For over thirty years, the Adventist Theological Society has been functioning as “an international, professional, nonprofit organization established as a resource for the Seventh-day Adventist Church to foster biblical, theological, and historical studies supportive of the Church’s message and mission.”[1] Among other projects, the society holds tw
Daniel lived most of his life as an exiled. In 605. B.C. he was forcefully uprooted by Nebuchadnezzar and moved from Judah to Babylon where he lived a long life – long enough to witness his captor, Babylon, capitulate to Medo-Persia. During the first year of Persian rule, Daniel searched the prophecies to understand the immediate future. Almost sev
The issue of theodicy goes centuries back and has been summarized by Hume in Dialogues Concerning Natural Religion as follows: Epicurus’s old questions are yet unanswered. Is he [God] willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then is he impotent. Is he able, but not willing? Then is he malevolent. Is he both able and willing? Whence then is evil?[i] I
In Daniel 8 we learned that the prophet was taken in vision to Susa and shown several things, including the conquest of Babylon by Medo-Persia. Chapter 9 occurs after the new empire established world supremacy. We are in the year 538 B.C. when Cyrus rules Medo-Persia, with Darius as cogent in Babylon.[i] Prophetic messages had been given to Israel
Knight’s writing contribution to this book consists primarily of some sixty pages. Don’t be misled, though; those sixty pages make it worth the purchase. Few authors can pull that off, but… it’s George Knight. These have been some of the most enlightening words I’ve read in the last decade, and I have been studying in academia for even longer than
In the first year of king Belshazzar’s reign, as described in chapter 7, Daniel dreamed about the conquest of Babylon by the Persian Empire. Now, in chapter 8, during the third reign of the same king, he is given a second vision about the same events and actually transported in vision to the capital of the new empire. As readers of the book, we hav
I read this book in one breath. Not only because it is relatively short and well written, but because it is filled with historical research that helps contextualize a major challenge of our church: biblical interpretation. If you think our hermeneutical struggles are recent, you may be surprised to discover that some core dissensions go at least on
Daniel’s Vision Daniel 7 takes us back to the time of Belshazzar, the last king of the Babylonian Empire. During the first year of his reign, Daniel had a dream and visions (7:1). These he wrote down for the posterity, along with an interpretation. They are prophecies given by God to His people, and His people include you and me. As you will see, t
A Foreigner on Track for Promotion God’s patience towards sinners is enduring, but when judgment is determined, nothing can thwart His purpose. The judgment of Belshazzar described in Daniel 5 providentially coincided with Darius’ conquest of Babylon. The overturning of the mighty kingdom recalls Daniel’s prophecy about a second kingdom: Medo-Persi
November 5 Business Session On Tuesday afternoon, the NAD Executive Committee briefly discussed an important statement on Confidence in the Writings of Ellen White voted by the GC Annual Council, which includes the following paragraph: We believe that the writings of Ellen White were inspired by the Holy Spirit and are Christ-centered and Bi
