Discuss the criteria used to distinguish true from false prophets in Judaism

Scholars of religions are not agreed on the credentials that one needs to possess in order to be considered in the bracket of true prophets. In Judaism, a prophet refers to the mouthpiece of Yahweh. The criterion tabled to test the authenticity of a prophet include but is not limited to; receiving a clear prophetic call, taking the prophetic office as a ministry rather than a profession as well as moral uprightness. The mandate of this paper is to distinguish between true from false prophets.

To commence with, one of the criterion that distinguishes true from false prophets is that true prophets have clear prophetic calls. It is worth indicating that for a prophet to be regarded as true prophet he should receive a clear prophetic call which comprises of five critical stages. The five stages of a prophetic call are theophany, resistance from the prophet, pressurization from the deity, acceptance by the prophet and finally commissioning of the prophet. For instance, Moses and Jonah went through the five critical stages of a prophetic call in question. On the contrary, false prophets did not receive prophetic calls. In addition, this criterion precludes prophets such as Isaiah whose prophetic call was unique and did not feature the five stages of a prophetic call. This is because Isaiah did not resist the call but willingly accepted Yahweh’s call to the prophetic office. Therefore, receiving a clear prophetic call is essential to distinguish a true from false prophet.

To add on, another criterion that distinguishes true from false prophets is that true prophets take the prophetic office as a ministry while false prophets take the same as a profession. It is key to note out that true prophets take the prophetic office as a ministry, that is, provide their services free of charge. On the contrary, false prophets charge for the services rendered. Moreover, this criterion has brought to scrutiny prophets such as Micah who solicited and advocated for the payment of tokens to prophets before prophetic service(s) disposal. This was necessitated by Micah’s concern on the upkeep of the prophets and was not necessarily a greenlight to prophets to “milk” their audience. Thus, taking the prophetic office as a ministry rather than a profession distinguishes true from false prophets as the latter is marred with professionalism in prophecy.

More so, moral uprightness is another essential criterion that distinguishes true from false prophets. This is because a true prophet is expected to be morally upright. True prophets are expected to be ethical bound as well as conform to the dictates of the Decalogue. However, false prophets are married to immorality such as intoxication (drunkenness) and adultery. It is vital to consider that this criterion has pulled to the spotlight venerated prophets such as Hosea who was married to the prostitute, Gomah. The marriage should not be used to discredit Hosea’s authenticity as it was sanctioned by Yahweh to symbolise the relationship shared between Yahweh and his people. Hence, moral uprightness is a pivotal criterion that distinguishes true from false prophets.

Furthermore, fulfillment of prophecies made by a prophet is yet another criterion used to distinguish true from false prophets. This means that a true prophet is expected to make prophecies that are always fulfilled or come to fruition. A false prophet however makes prophecies which do not come to pass. On the contrary, this criterion is constrained by the fact that it excludes prophets like Isaiah from the bracket of true prophets. This is because Isaiah prophesied on the death of Hezekkiah but after the latter’s cry to Yahweh, his years of life were increased proving Isaiah’s prophecy false. In addition, some of Isaiah’s prophecies were generations apart such as the ministry and death of a Messiah which was to come into the world. Therefore, fulfillment of prophecies made by a prophet are a pertinent criterion which distinguish true from false prophets.

Adding on, ecstacy is an essential criterion which distinguishes true from false prophets. This is because true prophets like Isaiah entered into ecstacy, a state whereby his mental faculties were completely suspended paving way for the unusual as a deity takes over. However, false prophets dismally fail to be ecstatic. This is evidenced by the Mount Carmel contest where the Baal prophets cut their flesh in a bid to enter into a trance and communicate with their god, to no avail. Further, this criterion discriminates other prophets such as Amos from qualifying into the true prophets bracket as they did not enter into ecstacy.

To supplement the above, the other criterion which distinguishes true from false prophets is the use of the oracular formula or messenger style by genuine prophets. It is important to take note that true prophets like Jeremiah made use of the messenger style when delivering their messages from Yahweh, that is, ” Thus says the Lord…” This assures an audience on the authenticity of a prophet. However, most false prophets would not use the oracular formula but make utterances in their own capacity. It is also worth pinpointing that this criterion is limited by the fact that some false prophets made use of the oracular formula while delivering their messages, for example Hananiah. Hence, the use of the oracular formula or messenger style is another crucial criterion that distinguishes true from false prophets.

To conclude, this paper has emphatically distinguished true from false prophets. Among multiple varying criteria, true and false prophets can be depicted using the clear prophetic call criterion, moral-uprightness criterion, fulfillment of prophecies criterion as well as the ecstacy criterion. One can therefore conclude that this paper has discussed in detail the criteria to distinguish true from false prophets.