Assurance of Prophecy

bwood

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Question for any open theist reference point 1 here. God wishes for his (negative) prophecies to go unfulfilled. Do you then have assurance that the good ones will come to pass? And of course, you can't actually be sure, right?
 

JudgeRightly

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Question for any open theist reference point 1 here. God wishes for his (negative) prophecies to go unfulfilled. Do you then have assurance that the good ones will come to pass? And of course, you can't actually be sure, right?

Hi bwood!

The answer is that God is capable of bringing about that which He wants to bring about. (In other words, He is omnicompetent.)

You need to remember what Paul said in 1 Corinthians:

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil;does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.For we know in part and we prophesy in part.But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. - 1 Corinthians 13:1-10 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1Corinthians13:1-10&version=NKJV

How much more so does this apply to God, who IS love?

Prophecy isn't a telling of the future, it's simply a prediction of what will happen if things continue as they are. When the circumstances change, the prophecy, either good or bad, must necessarily fail, because the conditions for the prophecy to succeed were not met.
 

bwood

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The forum tells me I'm not allowed to reply, so this is in response to the statement from the previous thread:
Prophecy isn't a telling of the future, it's simply a prediction of what will happen if things continue as they are. When the circumstances change, the prophecy, either good or bad, must necessarily fail, because the conditions for the prophecy to succeed were not met.
The prophecies about Jesus first and second comings were/are certain. They did/will come to pass regardless. So do they then fall under a different category as other prophecies?
 

Derf

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The forum tells me I'm not allowed to reply, so this is in response to the statement from the previous thread:
Prophecy isn't a telling of the future, it's simply a prediction of what will happen if things continue as they are. When the circumstances change, the prophecy, either good or bad, must necessarily fail, because the conditions for the prophecy to succeed were not met.
The prophecies about Jesus first and second comings were/are certain. They did/will come to pass regardless. So do they then fall under a different category as other prophecies?
You can also give a link to the thread you want to discuss, like this for this new thread you started: https://theologyonline.com/threads/reply-to-below-thread.55781/post-1793548
I got the link by right clicking on the number 1 at the top right of your opening post. Without some reference to the other thread, it’s hard to know which one you are talking about.

I wouldn’t say that all non-advent prophecies must fail when circumstances change. Sometimes they’re delayed, for instance, perhaps to allow time for repentance.

Most impending doom prophecies to Israel seemed to be to offer a chance to repent, at which time God could choose to relent of the planned judgment, as he said he would do in Jer 18.
 

JudgeRightly

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The forum tells me I'm not allowed to reply,

Might be because you're a new member.

You should be able to comment in your own thread however.

so this is in response to the statement from the previous thread:
Prophecy isn't a telling of the future, it's simply a prediction of what will happen if things continue as they are. When the circumstances change, the prophecy, either good or bad, must necessarily fail, because the conditions for the prophecy to succeed were not met.
The prophecies about Jesus first and second comings were/are certain. They did/will come to pass regardless.

Right, because God is capable of bringing those things to pass.

So do they then fall under a different category as other prophecies?

I would say that God does predestine some things to come to pass, but as far as categories go, a prophecy is a prophecy.

And since God's omnicompetence will never diminish, therefore things like His second coming, the Great White throne Judgement, etc, will, in fact, come to pass, even though it may not be set in stone on WHEN they occur.
 
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