Comments on: Jon Stewart, Prophet (But Not the Phoney Future-Telling Kind)

By: kevin47

kevin47 — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 18:10:08 +0000

Prophets speak the truth when it is unpopular. They don't check ratings to find out what is popular, and then speak truth that everyone recognizes to be true.

Prophets also reflect God's wisdom, and, um, believe in God.

I mean real prophets, not the phony talk show kind.

By: Eric77

Eric77 — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 04:34:01 +0000

I definitely agree with you and squeaky that wisdom has something to do with it. I also like your idea of insights directly from God. I think that's important when Christians talk about prophets. Someone might be saying something wise, but is it God talking through them? I don't know…

By: Eric77

Eric77 — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 04:32:03 +0000

That must be why the squirrels dig holes throughout my garden, uprooting plants. Growing up, I was always told stories of the squirrels hibernating in a hole in a tree filled with nuts. I wish they'd do that instead of burying them in my garden. Curse them. argh!

By: castlebc

castlebc — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 14:30:26 +0000

I felt badly for Cramer. I understand Jon Stewart wanting to publicly expose him, but he didn't follow Matthew's mandate to confront the person one-to-one first, then go to him with others, before public humiliation. Cramer stayed remarkably calm. He didn't have to appear on the show.

By: justintime

justintime — Sat, 14 Mar 2009 01:53:53 +0000

According to scientists, squirrels will forget where they buried their nuts but can find them again with their highly developed sense of smell.

By: meurig

meurig — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 21:52:46 +0000

I agree with what I think you're saying – that to call Jon Stewart a prophet is twisting the language unacceptably. That he is prepared to tell truth is something to be honoured. That he is prepared to do so when establishment figures only want to avoid it should not be too much of a surprise.

Something similar happened in Britain during the lead-up to the 2003 Iraq invasion. The only solid historical background to the Iraqi situation provided by the mainstream media came from a satirical show (Bremner, Bird and Fortune). To me this is the recovery of a long cultural tradition (the celtic bard, the mediaeval fool, etc) which has the undoubted benefit of counteracting dictatorial tendencies. I'm glad that the US is now also beginning to recover that tradition. (I hope Canada will follow soon – there's nothing here that can match the quality of satire that British TV has had for a couple of decades.) But it ain't the same as prophecy!

As for what prophecy is – my operational definition is that it's the relaying of insights directly received from God. It may be about the future, but if the scriptures are anything to go by it usually isn't. I do agree with Squeaky about the close interrelationship between the gifts of wisdom and prophecy – and also the “word of knowledge” which was so central to the 80s revival that came out of the Vineyard churches. I'm not convinced that these 3 gifts are the same thing (or interchangeable), but I'm not sure it really matters so long as we're committed to allowing God to speak. (And wisdom is certainly needed to test prophecies and discern spirits.)

By: squeaky

squeaky — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 20:29:44 +0000

Hmm–good question. I think you would need to examine what prophets have done in the Bible. Sometimes it really is a sort of “predicting” the future, although, I'm not sure it is so much they were predicting the future as they were warning of a future that is almost certainly unavoidable if we continue in the path we are going.

In my more charismatic days, prophecy was always all about predicting the future, and we had prophetic meetings where “prophets” would speak a word over someone (or the church) telling them what was going to happen in their lives. I don't know what to think of that stuff anymore, and this new understanding of prophecy is very unfamiliar to me, as well. I too would be interested in knowing what others think about this.

It does occur to me, though, that if prophecy has more to do with warnings of dire outcomes if we don't veer off a certain path, then perhaps the gift of wisdom and prophecy are intimately intertwined.

By: nuclearferret

nuclearferret — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:17:08 +0000

Great demonstration that even the blind squirrel finds a nut.

By: Eric77

Eric77 — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:44:36 +0000

I agree with most of what Stewart was saying and I'm glad he skewered Cramer, who is annoying and obnoxious.

What is a the definition of a prophet? Someone who speaks the truth? I'm seriously interested in knowing what people think. I think it has to be more than simply saying things that are true. I say true things all the time. Is it saying things that are true to people who don't want to hear them? Does there have to be some personal risk involved in doing so? I'm curious…

By: Ed_Cyzewski

Ed_Cyzewski — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:12:39 +0000

Thanks Eugene.
This Portfolio article "The End of Wall Street" helped me see just how depraved things have become: http://tinyurl.com/6z8zq7.