Have Jehovah's Witnesses ever claimed to be an INSPIRED prophet?

From the beginning, the Watchtower has said:

"Nor would we have our writings reverenced or regarded as infallible." - December 15, 1896, page 306.

(For more, see: Has The Watchtower Society Ever Claimed to be Infallible?)

But by a definition of their choosing, opposers of Jehovah's Witnesses claim that they must be false prophets. However, this is just ignorance of what is meant by 'Prophet' and what was intended by WBTS publications. The fundamental meaning of 'Prophet' is NOT that of prediction:

Dr. Robert Young (author of Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible and Young's Concise Critical Bible Commentary) writes:

"PROPHET - is used of one who (professedly) announces the will or celebrates the works of God, whether these relate to things past, present or future, and it is applied to patriarchs, orators, singers, songstresses, priests, and preachers." - Young's Analytical Concordance to the Bible, "Hints and Helps to Bible Interpretation," #68.

And Richard Lattimore, "the eminent translator" (NY Times Book Review) and "one of the most distinguished living translators of Greek" writes in notes for 1 Cor. 11:4 and 14:1 -

"`prophesies.' This is not here introduced as if it were an activity requiring extraordinary gifts, and presumably may MEAN NOTHING MORE THAN READING, QUOTING, OR INTERPRETING SCRIPTURE. See also 14:1 ff." - Acts and Letters of the Apostles, p. 281, Dorset Press, 1982.

On the highest level, "prophet" would indicate an inspired prophet of God who through God's inspiration actually speaks words God has put in his mouth. In this sense, Jehovah's Witnesses do not claim to be (nor believe that there are any) INSPIRED prophets today.

But on a LOWER level of meaning for the word, it can simply BE SOMEONE WHO GOES FORTH AND SPEAKS THE WORD OF GOD AS HE UNDERSTANDS IT FROM INSPIRED SCRIPTURE.

For more, see

'False Prophet' Claim