What attitudes did the prophets of the Old Testament hold towards dreams and visions?
Most scholars hold the opinion that the prophets shared a variety of opinions towards dreams and visions. Witherington states “On the one hand, dreams seem to be treated rather negatively in Jer 23:27-32 and 29:8; on the other hand, Daniel and Zechariah treat the matter rather differently, as does the book of Acts in the NT.” [29] Bar also identifies three main attitudes that exist amongst the biblical prophetic and wisdom literature: negative, suspicious and positive. Kelsey explains that the prophets were concerned with a proper analysis of dreams and visions. “But now the prophets, who all describe the inspiration of some kind of dreamlike experience, began to voice real concern for distinguishing the true dreamer from the false dreamer, the genuine interpreter from the false interpreter, and the true prophet from the false prophet.” [30] However Husser fails to acknowledge different attitudes amongst the prophets and states that the prophets all hold a negative opinion. “…why did t
