How do you tell a false prophet from a true prophet?

Question

The tests seem a bit vague to me. Give me some scriptural references if you know them. Some examples would also help - the Buddha, St Paul, Mohammed, Martin Luther, the Popes, Joseph Smith, Billy Graham and the other Evangelicals, the Rev Moon.....How do we know who we should listen to?

Answer 1

Do you know what part of yourself is true and what part of yourself is false?

YOU ARE THE ONE THAT YOU'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR! If you know what part of yourself is true and which part is a lie, you will know other people too. The problem here is that we don't know ourselves very well so how can we know others?

My answer is to look within and quit looking for someone else to give your life direction...they are all wrong for you. They are only right to themselves and you are only right for yourself.

I think we should all quit trying to give our life over to other people...it is called YOUR LIFE for a reason. You are on a journey to find that reason and no one knows your purpose but YOU and yet may people will claim to 'know' because they want that opportunity to control you.

I say, don't let them. Keep your own heart with all diligence and let all prophets go make their profits somewhere else. Lets put prophets out of business! I think they are all false and have a personal agenda in manipulating you.

Answer 2

The Bible states that a true prophet of God will be 100 percent accurate. Billy Graham does not profess to be a prophet - just an evangelist. The Rev Moon is a cult leader. Joseph Smith was a cult leader. Martin Luther was a priest who did not believe in some of the tenants of the Catholic faith - did not consider himself to be a prophet. Mohamed claimed to be a prophet, but was not. Buddha never claimed to be a prophet either - just claimed he knew the way. St. Paul was not a prophet - he was an Apostle.

The prophets of God include Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, John the Baptist. They foretold of upcoming events and every single thing that they said would happen, did.

Answer 3

Anyone today that claims he is prophet sent from God, is not.

Listen to those who preach and teach the Bible. The pope doesnt do that, nor did smith,budda or mohammed. Moon is a filthy rich crook. Billy Graham is great but not a prophet and he doesn't claim to be one. Martin Luther was a great theologian but not a prophet, and he didnt claim to be one.

We have the complete Word of God, the Bible. Therefore there is no need for anymore prophets or apostles.

Answer 4

1 John 4:1-3 Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spriit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. This is the way to find out if they have the Spirit of God: If a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ became a human being, that person has the Spirit of God. If a prophet does not acknowledge Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist. You have heard that he is going to come into the world, and he is already here.

For a list of the cults (Mormons etc.) go to http://www.carm.org/cults.htm or MacGreggor Ministries on the web.

Answer 5

Here is some with with some scripture like you asked.
De 13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
De 13:2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
De 13:3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
De 13:4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

If he is not preaching the truth then he is not a prophet of God.

And if some says something that could happen that isn't against the truth then only time will tell.

De 18:20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
De 18:21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
De 18:22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

If what he says is going to happen doesn't then don't worry he is not one.
To find out if we should listen to the people listed, Look and see if they preach the truth according to the Bible and if they have said some thing and it hasn't happened then they are not right. Paul would be the only good one up there top listen to. I would say. the rest of them twist the word of God and want your money.

Answer 6

you will want to listen carefully to what is being said and taught by the person and match that up with what the scripture teaches, if it does not then they are a false prophet!! end of story, if they are adding to the scripture like Joseph Smith did with the Book of Mormon, taking away from scripture or changing scripture as some groups have done, then they are false prophets and you should not follow them. (see rev 22:18-19). the best way to deal with this issue is to pray and ask God to speak to your spirit and help you to interpret what is being said and help you to compare and line things up with scripture. that is the only TRUE test as to the truthfulness of teachings!!!

Answer 7

I listened to Prophet Mohamed...and i trust him...when i was about in hesitation of my religion...i returned back to this religion...shame on me in this point...the simplest thing that returned me that i knew that Islam is the only religion that got miracles written before science was appeared...and if you said that the Quran was written by men which is not because it is Allah's word...so how come they knew all the written even in the upper space without any kind of technology...they haven't been up...and the creation of the baby...and the Quran is the same since Prophet Mohamed...even Islam the only religion that didn't deny any Prophet..there is many but this the simplest thing...

Answer 8

In the Bible you can tell when the text was written by the accuracy of the prophets. The prophesies are accurate up to the time of the writing -- from that time forward, they are no longer accurate. The only reason they are included in the Bible is that some of the prophesies have materialized -- much like politicians of today!
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Answer 9

remember - for a individual to assert "The Lord says". If the component isn't from the Lord, however the guy is claiming that's then the guy in accordance to God's be conscious is announcing a dying sentence on him/her self. God will decide and handle them Himself in executing His sentence. even with God's warning there have been many fake prophets And the Bible is sparkling that some fake prophets would be one hundred% precise purely asserting enable us to worship different gods. The specific attempt is "To the regulation and to the testimony in the event that they communicate no longer in accordance to this be conscious, there is not any easy in them." Isa 8.20 So in case you would be secure you're able to renowned God's testimony - the Bible and distinctly His regulation. the ten commandments and not the watered down version so popularly printed.

Answer 10

Good question. Jesus said, "know them by their fruits". I think what he/He meant is to see what a given religious leader is actually doing or saying and figure out for yourself whether they're actually doing good in the world or whether they're preaching that people do bad things or, as is all too often the case, are really after money and power. (I'm not saying I necessarily believe that Jesus is Divine, mind you, but I think he/He at the very least had some real good ideas and that this is one of them. :-) )

One item that might help is the Advanced Bonewits Cult Danger Evaluation Frame (or ABCDEF).[1] It has a list of questions about any given religious organization you're considering joining and helps you decide whether or not that organization is really a dangerous cult. It's worked real well for me. Although the author, Isaac Bonewits identifies himself as a Neo-Pagan, this can work for any group and he's intended it for use by people of all religions.