IS THE BOOK OF DANIEL A FRAUD?
GREAT GULF
Thereis a great gulf betweenthe claims of the book of Daniel and the liberal understanding of the book.
The book of Daniel claims that the visions recorded in the book were given by God (2:29ff.; 4:24; cf. 31ff.; 5:24-30; 9:21-22; chapters 7-12) to a person named Daniel (7:1, 28; 8:1, 9:2; 10:2; 12:5), who was a contemporary of Nebuchadnezzar (605-562), Belshazzar (556-539) and Cyrus (539-530) (2:1; 5:1; 10:1 etc.). Daniel therefore lived in the sixth century BC. The book claims the prophecies as proof of God’s knowledge of the future. The book further presents its stories as real eventsthat occurred during and shortly after the Babylonian captivityin which God’s power was demonstrated.
Most modern non-conservative orcritical scholars believe:
Writer: That Daniel (or at least the second half of Daniel) was written by an unknown writer, using Daniel as his pseudonym (false name);
167 BC: That Daniel was completed after Antiochus IV Epiphanes(a king from the Seleucid branch of the Greek Empire) desecrated the altar of the temple of Jerusalem around 167 BC, and that Daniel was written in reaction to the events of that time.
Prophecies: That its prophecies are by and large interpretations of past history.
Stories: That the stories in the book are parablesor moral fables, perhaps with a historical core;
Few Christians are aware of the fact that this view is widely held in academic circles. The following is quoted here as proof that this is the viewin academic circles(critical scholars):
The Book of Daniel presents a collection of popular stories about Daniel, a loyal Jew, and the record of visions granted to him, with the Babylonian Exile of the 6th century BCE as their background. The book, however, was written in a later time of national crisis—when the Jews were suffering severe persecution under Antiochus IV Epiphanes (reigned 175–164/163 BCE). (Encyclopædia Britannica)
The Book of Daniel was written during the persecutions of Israel by the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes. (Jewish Encyclopedia)
This explains why university trained preachers so seldom preach from Daniel. They have been taught that this book is pious fraud.
IF DANIEL FALLS, THE BIBLE FALLS.
Daniel mentions the Mede-Persian and Greek*Empires by name and provides clear predictions of individual Greek kings up to Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the second century BC. This bolsters belief in the supernaturalcharacter of the book and in the unique predictive capability of God, the only uncreated Being, Who is therefore not subject to the constraints of time or space (Isaiah 46:9-10). The book is an amazing testimony about how God rules the universe. It demonstrates God’s complete control and comprehension over time and nations.
(*Daniel refers to the Macedonian Empire as the Greek kingdom. This article therefore also refers to it as the Greek kingdom. They did speak Greek!)
If this book was written at the time of Antiochus IV for the purpose of strengthening the morale of the Jews of that time—under a false name—creating the impression that the authorwas Daniel, a super-Jew of the sixth century BC, then the book is a fraud.
Jesus referred to Daniel as a prophet and put the fulfillment of some of its prophecies in the future (Matt. 24:15–16; Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20). If the book of Daniel is a fraud, then Christ was mistaken concerning it. Then we should also doubt His other statements.
Due to the interwoven nature of the Scriptures an attack on any one book of the Bible is an attack upon all books of the Bible. Although written by many different authors of many different vocations in varied historical settings over a period spanning over a thousand years, the Holy Spirit guided the message of the Bible into an integrated whole. If Daniel is a fraudulent piece of literature, then the reliability of other books in the canon of Scripture may legitimately be questioned.
This applies particularly the book of Revelation, because Daniel is the foundation on which the book of Revelation has been built. For instance, the “time, times and dividing of a time” (Dan 7:25) is central to many of the visions in Revelation (11:1, 2; 12:6, 14; 13:5). Further examples are listed in the section titled “No Controversy”.
It is therefore important that every Christian beaware of the convincing evidence that Daniel was really written in the sixth century BC, and also understands that the scientific method,used in academic circles, cannot accept the supernatural as a founding principle. The purpose of this document is consequently to provide evidence that Daniel was written in the sixth century BC, and therefore contain real prophecy.
PRECISE DATE
This is an important concept to grasp in this context. Critical scholars believe that they are able to accurately date the finalization of the book of Daniel, for instance, as stated by the New Jerusalem Bible:
The book 'Daniel' must therefore have been written during the persecution under Antiochus Epiphanes and before his death, even before the success of the Maccabaean [Hasmonean] revolt; that is to say between 167 and 164.
Antiochus Epiphanes IVdesecrated the temple in 167 BC and tried to destroy the Jewish religion, but the Jewish rebels (the Maccabees) were able to drive Antiochus’s forces out of Israel by 164BC.
The first 35 verses of Daniel 11 closely resemble the history of the Greek kings up to and including Antiochus IV, such as the desecration of the sanctuary in 167 BC (11:31). Critical scholars therefore conclude that Daniel was writtenafter the historical events of the first 35 verses. But the remainder of Daniel 11 and 12, which apparently continue the history of the same king, do not agree with known history. In particular, although it continues until the end of the current world history, there is no mention of the success of the Maccabean(Jewish) revolt. Critics therefore conclude that the remainder of Daniel 11 and Daniel 12 is the author’s own but incorrect predictions, and that Daniel was written before the success of the Maccabean revolt in 164 BC. They consequently date the writing of the book to shortly after 167 BC.
EXTERNAL EVIDENCE
The first category of evidence is called “external”, namely what other documents say or not say about the book of Daniel:
PART OF THE BIBLE
For those that accept that the Bible was put together under the inspiration of God it would be an unpleasant surprise to find abook written under a false name, falsely claiming divine foreknowledge and miracles, being accepted as Holy Scripture.
NO CONTROVERSY
To appreciate this point an overview of the history of the Maccabean Date Hypothesis(that the Book of Daniel was written when the Jews were suffering persecution under Antiochus IV Epiphanesbetween 167 and 164 BC) isfirst required:
The first person that proposed the Maccabean date hypothesiswas the third-century AD philosopher Porphyrius of Tyre in his work entitled “Against Christians”. Porphyry’s goal was to discredit Daniel because its remarkably accurate predictions prove the existence of a God that knows the future. He contended that the remarkably accurate "predictions" contained in Daniel (esp. ch. 11) were the result of a pious fraud, perpetrated by some zealous propagandist of the Maccabean movement, who wished to encourage a spirit of heroism among the Jewish patriots resisting Antiochus IV.
Porphyry was more or less dismissed by Christian scholarship until the time of the enlightenment and scientific revolution in the eighteenth century, when naturalism and rationalism had an upsurge, and when all supernatural elements in Scripture came under suspicion. A series of authors revived Porphyry's theory. They all agreed with Porphyry that such long-range prophecies are impossible. In 1890 Klaus Koch wrote a powerful book denouncing the exilic date of writing (sixth century BC), and proclaiming the Maccabean theory. Immediately following him, in 1900, came S.R. Driver's commentary on Daniel, supporting the same theory. Since then, the majority of scholars generally accept the Maccabean date theory without much question.
We will now review the sources prior to Porphyry.
The book of First Maccabees was written before 100 BC. It cites history from the book of Daniel as actual historical events.
First Maccabees was written most likely near 166 BC and no later than 100 BC. It cites history from the book of Daniel as actual historical events:
Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, by believing were saved out of the flame. Daniel for his innocency was delivered from the mouth of lions. (1 Mac. 2:51-60)
In the Qumran community, within a generation of two after the Maccabean revolt, the book of Daniel was popular, and Daniel regarded as a prophet.
The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) are a collection of 972 documents discovered between 1946 and 1956 on the northwest shore of the Dead Sea at Khirbet Qumran. These are theoldest known surviving copies of biblical and extra-biblical documents. These manuscripts have been datedwith paleography, which is the study of ancient style of writing, alphabetic characters and layout, to various ranges between 408BC and 318AD.
The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) includes an extensive collection of manuscripts of the biblical book of Daniel — from every chapter of Daniel except one. The DSS also includes other works that discusses and references the book of Daniel, including references to “the book of Daniel, the Prophet” and the “Anointed of the Spirit, of whom Daniel spoke” (Dan. 9:25-26). Some of the documents (Items 4QDan(c) and 4QDan(e))were copied (not written for the first time) between 150 and 100 BC. The book of Daniel was evidently popular at Qumran, and Daniel was regarded as a prophet.
Daniel was translated from the Hebrew and Aramaic into Greek in the translation now known as the Septuagint or the LXX.
The translation of Daniel into Greek was only widespread perhaps by c.40AD, but living much closer to the events in view than us today, these translators accepted Daniel as inspired.
The first century AD Jewish historian Josephus accepted the book of Daniel as an authoritative portion of the inspired Hebrew Scriptures.
Josephus mentions that Daniel’s prophecies regarding Alexander the Great were shown to the Greek general as he came toward Jerusalem in the 4th century BC, and that the illustrious commander was so impressed that he spared the holy city (Antiquities Xl,VIII,3-5). The factuality of this story is disputed, but it highlights Josephus’s view and therefore the Jewish view at the time, namely that Daniel was the author of the work and that it was completed long before the time of Alexander (332 BC), and therefore long before the Maccabees. Living much closer to the Maccabean era than us, Josephus knows nothing of a Maccabean origin for Daniel or any alternative author than the biblical Daniel.
Josephusalso wrote that no books were added to the Old Testament after the time of the Persian ruler Artaxerxes (464-424 B.C.) (Josephus, Against Apion 1.8).
Josephus interpreted the desolation of the temple by Antiochus IV Epiphanes as the fulfillment of prophecies made by Daniel “according to Daniel’s vision and what he wrote many years before they came to pass” (Antiquities X.Xl.7).
Jesus believed Daniel was a real person that predicted future events.
Jesus said:
So, when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' of which the prophet Daniel spoke, standing in the holy place...then those who are in Judea must take to the hills. (Matthew 24:15-16 cf. also Mark 13:14; Luke 21:20).
Jesus therefore believes that Daniel was an actual person named Daniel. Jesus also believed that Daniel was a prophet, and interpreted the “abomination of desolation” as a futureevent. The endorsement of Daniel and his book by Jesus settles the matter for those who place their faith in Christ.
In the New Testament Jesus refers to Himself more than 80 times as “the Son of man”. There can be no doubtthat Christ claimed Himself as fulfillment of Daniel 7:13-14:
... onelike the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him (7:13). And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed (Dan 7:14).
The reference in Daniel 7 to the Son of man coming with the clouds is in the context of judgment. Consistent with this Jesus said that He, as the Son of man, will come with the clouds of heaven (Mat 26:64)to judge (Mat 16:27; 25:31-32). This means that Jesus accepted Daniel as true.
The authors of the letter to the Hebrews and the book of Revelation accepted Daniel as factual.
In Hebrews 11:33,34 we read:
prophets who…stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire …
Here we have a reference to Daniel chapter 6 with his encounter in the lions’ den and to Daniel 3 where Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego are thrown into the blazing furnace in Nebuchadnezzar’s reign.
Many key concepts in the book ofRevelationoriginate from the book of Daniel, which at least means that the author of Revelation (John) accepted the book of Daniel as an authoritative portion of the inspired Hebrew Scriptures:
Beast: In Revelation 13 a beast comes out of the sea. It was “like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion”. These are the same beasts (lion, bear, leopard and non-descript beast) that also come out of the sea in Daniel 7. Both the beast in Revelation 13 and the beasts in Daniel 7 have seven heads and ten horns.
Evil king:The beast from the sea (Rev. 13) corresponds to the evil king of Daniel—both blaspheme God, persecute the saints, pretend to be God and work for a “time, times and half a time”.
Times: The time, times and half a time (Dn7:25; 12:7), and alternative expressions of it (1260 days and 42 months), is found five times in Revelation (11:2, 3; 12: 6, 14; 13:6).
Oath: The oath in Revelation 10 continues the oath in Daniel 12. Both are in the context of a book, with the emphasis on whether the book is sealed or open, in both the supernatural being is above water, in both he lifts up his hand to heaven and swears by “Him who lives forever and ever”, and in both he swears about time; when the end will be.
In Revelation 14:14 John wrote:
And I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle.
Note the link this creates between Daniel, Jesus and Revelation. Daniel prophesied about the Son of man that will come on the clouds of heaven to receive the eternal kingdom. Jesus said He is that One. John the revelator saw Him coming on the clouds of heaven to reap the earth (Rev. 14:15-16).
NO TIME
From the initial writing of an inspiredbook hundreds of years followed of copying, distribution, reading and discussions before it found a place in the hearts of the people as part of the Scriptures. The earliest sources discussed above, namely the book of First Maccabees, the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint, dated at latest to 100 BC, do not allow nearly enough time for this process if Daniel was written in 165 BC.
The time required for a book to become generally accepted as part of the Bible, followed by translation into Greek,is much more than the 200 years from 165 BC to 40 AD.
If Daniel was known in the Maccabean period to be written under a false name, falsely presenting history as prophecyand falsely claiming miracles, with an incorrect view of the history after 164 BC, and containing many historical errors(as the critics propose), then it is even more unlikelythat it became accepted as inspired Scripture—while other such books were consistently rejected—within a generation of two by a community that were eyewitnesses of the Maccabean revolt. People first had to forget about its origins before it could slowly start to become accepted as inspired.
To this should be added the major new theological concepts in Daniel, such as that people will arise from death (12:2, 13), and the other concepts discussed below. These new concepts would also have prolonged the time required before the book was accepted as inspired.
The next three points are also classified as external evidence, but it is external evidence which critics offer to argue for a second century authorship. Responses to these arguments are provided, and the reader is urged to evaluate this evidence against the evidence above for a sixth century authorship.
WRITINGS
In English Bible, in the Latin Vulgate and in the Greek Septuagint we find the book of Daniel among the books of the Major Prophets. But in the Hebrew canon, which is divided into the Law (Pentateuch), the Prophets and the Writings (Kethubim), Daniel is included among the Writings, not in the Prophets.
A famous critic (Driver) once wrote:
...there are strong reasons for thinking that the threefold division represents three stages in the collection and canonization of the sacred books of the O.T.,--the Pent. being canonized first, then the 'Prophets' and lastly the Kethubim.