Here is a Word that is Big in Deep Chriatianity



The word "prophesy" shows up often in conservative Christianity. It strikes the rest of us as so phony and contrived we mostly blow it off. It's importance should not be under stated.  

In the Bible the word appears a lot. It is used seductively there by appearing in the Old Testament followed by claims in the New Testament the events "prophesized" actually happened. I remember as a college student a young woman who was hired as the pastor to students passionately spoke of her faith centered on these "prophesized" events. Later when I developed some ability to see this narrative in a critical setting, I came to see the later events were either shoe-horned and altered to fit the "prophesies" or the prophesies themselves were altered to fit later events. The likelihood anyone beat the random odds of guessing the future is no better than zero.

The seductiveness of a "prophesy" narrative is so powerful it lives on and people profit from it every day. The late Pat Robertson did not refer to himself as a "prophet" but wanted people to think he heard from God and was a VERY smart person. He wanted people to think of him as a prophet. Once I happened to watch him on the 700 Club rambling about how smart he was. It was a period of economic prosperity to he was writing a book that would come out in the middle of the next recession. His prophesies ended when before the 2020 election he said God had told him Trump would win. 

An endless parade of TV preachers labels themselves as prophets. Add to that individual preachers in that form cults around themselves. On top of that are individuals such as men intent on seducing women. The link is written by a woman who was told by a self appointed prophet of her proper, read inferior, status to the world around her. It took many years for her to dump the stupid notion women's status in the scheme of things is to be the servants of men. 

While the entire notion of a "prophet" is bogus it will survive so long as it serves the self-interest of those who use it.    

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