The Gentile Times Reconsidered Chronology Christ

More documents

Recommendations

Info

Summary The History of an Interpretation 59 The interpretation of the “Gentile times” as having been of 2,520 years, beginning in 607 B.C.E. (earlier, 606 B.C.E.) and ending in 1914 C.E., was not some divine revelation made to Pastor Charles Taze Russell in the autumn of 1876. On the contrary, this idea has a long history of development, with its roots far back in the past. It had its origin in the “year-day principle,” first posited by Rabbi Akibah ben Joseph in the first century C.E. From the ninth century onward this principle was applied to the time periods of Daniel by several Jewish rabbis. Among Christians, Joachim of Floris in the twelfth century probably was the first to pick up the idea, applying it to the 1,260 days of Revelation and the three and one-half times of Daniel. After Joachim’s death, his followers soon identified the 1,260 year period with the Gentile times of Luke 21:24, and this interpretation was then common among groups, including the Reformers, branded as heretics by the church of Rome during the following centuries. As time passed, and expectations failed when earlier explanations proved to be wrong, the starting-point of the 1,260 (or, 1290) years was progressively moved forward, in order to make them end in a then near future. The first to arrive at a period of 2,520 years was apparently John Aquila Brown in 1823. Although his calculation was founded upon the “seven times” of Daniel 4, he did not equate those periods with the “Gentile times” of Luke 21:24. But this was very soon done by other expositors. Fixing the starting-point at 604 B.C.E., Brown reached the year 1917 as the seven times’ termination date. By using different starting-points, other biblical commentators in the following decades arrived at a number of different terminal dates. Some writers, who experimented with biblical “Jubilee cycles,” arrived at a period of 2,450 (or, 2,452) years (49x49+49), which they held to be the period of the Gentile times. The accompanying table presents a selection of applications of the 2,520 (and 2,450) years made by different authors during the last century. The calculations were in fact so numerous, that it would probably be difficult to find a single year between the 1830’s and 1930’s that does not figure in some calculation as the terminal date of the Gentile times! That a number of expositors pointed to 1914 or other years near to that date, such as 1915, 1916, 1917, 1918, 1919, 1922 and 1923, is, therefore, not a cause for astonishment. 59
60 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED TABLE 2: APPLICATIONS OF THE 2,520 (OR 2,450) YEAR Expositor Date Publication Application BCE–CE Comments John Aquila Brown William Cuninghame 1823 1827 The Even-Tide . . . Dialogues on Prophecy, Vol.1 604–1917 728–1792 = “Seven times” of Daniel 4 Report of the prophetic conferences Henry Drummond 1827 ” ” ” 722–1798 at Albury Park S. Faber 1828 The Sacred Calendar of Prophecy 657–1864 Alfred Addis 1829 Heaven Opened 680–1840 William Digby 1831 A Treatise on the 1260 Days 723–1793 W. A, Holmes Matthew Habershon 1833 1834 The Time of the End A Dissertation . . . 685–1835 677–1843 John Fry 1835 Unfulfilled Prophecies . . . 677–1843 William W. Pym William Miller 1835 1842 A Word of Warning . . . The First Report . . . 673–1847 677–1843 Th. R. Birks 1843 First Elements of Sacred Prophecy 606–1843 Gentile times = 2,450 years Edward B. Elliott ” ” ” 1844 1844 Horae Apocalypticae, Vol. 111 ” ” ” 727–1793 606–1914 A second alternative Matthew Habershon 1844 An Historical Exposition 676–1844 ” ” ” 1844 ” ” ” 601–1919 A second alternative William Cuninghame 1847 The Fulfilling . . . 606–1847 Gentile times = 2,452 years James Halley Frere 1848 The Great Continental Revolution 603–1847 Gentile times = 2,450 years Robert Seeley 1849 An Atlas of Prophecy 606–1914 Counted from “606 or 607” ” ” ” 1849 ” ” ” 570–1950 A second alternative ” ” ” 1849 ” ” ” 728–1792 A third alternative Edward Bickersteth 1850 A Scripture Help 727–1793 Another of his calculations ” ” ” 1850 ” ” ” 602–1918 was 677-1843 60
Page 2 and 3:
THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED Carl
Page 4 and 5:
Contents Foreword v Introduction 1
Page 6 and 7:
vi THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED G
Page 8:
viii
Page 11 and 12:
2 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED Th
Page 13 and 14:
4 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED de
Page 15 and 16:
6 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED wh
Page 17 and 18: 8 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED me
Page 19 and 20: 10 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED f
Page 21 and 22: 12 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED d
Page 23 and 24: 14 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED S
Page 27 and 28: 18 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED w
Page 29 and 30: 20 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED p
Page 31 and 32: 22 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED L
Page 33 and 34: 24 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED F
Page 35 and 36: 26 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED A
Page 37 and 38: 28 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED p
Page 39 and 40: 30 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED h
Page 41 and 42: 32 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED s
Page 43 and 44: 34 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED J
Page 45 and 46: 36 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED [
Page 47 and 48: 38 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED e
Page 49 and 50: 40 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED E
Page 51 and 52: 42 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED b
Page 53 and 54: 44 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED N
Page 55 and 56: 46 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED t
Page 57 and 58: 48 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED H
Page 59 and 60: 50 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED b
Page 61 and 62: 52 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED W
Page 63 and 64: 54 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED m
Page 65 and 66: 56 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED L
Page 67: 58 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED t
Page 73 and 74: 62 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED T
Page 77 and 78: 66 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED G
Page 79 and 80: 68 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED 1
Page 83 and 84: 2 I BIBLICAL AND SECULAR CHRONOLOGY
Page 85 and 86: 74 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED I
Page 87 and 88: 76 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED m
Page 89 and 90: 78 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED B
Page 93 and 94: 82 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED B
Page 99 and 100: 88 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED c
Page 107 and 108: 96 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED X
Page 111 and 112: 100 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED
Page 119 and 120:
108 THE GENTILE TIMES RECONSIDERED
Page 121 and 122:
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
Page 129 and 130:
Page 131 and 132:
Page 133 and 134:
Page 135 and 136:
Page 137 and 138:
Page 139 and 140:
Page 141 and 142:
Page 143 and 144:
Page 145 and 146:
Page 147 and 148:
Page 149 and 150:
Page 151 and 152:
Page 153 and 154:
Page 155 and 156:
Page 157 and 158:
Page 159 and 160:
Page 161 and 162:
Page 163 and 164:
Page 165 and 166:
Page 167 and 168:
Page 169 and 170:
Page 171 and 172:
Page 173 and 174:
Page 175 and 176:
Page 177 and 178:
Page 179 and 180:
Page 181 and 182:
Page 183 and 184:
Page 185 and 186:
Page 187 and 188:
Page 189 and 190:
Page 191 and 192:
Page 193 and 194:
Page 195 and 196:
Page 197 and 198:
Page 199 and 200:
Page 201 and 202:
Page 203 and 204:
Page 205 and 206:
Page 207 and 208:
Page 209 and 210:
Page 211 and 212:
Page 213 and 214:
Page 215 and 216:
Page 217 and 218:
Page 219 and 220:
Page 221 and 222:
Page 223 and 224:
Page 225 and 226:
Page 227 and 228:
Page 229 and 230:
Page 231 and 232:
Page 233 and 234:
Page 235 and 236:
Page 237 and 238:
Page 239 and 240:
Page 241 and 242:
Page 243 and 244:
Page 245 and 246:
Page 247 and 248:
6 I THE “SEVEN TIMES” OF DANIEL
Page 249 and 250:
Page 251 and 252:
Page 253 and 254:
Page 255 and 256:
Page 257 and 258:
Page 259 and 260:
Page 261 and 262:
Page 263 and 264:
Page 265:
Page 268 and 269:
Page 270 and 271:
Page 272 and 273:
Page 274 and 275:
Page 276 and 277:
Page 278 and 279:
Page 280 and 281:
Page 282 and 283:
Page 284 and 285:
Page 286 and 287:
Page 288 and 289:
Page 290 and 291:
Page 292 and 293:
Page 294 and 295:
Page 296 and 297:
Page 298 and 299:
Page 300 and 301:
Page 302 and 303:
Page 304 and 305:
Page 306 and 307:
Page 308 and 309:
Page 310 and 311:
Page 312 and 313:
Page 314 and 315:
Page 316 and 317:
Page 318 and 319:
Page 320 and 321:
Page 322 and 323:
Page 324 and 325:
For Chapter One: APPENDIX ADDITIONA
Page 326 and 327:
Page 328 and 329:
Page 330 and 331:
Page 332 and 333:
Page 334 and 335:
Page 336 and 337:
Page 338 and 339:
Page 340 and 341:
Page 342 and 343:
Page 344 and 345:
Page 346 and 347:
Page 348 and 349:
Page 350 and 351:
Page 352 and 353:
Page 354 and 355:
Page 356 and 357:
Page 358 and 359:
Page 360 and 361:
Page 362 and 363:
Page 364 and 365:
Page 366 and 367:
Page 368 and 369:
Page 370 and 371:
Page 372 and 373:
Page 374 and 375:
Page 376 and 377:
Page 378 and 379:
Page 380 and 381:
Page 382 and 383:
Page 384 and 385:
Page 386 and 387:
Page 388 and 389:
Page 390 and 391:
Page 392 and 393:
Page 394 and 395:
THE 20TH YEAR OF ARTAXERXES AND THE
Page 396 and 397:
Page 398 and 399:
Page 400 and 401:
Page 402:
Page 405 and 406:
Page 407 and 408:
PROFESSOR ROBERT R. NEWTON, “PTOL
Page 409 and 410:
Page 411 and 412:
Page 413 and 414:
Page 415 and 416:
Page 417 and 418:
Page 419 and 420:
Page 421 and 422:
Page 423 and 424:
Page 425 and 426:
Page 427 and 428:
Page 429 and 430:
Page 431 and 432:
Page 433 and 434:
Page 435 and 436:
Page 437 and 438:
Page 439 and 440:
Page 441 and 442:
Page 443 and 444:
Page 445 and 446:
Page 447 and 448:
Page 449 and 450:
Page 451 and 452:
Page 453 and 454:
Page 455 and 456:
Page 457 and 458:
Page 459 and 460:
Page 461 and 462:
Page 463 and 464:
Page 465 and 466:
Page 467 and 468:
Page 469 and 470:
Page 471 and 472:
Page 473 and 474:
Page 475 and 476:
Page 477 and 478:
Page 479 and 480:
Page 481 and 482:
Page 483 and 484:
Page 485 and 486:
Page 487 and 488:
Page 489 and 490:
Page 491 and 492:
Page 493 and 494:
Page 495 and 496:
Page 497 and 498:
A critical review of Rolf Furuli’
Page 499 and 500:
Page 501 and 502:
Page 503 and 504:
Page 505 and 506:
Page 507 and 508:
Page 509 and 510:
Page 511 and 512:
Page 513 and 514:
Page 515 and 516:
Page 517 and 518:
Page 519 and 520:
Page 521 and 522:
Page 523 and 524:
Page 525 and 526:
Page 527 and 528:
Page 529 and 530:
Page 531 and 532:
Page 533 and 534:
Page 535 and 536:
Page 537 and 538:
Page 539 and 540:
Page 541 and 542:
Page 543 and 544:
Page 545 and 546:
Page 547 and 548:
Page 549 and 550:
Page 551 and 552:
Page 553 and 554:
Page 555 and 556:
Page 557 and 558:
Page 559 and 560:
Page 561 and 562:
Page 563 and 564:
Page 565 and 566:
Page 567 and 568:
Page 569 and 570:
Page 571 and 572:
show all

The Gentile Times Reconsidered Chronology Christ

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?