Prophecy

The rise of African prophets: the unchecked power of the leaders of Pentecostal churches

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 8, 2024

Charismatic Pentecostal prophets are known for leading megachurches like these that emphasise faith healing, health and wealth.

Key Points: 
  • Charismatic Pentecostal prophets are known for leading megachurches like these that emphasise faith healing, health and wealth.
  • A 2022 study conducted in 34 African countries confirmed this trend: 69% of respondents trusted religious leaders; 51% trusted their president.
  • Many followers believe it would be a demotion for a prophet to run for president because a prophet anoints leaders.
  • As an anthropologist who studies charismatic Pentecostal churches, particularly in Zimbabwe, I’ve carried out research on the power exercised by prophets.

The prophets

  • Charismatic Pentecostal churches are built around prophets who are viewed as possessing special gifts to mediate between humanity and God.
  • It’s common practice for charismatic Pentecostal prophets to threaten doubters with eternal condemnation, ailments or poverty.
  • Charismatic Pentecostal prophets are popular for their ability to heal ailments.

Big money

  • But charismatic Pentecostal movements, in general, lack transparency and accountability in managing “free will” donations.
  • With vast financial resources that aren’t taxed, charismatic Pentecostal prophets’ lavish lifestyles serve as “proof” of the prosperity gospel they preach – that faith attracts money – while their followers pool resources to finance church operations.

Political connections

  • Post-colonial political leaders in Africa largely view charismatic Pentecostal prophets as allies.
  • Relations with political leaders often span several countries, extending the network and influence of prophets beyond national borders.
  • Allegations of rape, corruption and fraud against prophets can be leniently dealt with due to these connections and protection.

Media empires

  • Charismatic Pentecostal prophets have an impact on the Africa media landscape through powerful television and social media presence.
  • These media channels are also spaces for shaping and managing the public image of prophets – and can be used to counter harmful allegations against them.

Members

  • Pentecostal members form an army of foot soldiers who engage in recruiting new followers.
  • Charismatic Pentecostal communities are tightly knit and coalesce around the men of God.
  • Relations between the clergy and laity are framed around familial bonds, with the prophet as the spiritual father or “Daddy”.
  • More than other religious groupings, charismatic Pentecostal prophets preside over economies that systemically facilitate the distribution of food, clothes, money and jobs within the church – often in the form of church donations to members considered poor.


Josiah Taru has previously received research funding from the Wellcome Trust and the Andrew Mellon Foundation.

11-Year-Old Prodigy Draven Artzt Takes the Literary World by Storm with His AI-Assisted Sci-Fi Masterpiece "Galactic Nexus - The Abyssal Prophecy"

Retrieved on: 
Monday, January 29, 2024

At the tender age of 11, Draven Artzt has defied expectations, emerging as a rising star in the literary universe.

Key Points: 
  • At the tender age of 11, Draven Artzt has defied expectations, emerging as a rising star in the literary universe.
  • "Galactic Nexus - The Abyssal Prophecy" is a testament to Draven's extraordinary imagination and passion for storytelling.
  • Through his collaboration with AI technology, Draven has created a mesmerizing sci-fi saga that promises to enthrall readers of all ages.
  • "Galactic Nexus" unfolds in the Rain Galaxy, where the sudden cessation of rain triggers a series of mysterious events.

Prophecy Secures $35M Series B Funding to Scale its Self-Service Data Transformation Platform

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, October 11, 2023

Prophecy , the leading self-service data transformation platform, today announced its Series B funding round, securing an impressive $35M, led by Insight Partners and SignalFire with J.P. Morgan as a major investor.

Key Points: 
  • Prophecy , the leading self-service data transformation platform, today announced its Series B funding round, securing an impressive $35M, led by Insight Partners and SignalFire with J.P. Morgan as a major investor.
  • Raj Bains, the CEO and founder of Prophecy, shared his enthusiasm, stating,“With thousands of users across Fortune 500 organizations, Prophecy has unequivocally proven the demand for a complete, enterprise-grade data transformation platform over the fragmented modern data stack.
  • Second, the visual interface produces high-quality code, enabling data teams to run with best software practices to ship trusted data.
  • “Their self-service data transformation platform unlocks value from the lakehouse more quickly, making our investment in their Series B a natural next step for our relationship.

Prophecy Launches Generative AI Platform, Powering AI Applications on Enterprise Data

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, June 22, 2023

Prophecy , the low-code data transformation platform, today announced two new product offerings: Prophecy Generative AI Platform and Prophecy Data Copilot.

Key Points: 
  • Prophecy , the low-code data transformation platform, today announced two new product offerings: Prophecy Generative AI Platform and Prophecy Data Copilot.
  • The new Prophecy Generative AI Platform provides a simple way for organizations to power generative AI applications using privately-owned, enterprise data.
  • In addition, Prophecy is also announcing the launch of the Prophecy Data Copilot, an AI assistant that automatically creates data pipelines based on natural language prompts, and improves pipeline quality with greater test coverage.
  • The Prophecy Generative AI Platform democratizes AI for technical and non-technical teams by:
    “We see generative AI based copilots making low-code the default way to build applications and data pipelines in enterprises,” shared Prophecy Co-Founder, Maciej Szpakowski.

Peter Howson: new retrospective reveals how Scots painter found redemption after Bosnian war

Retrieved on: 
Saturday, May 27, 2023

Peter Howson’s story is one of seeking dignity in human suffering and violence, and finding redemption; it is also uniquely Scottish.

Key Points: 
  • Peter Howson’s story is one of seeking dignity in human suffering and violence, and finding redemption; it is also uniquely Scottish.
  • When The Apple Ripens, Howson’s retrospective at Edinburgh City Arts Centre (27 May-1 October), is a timely showcase to celebrate his 65th year.

A Scottish sensibility

    • An unmistakably Scottish feature of Howson’s work is the undertone of Calvinism with its God-fearing, joyless culture of toil and penitence.
    • His unique perspective on the world reflects his experiences of living in the east end of Glasgow.
    • Most of his early work portrayed caricatures of rough, masculine men with exaggerated musculature.
    • At a time when Margaret Thatcher was in power, he called out the right-wing extremists and portrayed the dispossessed with dignity.

War and peace

    • With an obsession around violence and warfare, Howson applied and was commissioned by the Imperial War Museum to record the Bosnian civil war in 1993 as the official war artist.
    • For Howson, life is about violence and confrontation, and in his words, encountering it makes him “feel alive”.
    • But the war had a huge impact on Howson’s mental health and his personal relationships were damaged by his experiences.
    • On his return, after a period of convalescence, he produced 300 pieces of powerful, shocking and controversial works of art.

Hyundai Motor and Sony Pictures Team Up for the Third Time with 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'

Retrieved on: 
Monday, May 15, 2023

The collaboration stems from a global promotional partnership that Hyundai Motor inked with Sony Pictures in 2020 to showcase the company's human-centered mobility vision via product and technological innovations.

Key Points: 
  • The collaboration stems from a global promotional partnership that Hyundai Motor inked with Sony Pictures in 2020 to showcase the company's human-centered mobility vision via product and technological innovations.
  • The movie also features a fictional self-driving robotaxi based on the Hyundai Pony, Hyundai Motor's first-ever proprietary model.
  • Hyundai Motor and Sony Pictures are also collaborating on a multi-dimensional global marketing campaign rolling out between May and July.
  • "During our long-standing relationship with Hyundai, their team continues to create impressive campaigns that capture the very essence of the brand.

Hyundai Motor and Sony Pictures Team Up for the Third Time with 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse'

Retrieved on: 
Monday, May 15, 2023

The collaboration stems from a global promotional partnership that Hyundai Motor inked with Sony Pictures in 2020 to showcase the company's human-centered mobility vision via product and technological innovations.

Key Points: 
  • The collaboration stems from a global promotional partnership that Hyundai Motor inked with Sony Pictures in 2020 to showcase the company's human-centered mobility vision via product and technological innovations.
  • The movie also features a fictional self-driving robotaxi based on the Hyundai Pony, Hyundai Motor's first-ever proprietary model.
  • Hyundai Motor and Sony Pictures are also collaborating on a multi-dimensional global marketing campaign rolling out between May and July.
  • "During our long-standing relationship with Hyundai, their team continues to create impressive campaigns that capture the very essence of the brand.

Prophecy launches Prophecy 3.0: low-code SQL that empowers business data users to self-serve and prepare data for analytics

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, April 26, 2023

Prophecy , the low-code data transformation platform, has announced the release of Prophecy 3.0, expanding beyond low-code Spark for data engineers to provide first-of-its-kind, low-code SQL capabilities for business data users — empowering the entire data organization to self-serve and visually build data products natively on cloud data warehouses.

Key Points: 
  • Prophecy , the low-code data transformation platform, has announced the release of Prophecy 3.0, expanding beyond low-code Spark for data engineers to provide first-of-its-kind, low-code SQL capabilities for business data users — empowering the entire data organization to self-serve and visually build data products natively on cloud data warehouses.
  • “We built Prophecy 3.0 to empower more team members, across all types of companies, to get faster — and more — value from their business data.”
    Continued Bains, “Business data users are the experts for their data but not expert data engineers.
  • “On the other hand, relying only on SQL code with dbt Core™ enables a fraction of the business data users, but leaves many others out of the equation.
  • "Teams across industries will be able to quickly and easily build visual data pipelines with Prophecy to feed data for analytics and machine learning."

Prophetic Book Makes History in the Heavens, Christened by Campus Students Preceding Asbury Revival and Jesus Revolution Movie

Retrieved on: 
Friday, March 31, 2023

Before that unprecedented event, the book Prophetic Matrix: Unlock The Secret Code To Your Destiny debuted at Immanuel College in Australia.

Key Points: 
  • Before that unprecedented event, the book Prophetic Matrix: Unlock The Secret Code To Your Destiny debuted at Immanuel College in Australia.
  • And now the movie Jesus Revolution, which was released the day following the last day of the Asbury revival, has amassed $42million in earnings domestically.
  • Rotten Tomatoes , the review aggregator site, listed a 99% approval rating among the general audience for Jesus Revolution.
  • It is not a coincidence that a campus revival broke out at Asbury University, with thousands of people attending from around the world.

Audible Launches Collection of Immersive, Cinematic Listening Experiences in Dolby Atmos

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, March 23, 2023

SAN FRANCISCO And NEWARK, N.J., March 23, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Dolby Laboratories, a leader in immersive entertainment, and Audible, a leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling, announced the launch of Dolby Atmos on Audible, a collection of immersive, cinematic listening experiences in pioneering spatial sound. The Dolby Atmos collection celebrates and expands the possibilities of audio storytelling by highlighting the extraordinary talents of a variety of actors, writers, directors, sound designers, and other creators across multiple genres, including feature-length multi-cast productions, soundscapes, live performances, and podcasts. The launch collection includes more than 40 of the service’s most popular Audible Originals, available for the first time in spatial audio with Dolby Atmos, as well as new titles like The Little Mermaid, narrated by Leigh-Anne Pinnock, and the Audible Theater production Marrow. The Dolby Atmos titles are available to all Audible members globally to stream and download through the Audible app on compatible iOS and Android Dolby Atmos-enabled mobile devices.

Key Points: 
  • The Dolby Atmos titles are available to all Audible members globally to stream and download through the Audible app on compatible iOS and Android Dolby Atmos-enabled mobile devices.
  • Dolby Atmos empowers creators and storytellers to push the boundaries of audio-only narratives through the ability to place sounds in a multidimensional space.
  • To see other available titles, type “Dolby Atmos” into the search bar on the Audible website, or look for the Dolby Atmos logo when streaming your favorite Audible Original in the Audible app.
  • For more information on how to enjoy Dolby Atmos through Audible, visit audible.com/dolbyatmos .