Could you also tell me how there can be an interpretation of prophecy without prophets? “No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation” (II Peter 1:20).<\/p>\n\t
“And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit<\/em>” (II Peter 1:19-21).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Peter is stating that since these prophetic words were confirmed (though the miracles accompanying their giving — Hebrews 2:3-4 — something the Book of Mormon, Doctrines and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price cannot lay claim to), they are God’s word and no man can place his private “spin” on what God said.<\/p>\n
Peter did not state that prophecy required an interpreter. The Bible does teach that speaking in other languages (speaking in tongues) did require an interpreter when the language spoken was not one known by the audience (I Corinthians 14:11-13, 27-28). However, Paul states that prophecy was superior to speaking in other languages because it did NOT need an interpreter. “I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification<\/em>” (I Corinthians 14:7).<\/p>\n
God commanded that Christians understand what He has had recorded. “Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is<\/em>” (Ephesians 5:17). This command could not be fulfilled if Christians were unable to understand what God said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Could you also tell me how there can be an interpretation of prophecy without prophets? “No prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation” (II Peter 1:20). Answer: “And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[428,169,142,141],"class_list":["post-17036","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-gifts-of-the-holy-spirit","tag-prophecy","tag-speaking-in-tongues","tag-tongue-speaking"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38272,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/since-the-scriptures-can-be-unclear-doesnt-it-require-an-organization-to-state-what-is-true\/","url_meta":{"origin":17036,"position":0},"title":"Since the Scriptures can be unclear, doesn’t it require an organization to state what is true?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Scripture is unclear at times and at other times seems to be contradictory. With that in mind, there are many different interpretations from many different sources. So, my question is this; If what the Bible says is true, not according to personal interpretation, who or what organization is the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":35736,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-can-i-check-my-own-understanding-if-i-misunderstand-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":17036,"position":1},"title":"How can I check my own understanding if I misunderstand the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 7, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: How can I check my own understanding in comparison to the Bible, if I misunderstand the Bible itself? Answer: \"Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is\" (Ephesians 5:17). The first point to realize is that the Bible is understandable. Yes, people do\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86714,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/are-preachers-prophets\/","url_meta":{"origin":17036,"position":2},"title":"Are preachers prophets?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 20, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Good afternoon. My family and I are members of the Church of Christ, and I have been reading your articles on your church website for several years now, learning a great deal. If you don't mind responding to this email, I would greatly appreciate it. Recently, the preacher at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43153,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-can-i-do-about-a-visiting-preacher-making-claims-that-ecclesiastes-is-not-inspired-and-there-are-errors-in-the-bible\/","url_meta":{"origin":17036,"position":3},"title":"What can I do about a visiting preacher making claims that Ecclesiastes is not inspired and there are errors in the Bible?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 3, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: My wife and I have attended the same church for the past 16 years. We have two elders and five deacons. Recently the son of one of our elders came, by invitation, to preach for us. This young man has graduated from a top university and has a degree\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12290,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/have-you-studied-the-bible-from-an-academic-point-of-view-as-a-historical-document-of-several-communities-making-sense-of-god-in-their-time-of-crisis\/","url_meta":{"origin":17036,"position":4},"title":"Have you studied the Bible from an academic point of view as a historical document of several communities making sense of God in their time of crisis?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 14, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: You give your answers in a canonical view; basically, using the Bible as a whole in its entirety to answer the questions. Yet, the core of what the questions address is why did the authors write the apparent contradictions if it was \"inspired by God\"? There was a time\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43928,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-it-wrong-not-to-attend-a-family-dinner-hosted-by-a-couple-who-are-living-together-unmarried\/","url_meta":{"origin":17036,"position":5},"title":"Is it wrong not to attend a family dinner hosted by a couple who are living together unmarried?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 11, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Jeff, Is it wrong for me to not attend a family dinner because the ones hosting it are living together unwed? They are not Christians, they are Baptist. I do not want to approve of sin be it through words or actions. Answer: \"But now I have written\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17036","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17036"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17036\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17036"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17036"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17036"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}