Prophecy Without End?

Last updated on: September 11, 2015 at 1:25 am by Philip Jenkins

Prophecy Without End? 2015-09-10T10:26:43-04:00 Philip Jenkins

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

When drawing the canonical limits of the Bible, Jewish sages strictly declared that the prophetic age had ended in the fifth century BC, and that the last prophets were figures like Zechariah and Malachi, whom Christians know from their own Old Testament. Henceforward, said the rabbis, Jews should seek instruction only from their learned sages. Yet prophets and prophecy continued long after those debates, in both Christianity and Judaism, and many believe that the tradition has never ended. The idea is thoroughly familiar in the Pentecostal tradition, to say nothing of the Mormon experience.

Those Jewish scholars were working in the earliest centuries of the Common Era, and their firmness in these matters might well have been a reaction to contemporary Christian claims. In fact, it is quite easy to find Jews claiming prophetic status long after the time of Malachi, and right through Roman times. We see this for instance in a book like Rebecca Gray’s Prophetic Figures in Late Second Temple Jewish Palestine (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993).

Among other things, Gray notes an idea that the High Priest had a kind of prophetic status by virtue of his priestly office (134-104 BC). Of the king and high priest John Hyrcanus, Josephus records that “He was esteemed by God worthy of three of the greatest privileges – the government of his nation, the dignity of the high priesthood, and prophecy; for God was with him, and enabled him to know futurities.” Prophetic claims were also attributed to Essenes. In the mid-late second century BC, the Qumran sect described its Teacher of Righteousness in strongly prophetic terms.

That context helps us understand the many uses of prophetic language in the New Testament. Related words occur about 150 times, and the vast majority involve statements that a particular action or saying happened in accordance with what a prophet had foretold. Matthew is especially fond of that usage. Jesus also spoke of “the Law and the Prophets,” the conventional phrase for the Hebrew Bible.

On many other occasions, we are clearly meant to understand that prophets are a familiar expectation in Jewish life at the time. Many people, we are told, suspect or fear that John the Baptist and Jesus himself are prophets, and we hear about other prophets that might come, whether good or evil. As the crowd declares, “This is Jesus, the prophet from Nazareth in Galilee.”

This in itself does not contradict the “end of prophecy” idea, as modern scholars stress how the idea of prophecy had changed since the Golden Age of Isaiah and Jeremiah. As Shaye Cohen notes, the traditional prophet had a particular role – to announce God’s word publicly, and to call people to repentance – while in later eras, the prophet had become assimilated into a generic holy man or charismatic healer. Yet even applying this criterion, it is difficult to deny that Jesus’s contemporaries and followers did know prophets who followed in the older mold of Isaiah or Elijah.

That continuity is evident in Acts, where prophets are not only described but treated as a well known part of the church. “During this time some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch,” and one, named Agabus, predicted a great famine (11.27). The church of Antioch had its prophets and teachers (13.1). “Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the believers” (15.32). The church structure described in 1 Corinthians describes apostles, prophets, and teachers. New Testament warnings about false prophets make no sense unless we assume that people expected true prophets. In the Didache, probably from the early second century, “apostles and prophets” are still leading figures in the church, operating under separate rules

We can also draw reasonable conclusions about what such prophets were meant to do, and it can clearly be distinguished from the image of the charismatic holy man/healer. Above all, they were meant to speak and to convey divine messages, which might or might not predict future events. They speak in the Spirit. The Didache again (c.11) has a nice passage giving rules for the vital process of distinguishing between true and false prophets. If a prophet orders a table set, that is fine as he might be making a point, or teaching some allegory. If he sits down to eat it, he is a fake and should be ejected immediately. (“And every prophet who orders a meal in the Spirit does not eat it, unless he is indeed a false prophet”). However great the problem of false prophets though, the picture we get sounds very much like the classic image.

Significantly, in view of the modern literature about the distinction between classical prophecy and later apocalyptic, that division is not too apparent in the Book of Revelation, which gives its name to the whole apocalyptic genre. In one key way, Revelation does fit the academic classification of apocalyptic, in that it passes on material received from an angel, not from God directly. Otherwise, there are problems. For one thing, prophetic texts were spoken by named individuals, while apocalyptic was (supposedly) pseudonymous or anonymous. Yet John of Patmos apparently did use his own name, rather than crediting the whole thing to Enoch or Moses. Moreover, John clearly regarded his own role as that of a prophet, so that his writings were prophecy, rather than some new-fangled genre. To that extent, even the prototype of apocalyptic was still prophecy rather than “true” apocalyptic. Whoever John may have been, he was presumably regarded as one of the still-continuing Christian prophets whose treatment was so carefully regulated in the Didache.

In the Christian tradition, then, when did matters change? In the mid second century, Justin Martyr claimed that prophetika charismata still operated within the Christian church, and that was one of the signs of its truth, as against Judaism. Ultimately, the tradition perished – or at least, went underground – with the Montanist crisis (the “New Prophecy”) at the end of that century. That is another, lengthy, story.

But prophecy of the old kind really did continue throughout the Second Temple period and beyond. The reason it stopped was because authorities decided to start pretending it wasn’t there.

Besides books I have listed in earlier posts, see also Michael H. Floyd and Robert D. Haak, eds., Prophets, Prophecy, and Prophetic Texts in Second Temple Judaism (New York: T&T Clark, 2006). For continuing prophecy, see Lester Grabbe’s chapters in Lester L. Grabbe and Robert D. Haak, eds., Knowing the End from the Beginning (London: T & T Clark International, 2003).

Previous Post

September 9, 2015

Five Thoughts on Evangelical History

Next Post

September 13, 2015 Flying Pigs and Abominable Beasts

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abolitionism Abortion Abraham Joshua Heschel Abraham Kuyper Abraham Lincoln Academia Activism Adam Renberg Advent Adventist africa African American Religion Agnes Howard Albert Camus American History American Religious History American Revolution American West Anabaptists Ancient History Andrea Turpin Andrei Tarkovsky Anglicanism Annales Ansley Lillian Quiros anti-Catholicism Antisemitism Anxious Bench apologetics Apparitions Arash Azizi Archaeology archives art Artificial Intelligence Asia Asian Americans Augustine Authors Bad Bunny Baptism Baptists Barack Obama Battle of Hastings Benjamin Franklin Bernard-Henri Levy Beth Allison Barr Beth Moore Bethany Mannon Bible Bill Cunningham Billy Graham Black Music Bob Dylan Body Boenhoffer Books Breastfeeding Bruce Springsteen C.S. Lewis Calvinism Cancel Culture Capitalism Carmelites Catholicism Cedric Robinson Cesar Chavez Charismaticism charity Charles Dickens Charles Lindbergh Che Guevara Chicago Children Chinese Christianity Chris Gehrz Christ Christian death Christian Higher Education Christian life Christian Nation Christian Nationalism Christianity Today Christmas Church life Church Practice cinema Civil Religion Civil Rights Movement Civil War civility Classics Climate Change Cold War Colonial Mexico colonialism Comer Communism community complementarianism Conference on Faith and History Congregationalism Conspiracies Conspiracy Conversion Narratives Coronavirus Costa Rica Council of Nicaea Covid-19 Creation Critical Race Theory Crusades Culture culture wars Daniel K. Williams David Barton David Swartz Death Ways death with dignity DEI democracy Democratic Party Devotion Digital Age Diplomacy discipleship diversity Donald Trump Drama Dua Lipa Early Church early modern Early modern Catholicism Easter Eastern Christianity economic exploitation Education elections Elie Wiesel Elizabeth II Elizabeth Taylor emotions Empire Engineering England enslavement Entertainment Episcopal Church Erica Ramirez eschatology Eurocentrism Evangelicalism Evangelicals Exegesis Family Feminism Film Flannery O'Connor folk music Food Foreign Policy founding fathers Franciscans Franciscus Junius fundamentalism Funerals G.K. Chesterton Gender Genocide genre geography George W. Bush George Washington George Whitefield Global Christianity Global church Grief Guadalupe guest post Guest Post gun control gun violence Gustavo Gutierrez Hamid Dabashi Harold John Ockenga Harvest Hate Hawaiian Christianity Healing health care Heather Cox Richardson Hell Heresy Hermeneutics Higher Education Hinduism Hippocratic oath Historical Fiction Historical Methodology Historical Profession Historical Profession Historical Theology Historical Thinking historiography Holidays Holocaust horror movies Human rights Humanitarian Work humanities Hummingbirds Hungary hymns Imago Dei Immigration Injustice Interviews Iran Islam Islamophobia Israel Ivan's Childhood Jacob Randolph James Bratt Janine Giordano Drake Japanese history Japanese Literature Jean Paul Sartre Jesse Miranda Jesus Jesus Christ Jimmy Carter Joan Baez Joan Didion Joanne Freeman João B. Chaves Joao Chaves Joey Cochran John Calvin John Fea John Tillotson John Turner Johnny Cash Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Tran Joseph Smith Josh Howerton Journalism Jr. Judaism Jürgen Moltmann Just War Justice Justin Brierley Karl Barth Katelyn Beaty koi ponds Kris Kristofferson Kristin Kobes Du Mez Latin American Religious History Latino Americans Lectio Divina Leisure Lent Leonard Cohen liberal arts liberalism Liberation Theology Linda Ronstadt Lisa Clark Diller Literature Lou Reed Lynchings Lynneth Miller Renberg Mainline Protestantism Malcolm Foley Marilyn Monroe Maritime history Mark Noll Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masih Alinejad mass shootings material culture medieval Christianity Medieval Ethiopia Melissa Borja memory Mennonites Mental Health Mental Illness Methodism Mexican Americans Mexicans Mike Madrid Miles Mullin Min Jin Lee Miscarriage Missionaries Mister Rogers Mitt Romney modernity Monasticism Mormonism Motherhood Mothers of the Church Moving Music Musicals Nadya Williams Nahua Christianity Native Americans Natsume Sōseki New Contributor New England New Year New York Nico Non-Violent Protest Orthodoxy pacifism Paleo Evangelicals Palestinians Parenting Patti Smith Paul Kingsnorth Pedro Calderón de la Barca Pentecostalism Philip Jenkins Phillis Wheatley physician-assisted suicide pilgrimage Pilgrims pluralism Plutocracy Poetry Politics Pope Francis Pope Leo XIV post-modernism prayer preaching Presbyterians prosperity gospel Protest Public history Publishing Puritans purity culture Quakers race Race Massacres Racial Capitalism racial reconciliation racialization Racism Raha Bahloulipour Re-Enchantment reading Reformation Refugees religion and the university religion and war Religious Freedom Religious Nones Religious Pluralism Religious Symbols religious violence Republican Party Revival Rita Coolidge Ritual Roger Williams Roman Catholic church Royalty Russell Moore same-sex marriage Sarah Irving-Stonebraker Scandinavia Science Science and Technology Scopes trial Scriptural Interpretation secularism Selena Quintanilla seminary Seventh-Day Adventists sexual morality Sexuality Sikhs Silence slaveholders theology Slavery Slavoj Zizek social justice Social Media Southern Baptist Convention Southern Religion Spain Spiritual Autobiography Spiritual but not religious Spiritual Discipline Sports Stanley Hauerwas Suffering Summer Camps Sunday Night Odds and Ends Supernatural Supreme Court Syriac Christianity Tal Howard Taylor Swift Teaching Technology Television Thanksgiving The Beatles The Mission theater TheoBros Theology Thomas Dixon Thomas Jefferson Thomas Kidd Thomas Merton Tim Gloege Tim Walz Tom Holland Tourism tradition Tragedy Translation Transnationalism Travel Trump Ukraine Uncategorized Unitarians United Methodist Church US History Vanessa Chan Velvet Underground Verónica A. Gutiérrez Veronica Gutierrez Vikings Violence Virgin Mary Virtue Virtue ethics Visions Voting War WCTU Wendell Berry Westminster Assembly White Evangelicalism Wildfires Winnie the Pooh Witches women Women in Ministry Women's and Gender Studies Work Worship writing Yasunari Kawabata Zena Hitz

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who is credited with writing much of Proverbs?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Hezekiah Agur David Solomon