On false prophets

I am not a religious person and I don't attend church.

But that doesn't mean I don't try to at least understand a little bit about it for curiosity's sake.

One thing I have been trying to understand are prophets (ones that hear divinely inspired revelations). How would one know whether a prophet were truly a prophet, a deceiver, or one deceived?

If I announce to the world that I can speak with animals ala Dr. Doolittle then I imagine there would be more than a few skeptical of my claim. But, suppose that my claim was truthful and you stood in disbelief.

Perhaps I might convince you of the validity of my claim by interviewing animals of your choice and asking them questions of your choice. Perhaps you and your dog are sole possessors of the details of a quail hunting trip and if I extracted such details you would be swayed.

Both your skepticism and my persuasion seem necessary to turn you into a true believer of my claims. I think that is as it should be.

When it comes to a prophet should we not subject them to the same test? Shouldn't they be called upon to speak with God and ask Him questions on our behalf before we believe their claims?

If God is the Creator and he watches over me and knows all that I do, then one speaking on his behalf ought to be able to correctly answer any question I pose, including things only God and I know the answer to.

At least we could convince ourselves that such a person had access to supernatural knowledge.

Next, I should think, we ought to try to discover if the prophet is an instrument of Satan (whom I presume can trick the prophet into unwitting support).

I am less clear on how to detect a deceived prophet. Perhaps the fruits of his tree (the results of his actions) would have to be examined to see if they promoted harm or not.

But, it seems to me that there is a danger of playing for the wrong team when prophets are accepted without skepticism, which is to say accepted "on faith".

Reason seems necessary to disambiguate a false prophet from a true prophet.

Perhaps that is why we are living in an age of intellectual haters?

Perhaps that is why our good war is being waged behind a curtain?