Agabus, Paul's Arrest, and the Nature of New Testament Prophecy
We just finished Acts 21 in our Sunday morning Bible readings, a chapter which includes the prophecy of Agabus and its fulfillment with Paul's arrest. Is there something you may have missed? Some believers of the Charismatic persuasion see inaccuracies in the details Agabus's words. These supposed inaccuracies evidence a more fallible nature of New Testament prophecy: God doesn't hold the same standard of 100% fidelity and veracity as He did in the Old Testament. In other words, someone today claiming the gift of prophecy doesn't need to be right all the time. Prophecy today can be fallible and even non-authoritative. That argument may seem convincing until we look a bit closer at Acts 21. Does the text actually highlight or even demonstrate inaccuracies in the prophecy? Have Christians in church history agreed with this modern reading of Agabus? Dr. Nathan Busenitz answers these questions in a blog art...