This article is inspired by an experience I had at my new Ward (congregation) at church a few weeks ago.
In preparing for General Conference, the Bishop (Pastor) of the ward was giving a lesson to the adults in the congregation. He was asking certain questions and getting feedback from the members. I can’t remember the exact question he asked, but it was something along the lines of “What is a prophet?” Some one answered and he replied that the answer was wrong and emphasized that ONLY men are called to be prophets and women do not get that calling.
The way he said it made me cringe as I thought about all the ladies in the room and as my thoughts turned to the public perception that I’ve heard many times that the Mormon Church is male shovanistic.
I came very close to raising my hand and correcting him, but I decided it wasn’t the right time and place to do that. So, I’m doing it here.
In this article, I will first define what a prophet is, according to LDS, or Mormon, scripture. I will then identify women prophets in the scriptures and share modern day examples as well.
Definition of a Prophet
In LDS scripture, the Bible Dictionary defines a prophet as follows:
The work of a Hebrew prophet was to act as God’s messenger and make known God’s will. The message was usually prefaced with the words “Thus saith Jehovah.” He taught men about God’s character, showing the full meaning of his dealings with Israel in the past. It was therefore part of the prophetic office to preserve and edit the records of the nation’s history; and such historical books as Joshua, Judges, 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings were known by the Jews as the former Prophets. It was also the prophet’s duty to denounce sin and foretell its punishment, and to redress, so far as he could, both public and private wrongs. He was to be, above all, a preacher of righteousness. When the people had fallen away from a true faith in Jehovah, the prophets had to try to restore that faith and remove false views about the character of God and the nature of the Divine requirement. In certain cases prophets predicted future events, e.g., there are the very important prophecies announcing the coming of Messiah’s kingdom; but as a rule a prophet was a forthteller rather than a foreteller. In a general sense a prophet is anyone who has a testimony of Jesus Christ by the Holy Ghost, as in Num. 11:25–29; Rev. 19:10.
As you can see from the definition, Mormon scripture does not define a prophet as being gender specific and a few key elements on what a prophet is stand out to me:
- A prophet is God’s messenger
- A prophet denounces sin and fortells of consequences to sin
- A prophet can predict future events
- A prophet is a preacher of righteousness
- Having a testimony of Jesus by the Holy Ghost qualifies as being a prophet
Women Prophets in Scripture
Having defined what a prophet is, the next step is to identify women in scripture who were prophets. From what I’ve read, the following women were prophets of varying degrees and are found in Christian Bibles: Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, Noadiah, Isaiah’s wife, Anna, and the daughters of Phillip. In addition to these specifically named ladies, there are other women discussed in scripture as being leaders in the early Christian church.
People who claim that men have a monopoly on being a prophet are not basing their views on scriptural facts. Clearly, there were women prophets.
Modern Day Women Prophets
I had a hard time coming up with examples of modern-day women prophets. Perhaps some of you can help me here. The closest thing I came across (which is another topic) was that in the early Mormon Church, women could give priesthood blessings.
Personally, I have had one example of a woman in a leadership position that prophesied to me. She was my mission president’s wife. I wrote about it a few years ago, but the short story is that she prophesied to me that if I worked as hard as I could each day of my mission, that my then rebellious brother would turn things around and go on a mission. He ended up turning things around and going on a mission.
In conclusion, I’d like to remphasize the scriptural foundation that women can be prophets. I would like to hear your personal reasons why (or why not) you believe this to be true and if you have any examples to share, even better!
Grace for Grace 
11 comments
Comments feed for this article
October 18, 2012 at 6:16 pm
mormonheretic
Thanks for the link! I did another post on women with priesthood in ancient Christianity too.
LikeLike
October 19, 2012 at 10:38 am
graceforgrace
MH. Thanks for the great articles!
LikeLike
October 18, 2012 at 6:20 pm
seagull
I think your study leader was more correct than wrong.
The New Testament ties in the office of Pastor (0verseer, Bishop) as a continuance of the prophetic office. In his letters, the Apostle Paul was very firm on men taking this place of leadership. He cites the order of creation and the responsibility of man (even when it came to Eve’s transgression into sin), as key points that affirm the leadership of males. Woman was the helpmeet of Adam, not his equal in that regard. It is not a matter of being Chauvinistic, but a matter of being Biblical that we hold up man as a leader. This is true in the marriage, in the home, and in the church. It does not have to be that in the business world or in politics, unless we were in a theocracy, which we are not. That realm was specific to the Old Testament Israel.
The women you mentioned certainly were prophetesses in their own right, but not by their own proclamation or the proclamation of others. As you look at them in Scripture, you will note that they do not assume leadership over men, except in the most extreme situation. Deborah, for instance, seems to be dominant over Israel’s commander Barak; she tells him to go to war against Sisera. We see that her authority comes from God and is a godly command when we hear Barak insisting that he will only go to war if Deborah goes along into battle. Deborah is the prophetess simply because the men are shirking their duty. To underline that point, Deborah foretells that the glory for Sisera’s death will be given to a woman. This comes to fruition when Sisera, retreating into the hills, ends up at the tent of a woman who feeds him and shelters him and then drives a tent peg through his temple while he is asleep. It’s odd that the Book of Hebrews lists Barak as a judge (not Deborah), but it makes some sense when we consider that she was a prophetess that stood in only because the men were shamefully not assuming their appointed roles.
I also have seen women who could be described as prophetesses, as you mention. They are wise women, students of the Word, and therefore do not assert their dominance over men. If they are more qualified to lead, esp in a given instance, they will (and should), but only until a time when that role can be given back to a man. In Russia, the bloody pogroms against Christianity, Christian clergy and men were executed or driven into exile. Women who were left in the villages assumed the teaching and worship roles for their communities, with the continual threat of their own death if they were caught. Millions of Christians were martyred, but when the reign of terror was lifted and communism ebbed back, men were trained to take the place of leadership in the church. The women were honored for their service, for they truly maintained that office in a severe time, but stepped back to allow for men to assume that office, as Scripture maintains.
They are typically the liberal churches today that allow for the ordination of women–but notice that the very same are those that do not hold the Word of God to be inspired or holy.
LikeLike
October 19, 2012 at 10:38 am
graceforgrace
Hi Seagull,
You bring up some good points to consider.
I think there is a difference in being a “prophet” and holding the office of “pastor” or in our church, bishop or president of the church. In my mind, a prophet is what I’ve outlined in the article. A pastor, bishop, etc. is a different calling and they can also have the gift of prophecy over the people they are responsible for as well.
What do you think?
LikeLike
October 19, 2012 at 10:00 pm
Glenn Thigpen
I think that there is a difference between the gift of prophecy and being called as a prophet, seer, and revelator as an official oracle of the church.
There is little doubt that there were women prophets anciently and no reason why women cannot seek that gift today. Section 46 of the Doctrine and Covenants lays out some of the gifts of the spirit. In verse 11 the “every man” seems to be the generic “mankind” figure of speech. The priesthood is not mentioned as being required for those gifts.
Maybe women, and for that matter, all of us should seek more earnestly for those gifts of the spirit. But in so doing we also should be “remembering for what they are given” (verse 8)
Glenn
LikeLike
October 19, 2012 at 10:30 pm
graceforgrace
Hi Glenn,
I think you’re spot on with your comments. I think that in the Church people tend to think that a prophet has to be the person over the whole church, but in a general sense, we’re all prophets if we have a testimony of Jesus (according to LDS scripture).
LikeLike
October 20, 2012 at 9:29 am
Cal
Seagull, thanks for the insight.
I’d like to add that Christian churches that you might say are part of the charismatic movement ordain women yet are very committed to the Bible as inspired and holy.
LikeLike
October 19, 2012 at 7:41 am
nathmac
Yep. Ellen White was a prophet – and she was good, probably one of the best. Right?
LikeLike
October 19, 2012 at 10:39 am
graceforgrace
nathmac. I’m not familiar with Ellen White….is she the foursquare founder? (I guess I could just Google it). Tell me more about her though from your perspective.
LikeLike
October 20, 2012 at 9:15 am
Cal
You’re right on, graceforgrace. The Scriptures are clear.
I’ve had prophetically gifted women prophecy to me and they were very accurate. They picked up on issues that were going on in my spirit and in my relationship with God that no one but God could have known.
They confirmed to me certain things that God had already been speaking to my heart about but that I wasn’t totally sure about. They encouraged me to go forward in my walk with the Lord—worldly psychics don’t do that. They also accurately reflected the love of Jesus in the way they spoke.
One woman who operates the gift of prophecy on a pretty advanced level, Barbara Lanzdorf, said to me (among other things), “You’re about to explode!” About, as I recall, 5 or 6 months later she prophesied again to me, saying, “There’s a shift coming.”
Shortly after that I launched my website and started blogging in various places. I definitely felt in my heart something like an explosion or shift. Usually what I did on these blogs was defend the Christian nature of the Mormon Church, which is what I feel called to do.
What I love about it is that if she had known what she was talking about, she probably would not have said what she did. Most evangelicals, due to lack of knowledge, don’t recognize the work of God in the LDS. The neat thing about prophecy is that God is able to bypass our unrenewed minds!
LikeLike
October 28, 2012 at 9:27 pm
Doug
Ellen White was a leader in the Seventh-Day Adventist movement-and her writings are held in very high regard in Adventist circles.. I do not consider her a good example of woman prophets!
LikeLike