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Old 04-01-2006, 06:28 AM   #61
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Default response to post #59

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
Still making content-free posts, I see.
that kind of crap doesn't fool anybody jack. people are perfectly capable of reading the thread from the beginning and seeing for themselves that i have discussed particulars of daniel when someone was willing to discuss them.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
I don't see why you chose to resurrect this thread when you so obviously have nothing of substance to contribute to it (and I'm not sure that the moderators will be sympathetic either).
more of the same. read the thread. i have responded to all of spin's points and i have provided the information i said that i would. when someone shows an interest in a geniune discussion, then i'll be more than happy to participate. the moderators know this, of course, and could have shut the thread down a long time ago. your appeal for them to do so now seems like you don't geniunely desire to discuss the issue at length.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
You've been gone for several weeks, and you STILL haven't found such a timeline?
i was familiar with the three timelines long ago. i have been trying to find out if there are any skeptics who have actually studied the issue.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
I know the basics, of course: the timeline is designed to end in the Maccabean period, Daniel 9:24 is an overview of what needs to be "wrapped up" by the end of this period.
that's not what everyone believes. some people believe that the last three await further action. now tell me why your view is superior



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
Then there's a more detailed breakdown of how it's supposed to unfold: 7 "weeks" from Cyrus' decree to the anointing of prince Joshua and the rebuilding of Jerusalem, then a big gap (62 weeks, i.e. 434 years), then the final events relevant to the author's time: the "cutting-off" of Onias III and the start of the Maccabean revolt, and the events of the "last week" (including stoppage of the Tamid for half a "week", and the setting-up of the "abomination of desolation", the altar of Zeus in the temple). There's more stuff elsewhere, of course (e.g. Daniel 7), but no "timeline" is given there.
this is a rudimentary representation of the timeline. there are some important events you didn't provide and you didn't provide dates. the reason dates are important is because they are one of the main advantages of the critical view.

thank you for finally providing something to discuss. since you have done so, i will reciprocate: verse 26 states that the city and sanctuary will be destroyed. antiochus apparently did not do such a thing, as would be necessary according to the critical view.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
I see no "problem" here,
of course you don't. good thing the issue of daniel isn't constrained by your myopia.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
and apparently neither do you (which is why you are unable to describe exactly where it lies: earlier, you tried to equate the overview in 9:24 with the stoppage of the Tamid).
that is a feature of the critical view. you even listed it in your timeline above. the "abomination that causes desolation" is the stoppage of the tamid, et al. the result of those events, listed in verse 24, do not equate to that event. it is a shortcoming of the critical view.
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Old 04-01-2006, 06:31 AM   #62
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Default response to post #60

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
Now you'd like to start hallucinating that you've provided TWO problems?
not two problems, two names of scholars who espouse one of the 3 views on daniel; the critical to be more precise.

btw, i have at this time presented two problems.
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Old 04-01-2006, 03:15 PM   #63
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Quote:
thank you for finally providing something to discuss. since you have done so, i will reciprocate: verse 26 states that the city and sanctuary will be destroyed. antiochus apparently did not do such a thing, as would be necessary according to the critical view.
You are merely demonstrating your unfamiliarity with the critical view (which has been evident all along).

Why didn't you check a concordance before declaring that they "will be destroyed"?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Strong's Concordance, "shachath"
Outline of Biblical Usage
1) to destroy, corrupt, go to ruin, decay

a) (Niphal) to be marred, be spoiled, be corrupted, be corrupt, be injured, be ruined, be rotted

b) (Piel)
1) to spoil, ruin
2) to pervert, corrupt, deal corruptly (morally)

c) (Hiphil)
1) to spoil, ruin, destroy
2) to pervert, corrupt (morally)

3) destroyer (participle)
d) (Hophal) spoiled, ruined (participle)
They were corrupted, perverted, spiritually ruined, spoiled. There was an altar of Zeus set up in Judaism's holiest temple!

It is also perfectly obvious that there's a lot of deliberate "prophetic" hyperbole, vagueness and metaphor in Daniel.
Quote:
I see no "problem" here, and apparently neither do you (which is why you are unable to describe exactly where it lies: earlier, you tried to equate the overview in 9:24 with the stoppage of the Tamid).

that is a feature of the critical view. you even listed it in your timeline above. the "abomination that causes desolation" is the stoppage of the tamid, et al. the result of those events, listed in verse 24, do not equate to that event. it is a shortcoming of the critical view.
No, the "abomination" is the ALTAR OF ZEUS. And verse 24 is the overview of what is to be achieved: victory for the Maccabeans. From your own post (post #53):
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfniii
nkj: To finish the transgression, To make an end of sins, To make reconciliation for iniquity, To bring in everlasting righteousness, To seal up vision and prophecy, And to anoint the Most Holy.

hcb:to bring the rebellion to an end,
to put a stop to sin,
to wipe away injustice,
to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy,
This is the desired outcome by the end of the "70 weeks": the end of the rebellion (in victory), the ending of the "sin" and "injustice" of the Abomination and persecution of Judaism, the rededication of the Temple and the anointing of a new High Priest, and generally "putting the world to rights" again (forever: that part didn't quite work out, but such "predictions" generally don't). And that "wraps up" the prophecy (seals up vision and prophecy): The End.

So: no "problem" whatsoever.
Quote:
Now you'd like to start hallucinating that you've provided TWO problems?

not two problems, two names of scholars who espouse one of the 3 views on daniel; the critical to be more precise.
Then your desire to "name-drop" is causing you to become increasingly incoherent. We were discussing alleged "problems with the critical position", not scholars who endorse the critical position:
Quote:
from your ongoing inability to do so, it is apparent that you were mistaken in believing that a "problem" exists.

this isn't an issue of my belief. this is an issue of what are considered to be problems by scholars. i have already named a couple and there are plenty of others to discuss.
An analogy: "The Bible is riddled with contradictions and errors. To prove that I know my stuff, here are two names: Thomas Aquinas and Jerry Falwell. This isn't an issue of my belief. this is an issue of what are considered to be problems by scholars. I have already named a couple (Aquinas and Falwell) and there are plenty of others to discuss".
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfniii
btw, i have at this time presented two problems.
Your count still stands at zero.

BTW: bfniii, you have not yet admitted your "Greek musical instruments" blunder.
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Old 04-03-2006, 03:08 AM   #64
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BTW, it isn't just the Encyclopaedia Britannica that states the "critical view" as established fact. The New American Bible does too. From the Daniel 9 footnotes:
Quote:
Originally Posted by New American Bible
[2] Seventy years: the prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah 25:11; 29:10) prophesied a Babylonian captivity of seventy years, a round number signifying the complete passing away of the existing generation. Jeremiah's prophecy was fulfilled in the capture of Babylon by Cyrus and the subsequent return of the Jews to Palestine. However, the author of Daniel, living during the persecution of Antiochus, sees the conditions of the exile still existing; therefore, in his meditation he extends Jeremiah's number to seventy weeks of years (Daniel 9:24), i.e., seven times seventy years, to characterize the Jewish victory over the Seleucids as the ultimate fulfillment of the prophecy...

...The author sees the definitive establishment of the kingdom of God, realized in the reconsecration of the temple after Antiochus' desecration...

...[26] An anointed: doubtless the high priest Onias III, murdered in 171 B.C., from which the author dates the beginning of the persecution. Onias was in exile when he was killed. A leader: Antiochus IV.

[27] One week: the final phase of the period in view, the time of Antiochus' persecution; he is Antiochus himself. The many: the faithless Jews who allied themselves with the heathen; cf 1 Macc 1:11-13. Half the week: three and a half years; see note on 1 Macc 7:25. The temple was desecrated by Antiochus from 167 to 165 B.C.
The following is a good summary of Daniel, which also lists many problems with both the early-authorship view and the attempts by Christians to fit the "prophecy" to Jesus:

Revealing Daniel
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Old 04-03-2006, 04:42 AM   #65
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...Aha! I've found what may well be bfniii's source.

The Seventy “Weeks” Prophecy of Daniel 9: A Comparison of Major Views

It mentions Andre Lacoque and John Goldingay, mentions only three views ("critical", "dispensational" and "traditional": "traditional" includes the Christian messianic distortion, no mention of a traditional Jewish view combining early authorship with a Maccabean fulfilment), and has a strangely familiar list of bogus "problems with the critical position":
Quote:
Disadvantages of this view

1) Daniel’s “clock” operates in a very strange fashion! At the end of the 7th week, it is suddenly reset – being turned back 67 years to begin “ticking” again from 605 BC. The text nowhere hints that there should be this kind of massive adjustment between the 7th and the 8th week.

2) Although the rededication of the temple in 164 BC which is celebrated in Hanukkah was an important event in Israel’s spiritual history, it did not by any means mark what Daniel promises in Daniel 9:24: the finishing of transgression, putting an end to sin, atonement for wickedness, bringing in everlasting righteousness, the sealing up and consummation of vision and prophecy.

3) According to this view, “the Anointed One, the Ruler” in verse 25 is a reference to the high priest Joshua, while “the Anointed One” in verse 26 is Onias III, and “the Ruler” of verse 26b and the “he” of verse 27 is Antiochus Epiphanes. A straightforward reading of the text, however, would imply that the individual who is called “the Anointed One, the Ruler” in verse 25 is the same individual as “the Anointed One” in verse 26a and “the Ruler” in 26b (and probably also “he” in verse 27). The fact that “the critical view” takes these all to be different individuals appears arbitrary and unconvincing.

4) “The city and the sanctuary” were not in fact “destroyed” by Antiochus, as verse 26 would demand on this approach.
1. The author fails to appreciate "Daniel"'s general cluelessness regarding Exilic times, and the failure of Jeremiah's prophecy regarding the duration of the Exile. This is explained in Revealing Daniel.

2. The author fails to explain the "problem" here. Of course, these verses don't apply to Jesus anyhow (Jesus didn't put an end to sin, or bring in everlasting righteousness: 2,000 years of human suffering and injustice are testimony to that). Without the author's Christian bias, it's easy to see that the verse fits as well as can be expected (given that "Daniel" wasn't actually a "prophet").

3. Given the "62 weeks" that separate them, it is already obvious that the two "anointed ones" can't be the same person.

4. The author can't read Hebrew (or didn't bother).
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Old 05-12-2006, 08:36 AM   #66
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Default response to post #63

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
Why didn't you check a concordance before declaring that they "will be destroyed"?
i did. the word can be interpreted in different ways. this is the very crux of the issue.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
They were corrupted, perverted, spiritually ruined, spoiled. There was an altar of Zeus set up in Judaism's holiest temple!
1. the word in the hiphil stem does not, in other instances, refer to spriritual desecration when referring to physical objects (city, temple). it refers to physical results.
2. if the word were meant in the spiritual sense (in the context of the critical view), it would apply to the city as well as the temple. the city would have been defiled and would need to be cleansed and rededicated. there is no mention of such an occurrance.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
No, the "abomination" is the ALTAR OF ZEUS.
not entirely. that is why i stated "et al".



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
And verse 24 is the overview of what is to be achieved: victory for the Maccabeans. From your own post (post #53):
you are correct in your restatement of the critical view. however, that achievement (resumption of daily ritual and removal of pagan vestiges) does not equal "to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy".



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
This is the desired outcome by the end of the "70 weeks": the end of the rebellion (in victory), the ending of the "sin" and "injustice" of the Abomination and persecution of Judaism, the rededication of the Temple and the anointing of a new High Priest,
according to the critical view



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
and generally "putting the world to rights" again
not according to the critical view. that's the problem.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
(forever: that part didn't quite work out, but such "predictions" generally don't). And that "wraps up" the prophecy (seals up vision and prophecy): The End. So: no "problem" whatsoever.
yes, there is still a problem. i hope you can see that now.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
Then your desire to "name-drop" is causing you to become increasingly incoherent. We were discussing alleged "problems with the critical position", not scholars who endorse the critical position:
that's not what i understood. what i was trying to point out is that there are christians in each of the 3 categories. there's a reason why i pointed that out.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
An analogy: "The Bible is riddled with contradictions and errors. To prove that I know my stuff, here are two names: Thomas Aquinas and Jerry Falwell. This isn't an issue of my belief. this is an issue of what are considered to be problems by scholars. I have already named a couple (Aquinas and Falwell) and there are plenty of others to discuss".
colorful. however, it doesn't really address the point i was making.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
Your count still stands at zero.
it's not my count. i am merely restating what has already been stated by scholars regarding the issue of the book of daniel. and yes, i have restated more than one at this point. there are even more.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
BTW: bfniii, you have not yet admitted your "Greek musical instruments" blunder.
not that such an admission is needed. i have stated my case regarding that subject. i am sorry you disagree.
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Old 05-12-2006, 08:43 AM   #67
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Default response to post #64

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
The following is a good summary of Daniel, which also lists many problems with both the early-authorship view and the attempts by Christians to fit the "prophecy" to Jesus:

Revealing Daniel


there is nothing novel in this article. these issues are typical of critical misinterpretations and all of these issues have been dealt with in biblical scholarship. i do not know the author's name so i will use the abbreviation, HS for hundredth sheep.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
A legendary figure by the name of Daniel is mentioned in the Old Testament in Ezekiel 14:14,20 and 28:3. However, since the spelling of the name of this Daniel differs from that of the book of Daniel, and considering that this Daniel is mentioned in the company of such august figures as Job and Noah, most scholars suspect that Ezekiel was referring to a mythical Canaanite hero by the name of Danel, known to us through the Ras-Shamra texts found at Ugarit in Northern Syria.
it doesn't take the author long to delve into the usual misconceptions. the spelling being different is not a problem in identifying ezekiel's daniel.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
Outside of of the book of Daniel itself, no other early references to a Daniel, a Jew in the Babylonian court, exist.
not that this is a problem



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
An analysis of intertestamental Jewish literature will reveal that no references to the book of Daniel can be reliably dated prior to the Maccabean rebellion, a fact that significantly affects the debate surrounding the date of the Book..
the fact that there are no references to daniel that are prior to the maccabean period is not a problem for an earlier date of the book



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
Although the book itself claims to be the record of Daniel in Babylon, internal and external evidence reveals that it was written in Jerusalem about the year 164 BCE.
completely question begging. the author does nothing to show this is conclusively. i'm not saying the book was not written then, i am saying that is one christian interpretation of when the book was written.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
A question naturally arises as to how many authors the book of Daniel actually had.
there is nothing in the book of daniel that should prompt such a question.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
Since all manuscripts had to be written and copied by hand, it was not unusual for a book to undergo later expansion and editing, a process all but impossible in the age of the printing press.
yet we know when these instances of "expansion and editing" do not alter the actual intent or meaning of the original text. while some of these changes did take place, they were usually to expound on the text or to put the text in the contemporaneous vernacular of the copyist, such as the masoretic margin notes.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
That point is 164 BCE. After this point, Daniel predicts further altercations between Antiochus and Ptolemey (the Egyptian king) which never took place. Common sense thus tells us that the book was written just before the death of Antiochus, during a severe persecution of the Jewish people.
which verses? 8:9? 11:15? additionally, there were altercations between antiochus and ptolemy.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
How well Daniel succeeded in this endeavor is a matter of speculation. Although he influenced those of an apocalytpic bent (particulary the Essene community), his work was largely ignored by the mainstream Judaism of his time.
this cannot be said with certainty. what can be said is that it appears that way at this time. even so, the author fails to define what he means by "influence". daniel is quoted in the NT. therefore, it stands to reason that people were aware of his work.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
It did eventually find a niche in the Jewish canon, but was placed in the section called the Writings. It was not accorded the status of a prophetic book.
...by some people. other people do consider the book to be prophectic and have perfectly valid reasons for such a belief.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
The book opens by claiming that Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem in the third year of Jehoiakim, and carried the king into Babylon along with some of the temple treasures. In fact, the chronology of the Exile in II Kings 24 places the first siege in the first year of the reign of Jehoiachin, Jehoiakim's son, some eight years later than Daniel's chronology.
daniel and the author of kings are talking about two different events.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
The book of Jeremiah agrees with this date, but fails to mention any earlier siege during the reign of Jehoiakim.
again, failure of mention by jeremiah does not mean it didn't happen. it might mean that jeremiah merely chose not to record it.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
In fact, in Jeremiah 36:9, we find Jehoiakim in Jerusalem in his fifth year, two years after the time that Daniel claims he was carried away to Babylon.
daniel 1:1 does not claim jehoiakim was carried away to babylon. daniel's story starts when daniel was carried away.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
The Babylonian records indicate that Nebuchadnezzar made Judah a vassal state in about 603 BCE, when Jehioakim was still king, but do not record a capture of Jerusalem at that time.
the incident (not capture) in jerusalem had already occurred, most likely in 605bc when babylonian forces were in palestine engaged in a conflict with the egyptians. the official status of vassalage most likely occurred in 604bc or 603bc, after nebuchadnezzar took the throne.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
At the time that Daniel claimed that Nebuchadnezzar was engaged in a siege against Jerusalem, the Babylonian records indicate that he was occupied with a war against Necho, king of Egypt (Jeremiah 46:2), and then returned home to Babylon to succeed his father as king.
yes, babylonian forces were in palestine during the alleged events thus lending credence to what daniel says in chapter 1.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
II Chronicles 36 claims that Jehoiakim was indeed carried away to Babylon, although this fact is not mentioned in any other Biblical account (in fact, it seems to contradict Jeremiah),
in what way does it "seem" to contradict jeremiah? 46:2 is pretty short and doesn't seem to say anything that overtly contradicts 2 chron 36.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
nor does it square with the Babylonian account of the wars of Nebuchadnezzar.
once again, no specifics.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
Being a true Bible believer, Daniel obviously decided that both accounts must be true, and combined them to create a third account, one which is incompatible with both Kings and Chronicles.
daniel's account neither contradicts the other two nor has the author shown that it does.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
Another possibility is that Daniel misread II Kings 24:1, and assumed that the three years of vassalage referred to the third year of Jehoiakim.
i'm not sure where the author gets this idea from. if the author is referring to the alleged differences in jehoiakim's years of rule, that can be explained by the differences in hebrew and babylonian accession year reckoning.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
Daniel records that the Babylonian Empire fell to a certain king by the name of Darius, a Mede. (5:31, 9:1). Neither the Babylonian nor the Persian histories record such a person.
this is misleading. extrabiblical records might indeed refer to this person, but by a different name.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
Herodotus, who wrote his history about 440 BCE, records that Babylon fell to the Persian army, under the control of King Cyrus. Darius the Mede is never mentioned. In fact, the Median kingdom was conquered and assimilated by Cyrus as early as 550 BCE, when he defeated Astyages, king of Media.
there are several theories as to who darius the mede is. silence on the part of extrabiblical sources is not a problem in the identity of darius the mede, as was the case for pontius pilate or belteshazzar.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
There is good evidence that the person that Daniel imagined to be Darius the Mede was in fact Darius I Hystaspes, the king of Persia from 521 to 485 BCE.
that's one theory



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
Recognizing the problem, several Bible scholars have tried to find solutions. The most popular states that Darius the Mede was Gubaru (or Gobyras), governor of Babylon during the reign of Cyrus. The problem with this approach (quite aside from the fact that there is no historical reason to make such a connection) is that Darius is often addressed as "king" (Daniel 6:6, note the royal appelation "live forever"), and was said to have enacted laws throughout the whole kingdom (Daniel 6:8-9). Neither can be said to be true of a mere governor. Further, Gobyras was a Babylonian, not a Mede.
1. i'm not sure it's accurate to say that gubaru is the most common theory for darius
2. the word used for king, "klm", does not always exclusively refer to king. see post #21
3. i have not seen any sources that assign gubaru's nationality as babylonian. i have seen where he is either median or persian. other sources say his nationality is unknown
4. the word used for kingdom, "wklm", does not necessarily imply all of babylonia. it could very well mean the area gubaru was in charge of.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
The Persian kingdom was on occasion called the kingdom of the Medes and Persians (see Esther 1:19 and I Maccabees 1:1 for example), but this was no doubt due to the fact that Persia had at one time been a vassal state of Media.
i think it has more to do with the fact that they formed an important alliance for the purposes of overthrowing the neo-babylonian empire.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
Since Daniel supposedly wrote during the reign of Cyrus (Daniel 10:1), this would then make him the first Persian king of Daniel 11:2. Cyrus defeated Babylon in 536 BCE. Alexander took the kingdom from the last Persian king in 333 BCE. This gives us 203 years for the Persian reign. Split among four kings, we get an average of about 51 years each, which is somewhat excessive. The truth of the matter is that there were nine Persian kings from Cyrus to Alexander.
1. the author states no definitive reason why cyrus must be the first king mentioned by daniel.
2. daniel does not state that "only" 4 more kings will arise. he is merely referring to 4 that will be king, apparently ones that have some importance to his narrative.
3. the author of the article has not read the passage carefully. daniel states the 4th king will stir up his people against greece. notice that the 4th king in the list provided by the author is xerxes who did try to conquer greece. furthermore, daniel specifies no time period in between that event and the rise of alexander.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
The identity of these three remaining kingdoms is a matter of no small debate. For reasons that will become clear when the visions are examined, the best interpretation is that the silver kingdom is Media, the bronze is Persia, and the iron is Greece.
i have not seen any christian sources that interpret daniel's vision in this way. usually, it is babylon, medo-persian alliance, greece and then rome.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
In order to extend the reach of this, and the other visions, futurists insist that the second empire is the combined Medo-Persian empire, the third is Greece, and the fourth is Rome. The fourth empire will never really be conquered, but will be divided until the end of time, when a revived and reunited Roman empire challenges God for control of the Cosmos, and ushers in the final conflict. There are several problems with this interpretation. First, as we shall see, Daniel refers indirectly to this dream during his interpretation of the other three visions. The remaining visions can definitely be shown to culminate in the Greek empire, and Antiochus specifically.
while it is true that the visions are not mutually exclusive, they do not necessarily have to outline the same events.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
Second, Daniel states that the second empire would be inferior to the first (2:39). At its height, the Persian empire encompassed more than three times as much real estate as the Babylonian empire, and held power for more than two hundred years, almost a century longer than the Neo-Babylonian empire. It is difficult to see how Persia could be said to be "inferior" to Babylonia.
the difficulty arises when excluding the possibility that daniel is referring to the spiritual and moral decline, not material decline.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
The Turkish Ottoman empire began a period of rapid expansion in the thirteenth century CE, and eventually controlled much of Eastern Europe, the Balkans, Asia minor and parts of Northern Africa. The Ottomans held control of Palestine, and its capital Jerusalem for several centuries (prompting the Catholic Church to enter into a series of disastrous wars - the Crusades). At its height, the Ottoman Empire easily rivalled any of the ancient empires in wealth, size and influence. It seems strange that Daniel's prophetic vision would completely miss this extremely important era of history.
as with the previous point, daniel may be referring to history in a spiritual way as opposed to a physical way. when the roman empire came along, the new convenant was established. this interpretation coincides with the seventy weeks prophecy and the prophecies in the book of revelation in that there is a new spiritual age or dispensation. the prophets seemed to focus on the hebrews' sins and their consequences. the old covenant had run it's course, as reflected in daniel and other OT prophetic books. with the advent of the new covenant and the roman empire, a new paradigm is set up to last until the events daniel mentioned in 2:44. notice in verses 41-43, daniel is using imagery to refer to spiritual issues.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
In order to strengthen their case, futurists will often point out that the statue had two iron legs, which, they contend, represent a division of the empire. Since Greece was divided four ways (11:4), a two-fold division would better fit the split of the Roman empire into the Eastern and Western factions. While this interpretation is compelling, it is important to note that Daniel himself never attached any significance to the two legs, and it seems rash to place words in the author's mouth.
it's not placing words in daniel's mouth to make such an interpretation. since daniel is using imagery, that interpretation is merely trying to make sense of the imagery.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
Instead, Daniel refers to the ten toes as representative of a division (note also that he does not attach any significance to the number ten - he may simply have intended it to mean "many").
i don't see that the toes are a division. the mix of clay and iron are the division. it is a spiritual metaphor. verse 42 says "partly strong and partly fragile". the emphasis is on the mix, not the toes.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
In either case, Daniel's statement that Babylon was ruled by a Mede is incorrect. As already noted, the Medes lost political power to Cyrus in 550 BCE, and while the combined kingdom was still occasionally referred to as the kingdom of the Medes and the Persians (Cyrus himself was partly of Median descent, although his allegiance remained with the Persians), it was the Persians who exercised complete control (starting with Darius I, all the Persian kings were of pure Persian blood).
but cyrus had medes in important positions throughout his military and it was a military alliance between persia and media that helped to overthrow the babylonians. therefore, we can't say at this time that babylon was not ruled by a mede or medes. babylon was at least partly ruled by medes or a mede.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
The second beast is probably Media (or, possibly, Lydia). The symbolism of the three ribs has been a matter of much speculation, but the meaning remains obscure.
close. medo-persia



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
The third beast is Persia. The four wings and four heads may represent the four directions of expansion, or, more likely, they are a reference to the four Persian kings that Daniel mistakenly thought ruled Persia from Babylon to Greece (11:2).
wrong. greece.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
The fourth beast is Greece, or, more specifically, the Seleucid empire that resulted from the breakup of Alexander's kingdom. The ten kings are somewhat obscure. They may represent the seven kings of the Seleucid dynasty (Seleucus I, Antiochus I, Antiochus II, Seleucus II, Seleucus III, Antiochus III and Seleucus IV) that led up to Antiochus IV, plus Alexander and two members of the Greek ruling class whom Antiochus overtook to become king (Demetrius and Heliodorus). The latter two, along with Seleucus IV, were involved in a conspiracy to control the Greek throne. This conspiracy was foiled by Antiochus, who then secured the throne for himself (11:21).
the fourth beast is rome. the parallels between chapters 2, 7, and 11 should be pretty obvious by now.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
Since there was no time in the history of Rome that could be applied to the "ten horns", futurists see in this a prophecy of the end-times, when the Antichrist will arise out of a ten-nation confederation, composed of nations from the former Roman empire. The "little horn" of Daniel's vision is then taken to be a reference to the Antichrist.
the ten horns could mean the comprehensive nature of the roman empire. ancient hebrews often used the numbers 10 or 40 to represent "much" or "great", much like we might say "a million". we don't mean one million literally, but figuratively.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
However, as we shall see, Daniel describes the "little horn" with terminology that he elsewhere applies to Antiochus.
but that doesn't necessarily imply that he is referring to the same person. more like the two have similarities.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
In other words, the phrase simply refers to a human, as the phrase "son of man" is used to indicate a human in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 2:1, for example). As the angel explains, this man represents the "saints of the Most High" (7:22, 7:27),
"represents" does not necessarily mean "is".



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
in other words, the faithful Jews who refused Antiochus' hellenization policies. These saints would rule in the theocratic kingdom, which God himself would institute following the death of the fourth beast, Greece (7:27).
not quite. see above.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
The horns on the Ram, the angel Gabriel explains, are the kings of Media and Persia (8:20). The larger horn, which came up later, obviously represents Persia. In this, Daniel is partly correct. The Persians did indeed rise up and overthrow their Median overlords, but his timing is off. Daniel thought that Media conquered Babylon (5:30-31), and was then overthrown by Persia. In fact, as we have seen, Media had been subjugated by Persia at least fourteen years before Cyrus captured Babylon.
the issue of 5:30, 31 has already been discussed. therefore, there is no conflict with chapter 8.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
As in the previous vision, a time is given during which the temple will be defiled (8:13). This time, it is said to be 2,300 "evenings and mornings", a reference to the daily sacrifices. In other words, 1,150 days, or three years and two months. It is not clear why this period differes from the previous three and a half years.
if the author is referring to 7:25, that does not necessarily mean three and a half years.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
This dream presents something of a problem for futurists. This time, there can be no denying that the focus of the vision is Greece, and Antiochus in particular. As we have seen, futurists insist that the fourth kingdom is Rome, and that the "little horn" of the previous vision is the Antichrist, who will arise from a revived Roman empire. However, Daniel uses very similar imagery in both visions, even to the point of referring to the focus of each vision as a "little horn" (7:8 and 8:9). A further problem is created by the fact that Daniel specifically states that this vision relates to the end of time (8:17, 8:19 and 8:23), and that Antiochus would be slain by supernatural means (8:25).
the author is misreading the passage. daniel does not say "supernatural means". he says "not by human power" or "not by human hands". the fulfillment is in the fact that he died of illness, not by human hands.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
The usual response is to treat this vision as a "type" of the Last Days, and Antiochus as a "forerunner" of Antichrist. It hardly needs to be stated that there is no textual reason for arriving at such a conclusion. The only possible reason is to try and preserve the status of Daniel as a prophet, for, should it be admitted that Antiochus is indeed the sole focus of this and the other visions, it follows that Daniel's prophecies were not fulfilled.
daniel, like other prophets, employs double meaning. it is a viable interpretation to say that he is using antiochus as a springboard for prophecy of the antichrist or other antichrists.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
In this section, the author attempts to put a date to the Last Days. Not surprisingly, when closely examined, this date turns out to be close to the author's own time, that of the late second century BCE.
not so. the critical position states that daniel is recording events in the maccabean period, but not those of the last days. other positions maintain that he is recording future, end times.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
The key to the vision is verse 2, Jeremiah's prophecy of seventy years servitude to Babylon. The problem was that the Exile did not last seventy years. The mass deportation of Jews from Judea, following Nebuchadnezzar's second siege of Jerusalem (II Kings 25:11) is reliably dated to 587 BCE.
but the deportation had started prior to that. jehoiakim's third year, daniel 1:1, would have been 605bc. so the first group leave in 605bc and the jews are released from bondage by cyrus around 535bc. that's 70 years.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
From another point of view, the Exile never ended at all. Although the Jews were allowed to return home when Cyrus took Babylon, they remained under Persian rule for the next two centuries. Following the Persians, Palestine was variously controlled by either the Ptolemaic or the Seleucid Greeks.
what was prophecied in jeremiah regarding the exile was fulfilled. when the 70 years were over, the jews were released returned thus completing the fulfillment. the prophecy didn't state anything regarding being under persian rule in their homeland.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
In time-honored fashion, Daniel re-interprets Jeremiah's seventy years to be seventy "weeks" of years (the Hebrew word translated "week" is the same word for "seven"). This then extends the reach of Jeremiah's prophecy to 490 years, during which period Daniel expected the Jews to make full restitution for their sins (9:24), and for God to institute his theocracy.
there are multiple ways to interpret the 70 weeks prophecy, but there is no reason to think that daniel is "reinterpreting" jeremiah's prophecy regarding captivity. the two do refer to some of the same events depending on the interpretation, but they have different agendas.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
Daniel divides these 490 years into three periods - seven "weeks" (49 years), sixty-two "weeks" (434 years) and one "week" (7 years). Verse 25 seems to indicate that the first two periods would each culminate in an "Anointed One" (the literal meaning of the word translated "Messiah"). When one reads this passage from a Christian perspective, it is easy to make the mistake that there can be only one Messiah, and that it must be Jesus. In fact, for an ancient Jew, the word simply indicated a person anointed to perform a priestly or royal function. Thus, anyone who fulfilled these functions would be called "Messiah".
again, the double meaning is employed. it is viable that daniel is talking about a spiritual messiah, i.e. Jesus.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
The activities of the "prince that shall come" (9:26) perfectly match the deeds of Antiochus, and we may confidently state that Daniel thus intended his seventy weeks to end in 164 BCE.
they do not exactly match; that the problem. i have addressed these issues in other posts, such as #63



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
The second chapter of Nehemiah records an incident in which Nehemiah asked permission from Artaxerxes to return to Jerusalem to assist with the rebuilding project. The king assented, and gave Nehemiah letters of safe conduct to Judea, as well as orders for his foresters to donate timber to the project. Despite the fact that this passage does not technically record a decree, and that the restoration of Jerusalem was already underway when Nehemiah arrived, this incident is chosen as the starting point of Daniel's seventy weeks by futurists, because it occurred in 444 BCE. This then takes the end of the sixty-nine weeks to about 38 BCE. While this is closer to the time of Christ, it is still a few years too late. In order to rectify this problem, futurists note that the Jews used a lunar year of twelve months of thirty days. Using a year of 360 days then puts the end of the sixty-nine weeks at about 33 BCE, exactly, so the story goes, at the point that Jesus was crucified. The problem with the latter is that the Jews knew that their lunar year eventually got out of sync with the solar year. In order to rectify this situation, they inserted an extra month of thirty days every two or three years. This means that, on average, the Jewish year was about 365 days long.
this is a misleading statement because, while it is true they knew the lunar calendar did not synchronize with the conditions necessary for passover, they did not know when they would need to add a month. therefore, event reckoning would not have included the embolismic month. they followed the lunar month for all reckonings except when the calendar did not line up for passover to occur at the proper time.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
Another problem with the futurist interpretation soon becomes apparent. If the sixty-nine weeks ended with the crucifixion of Jesus, that means that the seventieth week must have ended about 40 CE. However, no person fitting the description of Daniel's prince appeared on the scene at that point. In order to circumvent this problem, futurists insert a gap of indeterminate duration between the sixty-ninth and seventieth weeks. The seventieth week, so the story goes, will begin when the "times of the gentiles" (Luke 21:4) are completed. So far, this gap has lasted two thousand years, with no end in sight.
the gap between the 69th and 70th weeks proposed by the dispensational view illuminates that the timeline does not always move in a serial fashion. it is more concerned with dispensational ages or time periods. the church age, represented by the gap, is an unspecified time period in between two aspects of Jesus' ministry mentioned in verses 9:24 and 26. the epochs will have definite calendar dates, but they don't proceed from the calendar.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
Most evangelical commentators accept that 11:21-35 refer to Antiochus, but they then state that verse 36 onwards refer to a different person, the Antichrist who will wage war against God himself in the latter days. It should be fairly obvious that this interpretation is not supported by the text.
there is an important word in verse 40 which means the end of time. since chapter 12 is eschatological, it is viable that 11:40 is as well, particularly with that verbiage. some commentaries state that 11:36 is where the end times prophecy begins. it may even be the case that all of chapter 11 is eschatological. just because some of it matches what we know from a particular time does not mean that all of it was intended to do that. if this is end times prophecy, it won't be clear until the end times. what we know right now is that some of it matches events from a particular period. that certainly does not conclusively prove that it was intended to refer to that time period, however coincidental that may be.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
It should be fairly obvious that this interpretation is not supported by the text.
that conclusion is not obvious and i have provided reasons why it is supported by the text based on the original language, which the author did not bother to include in his analysis.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
Not only is there no discernible break between verses 35 and 36,
"discernable" is subjective. since the chapters and verses were not part of the original text, our perception on this matter is biased. it can be said that since the end times are mentioned in verse 35, there isn't so much of a "break" as a "leap forward" in time.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
but the character of the king of the north, as described in verse 36, is the same as that which Daniel elsewhere applied to Antiochus (7:8,25, 8:25).
since daniel may be referring to antichrists in general (or more than one), this would not be surprising.



Quote:
Originally Posted by HS
In addition, Daniel still continues to use the same "king of the north" designation in 11:40, well after the time that he is supposed to have switched his focus to the Antichrist.
well, if another antichrist is from the north, what other designation is daniel supposed to use?
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Old 05-12-2006, 08:51 AM   #68
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Default response to post #65

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
...Aha!




Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
I've found what may well be bfniii's source.
i have seen that source. it is a cursory examination of different views regarding daniel

after reading the rest of your post, i can see you misunderstand the source. hugenberger is not espousing any one of the three views. he is listing them along with their proponents with their relative strengths and weaknesses.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
1. The author fails to appreciate "Daniel"'s general cluelessness regarding Exilic times
i assume by the author you mean hugenberger. the purpose of the article is to outline each of the views, not to address critical misunderstandings of the book. which cluelessness would you be referring to?



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
and the failure of Jeremiah's prophecy regarding the duration of the Exile. This is explained in Revealing Daniel.
i have addressed that author's misconceptions regarding the duration. he was mistaken.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
2. The author fails to explain the "problem" here.
no, he explains several.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
Of course, these verses don't apply to Jesus anyhow
question-begging



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
(Jesus didn't put an end to sin, or bring in everlasting righteousness: 2,000 years of human suffering and injustice are testimony to that)
off topic and incorrect. the promises you refer to are spiritual as oppposed to the physical vagaries you mention. so Jesus did indeed fulfill His charter.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
Without the author's Christian bias
again with the misunderstanding. he exhibits no bias. he merely outlines three views.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
it's easy to see that the verse fits as well as can be expected (given that "Daniel" wasn't actually a "prophet").
once again, restoring the tamid does not achieve the outcome of verse 24



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
3. Given the "62 weeks" that separate them, it is already obvious that the two "anointed ones" can't be the same person.
his point is in response to the fact that the same word is used.



Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack the Bodiless
4. The author can't read Hebrew (or didn't bother).
i'm not sure how this relates to the article.

fwiw, here is a good resource:
Daniel Bibliography.pdf
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Old 05-15-2006, 08:45 AM   #69
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bfniii:
Quote:
thank you for finally providing something to discuss. since you have done so, i will reciprocate: verse 26 states that the city and sanctuary will be destroyed. antiochus apparently did not do such a thing, as would be necessary according to the critical view.

Why didn't you check a concordance before declaring that they "will be destroyed"?

i did. the word can be interpreted in different ways. this is the very crux of the issue.
So, the "crux of the issue" is that you misrepresented the situation and falsely declared (unequivocally) that "verse 26 states that the city and sanctuary will be destroyed"?

I am the one who pointed out TO YOU that the word has multiple meanings. So the crux of the issue is that I was correct. OK.
Quote:
They were corrupted, perverted, spiritually ruined, spoiled. There was an altar of Zeus set up in Judaism's holiest temple!

1. the word in the hiphil stem does not, in other instances, refer to spriritual desecration when referring to physical objects (city, temple). it refers to physical results.
2. if the word were meant in the spiritual sense (in the context of the critical view), it would apply to the city as well as the temple. the city would have been defiled and would need to be cleansed and rededicated. there is no mention of such an occurrance.
The spiritual heart of the city is the temple. The defilement occured in the temple. Later, the temple was cleansed and rededicated.
Quote:
And verse 24 is the overview of what is to be achieved: victory for the Maccabeans. From your own post (post #53):

you are correct in your restatement of the critical view. however, that achievement (resumption of daily ritual and removal of pagan vestiges) does not equal "to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy".
Yet again, you have failed to identify any problem here: you cannot explain why the author wouldn't use such language.
Quote:
This is the desired outcome by the end of the "70 weeks": the end of the rebellion (in victory), the ending of the "sin" and "injustice" of the Abomination and persecution of Judaism, the rededication of the Temple and the anointing of a new High Priest,

according to the critical view
Why do you keep inserting this qualifier while hypocritically failing to comment your own speculations in a similar fashion? I will remind you again of this habit shortly.
Quote:
and generally "putting the world to rights" again

not according to the critical view. that's the problem.

(forever: that part didn't quite work out, but such "predictions" generally don't). And that "wraps up" the prophecy (seals up vision and prophecy): The End. So: no "problem" whatsoever.

yes, there is still a problem. i hope you can see that now.
This would only be a "problem" for a Christian proponent of the "critical position" who nevertheless still wants to cling to the notion that the Book of Daniel was "divinely inspired". I get the impression that you are robotically repeating a Christian objection to this Christian postion: that the "forever" part didn't work out.

WHY didn't it work out? Simple. The author wasn't actually predicting the future.

As I said: no problem whatsoever. I hope you can see that now.
Quote:
Your count still stands at zero.

it's not my count. i am merely restating what has already been stated by scholars regarding the issue of the book of daniel. and yes, i have restated more than one at this point. there are even more.
You have failed to present any actual problems for a skeptic (Christian or otherwise) who endorses the critical view. I hope this is now clear.
Quote:
BTW: bfniii, you have not yet admitted your "Greek musical instruments" blunder.

not that such an admission is needed. i have stated my case regarding that subject. i am sorry you disagree.
Your ongoing failure to admit your error is again noted.


As for your reply to "HS": obviously, I'm not him, and I can't speak for him. However:
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfniii
these issues are typical of critical misinterpretations...
...according to you.

This is the habit I mentioned earlier, where you hypocritically claim that your speculations are truth. And it gets worse:
Quote:
A legendary figure by the name of Daniel is mentioned in the Old Testament in Ezekiel 14:14,20 and 28:3. However, since the spelling of the name of this Daniel differs from that of the book of Daniel, and considering that this Daniel is mentioned in the company of such august figures as Job and Noah, most scholars suspect that Ezekiel was referring to a mythical Canaanite hero by the name of Danel, known to us through the Ras-Shamra texts found at Ugarit in Northern Syria.

it doesn't take the author long to delve into the usual misconceptions. the spelling being different is not a problem in identifying ezekiel's daniel.
..."Misconceptions"? And who is "Ezekiel's Daniel", perchance?
Quote:
It did eventually find a niche in the Jewish canon, but was placed in the section called the Writings. It was not accorded the status of a prophetic book.

...by some people. other people do consider the book to be prophectic and have perfectly valid reasons for such a belief.
"Some people" = THE JEWS. The book is OFFICIALLY not part of the "Prophets" section of the Jewish canon. And the others have "prefectly valid reasons" according to YOU, right?

I note that you haven't provided these reasons.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfniii
daniel and the author of kings are talking about two different events.
...According to you.
Quote:
The second beast is probably Media (or, possibly, Lydia). The symbolism of the three ribs has been a matter of much speculation, but the meaning remains obscure.

close. medo-persia
...According to you.
Quote:
The third beast is Persia. The four wings and four heads may represent the four directions of expansion, or, more likely, they are a reference to the four Persian kings that Daniel mistakenly thought ruled Persia from Babylon to Greece (11:2).

wrong. greece.
...According to you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfniii
the fourth beast is rome.
...According to you.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfniii
daniel, like other prophets, employs double meaning.
...According to you. Or, rather, Christians who like to rip OT verses out of context and apply them to NT events.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfniii
again, the double meaning is employed. it is viable that daniel is talking about a spiritual messiah, i.e. Jesus.
But there is no reason to assume this is the case.
Quote:
The activities of the "prince that shall come" (9:26) perfectly match the deeds of Antiochus, and we may confidently state that Daniel thus intended his seventy weeks to end in 164 BCE.

they do not exactly match; that the problem. i have addressed these issues in other posts, such as #63
...Where, as previously noted, you failed to find an actual problem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfniii
this is a misleading statement because, while it is true they knew the lunar calendar did not synchronize with the conditions necessary for passover, they did not know when they would need to add a month. therefore, event reckoning would not have included the embolismic month. they followed the lunar month for all reckonings except when the calendar did not line up for passover to occur at the proper time.
The duration of a day, a month, and a year are constant (unless we're talking about a timeframe of millions of years). The mismatch between a lunar year and a solar year is a fixed quantity. They knew how MANY months they would have to add when calculating any period of many years.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfniii
the gap between the 69th and 70th weeks proposed by the dispensational view illuminates that the timeline does not always move in a serial fashion. it is more concerned with dispensational ages or time periods. the church age, represented by the gap, is an unspecified time period in between two aspects of Jesus' ministry mentioned in verses 9:24 and 26. the epochs will have definite calendar dates, but they don't proceed from the calendar.
And this doesn't "illuminate" anything, because "dispensationalism" is made-up apologetics.


Onward to post #68:
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfniii
i have seen that source. it is a cursory examination of different views regarding daniel

after reading the rest of your post, i can see you misunderstand the source. hugenberger is not espousing any one of the three views. he is listing them along with their proponents with their relative strengths and weaknesses.
He is not ACCURATELY listing the "strengths and weaknesses" of the critical view. His failings are those I have already addressed in post #65. In particular: he is writing from a Christian perspective and citing Christian proponents of the "critical view" (Andre Lacoque and John Goldingay), and failing to appreciate that Daniel's exaggeration of the outcome is NOT a problem for anyone (Christian or otherwise) who does NOT consider Daniel to be a true prophet.
Quote:
Of course, these verses don't apply to Jesus anyhow (Jesus didn't put an end to sin, or bring in everlasting righteousness: 2,000 years of human suffering and injustice are testimony to that)

off topic and incorrect. the promises you refer to are spiritual as oppposed to the physical vagaries you mention. so Jesus did indeed fulfill His charter.
On-topic and correct. It is a simple and obvious fact that Jesus didn't achieve these things: hence the apologetics. It is profoundly hypocritical to object that 9:24 wasn't accurately fulfilled in the "critical view" (which does not REQUIRE that it should be), while simply hand-waving away the failure of Jesus to accurately fulfil it too.
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Old 05-16-2006, 05:28 AM   #70
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bfniii
i have not seen any christian sources that interpret daniel's vision in this way. usually, it is babylon, medo-persian alliance, greece and then rome.
You are clearly unaware of the scholarly consensus (what you call "the critical position"). Babylon, Media, Persia, Greece.

Apparently it all stems from Jeremiah's failed prophecy that Babylon would fall to the Medes (Jeremiah 51:11). Writing centuries later and relying on Jeremiah as his source, the author assumed that this had actually happened: hence the insertion of another empire between Babylon and Persia, and the fictional "Darius the Mede" inserted into the sequence of kings just before Cyrus of Persia (the one who actually conquered Babylon and became king).
Quote:
Originally Posted by bfniii
the fourth beast is rome. the parallels between chapters 2, 7, and 11 should be pretty obvious by now.
...So where exactly is Rome mentioned in these chapters?

Throughout Daniel, the pattern is clear and consistent: one big, POWERFUL king is coming. The mightiest of them all, the one "strong as iron", the one specifically identified in several places as the GREEK king. The author is referring to Alexander the Great.
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