Oh, I certainly DO NOT depend on alleged foreknowledge. By no means! I just think that all people have a hidden potential for prophetic prediction, that's all. In most people, however, it is a badly atrophied or entirely unused potential, and even in those who DO appear to have an obvious talent for it, it may be entirely misleading...since it may be driven by their own emtional needs and prejudices...or their expectations. Their expectations are generally formed by the culture around them and/or their religion and other influences like that.

I do not regard the Book of Revelations as a reliable forecast for World events.

Nor do I believe that the destiny of the World was set in stone thousands of years ago. We are always shaping a new future through our individual and collective use of free will. If one has a genuine prophetic gift, one may glimpse a future event...but the use of free will may in the meantime alter or prevent that event...in which case, one's prophetic gift, if it was real, might well lead to a revised prophecy! :-) (before the event, I mean, not after it...)

Things are not set in stone, they are constantly alive and changing. Prophecy can serve as a warning. If the warning is taken seriously, and acted upon, then the prophecy has altered the future in a desirable way and served a very useful purpose.

One can use normal means of reasoning to prophecy...example: I can use normal reasoning to warn someone that, due to the fact that there is a freezing rain warning, they might be running the high risk of having an accident driving to Barrie, so I warn them to stay home tonight instead. I am prophesying danger, using normal reasoning in that case.

On the other hand, the weather might be perfect, and I might still suddenly get a very powerful gut feeling that someone should not drive somewhere that night (I VERY rarely experience that sort of thing...when I do, I take note of it.) I would then not be using normal reasoning at all, but making what most people usually think of when they hear the word "prophesy", I suppose...a recommendation based on something other than normal reasoning.

And some people have a gift for that.