Well, we are using an English word for Hebrew and Greek words. Alternatives are "shadows" as in Heb 10.1, "dark sayings" as the King James uses, "mysteries" as used by the apostles,  "hard saying" as when Jesus spoke of drinking his blood.

The nature of them is very much like riddle though, in that the answer cannot be derived from the information contained in the riddle. There is a trick answer or a solution that can only be known after the fact.  Prophecy itself has this riddle nature.

The example of Gen 1.1 is easily dismissed as invention or accident until you recognize that whole chapters can be unpacked in such a fashion and they always have a picture of Christ.

Gen 38 contains a picture of the birth of Christ in great detail.

But perhaps we should start another thread if we want to discuss it?

Thanks for the welcome Tom.

I personally wouldn't call anything in the Holy Bible a riddle,

The reason I look for riddles is because God says he speaks in riddles, and even ties his glory to hiding things. Consider these passages, the word for "dark sayings" is the word for riddle:

Nu 12:8 With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches <02420>; and the similitude of the LORD shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?
Ps 49:4 I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my dark saying <02420> upon the harp.
Ps 78:2 I will open my mouth in a parable: I will utter dark sayings <02420> of old:
Pr 1:6 To understand a proverb, and the interpretation; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings <02420>.
Da 8:23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences <02420>, shall stand up.

Pr 25:2 It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter.

Riddle is a literary form as much as metaphor and poetry.  But Proverbs 1 says that the wise seek to understand the riddle,

When Jesus showed Peter where the scriptures said he must die, and when he showed the disciples on the road to Emmaus where all the scriptures spoke of him, and when he taught in the temple at age 12, he was showing them things which were not discernible using literal, grammatical, historical methods. otherwise they would not have been hidden.

Where is the cross reference for Jesus being called a Nazarene? Where is the cross reference where the scriptures teach that marriage does not endure to the resurrection?  These are not found in the literal, but are easy to see in the prophetic riddle.

I appreciate your answer on sola scriptura. 

The main Catholic objection is really one that says as soon as you mention the word "canon" you have tacitly agreed that the scriptures are a product of tradition. The council considered the tradition of the churches to define which books were in fact scripture.

How would you address this?  Thanks.

Hi, I am new to this forum and caught the very first post of this thread. Sorry I am so late to play.

The first post asked who the first prophets was, and the given answer was Abraham.

Although the first time someone is called a prophet was Abraham, there are apparent prophets before him.

In naming Noah, Lamech makes a prophecy: Ge 5:29  "And he called his name Noah, saying, This same shall comfort us concerning our work and toil of our hands, because of the ground which the LORD hath cursed." And Noah gave the earth a type of rest as his name signifies, but it was a prophecy of Christ giving us rest through the cross.

Before this Adam prophesies:

Gen 2.24  Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.

Eph 5.31  For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
32  This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church

It is apparent that Paul considers Adam to have spoken a prophecy about Christ. Which makes him a prophet who was earlier than Abraham.

Now if you consider that source theory of P.J. Wiseman, the author of Gen 1 was someone before Moses, and the first prophecy is contained in a riddle of Gen 1.1.

In the beginning... since Christ is the alpha and omega, the riddle starts with "In Christ"

Elohim has a pun which means "the not dark" Since Christ is the Light, according to John, Elohim is replaced with Christ.

The word created also has a second meaning of 'cut down' when vowels (which were added much later) are ignored.

And in other riddles which intertwine with this one we discover that "heavens and earth" represent the dual nature of Christ as God and man.

So if the riddles are real, the first prophecy says: In Christ, Christ cut down the dual-natured Christ.  Riddles are the domain of children and kings, and this first riddle summarizes the whole of the Bible very well, and may make the author of Genesis 1 the first prophet although he isn't mentioned. which may disqualify him as the answer to the first question.

But Adam should get the prize.  ;-)