People throughout history have attempted to predict what will happen before it does, with varying degrees of success. It is in our nature to want to know what will happen, and try to prepare for it. Meteorology, Geology, and Astronomy were all born from this. We want to prepare for rain or snow. We want to know when the next earthquake or tornado will happen. We want to know if an asteroid is coming to wipe us off the face of the Earth.
My definition of prophecy is a little different than most people's. I believe that a prophet can see a possible future. It doesn't matter if the prophet uses mundane knowledge to figure it out, or can actually see the future. Either way, the prophet sees what might happen. Then, whether by accident or direct intervention from the prophet, it happens. Or not. Sometimes a different choice is made that affects the outcome of the prophecy and makes it untrue. While this does discredit the prophet, it doesn't mean they didn't accurately predict what might have happened if a different choice had been made.
In my experience, it also could be that the prophecy was given in metaphorical terms, not meant to be taken literally. :)
ReplyDeleteThat's a good point, which was what Nostradamus was likely doing, and people are taking it literally.
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