What is a prophet? According to the dictionary a prophet is one who interprets and delivers divine messages, or one who interprets Scripture and explains religious subjects. Another definition is "a religious leader." Mrs. Eddy defines a prophet as "a spiritual seer" (Science and Health, p. 593). Her definition further reads, "Disappearance of material sense before the conscious facts of spiritual Truth."
Much of the Bible was written by prophets, and to every earnest Bible student it becomes clear that the writers were inspired. One notes a sense of freedom and courage in the manner in which they impart their messages to us, with the one motive of elevating mortal thought. They teach that to acknowledge and reverence God above all else delivers us from evil and destroys that which seems to manifest itself in the world, enslaving humanity.
The gift of prophecy was not confined to men, the Old Testament Scriptures making mention of two women, Deborah and Huldah, who were considered messengers of God because of their power to foretell events which concerned the nation. Throughout the Bible we see something individual in each prophet, but in none of them was there so much character and individuality expressed as in the Galilean Prophet, Jesus of Nazareth, who demonstrated the Christ-power to a doubting people and proved his spiritual vision by wonderful works in their immediate presence.
