“‘Ah,’ says the prophet, ‘that does not mean the resurrection, but⸺’
“‘But what?’ says the professor.
“‘Oh! I do not know—difficult to understand,’ says the prophet.
“‘I see,’ says the professor, ‘you are a Sadducee. You do not understand either the Hebrew or the Chaldaic, or the exegesis of the Scriptures. How dare you prophesy evil of this nation, when God hath spoken peace after these days? I say you are a Sadducee. I will have no fellowship with you. You must not come into my synagogue.’
“Would not this be the natural result of such a case? I leave it for the reader to judge.
“Or, suppose that the professor was now in controversy with a Jew,—a Sadducee,—and was under the necessity of proving the doctrine of the resurrection by the Old Testament, would he not put into requisition this very text, and prove by the same a resurrection unto eternal life? And, if he did not believe such plain and positive proofs as these texts would be, would he not consider him a poor, blinded Sadducee? Let us be careful that our own mouths do not condemn us.
“If, then, these days can only end with the resurrection, it is impossible that these Scriptures can apply to Antiochus. And, as the rules which he has given us in his Hints are the same, in substance, which I was forced to adopt more than twenty years ago, I cannot believe that Antiochus Epiphanes is even hinted at from Daniel 11:14 to the end of the 12th chapter. And, if the prophecy does not belong to Antiochus, then he must acknowledge that the little horn can apply only to the papal power; and must agree with nearly all Protestant writers that ‘time, times, and a half,’ are, together with the other numbers in this chapter, to be understood in a symbolical sense.
“In writing, he sometimes indulged in a colloquial style. In the following he hints at an objection often urged against him, that he, being a farmer, should not presume to teach. He says:—
“As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of man. They were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until Noah entered into the ark. Methinks I can almost see the scenes of that day. See you not that elegant building yonder, near that ark of gopher-wood? That building was reared at a great expense, by the host, for the purpose of entertaining strangers who might come to visit that ark, and to ridicule and laugh at that old, white-headed man you see yonder pitching the ark. The host, you see, has become rich by the great gain he has made, from the furnishing of the workmen, citizens and strangers, with food and drink of the most costly kind. Look into the dining hall of that establishment. See the table loaded with all the delicate viands of the season. See those bottles filled with the sparkling juice of the grape. See the host at his door, beckoning to each passer-by to enter and regale himself. Hear the conversation between the host and the stranger guest who has just entered his mansion.
“Guest. What great building is that in yonder field, on that eminence?