Prophecy is often spoken of as though it related solely to the foretelling of coming events—frequently those of an evil nature—and a prophet is therefore regarded as one who is capable of predicting or forecasting these events. However, there is a much higher and more spiritual meaning of the words "prophet" and "prophecy," and this is indicated in the definition of "prophet" given by Webster, which is, in part, as follows: "One who speaks for another, especially for God; ... an inspired revealer, interpreter, or spokesman." In this respect Moses was a prophet, and so were Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Isaiah, and others. Above all, Christ Jesus was, in the highest sense of the word, a prophet. Of him John the Baptist said, "This is he of whom I said, After me cometh a man which is preferred before me: for he was before me."
Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, in the Glossary of "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 593), defines "prophet" as follows: "A spiritual seer; disappearance of material sense before the conscious facts of spiritual Truth." And on page 585, she gives the following definition of "Elias": "Prophecy; spiritual evidence opposed to material sense; Christian Science, with which can be discerned the spiritual fact of whatever the material senses behold; the basis of immortality. 'Elias truly shall first come and restore all things.' (Matthew xvii. 11)."
Elias is the Greek name for Elijah, and as all students of the Old Testament know, he was one of the foremost Israelite prophets. His spiritual perception was great, and his demonstrations of the power of God were many. The widow of Zarephath, whose son was restored to life by Elijah, said to him, "Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth."
