Evidence that Demands a Verdict: Chapter 11, part 1

Chapter 11 is the first in Part 3 (God at work in history and in human lives).

1. Definition of prophecy

• Extra-Biblical: a spoken or written word proclaiming God's will for the primary audience; a "sign."
• Scriptural: same as above plus divine inspiration, sometimes telling of future events (predictive prophecy).
  

2. Tests of a prophet

• False prophets often or always have "prophetic ecstasy" (e.g. Baal worshipers) induced by a certain type of music, for example.
• False prophets often occur in paid groups (e.g. under a king).
• Deuteronomy 18 (twisted by Muslims), Jeremiah 23, and Ezekiel 12:21-14:11 are extended sections on marks of false prophets.
  

3. Objection to predictive prophecy: post-dating. But here are some facts...

• The Septuagint was translated in 280-250 B.C. Therefore, the entire OT as we know it must have been complete before then.
• Ezekiel: the unusual dating system matches archeology perfectly.
• Even giving the critics generous benefit of the doubt, there is no way the prophecies could have all been written after the radically-claimed dates.
• Presuppositions of critics: history is a closed system; there is no God; there is no possibility for miracles (and therefore no predictive prophecy).