Many academic scholars and historians who read the Bible today maintain that it contains no accurate predictions of any past or future events. They say that in some cases, transcribers of the scriptures may have inserted prophecies or attributed work that was written much later to earlier authors. In other cases, they say it is the readers of the Bible who are creating what they see as "prophecy". This common tendency is known as postdiction--retroactive clairvoyance, or prediction after the fact. In the last century this view has been accepted by some more liberal theologians.

Critics of Bible prophecy state that prophetic verses are largely vague, and are ambiguous enough to allow an excessive flexibility of interpretation. Others say that there are prophecies which either were not, or could not be fulfilled within certain time frames which have already expired. The remaining prophecies which do appear to have been fulfilled are attributed to coincidence, or to being written after the fact. The establishment of facts related to events two millennia ago makes scientific proof of specific prophecies problematic.

[edit] Amerindian prophecy
Several cases of claimed prophecy exist among the Amerindian populations, notably the three Dogrib prophets who claimed to have been divinely inspired to bring the message of Christianity's God to their people.[22]


[edit] Islam
Muslims maintain that Muhammad experienced a prophetic phenomena equated with interpretation of dreams, visions and remote viewing[citation needed], and thus identify him as a prophet.


[edit] Ahmadiyya
Main article: Prophecies of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad
The founder of the Ahmadiyya Islamic reform movement, Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, claimed to have fulfilled the prophecies concerning the Messiah.


[edit] Bahá'í Faith
Main article: Bahá'í Prophecies
In 1863, Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith, claimed the he is the 'Promised One' of all religions, in other words a prophet.


[edit] Other belief systems
Prophecy has been claimed for, but not by, Michel de Nostredame popularly referred to as Nostradamus who was a converted Christian. However, it is known that he had travelled widely, had suffered several tragedies in his life, and had been persecuted to some degree for his suggestions about the future, reportedly derived through a use of a crystal ball.