IS DANIEL A FRAUD?
IS DANIEL A FRAUD?
Daniel’s prophecy claims that its visions were received by Daniel in the sixth century BC, revealing God’s knowledge of the future. Critical scholars, however, believe that the book was written centuries later by an unknown writer – AFTER the events it pretends to predict. This article evaluates the evidence for WHEN Daniel was written.
– Summary
FALL OF ROME
As stated, the Book of Daniel itself claims to have been written in the 6th century BC but many theologians believe that it was written in the second century BC. However, if Daniel was written in the time of Antiochus by an unknown and uninspired writer, why do the prophecies so accurately describe the Fall of Rome, about eight centuries later?
DARIUS THE MEDE
Daniel names Darius the Mede as king of the Chaldeans but secular history does not mention Darius at all. Critical scholars claim that that was a historical blunder by the second-century writer. This article proposes that Darius was general Ugbaru who conquered Babylon and who Cyrus appointed as king over Babylon. It proposes that Ugbaru chose Darius as his throne name.
THE ANTICHRIST COMES OUT OF ROME.
DANIEL 2
The vision in Daniel 2 divides the history of the world into six successive ages. The first is the Babylonian Empire, followed by silver, bronze, and iron kingdoms. This is followed by a divided kingdom, and, finally, God’s eternal kingdom.
DANIEL 7
In Daniel 7, four beasts arose from the sea, symbolizing four kingdoms arising from the people of the world. Ten horns grow out of the fourth beast, symbolizing ten kingdoms that will arise “out of” that beast. But the most important character in Daniel is none of the above, but an eleventh horn that will become larger than the others. This is the Antichrist.
THE EVIL HORN OF DANIEL 8
Daniel 8 explicitly identifies the ram as Mede-Persia and the goat as Greece but does not identify the main character in the prophecy—the Antichrist that persecutes God’s people and corrupts His message. This article gives an overview of Daniel 8 and lists the alternative interpretations of this evil power.
THE ANTICHRIST COMES OUT OF ROME.
The main character in Daniel 7 and 8 is an evil horn-king. To show that it arises out of the Roman Empire, this article identifies the beasts of Daniel 7 by comparing them to the beasts of Daniel 8, which Daniel 8:20-21 explicitly identifies as the Medo-Persian and Greek empires.
THE ANTICHRIST IS NOT ANTIOCHUS.
OUT OF ONE OF THEM (DAN 8)
In Daniel 8, the horn comes “out of one of them.” If that means out of one of the four horns of the Greek goat, then the small horn must be a Greek king. But an analysis of the genders shows that it came out of one of the compass directions; not from a Greek horn.
THE VILE PERSON OF DANIEL 11
Daniel lived before the kingdoms of Greece and Mede-Persia came to power but the book mentions those empires explicitly. Critical scholars, who do not accept that God knows the future, propose that the book was written after these kingdoms, namely, in the time of Antiochus IV and that he is the Antichrist in that chapter. This article analyses Daniel 11 and refutes that proposal.
ANTIOCHUS DOES NOT FIT THE PROFILE
Critical scholars are convinced that the vile person in Daniel 11 is Antiochus IV; a Greek king that reigned in the second century BC. There are many similarities between them but this article lists several differences. Antiochus does not fit the profile. He may be a type, but he is not a complete fulfillment.
HISTORICAL CRITICISM
Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the Great! The theological faculties of the world have fallen to naturalism. They no longer accept the supernatural. For that reason, critical scholars claim that Daniel was written after the events it pretends to predict. This implies that the book of Daniel is a forgery.
DANIEL 9
In Daniel 9, God promises a further 490 years to Israel. This article summarizes the about 30 articles on this website that evaluate the four main interpretations of this cryptic prophecy in Daniel 9.
ARTICLES ON REVELATION THAT BUILD ON DANIEL
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- The beast of Revelation 13 is a different symbol for Daniel’s antichrist; the evil horn in Daniel 7 and 8 and the vile person in Daniel 11.
- The seven heads of the beast are seven phases of the beast-power and are an expansion of the beasts and horns of Daniel 7.
- Each of the seven-headed beasts, actually, symbolize one of the heads or phases of the beast.
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