False prophet

thumb|342x342px|The [[Devil in Christianity|Devil whispers to the Antichrist; detail from Sermons and Deeds of the Antichrist, Luca Signorelli, 1501, Orvieto Cathedral.]]

In religion, a false prophet or pseudoprophet is a person who falsely claims the gift of prophecy or divine inspiration, or to speak for God, or who makes such claims for evil ends. Often, someone who is considered a "true prophet" by some people is simultaneously considered a "false prophet" by others, even within the same religion as the "prophet" in question. In a wider sense, it is anyone who, without having it, claims a special connection to the deity and sets themself up as a source of spirituality, as an authority, preacher, or teacher. Analogously, the term is sometimes applied outside religion to describe someone who fervently promotes a theory that the speaker thinks is false.

Judaism

Jesus is rejected in every branch of Judaism as a failed Jewish Messiah claimant and a false prophet.

False prophets are depicted and described in the Hebrew Bible; Deuteronomy 13:1–5 depicts those who claim to be prophets as a test from God, testing whether the people truly love him. The Books of Kings records a story where, under duress from Ahab, the prophet Micaiah depicts God as requesting information from his heavenly counsel as to what he should do with a court of false prophets. This depiction is recorded in 1 Kings 22:19–23:

It is possible that Micaiah meant to depict the false prophets as a test from God. It is also possible that it was meant as a slur on Ahab's prophets, such as Zedekiah, the son of Chenaanah.

False prophecy, including speaking in the name of a god other than the God of Israel or speaking presumptuously in God's name, is described as punishable by death in Deuteronomy 18:20. Likewise, if a prophet makes a prophecy in the name of God that does not come to pass, that is another sign that he is not commissioned of God and that the people need not fear the false prophet (Deuteronomy 18:22).

The Jewish Koine Greek term occurs in the Septuagint, in Flavius Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews and The Jewish War, and Philo of Alexandria's Specific Laws. Classical Pagan writers used the term .

Christianity

upright=1.1|thumb|Fate of The False Prophet, [[Events of Revelation#Chapter 16|Revelation 16, Beatus de Facundus, 1047]]

Christian eschatology originated with the public life and preaching of Jesus. Throughout the New Testament and some of the early Christian apocryphal writings, Jesus warns his disciples and apostles multiple times of both false prophets and false Messiahs, and believers are frequently adjured to beware of them and stay vigilant.

Gospels

In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7:15–20), Jesus warns his followers of false prophets:

In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus uses an ethical application for his disciples using the analogy of false prophets in the Old Testament:

Acts and Epistles

In the Book of Acts, the apostles Paul and Barnabas encountered a false prophet named Elymas Bar-Jesus on the island of Cyprus:

The Second Epistle of Peter makes a comparison between false teachers and false prophets and how the former will bring in false teachings, just like the false prophets of old:

The First Epistle of John warns those of the Christian faith to test every spirit because of false prophets:

The false prophet of Revelation

The most well-known New Testament false prophet is the one mentioned in the Book of Revelation. The False Prophet is ultimately cast into the fiery lake with burning sulphur:

Another mention of a false prophet in the New Testament is the "antichrist spirit which denies the Son". In the New Testament, the word antichrist (Greek: ) appears mainly in the Johannine epistles and in the plural, denoting those who deny and/or do not believe in the messiahship of Jesus.

Islam

The Quran states that Muhammad is the "Seal of the Prophets" and Last and Final of the Prophets, which is understood by mainstream Sunni to mean that any ostensible prophets after Muhammed are false. All mainstream Muslim scholars' perspectives from both Sunni and Shīʿa denominations do not consider the Second Coming of ʿĪsā (Jesus) as the coming of a new prophet, since the Islamic Messiah had already been an existing prophet and will rule by the Quran and of Muhammad, bringing no new revelation or prophecy.

Thawban ibn Kaidad narrated that Muhammad said:

Abu Hurairah narrated that Muhammad said:

Muhammad also stated that the last of these dajjals would be the Antichrist, Al-Masih ad-Dajjal (). The Dajjal is never mentioned in the Quran, but is mentioned and described in the ḥadīth literature. The Dajjal will imitate the miracles performed by ʿĪsā (Jesus), such as healing the sick and raising the dead, the latter done with the aid of demons (). He will deceive many people, such as weavers, magicians, half-castes, and children of prostitutes, but the majority of his followers will be Jews.

Samra ibn Jundab reported that once Muhammad, while delivering a ceremonial speech at an occasion of a solar eclipse, said:

Anas ibn Malik narrated that Muhammad said:

The Mahdi (, meaning "the rightly guided one") is the redeemer according to Islam. Just like the Dajjal, At the time of the Second Coming of Christ, the prophet ʿĪsā shall return to defeat and kill al-Masih ad-Dajjal. Muslims believe that both ʿĪsā and the Mahdi will rid the world of wrongdoing, injustice, and tyranny, ensuring peace and tranquility. Eventually, the Dajjal will be killed by the Mahdi and ʿĪsā at the gate of Lud, who upon seeing Dajjal will cause him to slowly dissolve (like salt in water). Ronald Bailey's 1993 book Ecoscam: The False Prophets of Ecological Apocalypse applied the phrase to promoters of the global warming hypothesis; however, by 2005 Bailey had changed his mind, writing "Anyone still holding onto the idea that there is no global warming ought to hang it up." Another usage of the term "false prophet" is used in the Genesis song, Supper's Ready where a man who is called by the community "The Guaranteed Eternal Sanctuary Man" turns out to be the Anti-christ and brings upon an apocalypse, yet the plan fails, leading for him, and the "beast" he brought across the world to be obliterated, and the 2 main characters, were brought to the New Jerusalem.

Judaism

Christianity

Gospels

Acts and Epistles

The false prophet of Revelation

Islam

See also

References

Bibliography