25th of the month Casleu, when Jupiter was worshipped in the temple. Had we been thus informed, I have no doubt that we should find it to be exactly fifty-five days." The reader will here perceive the evidence Mr. D. has, and the basis of his argument for the application of the vision to Antiochus. It was never yet shown to have been fulfilled in him. SECTION SEVENTH is devoted to an examination of Mr. Miller's date for the commencement of the 2,300 days or years." After stating to his readers that Mr. Miller begins the 2,300 of Daniel viii. 14, at the same time with the seventy weeks of the ninth chapter, calling the days years, and ending them A. D. 1843, he says: The reader is already aware that I do not regard the "two thousand three hundred evenings and mornings" as prophetic days or years. As, however, some of my readers may suppose that years are possibly intended, by the 2,300 days, I shall proceed to show that, even upon the supposi tion that this is the case, Mr. Miller is still egregiously in error, in the date of their commencement, and consequently in that of their termination. Let it be remembered that Mr. Miller acknowledges (p. 49) that the kingdom of the he-goat, (Daniel viii. 8,) means the establishment of the Grecian empire under Alexander the Great, and that this event occurred in the year B. C. 331. Let the reader also remember that Mr. M. acknowledges, in the same page, that by the four notable horns, explained by the angel (verse 22) as meaning four kingdoms, we are to understand the division of Alexander's dominions into four kingdoms, under four of his principal captains, and that this division took place B. C. 301. Now the prophecy says (verse 23) that, in the latter time of their kingdom, a king of fierce countenance shall arise, &c. By him (verse 11, 12) the daily sacrifice was to be taken away, &c. In the 13th verse, it is asked for how long a time this vision shall last, and the daily sacrifice be taken away, &c.; and the answer is, "unto two thousand and three hundred days." Now let the reader observe that, notwithstanding the above admission, Mr. M. places the commencement of these 2,300 days [years] in the year B. C. 457, that is, more than a century before the he-goat, or the four notable horns, or the little horn, had any existence! Is it not the very height of absurdity to fix the date of the beginning of these calamities, (which the prophecy says were to occur in the latter time of the four kingdoms which sprung from Alexander's,) more than a century before Alexander was born, and 126 years before the establishment of Alexander's Grecian empire? To express this in the symbolical language of the prophecy, is it not somewhat extraordinary that this "little horn," whatever was meant by it, should spring out of one of the four horns upon the head of the goat, more than a century before the goat had any existence? And yet this is the absurdity upon which Mr. M. builds his whole theory of the coming of Christ in 1843. Had not Mr. M. expressed himself on this point in language which cannot be misunderstood, I could scarcely have believed it possible that he would think of placing the horn, which was to spring from the head of the goat, before the time when the goat began to exist! or, in other words, that he would be guilty of the absurdity of placing a king or kingdom, which was to spring from another kingdom, before the commencement of the parent kingdom! The goat only began to exist, that is to say, Alexander's kingdom only arose in the year B. C. 331; and, if we were to date the commencement of the little horn even here, supposing the 2,300 days to be years, it would bring the termination of them not before A. D. 1969. Thus, 2300 331 before Christ. A. D. 1969 But the true date is the date of the taking away the daily sacrifices in the temple by Antiochus Epiphanes, B. C. 169; and, if the days meant years, this would bring the termination of them down to A. D. 2132. 2300 168 B. C. A. D. 2132 Either of these dates is, of course, far too distant for Mr. Miller's scheme, and therefore he places the commencement of the 2,300 days B. C. 457. 2300 A. D. 1843 1. "1 do not regard the 2,300 evenings and mornings as prophetical days or years." But it has already been shown that they do not mean what Mr. D. supposes them to signify, and that they were not fulfilled as he has supposed. 2. "If they do mean years, Mr. M. is egregiously in error, in the date of their commencement and termination.” To show the egregious error, he changes the reading of the text, and adopts that of Lowth: "How long shall the vision last, the daily sacrifice be taken away," &c.; then the little horn, which came out of one of the four horns of the goat, took away the daily sacrifice; that horn, whatever it was, could not come up before the goat existed, which was not until B. C. 331; and the division of the kingdom of the goat not until B. C. 301. Hence, it is absurd to date a vision before the power it predicts existed. In reply, we contend, 1. For the propriety and correctness of the reading of our translation, without the supplied words, "How long shall be the vision, the daily, and transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and host to be trodden under foot." 2. The word sacrifice, which Lowth inserts, is not in the text; it is "the daily and transgression of desolation." There is no good reason which can be assigned why the word sacrifice should be inserted. Whatever the daily does mean, it is, according to Mr. D.'s acknowledgment, something to be taken. away 1,335 years before the end, when Daniel will stand in his lot, at the end of the days, (see Daniel xii. 11—13,) which days Mr. D. admits to be years. 3. "The daily and transgression of desolation," are two desolating powers, which were to tread under foot both the sanctuary and host. The daily was to do it first, and then the little horn was to have a host given him against the daily; and the place of his (the daily's) sanctuary was to be cast down. See Daniel xi. 31. "They shall take away the daily, and place the abomination that maketh desolate;" that is, the daily shall cease its persecution, and the transgression of desolation will take its place, and tread |