I am not sure why Dr. Brown is hairsplitting here. Both types of false prophets he lists are still lying about hearing from God. The end result of their lying is not what defines them as false, it's the lying that does that. Likewise, the same applies to those Brown classifies as merely "making a mistake." To trivialize speaking on behalf of God Almighty is just staggering to me. This is not a joke. Those who follow are called sheep for a reason. When the armed insurrectionists breached our nation's capital on January 6th, 2021 they had already killed one police officer, urinated on the walls and defecated on the floors. They started marching through the halls of Congress calling out for the hanging of Vice President Mike Pence. When they got to the Well of the Senate however they paused to pray. Yes you heard that right. They prayed an evangelical, Charismatic prayer of thanksgiving to Jesus for their success thus far. How can people be so deceived? Because they listened to the false prophecies of men and women Dr. Brown wants to let off the hook as merely making a mistake. A prophet from God actually HEARS from God. He does not need to guess, interpret, or feel for the answers. God does not stutter.
"Are we then to brand someone a false prophet because, in sincerity of heart and after much prayer, they wrongly prophesied Trump's reelection? Are we to put them in the class of wolves in sheep's clothing? Are we to compare them to leaders who "strengthen the hands of evildoers" or who prophesy in the name of false gods? Certainly not. To do so would border on spiritual abuse. Think about it for a moment. There are people who claim to be pastors and who even serve as pastors, but they are really not called by God to be pastors, as sincere and devoted as they might be. Do we denounce them as counterfeit shepherds? Hardly. Instead, we say, "You're really not a pastor, and you should find another area of service." In contrast, if that person was a charlatan, an outright deceiver posing as a pastor, we would not hesitate to brand him a counterfeit shepherd. And what about the countless thousands of pastors who made sincere mistakes when trying to help their people, ultimately hurting them in the end? Do we brand them counterfeit shepherds? What about those who claim to be teachers of the Word but do not really have that spiritual gifting? Or those who claim to be teachers, yet they are weak in their understanding of the charismata (spiritual gifts) or they hold to an end-time view we reject? Do we brand them false teachers?" - Dr. Michael Brown
Yews Dr. Brown! We are to classify them exactly as wolves in sheep's clothing - just like the bible tells us to! Show me the bible story about false prophets who were allowed to open their lying mouths again because someone deemed they were sincere. The Trump prophets were all prophesying in the name of their false God - dominionism, the NAR and Trump himself. Spiritual abuse? Are you serious? Do you care one iota about the people that hear the false prophecies? Or are you too busy defending wolves to be bothered with the sheep. Next Brown engages in one of his favorite past times - muddying the water! Let's briefly follow him down the pastoral rabbit hole. If the person serving a pastor is sincere and bringing the Gospel to the sheep then I would wager there is no need to replace him. The next comparison is pretty tricky. What to do about the teacher who simply makes a mistake? We all know this happens all the time because people are human after all. First let's remove those that refuse to repent from the false teaching. Those people should be branded as false teachers. Joel Osteen's word faith is an unrepentant false teaching. Joseph Prince's Antinomianism is an unrepentant false teaching. Brian Houston's prosperity gospel is an unrepentant false teaching. If Pastor Bob down the road however makes an error in his sermon that he clarifies and admits to, of course we accept that error and move on. The difference of course is not banging a false prophet drum claiming to have heard directly from the mouth of Father God.
"Peter wrote, "But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute" (2 Pet. 2:1-2). Peter, then, answers this question for us. A false teacher is not a true believer who teaches something erroneous. A false teacher is a heretic, someone who introduces damnable doctrines into the church, someone who is hell-bound as well. Note also that Peter compares these false teachers to false prophets. Neither term can be applied to true believers. In the same way, Paul speaks of false apostles as servants of Satan (see 2 Cor. 11:13-15). This is different than someone today who believes in what is called fivefold ministry (see Eph. 4:8-16) and wrongly calls himself an apostle. Perhaps he is called to be a pastor and is a gifted, godly leader. The fact that he wrongly calls himself "apostle" doesn't mean that he is a false apostle and thereby a servant of Satan. That's why I will never call another believer a false prophet (or false teacher or false apostle). I will call out their error, when applicable. I will call for repentance, when appropriate. And I will urge them to stop calling themselves a pastor or teacher or prophet or apostle if, in fact, that is not their calling in God. And I will urge them to step down from ministry if they are not worthy of serving in the ministry. But unless they are clearly not part of the body of Christ, I will not use the "false" term to describe them. Put another way, I will only call a false believer a false prophet." - Dr. Michael Brown
Wow. That is some grade-A circular reasoning. The sad thing is Dr. Brown did not need to twist himself into theological pretzels because he is right. The false teacher or prophet is indeed not a true believer in Jesus Christ. If they were they would not pretend to hear from God when they have not. They would not continue to traffic in error after being corrected. You see beloved, any teacher can make an error but only a false teacher continues in their error. Look at the Trump false prophets and let me know who you think was legit before the Trump prophecy came along. Jeremiah Johnson? Kris Vallotton? Rick Joyner? Lance Wallnau? None of them were true prophets! That's the whole point! The Trump prophecies merely exposed them on a national scale. The key verses teach us very plainly that we are to mark them and avoid them. Period. We are not supposed to coddle them, make excuses for them, or most importantly call that which is false, true.
What about the Old Testament test for prophecy? According to Deuteronomy 18:15-22, if a purported prophet (speaking in particular of a national prophet) spoke in the name of a false god or presumptuously spoke falsely on the Lord's behalf, because of which their word did not come to pass, that prophet was to die. Interestingly, however, the term "false prophet" does not even occur in this context, even though it would be applicable. More importantly, this is not the test for New Testament prophecy. As I have explained elsewhere, since everyone can potentially prophesy in New Testament times, every prophetic word must be tested by others. The good is to be embraced; the bad is to be rejected (see 1 Cor. 14:29-31; 1 Thess. 5:19-21). In the case of the failed Trump prophecies, I have consistently called for accountability. And I believe much damage has been done because of these very public words. I have also warned that some leaders are going off into real delusion. And on my radio show, I have played clips by so-called prophets and have said plainly that these people are not prophets at all. But, to repeat, unless I know these people are outside the flock, either denying fundamentals of the faith or living in persistent and willful disobedience to the Lord, I will not call them false prophets. That is because I take the Lord and His Word very seriously. I will not go beyond what is written. - Dr. Michael Brown
Brown continues to play scriptural sleight of hand. Everyone could "potentially" prophesy in both testament periods. In the Old Testament days God Himself chose those that would prophesy for Him and in the New Testament days the Holy Spirit decides. The bottom line is it is still God who chooses. The "test" by others that Paul teaches about is that the prophetic word lines up with scripture. The good is to be embraced and the bad is to be rejected but that applies to the messenger as well as the message. Brown appears to want believer to reject the false word while embracing the false messenger that brought it. That is not supported in God's word. How can someone so learned as Dr. Brown not see that if you lie on behalf of God you cannot possibly be defined as staying within the fundamentals of the faith! Brown can stay within his delusion all he wants. He continues to defend the worst false teachers and prophets on the planet. How he can justify that and still think he takes the word of God seriously is beyond me. Beloved, reject the demonic clairvoyance that passes for prophesy within Charismaniacal circles these days. God does not change. If you speak presumptuously on His behalf you are to be marked and avoided. Period.
