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thn& of Antiochus Epiphanes . He maintained also , that the part relating to the times preceding t ) ie reign of Antiochus was true , but that all which had a reference tQ any period subsequent to this was false . The main reason assigned by Porphyry for this sweeping charge against the book of Daniel , is , that its author could not have known what was to take place in futurity , ^ - quia futura nescierit ;* and truly this summary argument might , without tear of contradiction , be pronounced unanswerable , if it could be proved that
a revelation of future events is impossible . With the aid of a concession like this , it would not be difficult to subvert the whole fabric of revelation , by undermining the , authprity and credit due to Isaiah , Jeremiah , Ezekiel , and the rest of the prophets , as well as DanieL Let it he taken for granted that the Deity has laid down a plan , from which it is not in his own power to deviate , and there is no inference , however wide of the truth , to which the
admission might not lead . As long aa th 0 Unbeliever does no more than complain of the darkness and obscurity of th £ predictions contained in the Sacred Writings , and the difficulty of tracing out their accomplishment with any degree of exactness , there is some prospect of bringing the general question to a satisfactory issue one way or the other , by mutual concessions and explanations ; but when the possibility of a divine revelation of future events is denounced as an absurdity , argument ceases , to be of any avail .
^ . t the beginning of the last century the objections of Porphyry were revived by the celebrated Anthony Collins , in an anonymous work , entitled , " The Scheme of Literal Prophecy considered , " and were ably refuted by Chandler in " A Vindication of the . Antiquity and Authority of Daniel ' s Prophecies ^ " to wfyich " Vindication" the reader who is anxious to obtain further information on t&e subject may be referred . The objections of the in
Schemajist , which w ^ re eleveji number ,, received separate answers from the pen of th # Dissenting divine , who subjoined eight arguments to prove the antiquity of the book of Daniel , and critical remarks upon three of the most interesting passages contaiBecl jn the prophetical parts of that book ; viz . il 44 , 45 ; vii . 13 , 14 ; ix . 24—27 .
This long digression concerning the , book of Daniel having , in some measure , cleared the way fox a , more profitable discussion of the general question , lej , us now proceed to adduce the testimonies by which the authenticity and credibility of the whole of ttie prophetiqal writings may be proved . These testimonies , may be conveniently arranged under , the six foflowing heads , which will carry us back , step l ? y step as ijt were , to the very period in whiclji some of the books in question were ; published ; : 1 . The Jewish Talmud .
2 . The Works of the Christian Fathers . 3 . The Writings of Ph ^ lo and Josepfius . 4 . The Books of the New Testament , 5 . The Alexandrine or Septuagint Versipn . 6 , . The BqoHs of the Oid Testament . 1 . The Talmud is a collection of ancient Jewish traditions , consisting of
two parts , called the Mishna and the Gemara . The Mishna contains the text , and the Gemara the commentary . The former is said to have been compiled in the second century , by Rabbi Jehudah Hakkadosh . It is sometimes called the Talmud of Jerusalem , and sometimes the Talmud of Babylon , according to the commentary which is annexed to it ; one of these commentaries having been supplied by the Jews of Judapa , and the other ,
* S . Hieronymi Opera , Colon . 1616 , Tom . TV . p . 495 , Prosem . in Lib . Comment . Danielis .
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246 Oanonical Authority of the Books of the Prophets .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), April 2, 1827, page 246, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1795/page/14/
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