Christians, how do you tell the difference?

Question

How do you tell the difference between someone who is speaking things inspired by God, and someone who is simply crazy? It all sounds pretty much the same. How do you know the authors of the bible weren't insane? Go to a mental institution & see how many "prophets" of god you find there.

Answer 1

a crazy person compared to a religious person.
i would say a crazy person would be making more sense..
nice question lol

Answer 2

Go to the Bible and see if the utterance lines up with God's Word. You don't find out if a $20 bill is counterfeit by comparing it to another counterfeit, but by comparing with a true one. When I first looked into Christianity, a lot of it sounded pretty crazy, all those miracles and visions and paradoxes. Study and prayer have shown how the Bible all ties together and makes sense. I still don't have a clue on stuff like Revelation, but God's in control and all I have to do is the part that God gives me to play on a daily basis, and the rest comes as I need it and am ready for it. Read the New Testament first, as it will seem a lot more relevant to today. If you run into something you don't understand, skip it for now and keep going. You'll get better understanding as you grow and mature in the knowledge of God and His Word. Trust me, it will be time well spent.

Answer 3

I think I would trust the insane ones before I trust the people who do it for money. Some say Christ was the son of god. Some say he was prophet. Some say he was just man.(a great man.) Some in his day thought he was insane. The Bible has been changed so any times by people with there own agendas that its hard to tell whats true. I don't think anyone is inspired by God, just there beliefs. I think many of there beliefs are based on bad information. I Hope there is a God, I'm just no sure there is one.

Answer 4

You test their prophecy in two ways - does it line up with what the Bible teaches, and did it come true? The Bible says if a prophet is wrong even once, then he is not from God.
I think the authors of the Bible weren't insane because their prophecies have been coming true over the the years, and because their writings have stood the test of time - how many books have been around for more than a thousand years and are still widely read?

Answer 5

1. the prophets from the bible have made prophesies that have already come true, which makes the other prophesies they made pretty reliable to come true in the future. if the same type of "crazy person" author was consistent throughout 400+ years of time (the time frame the bible was written), then they all must have been on the same drug. highly unlikely.

2. also, at the end of the bible, God said that no one is to add on to the bible after the final book: revelations, so all the prophets that come afterward seem irrelevant.

3. finally, if you are a true believer in God, He will protect you and guide you to know what is truly His word and what is not.

Answer 6

The only true way to know if someone is indeed speaking the truth or a word that is inspired by God is by one of two ways;

1) By already knowing God's word...

2) By a comprehensive research into what this person tells you with the bible to see if it is truth...

Remember, Satan comes as an "angel of light"... and may reveal a truth that sounds Godly but has been slightly twisted... So understand that...

A HALF TRUTH IS HALF A LIE... which corrupts the whole message.

Answer 7

The bible says if the prophet is 100% correct (in the prophecy) then the prophecy is from God.
A prophet is an office like a pastor or a bishop. A prophet usualy is a well known person who prophecies correctly so much that they become well known for the gift. I have heard the average time it takes for a prophetic gifted person to become a prophet is 10-20 years of ministry. They know enough to know when they are hearing from God verses hearing from themselves. There are also schools for prophetic ministry people who are gifted in prophecy can go to to focus on hearing God which usualy consists of lots of time in worship and in prayer to get to know Jesus.
Also a tell tale way to know if its not from God is if it contradicts the scriptures of the bible. Then it is not of God
As for the insaine well demons like to "prophecy" too to confuse the church and teach lies.
Jesus says "My sheep know my voice, I call and they come to me."
We know the prophets of the bible weren't insaine because when ever they spoke what God was going to do through and in his Kingdom actions happened!

Answer 8

Dear MJf, it is very Easy too tell, number one we mactht what the person is saying too God's character. for instance, does it line up with God's Motive of Justive and moral's? if someone came telling em he was a prophet and that God told him it was okay too steal kill and murder, i would instantly know that that he is a false prophet, because the very message he delivered is diametrically oppsed too God's enherit nature and character. Now how do I knwo the writers of the Bible werent insane? think about this for a moment, we have over thousands of writers throught the BIble, over literally hundreds of years time between books, and between old and new testament, none of the writers knew each other, nore did they collaberate, yet through old and new testament we have a consistnet thread of continuity. even if you tried too get three people who neevr met, too sit down and write a Book about one subject, and have this book agree and be consistent and have a central thread of continuiity holding it together, yor odds of that would look something like this 1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000. literally impossible, yet we see this exhibited cleary historically and textually throught the Bible.
The Most profound message of The BIble is that of Jesus. God has a moral stamdard of right and wrong, his commandmenst are just that and he will use them as the standard of which we give account too him fo our moral choces we make here on earth. when we stand beofre him too give an account , he says that lying lips are an abomination, and that all liars wil have there part in the lake of fire. he says that he will not hold them guiltess that uses his name in vain, and that the Lustful and theiving will not enherit the kingdom of God either. sow eh you stand befre him too give an account, will you be innocent or guilty? the BIble says were all guilty, we have all fallen short of Gods standard, and that the penalty for this is Death (spirirtual death which is hell). the god news is that God has given us Hope, that HOpe lies soley in one Man, Jesus Christ. when Christ died he took the pain guilt and the shame allotted for us for our sin, we broke the law and jesus paid the fine. and Now we cna be forgiven, by knwoing and having a personal relationship with Him and being forgiven. we can be given the gift of everlasting life. In order too recive this gift of eternal life, we must confess and forsake our sin, and turn too, and trust in Jesus Christ.

Answer 9

I am biased because I am Christian, but....

All the religious training I have had has always taught good morals and ethics. If you know the person genuinely cares about others and makes moral decisions they are probably not crazy. Of course, there are crazy people too, but I'm assuming it would be obvious they are crazy based on how they talk and act most of the time.

People claiming to be prophets are probably wrong.

Answer 10

I have never thought that wanting to learn right from wrong was insane. To me.. insanity is the inability to grasp right from wrong. Belief in God leads me away from what I consider imature thinking.

I could never believe murder is good. I could never believe stealing is good ..and so on. But when I was a child.. I could have believed it because in some imature way.. to me ..perhaps stealing to gain something would be fun and good ..maybe even fulfill a vengeance heart .. murder , the same.. but that is the mind of a child who has no clue of right from wrong.

The struggle to learn right from wrong is defined by two things for those who seek the face of God.. knowing that there is God..and knowing I must love my neighbors as I wish to be loved by God.

Answer 11

By interpretation and how that person lives his/her life. The people in the mental institutions probably could not handle the confusion religion can bring and probably did not get the proper guidance in their studies of the religion. Most evangelists sound crazy with their shouting and screaming, I prefer listening to someone who's quietly talking about how we should live life - regardless of what religion he belongs to - there's only one universal law and one universal being anyway.