Prophecy, in a broad sense, is the prediction of future events. The etymology of the word is ultimately Greek, from pro- "before" plus the root of phanai "speak", i. e. "speaking before" or "foretelling", but prophecy often implies the involvement of supernatural phenomena, whether it is communication with a deity, the reading of magical signs, or astrology. It is also used as a general term for the revelation of divine will.

Throughout history, people have sought knowledge of future events from special individuals or groups who were thought to have the gift of prophecy, such as Oracles at Delphi in ancient Greece. Cultures in which prophecy played an important role include the North American Indians, Mayans, Celts, Druids, Chinese, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Egyptians, Hindus, Hebrews, Tibetans, Greeks, and many in the Christian tradition, among others.

History of prophecy

The earliest manifestations of prophecy were most often found in the form of magical spells and folk charms. In modern times, astrology and other pseudoscientific techniques have gained wide acceptance.

Prophecies are often based on divination, or determining the will of gods or other supernatural entities. Many methods

Prophecy in religion

In many religions, gods or other supernatural agents are thought to sometimes provide prophecies to certain individuals, known as prophets. The Old Testament of the Bible contains prophecies from various Hebrew prophets who foretold of their people's trials and tribulations. The Book of Revelation in the New Testament is accepted by many Christians as a prophecy related by its author, John the Evangelist, of the events of the end times and Armageddon (see Eschatology, Bible prophecy and "End of the World").

Christians believe that Jesus fulfilled many prophecies of the Old Testament, thus proving he was the son of God, or messiah, and that he will return in the future to fulfill other prophecies. In the New Testament, the stories of Jesus telling a Samaritan woman about her life, or telling the apostles the future, are examples of prophecy in the Christian tradition.

Muhammad, the prophet of Islam (circa 600 AD), said he had a spiritual awakening in a cave and from that point on spoke about teachings that he said came from God ("Allah," in Arabic).

More recently, in the 1800's, Joseph Smith claimed to have translated golden plates through divine inspiration from Jesus, thereby producing the Book of Mormon. Members of the Mormon Religion believe that their founder was a "latter day" prophet.

In 1863, Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, claimed the he is the 'Promised

Evidence of prophecy

Prophecy always involves some kind of communication with the future or with different realms of existence, which are usually not discernible by or in harmony with empirical science. Therefore, skeptics consider prophecy to be false. Believers, however, claim that prophecy is possible through supernatural means, which bypass the natural laws.

The hypothetical power of prophecy has not been scientifically tested and remains unproven, but many people believe that certain prophecies have been fulfilled, especially if they are central to their religion. Others consider that some apparently fulfilled prophecies can be explained as simple coincidences, or that some prophecies were actually invented after the fact to match the circumstances of a past event (vaticinium ex eventu).

Many prophecies are also vague, allowing them to be applied to many possible future events. The cryptic prophecies of Nostradamus are a prime example of this, but Nostradamus's supporters argue that detailed predictions would have earned him a reputation for witchcraft.

Folk prophecy

Sortes virgilianae

In the Middle Ages, as the figure of the Latin poet Virgil developed into a kind of magus or wizard, manuscripts of his work The Aeneid were used for divination, the sortes virgilianae. A line would be selected at random and interpreted, very much in the way Old Testament lines were interpreted for arcane meanings, in light of a current situation.

The crawling baby

In some cultures it is customary to place a series of objects evocative of possible future occupations in front of a baby. Whichever object the baby crawls to or picks up is said to indicate the kind of profession the baby will grow up to have.

Scientific prediction

For a theory to be considered genuinely scientific it must in some sense predict the future. A scientific theory differs from prophecy in that it is both falsifiable and reproducible. In principle, a scientific theory makes a prediction that could actually invalidate the theory by not coming true. Furthermore, a scientifc theory makes a prediction that can be tested under reproducible conditions by different experimenters. All of classical physics claims to do this, that is condition A will always lead to condition B in all experiments. Newton's Laws and the theory of relativity generate quantified solutions that can be tested with measurements. Using them one can predict to high accuracy, millennia into the future, the orbits of the planets for instance. Quantum physics, however, generates statistical probabilities. Thus, condition A will sometimes lead to B and sometimes to C or even D,E,F.., and one cannot predict what will happen in a certain instance, but only that A will lead to B or C x out of y instances.

See also

• Apocalypticism
• Bible code
• Bible prophecy
• The Celestine Prophecy
• I Ching
• Oracle
• Akashic Records
• Nostradamus
• Prediction
• Prophet
• Self-fulfilling prophecy
• History of Unfulfilled Prophecy by Christians
• Vaticinium ex eventu
• Summary of Christian eschatological differences

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