Prophecy: Encyclopedia II - Prophecy - Prophecy in religion

Prophecy - 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 One' of all Religions.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Prophecy in religion", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki