29. Can we expect any more prophets?

The answer to this question for Muslims is simply ‘no’. Muhammed proclaimed himself to be the last prophet. As such there cannot be any more Muslim prophets that will come before the Judgement Day. Al Mahdi is regarded as a leader and not a prophet.

For Christians there is no evidence that the gift of a prophet has been withdrawn by God although some modern western Christians did try to propose that the gift of prophecy and miracles ceased with the death of the Apostle John in 93 AD, being the last living disciple of Jesus. This theory did not prevail in the light of theological or scholarly investigation. The testimony of countless Christians in the last 1900 years who had experienced miracles, and been given words of prophecy by the Holy Spirit negates this theory. There are many examples recorded in the history of the Church of Jesus Christ that are evidence that God has kept speaking through his prophets to groups of people, and in some cases warning them of impending doom so they could escape such events if they obeyed God’s word through a prophet. For this reason, Christians would find it very difficult to recognise Muhammed as the last Prophet.

Jesus Christ said that the ‘parakletos’ (the Holy Spirit – Acts 1 verse 4-5) would come and give gifts to men for the equipping and encouragement of the Church (Ephesians 4 verses 7-13). This list of gifts includes the gift of a prophet. Muslim teaching would have Christians accept that this gift of a prophet ceased in 632 AD when Muhammed died. The fact that the Christian Church has experienced the encouraging ministry of thousands of prophets over the last 2,000 years makes it difficult for Christians to accept this teaching of Islâm. Martin Luther the great German Reformer of Christianity posted his thesis on the door of the Church of All Saints in Wittenberg on the 31st October, 1517. Luther was a prophet for Europe to liberate the Church from the practice of indulgences, and other non- biblical practices. Christians reading Greek versions of the Bible for themselves made the discovery that these practices were not in the Bible. A Swiss counterpart of Luther was Ulrich Zwingli, who was born in 1484 in the village of Wildhaus, and who freed the people of Switzerland from the payment of indulgences. Luther claimed strongly that indulgences violated the clear teaching that the grace of God was available freely to all who put their faith in Jesus Christ. There was no requirement in the Bible to pay any money to secure this abundant grace.