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  • From: <tladatsi AT charter.net>
  • To: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [b-hebrew] Dating Daniel - Response
  • Date: Fri, 8 Jul 2005 2:45:32 -0400

One could believe that the author(s) of Daniel was/were
both inspired by God and prophetic and were writing in the
2nd century BCE. They could have taken existing divinely
inspired 6th century materials and added new divinely
inspired 2nd century materials. Perhaps they prophesied
the events of Antiochus Epiphanes merely 30 years before
they occurred, instead of 300 years and set them in a
historical context which might invite fewer political
repurcussions. Perhaps one might argue that Daniel 1 ? 6
is 6th century because the prophecy was non-apocalyptic but
the prophecy in Daniel 7 ? 12 is 2nd century because it is
apocalyptic. I offer these as a few of many possibilities.

Believing that Daniel is wholly or partially 2nd century
does not automatically make one an atheist. Believing that
Daniel is wholly or partially 6th century does mean one is
automatically a believer.

As I stated originally, if one is interested in dating the
composition of the Book of Daniel, examining the faith of
the investigator serves no useful purpose. It is far more
useful to examine the text and historical records.


Jack Tladatsi




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