will fight with them and kill them, but by the power of God they will be resurrected after three and a half days.

Iconographic tradition often depicts the holy prophet Elijah ascending to Heaven on a fiery chariot.

The Russian Orthodox people have always treated the memory of the holy prophet Elijah with reverence. He was revered by the Slavs back in the pre-Christian era of our national history. The first temple in Kyiv, even under Prince Igor (before the Baptism of Rus), was dedicated to the holy prophet Elijah; in the chronicle of St. Nestor this temple is called cathedral, that is, the main one. In Constantinople, where there were many Varangian-Russians in the service of the Greek emperors until the 10th century, a church was also built in the name of the prophet Elijah, which was intended for baptized Russian people, as is known from the agreement between the Kievites and the Greeks in 944.

After the Baptism of Rus' in 988, Elias churches began to be erected in large numbers throughout the country. Since ancient times, the believing Russian people have revered the holy prophet Elijah as the patron saint of the harvest, and therefore with special zeal and love they turn to the saint of God on the day of his memory with a prayer for the blessing of the new harvest. The depth of veneration for the holiday of the Prophet Elijah is evidenced by handwritten church calendars (calendars), in which this holiday is called “the holy ascension of the prophet Elijah” or “the fiery ascension of the holy prophet Elijah.” Usually on the day of the holiday, processions of the cross and blessing of water are held in the places where the Elias churches are located.

The following is known from Russian history about the history of the establishment of one of these religious processions. In 1664, Moscow and its environs suffered a terrible drought, which lasted from May 15 to July 20 (old style). The authenticity of this event is confirmed by historical evidence.

The disaster that occurred prompted Muscovites to fervent nationwide prayer, and the residents of Moscow decided to especially honor that saint, on whose memorial day the drought would end and the rain would fall. On July 20, heavy rain began, the earth came to life and many people thanked God for his mercy. Seeing in this event the providence of God and the bold prayers of the holy prophet Elijah, it was decided to carry out a procession from the Assumption Cathedral to the church of the prophet Elijah on Voronkovo ​​Field. When establishing this religious procession, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich said: “Just as the prophet Elijah once sent down rain on the fields of the kingdom of Israel, just as now that prophet has irrigated the parched fields of the Russian state.”

List of great Christian saints

The query "Great Christian Saints" redirects here. A separate article is needed on this topic.

This is a list of glorified Great Christian saints, divided by holiness: Prophets, Apostles, Saints, Martyrs, Reverends. First on the list are the glorified saints with the prefix “Great”. But also the most revered, in several Christian denominations (both in Eastern Christianity and Western Christianity), saints are equal in veneration to the Great Saints.

This list can be used to develop articles: Christianity and Orthodoxy, as well as to create new articles on this topic, such as: Great biblical prophets, Great Christian saints.

In each section, names are arranged in alphabetical order. The list is being updated.

A penchant for spiritual exoticism

Apostle John on the island of Patmos. Domenico Ghirlandaio. 1480–1485

—Are there prophets and prophecies in other religions besides Christianity and Old Testament Judaism?

— I’ll say right away: Holy Scripture gives us examples of how pagans pronounce God’s prophecies. Firstly, this is the prophet Balaam, who, against his will, blessed the Jews who came to the borders of the Promised Land, although the local Moabites specifically called on him so that before their battle with the Jewish aliens he would pronounce a curse on them (Numbers 22—24

).
Secondly, these are the Magi who mysteriously appear from pagan countries to worship the infant Christ, and just as mysteriously disappear. Let us remember: And having received a revelation in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another route
(Matthew
2:12
).

After all, if even dumb animals can sense the approach of some kind of natural disaster or sometimes the death of an owner, then even more so people who adhere to a variety of beliefs can have some kind of insight. God's truth sometimes finds completely unexpected and unpredictable ways. Another thing is that these phenomena are natural and material in nature, and not gracious and saving.

— And if we move on to the prophecies popular among the masses - Nostradamus, monk Abel, Vanga, and so on? What can you say about them? How should we treat them?

— Let me remind you of the words of the Apostle Paul: Everything is permissible for me, but not everything is beneficial.

(1 Cor
6:12
). In my opinion, Christians have absolutely no need to wonder about the nature of phenomena such as those you listed. Personally, this is deeply uninteresting to me. So I would not indiscriminately deny all such facts, a priori considering them to be fraud, or curse them, considering them demonic. It’s just that all this is completely useless for our salvation, it’s redundant.

It’s better to stay away from all this, and if it somehow affected us, remember the words of John the Theologian: Beloved! Believe not every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

(1 John
4
:1) We may encounter various cases of insights, correct predictions, etc. - but we must think about whether there is spiritual benefit for us from this, is this “alien” prophecy necessary for our salvation? Do we really lack our own creed, our own spiritual tradition for this? Such greed for all kinds of spiritual exoticism can lead a person to great trouble, and there are countless examples of this.