The concept of Prophet in Christianity
In Christianity, a Prophet is defined as a person appointed by God to speak on His behalf, often foretelling future events. This role is significant in both the Old and New Testaments, where prophets communicated God's messages, warned against sins, called for repentance, and offered promises of restoration. Throughout biblical history, prophets have served as divine messengers, embodying God's will and providing guidance to the people. Their unique purpose illustrates the connection between God and humanity through prophecy.
Synonyms: Oracle, Soothsayer, Visionary, Messenger, Foreteller, Foreteller., Sage, Mystic
In Malay: Nabi; In German: Prophet; In Swedish: Profet; In Spanish: Profeta; In Dutch: Profeet; In Finnish: Profeetta; In French: ±Ê°ù´Ç±è³óè³Ù±ð
The below excerpts are indicatory and do represent direct quotations or translations. It is your responsibility to fact check each reference.
Christian concept of 'Prophet'
From: Ante-nicene Fathers
(1) The prophets are figures who are given spirits by God, which are spoken of as being in a manner their property, and are relevant to the discussion of Elijah and John.[1] (2) The prophets, along with the law and the apostles, and the Gospel, and the harmony which obtained in each prophet, in the transitions of the persons, is an example of music.[2] (3) A person who promised the gift of the Spirit in the latter days and is associated with the Christ, the Spirit, and the apostle, belonging to the Creator, according to the text.[3] (4) These individuals demonstrated two conditions that belonged to Christ, which presignified the same number of advents, one in lowliness and another in majesty.[4] (5) The text indicates that the actions of a central figure were foretold by these individuals.[5]
From: Gospel of Thomas Commentary
(1) This term is used to describe a person, and there is discussion about whether this person is more significant than another individual.[6] (2) This term refers to an individual who is not accepted in their own community or homeland, according to the sayings discussed in the text.[7] (3) This is mentioned in conjunction with the law, and it is stated that they were relevant until John, and it is easier for heaven and earth to pass than for one tittle of the law to fail.[8] (4) This is the person who spoke through the prophet, saying that the speaker will open his mouth in parables, and utter things hidden from the world's foundation.[9] (5) These are individuals represented by the servants in the allegory, and who are sent to the tenants, but are mistreated and rejected.[10]
From: Expositions of Holy Scripture
(1) These individuals, along with the law, bear witness to a future, more perfect revelation of God's righteousness, as much of the law was symbolic and prophetic.[11] (2) The individual who speaks of the personal Servant of the Lord, who is Jesus Christ, the savior of humanity and the one who fulfills the described actions.[12] (3) This refers to Jonah, highlighting his role as a messenger, and the instrument, as mentioned in the text, as well as hearing God speaking through him.[13] (4) This refers to Isaiah, whose prophecy is referenced in the text and has relevance.[14] (5) This person stayed his own and his people's hearts in a time of confusion and distress, by the thought that it was only Babylon that could fall, and Jerusalem.[15]
From: A Cyclopedia of Biblical literature
(1) This individual composed an elegiac ode on the occasion of Josiah's death, which was long preserved among the people, but which is not now in existence.[16] (2) Individuals who were possibly more numerous and active in Israel than in Judah, and who may have had an extra-social character.[17] (3) When the phrase 'son of man' is applied to this individual, it takes on the meaning of 'oh mortal!,' which highlights the prophet's mortality and human limitations.[18] (4) This is another name for Elisha, who put on the severities of a judge, and denounced Gehazi's crime, according to the text.[19] (5) The prophets were associated with Jericho, as it became a school of the prophets after being rebuilt, despite a curse.[20]
From: A Dictionary of the Bible (Hastings)
(1) These are the individuals whose preaching served as a persistently solemn protest against sin, and the law was a deterrent, and it has its domain not in the physical but in the spiritual region of man’s life, according to the text.[21] (2) These are individuals who proclaimed the day of Final Judgment, and the mockers would deny the Lord will return, but both the prophets and the Lord proclaimed it.[22] (3) This term refers to individuals who are believed to receive divine messages, often guided by angels.[23] (4) Finally, in a magnificent lyric, which, as its heading and close prove, has been adapted for use in the Temple worship, the prophet sings the glorious redeeming acts of God in the past history of the people, and in the certainty of His immediate appearance, bringing hopeless ruin on the enemy, declares his unwavering trust.[24] (5) The prophets, it is said, taught an ethical monotheism which is to say, in effect, they ethicized holiness, linking the concept to moral behavior.[25]
From: Bible cyclopedia, critical and expository
(1) The prophet Nathan, commissioned by Jehovah, played a role in Solomon's life, including naming him Jedidiah and advising David.[26] (2) These are individuals whose writings were read in the synagogue, alongside the law, as part of religious practice.[27] (3) This group of people received the oral law from the elders and then delivered it to the people of the great synagogue, who passed it down.[28] (4) This term refers to the individuals who wrote the prophecies, including Daniel, and their writings are compared and contrasted within the provided text.[29] (5) This individual is described as foremost and greatest, playing a significant role in the context of the provided text, specifically within the biblical context.[30]
From: The Complete Sayings of Jesus
(1) This term is used to describe the individuals whose teachings and prophecies Paul referenced, and to whom he was compared, as mentioned in the text.[31] (2) The individuals to whom the fathers of those who will be rewarded did in the like manner.[32] (3) This is a group of individuals, who have specific laws that should be followed, and are summarized in the golden rule.[33] (4) The identity of Jesus.[34] (5) The individuals whose teachings and messages are connected to the two commandments, according to the text provided.[35]
From: Hymns for Christian Devotion
(1) Individuals in the past conveyed messages, offering perspectives that were previously unknown to leaders and other significant figures.[36] (2) John was a prophet of the Lord, acting as a herald, sent to prepare the ways for someone.[37]
From: The city of God
(1) This refers to Christ, who was yet to come in the flesh, and the text mentions that the prophet's words were fulfilled long after the event.[38] (2) The individual who prophesies, prays to God, and speaks of the substance of God's people, which is Christ, and whose prayer is considered prophecy itself.[39] (3) The prophets are mentioned in the context of foretelling events, and their books are used to show how the overthrow of false gods was predicted long before it happened.[40] (4) This refers to a group of people who, according to the text, are considered to have writings that are older than some philosophers.[41] (5) This is an individual who speaks of the coming of the Lord God, and whose writings are cited to illustrate a point.[42]
From: Summa Theologica (English translation)
(1) The text mentions that these people knew mysteries of grace, but the apostles knew some particulars of the same, which the prophets did not know.[43] (2) The prophetic vision is not displayed to corporeal eyes by corporeal shapes, but is shown in the spirit by the spiritual images of bodies, and the visible mission of the Holy Ghost does not apply to the imaginary vision which is that of prophecy.[44] (3) These are individuals in the Jewish tradition who were believed to speak for God, and Christ came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets.[45] (4) This is the individual who receives and communicates divine messages, and the text explores their experience, including their perception of divine essence, and the images they receive.[46] (5) These figures are mentioned, and it is stated that all things written in the law, the prophets, and the psalms, concerning Jesus, must needs be fulfilled.[47]
From: Works of St. Anselm
(1) The individual whose words were known by the virgin, and who said of him, "He was offered of his own will."[48]
From: The Kebra Nagast
(1) These are individuals who attempted to provide guidance, but their words were not heeded, and they tried to make the people hear their messages.[49] (2) These are people who were given glad tidings by Christ, and the text mentions them in relation to the Gospel, as written by Mark the Evangelist.[50] (3) The prophet is mentioned as having spoken about the people who have not sought God, implying a prophecy related to the future.[51] (4) These are individuals who were provoked to wrath, indicating a historical context where they faced opposition, particularly in the context of Israel's actions toward their leaders and messengers.[52] (5) This group includes the one who is numbered among them, suggesting the significance of divine communication and guidance.[53]
From: The Book of the Cave of Treasures
(1) This individual, also known as Jeremiah, remained in Jerusalem after its destruction, expressing sorrow for two decades and ultimately being buried in Jerusalem by Ur, a priest.[54] (2) A figure that is no longer present among the Jews after the Cross of Christ, as the provided text indicates.[55] (3) The text refers to a prophet who calls the sons of Kentora 'sons of Daran.'[56]
From: The Book of the Bee
(1) The individual who wrote that Christ should be born in Bethlehem of Judah, as stated in the text, a source of prophecy.[57]
From: The Second Helvetic Confession
(1) This is a reference to the person who has God saying that he will put his law within them.[58] (2) In their books, the fast of the Jews who fasted from food but not from wickedness did not please the divine, and they also frequently mention public fasts.[59] (3) These individuals prophesied about the grace that was to come, searching and inquiring about the salvation that was to be given to all believers.[60] (4) These are the individuals who images are forbidden by, as it is described in religious text.[61] (5) The text mentions that the prophets, along with Moses, were renowned throughout the world, serving as teachers of their age and living for several centuries.[62]
From: The Existence and Attributes of God
(1) This term refers to individuals who were believed to be chosen by God to deliver messages and guidance to people, and often spoke against social injustices.[63]
From: The Works of Dionysius the Areopagite
(1) These are the people through whom certain Divine predictions are made known by the Angels, along with sacred ordinances, hidden visions, and supermundane mysteries, conveying messages from the divine.[64]
Gnostic concept of 'Prophet'
From: Pistis Sophia
(1) The prophet is David, through whom Thomas interprets the seventh repentance from Psalm xxiv, and he provides a different perspective on the same themes.[65] (2) These are individuals who have discoursed with the rulers of the aeons, but they have not entered into the Light, according to the Saviour's words.[66] (3) The prophet is David, who has prophesied about the forgiveness of sins and the concept of not having sins imputed to those who receive the mysteries, according to the text.[67]
From: Fragments of a Faith Forgotten
(1) The prophets of the Hebrews and the uncircumcised were taught by Baruch, and the prophets of the Hebrews had their teachings obscured by Naas, according to the provided text.[68] (2) This refers to the role of Jesus, who the Ebionites regarded as a wise man, a prophet, and a manifestation of the Messiah.[69]
From: The Gnostics and Their Remains
(1) The Prophets were inspired by the Angels, creators of the world, when they delivered their prophecies; on which account those who believe in Simon and Helen pay no regard to them, according to the text.[70] (2) Prophets shall appear and restore the lost Light when things shall seem at their worst, and Evil all-powerful in the creation, and they will regenerate the world.[71]