Pagan Prophecies of Christ?

Examples of Sibyllian Oracles:

"With five loaves at the same time, and with two fishes, He will satisfy five thousand men in the wilderness . . . He will walk on the waves. He will release men from disease. He will raise the dead and drive away many pains. And from the bread of one pouch, there will be the satisfying of men." 

"He will afterwards come into the hands of the unjust and the faithless, and they will inflict blows with impure hands on God." 

"Know Him as your God, who is the Son of God."

"Do you not tremble, nor fear God most High? There is only one uncreated God, who reigns alone, all-powerful, very great, from whom nothing is hid."

"But there is one God of pre-eminent power, who made the heaven, the sun, the moon, the fruitful earth, and the waves of the sea . . . Worship Him who alone is ruler of the world, who alone was, and is from age to age."

In the ancient days of Rome, Greece and Babylon, the land was filled with raving, frenzied prophetesses. Each god had their possession, and spoke to mankind, informing and deceiving by devilish influence. Yet among these, there was a class of elderly women called the Sibyls, who for hundreds of years, interlaced with their infernal madness, also proclaimed profound truths and clear prophecies of the coming Christ and a plain monotheism that stood against the pagan backdrop of a multitude of deities. Their words are very ancient, pre-dating the advent of Christ by many hundreds of years.

Early Christians took note, and some were even called "believers in the Sibyls" because they so often used their utterances to evangelize to the idolatrous world around them. Legends say one of the earliest Sibyls was even a pagan daughter-in-law of Noah, explaining the synergies of both plain monotheism and messianic fervor that were uncharacteristic in pagan cultures. Modern scholars are so confounded by the accuracy of these words, they presume they were later additions to the texts, a corruption of the original ravings.

Alas, scholars are shirking the testimony of those closest and most related, for this idea of corruption even existed in the very infancy of the church age. Consider this simple retort from Lactantius, ante-Nicene Father, and tutor of Emperor Constantine, in 304 A.D:

"Being refuted by these testimonies, some are accustomed to fall back on the claim that these poems were not written by the Sibyls, but were invented and composed by our own writers instead. However, he who has read Cicero, Varro, and other ancient writers will assuredly not think this. For they make mention of the Erythraean and the other Sibyl, from whose books we bring forth these examples. And those authors died before the birth of Christ according to the flesh. However, I do not doubt that in former times, these poems were regarded as ravings. For, at that time, no one understood them . . . Therefore, they were neglected for many ages. But they received attention after the birth and passion of Christ."

Wikipedia cites Church Father Athenagoras of Athens who, in a letter addressed to Marcus Aurelius in ca. AD 176, quoted verbatim a section of the Oracles. They are mentioned in the midst of a lengthy series of other classical and pagan references such as Homer and Hesiod, stating several times that all these works should already be familiar to the Roman Emperor. Copies of the actual Sibylline Books (as reconstituted in 76 BC) were still in the Roman Temple at this time. How then were these prophecies were forged by Christians, who at that time were small in number and politically powerless? How were they able to make the forged copies so numerous that philosophers and emperors would be familiar with their corruptions without question? How is it that their forgeries were made on the legendary level of Homer and Hesiod in so short a time, in just a mere generation? 

It seems that those who wish to discredit these prophecies are doing just what was attempted to be done with the piercing Biblical prophecies of Isaiah. Scholars said, "These statements are simply too accurate to be legitimate. These prophecies of Messiah are not mere interpolations of vague imagery. They must be written after the fact." Such was the running argument for generations of skeptics, that is, until the Dead Sea Scrolls unveiled full copies of Isaiah that were written before the advent of Christ, proving the prophetic Spirit alive.

Why Pagan Prophecies?

In the Bible, we have precedent for this strange occurrence, of pagan prophets speaking the truth of God. We have the story of Balaam, son of Beor, a non-Israelite seer often maligned in the Scriptures as an example of what a prophet ought not to be. His story shows him to be a man of selfish ambition, prophesying for money, gain, and favor. The basis of his story is that he is hired by Balak, King of Midian to prophecy against Israel. He did what the Lord asked of him, but only because he had no other choice.

Outside of the Bible though,  we find he was also a man of double allegiances  Preserved in the Deir Alla Inscription in modern day Jordan, we find a fragment from "The Book of Balaam, son of Beor," which is a prophecy of wrath and apocolypse given by other gods, Baal and Asherah.

The fact is this: Balaam was a man who the Lord God used to prophesy what was needful. Seers, mediums and soothsayers are always open to spiritual forces, but indiscriminately, without guard, barrier or discernment. This reality is often taken advantage of by devils and deceptive spirits to convey their agendas. However, since there is no guard upon them, the Spirit of God has, at times, used such persons.

The implications can be haunting and confusing. It can bring up questions like, "If they were right about this, what else were they right about?" The fact is, Truth is true, no matter where it is found. Any truth is measured against the Scripture's testimony. Truth is never made untrue because of it's source. Even a fool may utter a wise word. It is only untrue being contrary to the the Inspired Word. We would be wise to admit this. 

Yet the early Christians so embraced these utterances, and believed that God had planted seeds of truth in the Greek and Roman cultures through the Sibyls.

[Addressed to Pagans:] "You may in part easily learn right religion from the ancient Sibyl. For, by some kind of powerful inspiration, she teaches you. Through her oracular predictions, she teaches truths that seem similar to the prophets."

- Justin Martyr, 160 A.D.

It would seem these sorts of events, both Balaam, and the Sibyls, are a demonstration of God's great love for people. In Balaam, he was used to bring blessing upon Israel when a curse was desired. In the Sibyls, God used those who were seen as having divine authority to gave the Gentiles a foretelling of His saving plan in Christ. He would not leave people in utter darkness. His love extended even to those who heed the words of devils. The Jews were keepers of the untarnished prophecy, held and preserved for all time that every generation might see their fulfillment. But the Sibyls spoke to a completely contrary, unbelieving world - God taking advantage of their authority, as well as their indiscriminate spiritualism, to bring light where none was to be found.

The result was a stark contrast between the Messianic prophetic verses and the devilish rantings. The result was countless souls converted from paganism to Christ by the rightful use of their testimony. The result was showing a demonstration of the powerful love of God to go to any length to reach so very many.