How do I go about discerning between a prophet and a man-made prophet? What are the signs? Primarily of course, the genuine article's prophecies come true. Daniel was such a man. He baffled the "wise men" of his day by providing specific and immediately measurable interpretations . Any man-made prophet wanting to keep his head knows better than to do that. In very short order Daniel would be would be proved true. Or otherwise. To is contemporaries' temporary surprise, Daniel was consistently right. I say temporary because these false prophets shortly lost their heads.
We certainly have plenty of man-made prophets these days. Back in the seventies I believed and I was betrayed by pseudo-scientists who said that by now:
World oil reserves would be depleted and combustion engines would be obsolete.
The population explosion would overrun the world's resources and we would all be eating plankton by now, if we hadn't already self-exterminated.
The world money markets would collapse and gold would become the currency of choice.
I still hear these doomsday prophecies circulated, and perhaps they may come true some day. But these self-made prophets were fundamentally wrong. Their predicted disasters did not happen within thirty years. Mankind has proven to be more adaptable than any of these doomsayers predicted.
Modern psychics these days are a little more cagey. They predict things like, "A hollywood starlet this year will suddenly break off her engagement." or "I see a man in your future." When put to the specific and measurable test, however, they also fail.
Confidence, believability, persistence, literacy, articulation, passion, precision in bible interpretation or hermaneutics....none of these qualities make a man-made prophet true. Even if he prints in REALLY BIG LETTERS, he has not been proven true. If he exhausts his opponents, he is not true. If he finally resorts to ad-hominem attacks (You are not a bible believer so I will ignore your criticisms) he is not true.
If he were to say, for instance, that modern Christendom's churches are Babylon the Great, why would I believe him? I might as well say Las Vegas is Babylon the Great, prove me wrong. I think Las Vegas has many more markers as a tempting and corrupt influence in our day. Or as leolaia did, put the prophecy in context in history, and see who fit then. Again, leolaia's interpretation fits far better. Besides, her interpretation has the advantage of being specific and measurable, and it happened.
What would it take for me to believe Schizm? Well, first of all he has to show enough flexibility of mind to address questions from anybody. He has to stick to regular font and avoid ad-hominem attacks. He would list the top markers or characteristics, from the bible, of "Babylon the Great." He would then show how his interpretation fits better than either mine or leolaia's. Also, I would challenge every supposed marker, by challenging each one and proposing alternatives. Like Abraham I would ask, if I found one church in Christendom today that is following God's will, is Schizm's prophecy proved wrong/postponed? He would then give a specific and measurable interpretation ... that is, when is Christendom going to get her own back? I would mark my calendar and wait. Who was right?
Now, if Schizm were to act true to form, he will ignore this request. Rather, he will find a single sentence of mine to mock. If my prophecy that my challenge will not be taken seriously proves true, my challenge will deflate and I will concede defeat to the weaker intelligence.