Surely you are joking. You have clear scripture giving us the standard by which we are to judge who is and is not a prophet.
And yet you keep repeating that prophets are fallible. Please provide scripture which tells us that. If prophets were fallible, we would not be able to trust them. We would have to throw out the majority of the Bible.
Perhaps we have a misunderstanding. I do not mean to imply in any way shape or form, that the word of God is fallible. The bible is a manuscript of messages given to the world through the direct inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God upon chosen individuals, or a direct message to them from Angels of God, and occasionally God Himself. The bible is the inspired word of God, not man.
The prophets however, were, and always will be sinners just like you and I. In an of themselves they are certainly fallible. Obviously, those words given to a prophet directly by God, should not be questioned. We have examples in scripture, where prophets have spoken, and acted wrongly. These words and actions were obviously not inspired by God. No doubt either, these were recorded to keep the prophet, and God, in their proper perspectives.
Deuteronomy 18:18-22 18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him. 19 If anyone does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name, I myself will call him to account. 20 But a prophet who presumes to speak in my name anything I have not commanded him to say, or a prophet who speaks in the name of other gods, must be put to death." 21 You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the LORD?" 22 If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the LORD does not take place or come true, that is a message the LORD has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously. Do not be afraid of him.
The prophet being spoken of in the above verses is Christ Himself. Many could claim Him to be a false prophet, since all which He predicted has not yet come to pass. The same could be said of most of the Apostles, if not all of them. There has not been a prophet yet, that I know of, that has not had to endure the ridicule of being a false prophet by non believers, until their prophecies are actually fulfilled. It is just the nature and condition of this world in rebellion against God.
Again, your claim that all prophets are human and fallible is false. You cannot use that out when talking about the prophesies of E.G.W. You claim that she is a prophet and that she has the "gift" of prophesy, do you not? In the scripture above, God plainly says he will "put my words in his mouth." That means if a prophet makes a mistake, after God has placed His words in the prophet's mouth, that God is the one actually making the mistake. Only we know that is not possible. So it would be the prophet making the mistake and it would be because God did not actually give the prophet the words to say. Those are the only two options. Because as God Himself states above, under God's direction through the Holy Spirt, the prophet will not make a mistake. If he does, he is not a prophet and he isn't speaking what the Lord gave him. That is the litmus test for who is, and conversely, who is not a true prophet. A true prophet doesn not make a mistake when truly speaking for God. The portion of scripture above clearly states that.
I have never said, or believed that a prophet who is speaking for God by way of revelation from the same, can be mistaken. I don’t know where you are getting this idea from. Moses was a great prophet of God. Yet at the age of forty he murdered an Egyptian in defense of a Jew. At which point God removed from Egypt for forty years in order to prepare him to properly deliver Israel by the hand of God, not man. Forty years later at the borders of the promised land Moses erred. He attributed the deliverance of Israel, and God’s forbearance with them to himself, and was thus forbidden to enter the promised land. Elijah also faltered before God when confronted by Jezebel, and others also made mistakes. This is because they were human and fallible. Yet when they spoke under direct revelation from God, their words certainly were not.
So you have a few problems. First of all, it seems that even within your own organization, you can't agree on whether E.G.W. was a prophet or not. You seem to imply she was, djconklin seems to indicate that she was not and never gave any prophecies. Which is it?
I’m afraid you are the one who is confused upon this point. I don’t know any SDA’s on this board that are denying she was a prophetess. If there are, let them say so.
She either was a prophet or she was not. Your church hierarchy claims she was. That she had the gift of prophecy and there would be no way that they could claim that gift existed within her unless they felt she had been observed or recorded exercising that gift. Nobody can say I have the gift of tongues unless they actually observe me operating in it.
Actually anybody can say anything they want, and often do make false claims, which is why we are having this conversation.
So SDA's claim she was a prophet, and that she spoke for God. Only she said things that were false.
So says you. I have personally pointed out numerous lies on these very message boards concerning the same. Those who propagate them, seem to care less that they have spoken lies regarding EGW, as though they will be of no consequence when they stand before God in judgment. I tell you the truth, even if EGW was a false prophet, those who have thought they can lie about her, or anyone else with impunity before God are seriously mistaken. “Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
