Prophet
From Thelemapedia
In numerous religions, including Abrahamic religions, Jah religions, Sikhism, and many forms of Paganism, a prophet is an intermediary with a deity, particularly someone who claims to speak for the deity or interprets the deity's will or mind. A prophet usually operates through some means of divination, channeling, or extra-sensory perception, and the prophet's pronouncements in the name of a deity are sometimes called revelation. Some utterances foretelling the future may be interpreted as having been prophesies. Some "prophecies" seem to have been made after the event; these are given the technical name vaticinia ex eventu.
The concept of a prophet is an old one, and the concept is important in numerous religions. The Greek oracles were inherited from autochthonous sacred sites that preceded the Greeks' arrival in the Aegean. The Bible refers to prophets of Yahweh, Baal, and other regional deities. Christians refer to John the Baptist as a prophet of the Christian God, and Muslims refer to Mohammed as The Prophet, the last and greatest of the prophets of Allah, or God. Latter Day Saints also commonly refer to Joseph Smith, Jr. and his successors as The Prophet.
References
- Wikipedia. (2005). Prophet (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prophet). Retrieved on July 15. 2005.