UC, just for reference could you humour me for a moment and lets conduct a purely hypothetical mental exercise. I'm going to replace "prophecy" with "prediction" because I think the words are interchangeable semantically, but if there is something special about a prophecy as opposed to a prediction feel free to say what that might be.
Here is a prediction:
The Prediction wrote:On the fifth day after the storm which destroyed property, a man will drive from Houston to San Antonio in a black corvette. He will not use the 10, but will travel the path of the 290, the 21 and the 35. During his travels he will overtake a red car, and it will rain. He will stop for petrol and snacks 2 times. Once in Giddings, and once in San Marcos. After he arrives in San Antonio he will be bathed in sunshine. He will go to the best place in town. In the days and weeks after he arrives a war will kill many civilians, and an earthquake will make people fear for their safety. He will meet a true friend of mankind who will give him invaluable advice for how to improve.
Now, for the sake of argument, what are the minimum conditions you would need to have shown to be true before you believe that that is an accurate prediction? (not that it came from God or anything like that, just what would you need to see to think "that prediction was correct"?) Is there any part of that paragraph which could be removed or ignored and it have no bearing on whether you believe that it is a correct prediction of future events should the rest come to pass? Are there any limits on timeframes or locations, for example does the section "After he arrives in San Antonio he will be bathed in sunshine" have to occur on the same day as he arrives, or the same year, or could it be he then travels somewhere else after visiting a rainy San Antonio to be bathed in sunshine? Does the earthquake and the war mentioned have to take place within a certain geographical / temporal distance from San Antonio?
Edit - lets make it even easier and have 4 very specific questions:
(a) He doesn't use the 10 - is the prediction accurate? Even if he uses the 59 and the 87 instead?
(b) There is a pre-existing war killing civilians before he arives in San Antonio, which continues after he arrives. Does this count or does there need to be a new war?
(c) He overtakes a red car, but it only rains before he does so and not afterwards, is the fact the rain comes after the red car in the prediction important or can their order be interchanged?
(d) He stops for a 3rd time for petrol and snacks (corvettes are not fuel efficient, especially older ones) in Hempstead, is this a problem for the "two times" mentioned in the prediction?
Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 12:39 pm
