One of the most common misconceptions among Seventh-day Adventists is the idea that all prophecies are conditional. In a recent column of Spectrum online David R. Larson asserts the following:

Another important difference between prophecies and predictions is that prophecies are always conditional and predictions may or may not be. When we say that all prophecies are conditional, we mean that each and every prophecy is preceded by an expressed or implied "if" that refers to the exercise of moral freedom. Predictions may or may not say, "If you choose this, then that;" prophecies always do.

As most anyone familiar with logic knows, it is generally a fallacy to say "all" of anything. In contrast, consider the dictionary definition of prophecy, as found in Webster’s. Prophecy is:

1. an inspired utterance of a prophet
2. the function or vocation of a prophet; specif: the inspired declaration of divine will and purpose
3. a prediction of something to come

Using the most common interpretation of a prophecy as the telling forth of a message from God, one can easily see the incorrectness of saying that all prophecy is conditional. Take for instance the first messianic prophecy in the Bible: "The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him" (Deut. 18:15 NIV).

What if we apply Larson’s approach to this text? "If the LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him." Of course that approach does not work, so let us assume for the moment that the first sentence is a prediction within the prophecy and that the last sentence is the part to which we can apply the "if." This approach, too, is less than helpful.

Another example is found in Joel 2:28 and often considered fulfilled by Peter in Acts: "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions" (Joel 2:28 NIV). Again an implied "if" would make the statement meaningless.

What about prophecies that are less predictive? It is very hard to look at those sections of the Bible that are messages of God delivered through his prophets and insert "if." Inserting "if" into Paul’s quotation of Isaiah 64:4 makes no sense: "Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him" (Isa. 64:4 NIV). Neither would an "if" attached to John’s words in Revelation 1:8, "’I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ’who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.’" (NIV)

Most of those who say that all prophecy is conditional hearken back to the story of Jonah, as Larson’s article does. Does the story of Jonah prove that all prophecy is conditional? No. Jonah knew that God was slow to anger and would allow people to repent (Jon. 4:2). This quality is also shown in other Old Testament passages (for example, Jer. 18:7-10).

Furthermore, we probably do not know everything that Jonah said. The record is very sketchy: "On the first day, Jonah started into the city. He proclaimed: ’Forty more days and Nineveh will be overturned’" (Jon. 3:4 NIV). "Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah a second time: ’Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you’" (Jon. 3:1-2 NIV).

Why does this misunderstanding of prophecy occur? In Larson’s case, he does not seem to understand what a prophecy is. "This is because a prediction says ’Because this, then that,’" writes Larson, "whereas a prophecy says ’If this, then that.’ To put this point another way, predictions reason from present or anticipated conditions to their results."

From the derivation of the word prophet we can determine what is meant by prophecy because it is the act of a prophet. Consider the following definition from Baker’s Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, one of many similar Bible dictionaries that are readily available.

The Interpretation of Prophecy. Biblical prophecy is more than "fore-telling": two-thirds of its inscripturated form involves "forth-telling, " that is, setting the truth, justice, mercy, and righteousness of God against the backdrop of every form of denial of the same. Thus, to speak prophetically was to speak boldly against every form of moral, ethical, political, economic, and religious disenfranchisement observed in a culture that was intent on building its own pyramid of values vis-a-vis God’s established system of truth and ethics. . . .

Therefore, the predictive sections of biblical prophecy exhibit certain key characteristics: (1) they are not isolated sayings, but are organically related to the whole of prophecy; (2) they plainly foretell things to come rather than being clothed in such abstruse terminology that they could be proven true even if the opposite of what they appear to say happens; (3) they are designed to be predictions and are not accidental or unwitting predictions; (4) they are written and published before the event, so that it could not be said that it was a matter of human sagacity that determined this would take place; (5) they are fulfilled in accordance with the original utterance, unless expressly attached to a condition; and (6) they do not work out their own fulfillment, but stand as a verbal witness until the event takes place .

As in most things, misunderstandings creep in when people try to pick apart integrally related elements. In this case, a crucial theological error has arisen because of a false assumption about prophecy. Larson is not alone. From the pioneers to the present this most illogical of ideas is still readily found within the ranks of Seventh-day Adventism.

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