23.
“And he saith unto me, Seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book: for the time is at hand” (Rev. xxii, 10).
Among much that is unintelligible, the writer of Revelation clearly predicts the destruction of Rome (xvii, 16, 18); asserts that Nero, who was really dead, was yet alive (xiii, 3); proclaims the immediate coming of Christ (i, 7; xxii, 7, 12), the avenging of the persecuted prophets and apostles (xviii, 20), the binding of Satan for a thousand years (xx, 2), and the establishment of God’s kingdom (xxi).
“We know how completely these expectations were disappointed. Jerusalem, where the temple at least was never to be violated, fell utterly, and the sanctuary was laid low never to rise again; while Rome, instead of being turned to a desert, still held her rank and fame. Nero, the Antichrist, was dead and never returned to life; but neither did the Christ come back to earth. The martyrs were not avenged, but fresh persecutions awaited the faithful. The kingdom of Satan held its own, and the kingdom of God came not” (Bible for Learners, Vol. III., p. 655).
CHAPTER XX.
THE BIBLE AND HISTORY.
About one-half of the books of the Bible purport to be, to a considerable extent at least, historical. But from Genesis to Revelation there is scarcely a book which can be accepted as a reliable record of events. Nearly all of them abound with manifest absurdities, exaggerations, and contradictions. Their authors, for the most part, deal with matters concerning which the ancient profane historians take no cognizance; and this, in a measure, conceals their errors. But when they do refer to known historical events, they exhibit such an ignorance of the facts, or such a desire to pervert them, as to destroy their credibility. In this chapter will be presented some “sacred” history which reason rejects or the demonstrated facts of profane history disprove.