Why is there no Prophet of our time?

[Ingledsva]

If we look at the three major monolithic faiths from the time of Adam to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, throughout that period there has been a steady progression of prophets and messengers from God. Why is there no prophet of our time? Why has God chosen to be silent in our darkest time? It would be nice to hear the views of all religions on this subject.

Because it is hard to make up "God prophet" stories in a time of news, TV, computers, etc. Far too easy to check out and disprove the stories.


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[rusra02]

If we look at the three major monolithic faiths from the time of Adam to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, throughout that period there has been a steady progression of prophets and messengers from God. Why is there no prophet of our time? Why has God chosen to be silent in our darkest time? It would be nice to hear the views of all religions on this subject.

I believe the truth is available to all today through his word, the Bible. This includes the book of Revelation as well as many other prophecies recorded for our benefit. Thus, IMO, there is no need for any additional revelation at this time. Rather, there is a massive preaching and teaching work that is encircling the globe today, carried on by true Christians.(Hebrews 1:1,2; Matthew 24:14, 28:19,20)

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

L. Ron Hubbard

But...the thing with prophets is that a lot of the prophecies were written either during or after the event had already come to past...

 

[Muffled]

If we look at the three major monolithic faiths from the time of Adam to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, throughout that period there has been a steady progression of prophets and messengers from God. Why is there no prophet of our time? Why has God chosen to be silent in our darkest time? It would be nice to hear the views of all religions on this subject.

I believe it is due to the fact that Jesus is available to everyone.

Ibelieve I am not silent. You just don't know me when you hear me.

 

[Muffled]

Perhaps there actually are authentic prophets that the Abrahamic god has spoken to (as opposed to the myriads of hucksters), many of them, but who would listen to them? Who would believe them?

I believe in Hasidic tradition, there have been prophets as well for example.

However, the text also seems to indicate that prophets will not be sent when mankind is overwhelmingly sinful.

I believe you have to be joking. Isaiaih, jeremiah and Exekiel were sent in particulr because of the sins of Israel leading to the Babylonian captivity.

 

[Muffled]

L. Ron Hubbard

But...the thing with prophets is that a lot of the prophecies were written either during or after the event had already come to past...

I believe that is not a problem since it does not mean that the prophecies weren't given before the event but only that their importance was recognized after they came to pass. However there are also prophecies of the Messiah that did not come to pass until Jesus came.

I doubt he has much to do with God, otherwise why would he develop a religion based on psychobabble.

 

[BruceDLimber]

If we look at the three major monolithic faiths from the time of Adam to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, throughout that period there has been a steady progression of prophets and messengers from God. Why is there no prophet of our time?

There is--or if you prefer, there have recently been two of them!

The Bab and Baha'u'llah appeared in the mid-to-late Nineteenth Century and founded two new religions, the Babi and Baha'i Faiths, of which the latter is direct successor of the former.

And the Baha'i Faith has been steadily growing and spreading ever since such that it's now in literally every country on earth (the Vatican excepted); and according to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the localities where its adherents live have have since 1991 constitute the second most widespread religion on earth (second only to Christianity)! While its numbers are still relatively small, it already has over seven million members, and more every day! The specifics:

RELIGION........................LOCALITIES
Christianity........................140,000
Baha'i Faith........................110,000
all others.............................90,000 or fewer.

Peace,

Bruce

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

I believe that is not a problem since it does not mean that the prophecies weren't given before the event but only that their importance was recognized after they came to pass. However there are also prophecies of the Messiah that did not come to pass until Jesus came.

I doubt he has much to do with God, otherwise why would he develop a religion based on psychobabble.

Or that they were written after the event. That's the thing with a prophecy, it can easily be fulfilled by any manner of interpretation. For instance you say that Jesus was the Messiah who fulfilled the prophecy, but the same could be said for Cyrus the Great. In fact many Jews if not all don't even look at Jesus as the messiah. A prophecy that is fulfilled is seen by all, it is not a "well I think it was, I think it wasn't" situation.

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

I believe you have to be joking. Isaiaih, jeremiah and Exekiel were sent in particulr because of the sins of Israel leading to the Babylonian captivity.

No, Israel had already been destroyed by the Assyrians, it was Judah that was left.

 

[BruceDLimber]

urly [sic] you know the Muslims' opinion about Bahá’u’lláh: we don't consider him sent by god to us

Which of course in no way prevents His being so sent!

In fact, the Muslims greatly mistake in thinking that Diving Revelation has ended!

Specifically, Muslims often interpret the Qur'an as stating that Muhammad, being the Seal of the Prophets, is the final prophet and that there will be no more Divine Messengers sent by God (or Allah).

But actually, IOV this whole “last prophet” thing is based upon a misunderstanding!

There are in fact several different explanations of the verse in the Qur’an saying Muhammad is the Seal of the Prophets (a statement we Baha’is accept, please note!):

• First off, there is a sense in which EVERY Divine Messenger is the First and the Last, the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, and the Seal!

• Next, there are multiple Arabic words that all translate into English as "prophet."

One of these is "nabi," which refers to a minor prophet such as Jeremiah or Amos.

Another is Ras'ul, which means a major, religion-founding Divine Messenger like Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, or Baha'u'llah (our Founder). (And yes, Muhammad was a major--not a minor--Prophet.)

But the word actually used in the Qur'an is "nabi," meaning Muhammad was the Seal of the minor prophets! This says nothing whatever about the great Divine Messengers.

• Muhammad is also the Seal in the sense that He was the last Messenger during the Prophetic Age, which began with Adam and ended with Him. The Bab then closed out that Age and opened the Age of Fulfillment, of which Baha'u'llah is the first major Messenger.

• Finally, there is a sense in which the word commonly translated as "seal" also means "ornament," so that this verse of the Qur'an may simply be saying that Muhammad is the Ornament of the prophets! (Nothing whatever about any sort of finish.)

Peace,

Bruce

 

[Tarheeler]

My former rabbi considered Martin Luther King Jr. and Mahatma Gandhi to both be people who were modern prophets. While they didn't foretell the future or (directly) bring people to God, they certainly spread His message of social justice, equality, and compassion.

I'd say that qualifies as being God's spokesman.

 

[Katzpur]

I'm curious about one thing... Of those who have answered already, and for those who answer from here on out, do any of you believe that there was a time when there were living prophets? I mean true prophets, men called by God to deliver a message to large groups of people. People like Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Isaiah. If you believe they were all frauds, I can understand why you would believe the same thing about a prophet today; that would make perfect sense. But if you believe they were actually true prophets, why would you deny that God could and probably would call a prophet in this day and age? After all, He is supposedly the same today as He was yesterday. Do we no longer need direction from Him? Does He not love us as much as He loved the people of the Old Testament? Has He lost His ability to communicate to us?

 

[FranklinMichaelV.3]

I'm curious about one thing... Of those who have answered already, and for those who answer from here on out, do any of you believe that there was a time when there were living prophets? I mean true prophets, men called by God to deliver a message to large groups of people. People like Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Isaiah. If you believe they were all frauds, I can understand why you would believe the same thing about a prophet today; that would make perfect sense. But if you believe they were actually true prophets, why would you deny that God could and probably would call a prophet in this day and age? After all, He is supposedly the same today as He was yesterday. Do we no longer need direction from Him? Does He not love us as much as He loved the people of the Old Testament? Has He lost His ability to communicate to us?

I don't think any of them were prophets in the way that prophets were though of. By that I don't mean they were people who had access to the future, or some personal "one on one" relationship with God. They were however people (if they existed), who believed in something strongly, believed in the betterment of people, or their own people and worked towards that goal. Whether God personally picked them out or not...I don't know. What we do know is that there are many people who have come and gone in history and drastically altered the lives of humanity...the Lord works in mysterious ways, whose to say they are not prophets?

 

[InvestigateTruth]

well, you have first to know why the god is sending the messengers to us

This is a good point to start.

according to my belief as there's still a valid message, the god won't send a messenger,

If you mean by a Valid Message 'Islam' then I disagree. I agree that Quran is left uncorrupted. But what I disagree is that the Message of Islamic Revelation is not the original Message that was intended by God and His Prophet, for after 1400 years, the Religion is turned into many sects, each made up their own Tafseers and Interpretations, and even some added their own Laws. You see some of Imams made Laws such as 'Soccer' is Haram. These are corruption in Religion, and therefore a New Revelation was required.

but when all messages had been corrupted or distorted by people then god will interfere and send to the mankind a prophet who will correct them their message,

The Reason that a new Revelation comes, is NOT limited to Corruption of the Holy Book, but also, corruptions in interpretations and Tafseers. Another Reason is God's Revelations are Progressive. In Every Age HE sends a New Book to teach more and more to humanity, and there is no limit for this, for He is Wise, Full of Wisdom, and His Mercy never ends.

as i believe that the god sent Jesus to Jews when they fully corrupt the Torah and no one on the earth was really a true believer as god wills so he sent them Jesus pubh to fix all of that, then when Christian did the same with gospel, the god sent prophet Mohamed puph to mankind to fix all of that,

This belief contradicts with Quran that confirms Torah and Injil that existed at the Time of Muhammad to be reliable. Moreover, according to many other Hadithes Torah and Injil could not have been corrupted for God rewarded the Jews who followed it till when Jesus came.
In fact, this belief that Torah and Injil got corrupted is a man-made belief, that was added later to Islam, by some of Muslim Leaders to justify Islam, which has not proof, and there is no single verse in Quran to confirm this if you read Quran and think about its message as a whole and carefully (without pre-judging!)

and as it was in the god's plan that prophet Mohamed is the last prophet so the god himself promises to preserve the last message of him to the mankind which is the Quran and so as it's preserved so why to send them a new messenger, the valid message is still preserved who wills to find it, it would be easy for him to find it, but the god is sending a man who refreshing the followers' minds from time to time by the main goals od that message.

The belief that after Muhammad there won't be another Revelation is a man-made idea that was created later in Islam. Quran declares God will send Messengers, and His Book in Writing will never be exhausted.

Let's do some investigation as what was intended by the Term 'Seal" in Quran.

The Word is "Khatam" in Arabic. Muhammad is called Khatam Al-Nabeen.

In Old times, "Khatam" was a stone on rings that was used either as 'Ornament" or as "Stamp" to Seal a document.

So, it is merely an interpretation that Seal means 'Last' or 'End'

In fact in Bible it is said:

"... on Jesus, God has set his Seal" John 6:27
(you can see the whole verse, I shortened it for brevity)

It does not mean, That God sealed His revelation and ended that with Jesus.
In this sense, 'Seal' means 'confirm'
One of the Missions of Muhammad was to confirm previous Prophets, hence the term 'Seal of Prophets"
In another sense, Muhammad was the Ornament of Prophets. Like an ornament on a ring, as an analogy.

For example Muhammad called Ali, 'Seal of Believers" ('Khatamul Auliya) that does not mean, He was the last believer.
Aisha, the wife of the Muhammad states;[33]

"Say he is 'seal of prophets' but do not say there is no prophet after him."[34]
​

See here: Khatam an-Nabuwwah - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



The next thing to know is that there is a difference between Messenger and Prophet.
(Rasoul and Nabi)

The Nabis were the pomoters of religions. The Messengers were the ones with DIrect Revelation, and a New Book and Laws. So, Moses, Jesus, Muhammad were Messengers (and Prophet). But for example Aaron, and Somolon were only Prophets, and not Messenger.


Then after this we come to investigating Hadithes. There are infact Hadithes when Muhammad said, after Him no prophet comes. But we need to understand what that means within its context.

For example:

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Prophet said, "The Israelis used to be ruled and guided by prophets: Whenever a prophet died, another would take over his place. There will be no prophet after me, but there will be Caliphs who will increase in number."

The above Hadith says that, after Moses and before Jesus, there came a number of Minor Prophets (Nabi's) as a promoter of Religion of Moses. These Prophets were Aaron, Solomon, David,...etc. They did not have a Revelation from God with a New Book and Laws, but they had come to teach Moses Laws and guide Jews. So, the Hadith deals with prophethood within the dispensation of Islam. similar to Prophets within the dispensation of Moses. Muhammad said after Him, in Islam only Khalifs come, not prophets.

That does not mean that the Revelation of God ended, even as God said in Quran:

"O children of Adam, verily apostles from among you shall come unto you, who shall expound my signs unto you: Whosoever therefore shall fear God and amend, there shall come no fear on them, neither shall they be grieved."
al-A`raf 7:35

And according to following verse the Revelation of God has not ended:

"And if all the trees on earth were pens and the ocean (were ink), with seven oceans behind it to add to its (supply), yet would not the words of God be exhausted (in the writing): for God is Exalted in Power, full of Wisdom."
Luqman 31:27


Obviously the above shows the Quran is not the final revelation.

 

[George-ananda]

If we look at the three major monolithic faiths from the time of Adam to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, throughout that period there has been a steady progression of prophets and messengers from God. Why is there no prophet of our time? Why has God chosen to be silent in our darkest time? It would be nice to hear the views of all religions on this subject.

This question is a perfect setup for my Baha'i friends out there.

There have been many saints/sages/prophets/holy men/master gurus/whatever-term throughout history. Society has led you to think the ones in the Bible and the Koran are unique because human history has lofted certain books and teachers into huge institutionalized religions. It's just the way history developed.

 

[hexler]

HI hexler, i just don't want to take the thread off, but surly you know the Muslims' opinion about Bahá’u’lláh, we don't consider him sent by god to us

Yes, I know that, and many Bahá’í had therefore to suffer. But: The documents were always clear. His Holiness, the Bab made it clear to the Sharif of Mekka, that he should accept Him as Messenger from God. Here are some extracts

FROM A TABLET CONTAINING WORDS ADDRESSED TO THE SHERIF OF MECCA

O SHERIF!... All thy life thou hast accorded worship unto Us, but when We manifested Ourself unto thee, thou didst desist from bearing witness unto Our Remembrance, and from affirming that He is indeed the Most Exalted, the Sovereign Truth, the All-Glorious. Thus hath Thy Lord put thee to proof in the Day of Resurrection. Verily He is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

For hadst thou uttered 'Here am I' at the time We sent thee the Book, We would have admitted thee to the company of such of Our servants as truly believe, and would have graciously praised thee in Our Book, until the Day when all men shall appear before Us for judgement. This is in truth far more advantageous unto thee than all the acts of worship thou hast performed for thy Lord during all thy life, nay, from the beginning that hath no beginning. Assuredly this is what would have served and will ever serve thy best interests. Verily We are cognizant of all things. Yet notwithstanding that We had called thee into being for the purpose of attaining Our presence in the Day of Resurrection, thou didst shut thyself out from Us without any reason or explicit Writ; whereas hadst thou been among such as are endowed with the knowledge of the Bayan, thou wouldst have, at the sight of the Book, testified forthwith that there is no God but Him, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting, and wouldst have affirmed that He Who hath revealed the Qur'an, hath likewise revealed this Book, that every word of it is from God, and unto it we all bear allegiance.

 

[Caladan]

I'm curious about one thing... Of those who have answered already, and for those who answer from here on out, do any of you believe that there was a time when there were living prophets? I mean true prophets, men called by God to deliver a message to large groups of people. People like Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Isaiah. If you believe they were all frauds, I can understand why you would believe the same thing about a prophet today; that would make perfect sense. But if you believe they were actually true prophets, why would you deny that God could and probably would call a prophet in this day and age? After all, He is supposedly the same today as He was yesterday. Do we no longer need direction from Him? Does He not love us as much as He loved the people of the Old Testament? Has He lost His ability to communicate to us?

I don't believe they were frauds at all, according to Biblical traditions they were great men with great convictions. And although not necessarily delivering prophetic visions of the supernatural kind, they certainly delivered important social, regional, political and spiritual ideals and arguments.
As for modern equivalents. I don't see it. Both because its non comparable. We can't really compare the prominent figures of the circumstances of the world of antiquity to the personas of the modern age, early modern age, or the last centuries.

Personally, I don't see the latter filling the shoes whatsoever.

 

[Vinayaka]

No prophets, just profits.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

I'm pretty sure there are as many charlatans, scammers, and delusional nutjobs as there have ever been.

 

[AmbiguousGuy]

If we look at the three major monolithic faiths from the time of Adam to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, throughout that period there has been a steady progression of prophets and messengers from God. Why is there no prophet of our time? Why has God chosen to be silent in our darkest time? It would be nice to hear the views of all religions on this subject.

Actually I am a prophet of God for our time. But I'm shy and don't like to preach. Do you have questions?