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I’ve got a question that I don’t think is quite covered in the Religion Forum rules.

If a FReeper fancies himself a prophet and posts his prophecies, can he be criticized as a false prophet or does his status as a FReeper somehow protect him?

I would think his status as a FReeper protects him against posters "making it personal", in the same way that Catholic FReeper Patrick Madrid is personally protected when Madrid's articles are posted and discussed.

You can always cite Deuteronomy 13 & 20 in the general sense, and leave it to the lurker to decide for themselves...

In Deuteronomy 13:1-5, Moses records the first of two tests to be applied to anyone who claims to be a prophet of God. The first test is a theological one. The second test is a practical one. In the first test, the prophet has managed to correctly foretell the future - and then proceeds to tell believers, in effect, that "since I'm right about the future, I must also be right about who God really is..."
13:1 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
13:2 And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
13:3 Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
13:4 Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
13:5 And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
A second test is recorded by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:20-22. The second test is the easier one to administer. In this second test, the prophet has proved himself doctrinally correct who God is (i.e. passed the first test, above), but now has to prove his accuracy in proclaiming the future...and he has to be correct 100% of the time....
18:20 But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
18:21 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
18:22 When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.
In other words, a prophet who is truly hearing from God, will be correct in his/her prophecies fully 100% of the time, and will be in agreement with what prior prophets have announced re God's nature and character. Any less, and God assures us that "prophet" is false.
The apostle John provides an update to Moses' first test - and a command to apply it - in 1 John 4:1-2. Doctrinally, the presumed prophet must worship the true Christ:
4:1 Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
4:2 Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God.

I would think his status as a FReeper protects him against posters "making it personal", in the same way that Catholic FReeper Patrick Madrid is personally protected when Madrid's articles are posted and discussed.
You can always cite Deuteronomy 13 & 20 in the general sense, and leave it to the lurker to decide for themselves...

As long as you don't take that last step ("All X are Y. FreeperX is a member of class X, therefore FreeperX is Y) you can get away with all kinds of things.

"Claiming to be a prophet, and speak the words of God, is an extremely serious thing. I've seen and heard a lot of this kind of stuff around. Without exception each has been an incoherent ramble, stringing phrases pulled from the Bible and from charismatic jargon in what can only be described as third order monkey typing. It's totally and completely different in character from the written word of God we have -- the Bible itself.

"Why should I believe this person is a prophet of God? " --me, earlier and still unanswered.