Hi, folks!

I've been watching this thread with avid interest for a bit now and thought I'd chime in with my own two cents on the matter.

First off. Regarding religion. I have no intention of jumping in here and saying someone's choice in religion is wrong or off. And I'm just saying that so it's been said.

As far as prophecies, themselves, go. Well. That's a different matter I find. I don't know of anyone who has become Christian simply because of something that's written in the bible. In my experience, it's because their heart told them. And that's totally fair enough.

What I don't agree with, or really just see as a logical fallacy, is citing that because a prophecy came to fruition it is therefore evidence of the existence of a creator - namely, God. Arguably speaking the words of prophecy could have been written by the devil or some other malicious being. How do you know it's from God? Just because some words say X will happen and it later does happen does not verify who the alleged author of the writing is. If I found a slip of paper on the street which said 'In exactly two days from now xxx is going to take place across the world. Signed, Guenivere' I have no way of knowing that someone named Guenivere really wrote it. I just know that someone accurately predicted something and claims to be someone.

Then there's the question of prophecy vs. good guesswork. I could very well predict what the state of human affairs will be like in 1,000 years hence and I'm certainly no divine being! If a prophecy talks about rebellion, war, or destruction those words will come true sooner or later. This isn't the work of a sibyl or a prescient, it's not prophecy. It's forecasting! This begs the question, how does one decide when a prophecy is the actual work of prescience and when it's a good guess?

So religious beliefs aside, I guess I see prophecy as a very questionable affair. As Bex or one of the other posters indicated, there are lots of old scriptures (Buddhist, Christian, Muslim and so on) with their own prophecies. Who's to say which one is "the right one"! It's something I like to think about and mull over, though have no expectations of coming up with an answer, heh. Call it food for thought.

Anyway. All the best, everyone!