Forums → WEPR → Prophecy and Prediction

I think that prediction is what you guess at the moment so like spur of the moment thing and profecy is what people think is going to happen for sure

Frankly, turret nailed it in my opinion. A prediction is something a person says that they hope or want to happen (i.e. "I predict Obama will win the election&quot, while a prophecy is when someone believes that an event will happen, possibly via divine intervention.

Speaking of prophecies, doesn't my armatar look like Jesus? Haha, I thought it did.

Oh, just a minor correction:

When I said 'divine intervention', I meant that whoever is giving the prophecy believes that they recieved that message via divine intervention.

I agree, and disagree with that. I see a prediction as a mere guess of future outcomes or events, based on what they want to occur. I see a prophesy as a physic revalation via divine revolution.

The only thing I disagree with, turret, is that I don't think prophesies are always "for sure." I think prophesies can be false.

Of course, not all prophesies are true. Some are, but some aren't. Just look at all of the 'end of the world' prophesies that went down the drain.

yeah oh here is another differnce is a prediction i usually by one person and a prophecy is like when a whole bunch of people think it will happen

Well, that hasn't really "occured," yet, if you are referring to the Mayan and Aztec prophesies. But yes, I see those as false prophesies, but if you think about it, didn't they come to that conclusion by looking at the stars? I think that they PREDICTED that something will come to destroy the world, but I think that it is a comet that they are predicting. Ahhhh, but this brings up another addition to the definition of &quotrediction." It doesn't ONLY have to be something that they want to happen, but something that they have a bit of proof to say that something might occur. Man, that was poor wording :P

Here are the defenitions of both of these and i will try to explain how they are different

Prophecy: Knowledge of the future (usually obtained from a divine source)

Which leads me to my point agian, they think it will happen it the future and usually it is something big like a comet hitting earth not "I think he will pass out", and it is obtained from a source so that meens from a place like a church, people, ECT.

Prediction: A statment made about the future

Which leads me to my point it is a statement not knowledge about the future it is not obtained from a source it is just what you think will happen

Please put the links to those definitions! I looked up those exact ones....

Now prophesy can be defined as knowledge from a divine source (i.e. God) but knowledge is only knowledge if it is correct right? So I see that definition as a bit....incomplete and faulty.

A prophecy is something that someone frsees as an exact even which will happen. A prediction is a calculated guess. At least thats how i see it.

@estel: you made fo sense

I want to stay out of the realm of epistemology as much as possible, since that's a can of worms that I can't put a lid on.

I have heard some suggestions that the difference between the two is that prophecy is divinely inspired somehow and prediction is not. This seems to make sense, since we wouldn't say that the weatherman has prophesized rain tomorrow.

Does this seem cogent? Or is there clearly more to it than this?
Also, is one of these terms a subset of another? In other words, is prophecy a type of prediction or is prediction a type of prophecy?