THE END OF THE WORLD

Evening Post, Volume CXV, Issue 105, 6 May 1933, Page 19

THE END OF THE WORLD

(By "Ajax.")

INFALLIBLE PROOFS

BUT ALL IN VAIN

The End of. the World. By Geoffrey ' Dennis,; London: Eyre and Spottiswoode. 1930. The passage-upon which William Miller j as 1 mentioned last week,_ based his prophecy of tho second coming of Christ iS in the- eighth chapter of the Book of-Dairicl: — 13 TJien'T'heard a holy one speaking; and another holy one said unto that certain one which spake, How long thall, be the vision toncerning the continual burnt offering and the transgression that maketli desolate, to give both the sanctuary and the host to bo trodden under foot? J4v And he eaid unto me, . Unto two thousand and three hundred evenings j anH rnorniugs-; then shall the sanctuary be j demised. It is the general opinion of modern scholars that tho Book of Daniel was .written in. the time of tho Maccabees 'to encourage the Jews to hold out ii"aiust tho-.persecutions of Antiochua •J'fpiphanfts.. The. .following particulars from".the/, Chronological Tables which "Dr. Charles prefixed to his edition ot j the'book cover tho period in question: j B C 169-168: Jerusalem taken by suv-T.i-i^-.on the' Sabbath.Day, many Jews slaughtered:,or, driven into esilfi, and a Syrian garrison/established in the citacla . The complete suppression ~of the Jewish religion ordered by Antioclins.. ...Tho_ observance o£ the Sabbath and circumcision forbidden. Books of the law burnt the daily sacrifice abolished, and a heathen altar i.e., "The Abomination of Desolation." set up in the Temple on the loth of Chisleu. (December), 168. . B C 107:; Tito .revolt of the Jews against Antiochns iniei'Mattatluas and his sons. B C. 105tVEecover.yi.of Jerusalem, witn the exception of the citadel. The cleans^ in" and rededication of the. Temple on the 2oth of Chisleu, three years and ten, days after its desecration. | The 2300 "evenings and. morn ings j (mistranslated in the A/Was "days ) is taken to represent the nuniber of the,. evening and morning-,sacrifices whielt wore suppressed, i.e., 1150 days. As the actual interval was three years and ten days, which would at tho most be. 1105 days, there is a discrepancy of no<? less than .forty-five days, which an. nmaten ; f might have supposed to bo not very seflswis .-,as. ancient- chronologies go. Some commentators account for it by supposing that tho author wrote during the period in question, and fixed the end of it by a geuuino but inaccurate prediction. \ « . --■ ' *, In view of the- devastating effect of the war debt payments" on" the happiness of tho world, let. nte,-suggest in; passing that the coincidence of the last. duo date o( these payments —December J4__ w itli that of the setting up of the Awj!sUiation. of Desolation is remarkable^ affdrijjat some reader with more time -to spare titan I have might devote some of it to working ont the ijigninvaiic'o; It gave roe quite a thrill to dis-. cover in the course of my last sentence' thai' .the actual- intervnl between the two'abo'miriations was 2100 years. Are; w-ef^n 'i'^edge h'fd%redt inysterp?' Tlrß' inVe's&g'ator wh<* Ciinnot bring those 2100 years into direct and fruitful re-l*tio»-with.Daniel's. 2300 days is a very poofc- -successor to William Miller. * » * ' j 'At the time of writing the preceding paragrax>h I had failed to note that Miller identified the Abomination, of Doaolation with Papal Civil-Rule.- If he- had not been ,an Amorican and had likred a hundred years later, he- might perhaps have identified it with tho Rule fit' the Dollar which since the war has so abominably' aggravated the desolation of the world. But no invidious distinction is drawn between the nations M the prophecy which Miller actually based upon the assumption that the '•'days" of Daniel viii, 14, represent years, and that each of the "seventy weeks" in Daniel is, 2±, represents seven years, and upon a > number of other assumptions- which appear to be purely arbitrary and therefore absurd. * .' ' ♦ * .' ■ The most fundamental of tlie calculations from which, as mentioned in my last notes, .Miller inferred th,e end.. of the world in, 1843 is recorded by Mr. Dennis as follows:— CALCULATION T. From the date of the commandment to rebuild .Jerusalem, B.C. 457, to the Crucifixion of Christ;. 70-weeks. ■ . A "week" equals 7 years .; '■■:;' 490 From the Crucifixion of Christ: to "taking away the daily Abomina- .. .tion^" or Paganism .......— -.— ,475 From the taking a way.,of Pagan .rites-,-.,, " ■to the setting np of the1 Abomination of Desolation (Papal Civil !Kule) ....:..;....■. :.-.:■■ • 30 From the setting tip of the1 Papal Abomination -to the end thereof .. 12Q0 From the. taking-away of Papal Civil Jlule to the first resurrection and the end of the world in 1843 — 45 2300 * . - * * 'The number 2300 which had, of coiirsc/been dictated by Miller's interpretation of Daniel'yin, 14, is' described by Mr. Dennis as the "clue number," but as two of the calculations appear to be independent of this number I vary hi 3 order in order to put the other two first:— CALCULATION 11. From 2300 Subtract 70 "weeks" 490 '."'■/,- ISIO Arid to this the term of the Saviour's life 03 End of-the-world-in A.D.1843 • ■ -CALCULATION 111. From,,. . ,■...,....-, 2300 Subtract date of the commandment to rebiiild Jerusalem 8.C.457 End of the world in ' A.D.1843 . • ' * ♦ The two calculations which appear, as I have said, to be independent of Miller's ''clue number," are as - follows:— ■ , CALCULATION. IV. From the Crucifixion to taking nway the daily Abomination (item of first calculation) ' ".' 473 Add our Savipur's age, y3, and Daniel's number, 1335 1308 End of .the world.in JBl3 • CALCULATION V. The House of Jsrael , are to bo punished yet "seven times" for , their sins; Leviticus xxvi, i.e., seven years of 300 days, equals .. 2520 Subtract date of first captivity in Babylon ...... 8.C.C77 End of the world in ~ A.D.1843 « ■» # Since Father Knox's discovery of a cryptogram in Tennyson's "In Memoriam" which prove* Qneen Victoria to be the real author, I have read no more convincing mathematics. And from the words "Ana so on" which

Mr. Dennis appends to the last of tlicsu .calculations "it may be inferred that there wero others in Miller's ample store, but these five should be enough for any reasonable appetite. .After 1843 had passed with nothing done, tho uufortunato Miller revised them on tho basis of the Jewish year, and postponed (lie finale till March 31, IS-i-L But ho was still disappointed. • <> « Nothing happened, writes Mr. Dennis. I Nothing. But only when the last outside hope on December 31, 1844, the last day of the Christian year in which the Jewish year ended, proved also vain, when the ultimate twists and tricks of re-modifica-tion and re-interpretation had been cx]>okc(l and exploded by inexorable fact, did the movement peter finally out. Ie was the end also of old William Miller, who flicd broken-hearted, but not of tho world, .. . -