Why Test the Prophets?The Greatest Frauds Are Religious Frauds.

By Dirk Anderson

Mrs. Schmeets, an elderly lady from North Dakota whose husband had recently passed away, was contacted on the phone by scam artists. They told her she had won millions in the lottery. They convinced her to open up her accounts to them. Instead of depositing a million in her account, they stole her entire life savings of $400,000.¹

Eventually, the scam artists were arrested, but the money was gone by then. The damage was done. Everything she and her husband had worked so hard for during their life was gone. With her retirement money gone, she must face the grim reality of living the remainder of her life in poverty.

Ironically, the greatest scam artists in the world are not financial fraudsters. The greatest frauds in the world are religious fraudsters. Pious frauds who pretend to be what they are not. These scam artists not only rob people of their money, but they twist and warp people's minds with their false teachings. By far, the most dangerous fraudsters are false prophets. These scam artists must be exposed to protect the innocent from having their lives ruined.

Religious Frauds

In 2024, around two billion people, nearly one-fourth of the world's population, were followers of the teachings of the fraudulent Islamic prophet Muhammad.² Islam is the second-largest religion on the planet and the fastest-growing major religion.³ Muhammad claimed to receive revelations from God. These revelations were written in a book called the Qur'an. Interestingly, Muhammad was illiterate, so he depended upon "literary assistants" to do his writing for him.⁴

Ramifications of Following a False Prophet

When a person decides to follow Muhammad, that decision impacts every aspect of their life:

• What and when they can eat and drink
• How and when they worship God
• How they dress
• How they perceive God and His expectations
• How they perceive those outside their religion

When a person chooses to follow Muhammad, it is a life-changing experience! Anyone who seriously follows the teachings of any prophet or guru will likely witness their life change in dramatic ways. The false teachings of a false prophet could have far-reaching consequences in almost every aspect of one's life. It could impact one's health, one's relationships with others, and even one's relationship with God.

Many followers of false prophets have developed suspicion, distrust, or even hatred of those outside of their sect. Some followers of false prophets have instigated terrible acts of violence against innocent men, women, and children whose only crime was that they were not part of that religion. With so much at stake, it is critically important for every person to make sure they are following only true prophets of God!

How Do People Get Deceived into Believing False Prophets?

It happens nearly every day. A man finds a Book of Mormon in his hotel room and reads it. His heart is warmed by the stories of courage and love for God. He says to himself, "Whoever penned these beautiful, encouraging words must surely be a true prophet of God." He ends up joining the Latter-day Saints without ever studying the validity of the prophet Joseph Smith. Before long, Mormonism has transformed his life in many ways:

• His identity
• His core values
• His relationships
• How he spends his time and income
• The clothing he wears
• His understanding of God and salvation

Some people did not consciously choose to follow a prophet — they were born into a church with a prophet and simply inherited that belief. They grow up accepting that prophet's teachings and never challenge those teachings during their entire lifetime. They never stop to contemplate that following a false prophet's teachings can have profound negative impacts on every area of their life. They devote little, if any, time to researching the prophet or testing the prophet to find out if their claims are true. They merely accept it because they were brought up to believe it.

How many Muslims, Mormons, or Seventh-day Adventists have ever taken the time to sit down and study whether or not their prophet is everything they claimed to be? With so much at stake, is it not worth taking a little time to do some investigating?

God's Wants to Protect You from False Prophets

Being deceived by a false prophet can inflict serious spiritual damage upon a believer. Therefore, God warns repeatedly against them. In the Bible, God reveals that he desires no one to be deceived by false prophets. Christ warned His followers to "beware of false prophets" because following false prophets can damage one's faith and counteract the very work that God is doing in the world (Matthew 7:15).⁵ The Lord does not want to see any of His precious children hurt or deceived. That is why His word says, "I hate every false way" (Psalm 119:104). God hates falsehood, religious scam artists, and pretenders because they deceive and hurt the very children He loves so much.

Testing Prophets is not Optional

One of the duties of a Christian is to test the prophets. It is commanded in the Bible, and failure to do so is disobedience to God's Word:

Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world (1 John 4:1).

The reason that Christians must test the prophets is because there are so many false ones out there. When Jesus was discussing the "last days" with His disciples, He never said anything about a true prophet coming in the last days. However, he warned them that "many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many" (Matthew 24:11). He went on to warn that even good Christians, intelligent people — the very elect — could be deceived:

For there shall arise...false prophets... insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect (Matthew 24:24).

These warnings by Jesus should be enough to emphasize how important it is for a Christian to validate the claims put forth by a prophet or by the followers of a prophet. Jesus would not have bothered to make such strong statements unless He believed His followers would face a significant threat from false prophets in the future.

Identifying False Prophets

With so many prophets out there in the world today, how can one determine which prophets are real and which are pretenders? Notice some of the reasons that people give to explain their faith in a prophet:

• "Mary Baker Eddy was frequently sick as a child but was healed and went on to write a book on health that sold 10 million copies. That book blessed my life! She must be inspired."
• "Muhammad was illiterate. How could he have written such masterful works without God's assistance?"
• "Joseph Smith predicted the Civil War would start in South Carolina 29 years before it started! God must have inspired him."
• "Muhammad's teachings on diet and health are only now being validated by scientists after 1,000 years!"

Most Seventh-day Adventists will be familiar with the reasons given above because many of these same reasons are frequently cited in favor of Ellen White. Interestingly enough, none of these reasons is a Biblical test of a prophet. Writing inspiring, beautiful words, even when illiterate, does not make one a prophet. Getting miraculously healed does not prove one to be a prophet. Even making a prediction that — by chance — comes to pass is not proof that a person is a prophet of God. Anyone can predict a future event and — by sheer luck or mere coincidence — that future event may actually take place.

Believers cannot trust their feelings or emotions to guide them accurately on this subject! Every believer must have an objective set of criteria — specific, measurable rules — that can be applied to every person claiming to be a prophet; otherwise, virtually anyone could lay claim to being a prophet! Fortunately for believers, God has provided in the Bible seven specific, measurable criteria of a true prophet. When one candidly examines all the evidence, one will find sufficient evidence to make an educated decision regarding the prophetic calling of Ellen White. Using these seven Biblical tests one can easily distinguish a true prophet from a pretender.

Was Ellen G. White a prophet? Or a pretender? Let the investigation begin...