Dr Paul Allen

QUESTION:   The Book of Isaiah describes events of the Babylonian Exile and even mentions Cyrus by name. Given that the prophet Isaiah lived centuries before the Babylonian Exile, that ought to be surprising. Biblical scholars have looked at changes in style, vocabulary and historical interest to establish that the Book of Isaiah was originally three separate books written by three separate authors over a long period of time. Isaiah, son of Amoz, only wrote chapters 1–39, apart from some alterations and insertions within those chapters. Two other, anonymous authors wrote the remainder of the book. Another instance is the Book of Daniel, which appears to predict quite accurately the events immediately before 167 BCE. Still, neither mentions what happens immediately after that time nor is it at all accurate regarding the history of the Babylonian Exile, the time during which the story is set. Biblical scholars have established that the book must have been written around 167 BCE, as i...

When Christians are asked which millennial view they hold, some of the more cynical among them will sometimes answer: “I’m a panmillennialist. I believe it will all pan out in the end.”  Much of this cynicism is due to frustration over the seemingly never-ending debates about the last things. In some cases, it may also be due to exasperation with the endless train of falsified predictions of the rapture and/or second coming of Christ. For centuries, misguided teachers have repeatedly promised or strongly suggested to their contemporaries that they are the generation that will finally witness the end.  Isn’t it as plain as day that Napoleon Bonaparte was the Antichrist and his exile was a sign that the end of the world was imminent? Some Christians who lived in that generation thought so. Their generation was not the first to fall into the trap of date-setting, and it certainly wasn’t the last. For centuries, numerous Christians have compared the headlines of their day with the...