Are There Prophets in Modern Society?

Many people wonder why there aren’t “Biblical-like Prophets” today. There are many different views on the topic that could explain this.

Never Prophets

The easiest explanation is that there never truly were prophets. The people that do not believe in the teachings of the major religious texts will state that the books are simply stories. They believe that the people that are told about in these stories are simply analogies.

God is Quieter

Some religious people believe that God has taken a quieter role in our lives. These people believe that instead of sending prophets to explain what we need to do, God has decided to sit back and watch where we go from here.

God is Waiting

Some people believe that God is simply waiting for a certain event or series of events to happen to send the next prophet. These people will point to the Psalms as being guides to tell us when the next prophet is coming. They believe that the Psalms are actually codes that tell us the future.

Prophets Have Become Oracles

Some people believe that the modern day prophets are actually oracles. An oracle is someone who gives wisdom through the ability to foresee and interpret the future. People of this belief will point to people such as Nostradamus and Edgar Cayce.

Opponents of this belief point to the idea that God was not part of the prophesies of these people. Opponents believe that only God can send prophets. Anyone else would fall into other categories.

Some Key Historical Figures are Prophets

Some people believe that there are modern prophets in our world, and that they have held prominent positions in the public eye. These supporters will point to figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Mother Theresa, Nelson Mandela, and Gandhi as being prophets from at least the last century.

These people believe that the modern prophets use words instead of miracles to spread the information that they were sent with. These people believe that God still works through prophets, but humanity is not wise enough to realize that these people are prophets.

Prophets are in Institutions

Perhaps the most interesting theory is that there are modern prophets, but they are considered to be insane. This theory suggests that many modern prophets have been thrown in institutions because of the fact that they appear to be insane.

In the modern world, people would question someone who said that he or she had just spoken with God. Even respected religious figures are questioned if they state that they spoke to God.

There is an old story that a man was seen walking down the street talking into the air. People got nervous when they heard him yelling, “No, I will not go.” They realized that they should call the authorities.

When the authorities arrived, they found the man yelling up at the sky. They thought that he should be arrested when he yelled, “I don’t care what you say, I am not going!”

The man was thrown into a jail cell until doctors came to put him into a rubber room. The problem was that people did not realize that he was not insane. He was simply a reluctant prophet who did not want to lead God’s people.

As with most religious issues, modern prophets are something that most people will have an opinion on. We do have to ask ourselves a question, though. Is there a need for modern prophets if we never listed to the ones in the past in the first place?