Amos was not written until after the captivity. This commenced 588 B.C. and continued fifty years.
Joel, it is asserted, was written 800 B.C. That this writer also lived after the captivity is shown by the following:
“I shall bring again the captivity of Judah and Jerusalem” (iii, 1).
This passage, it is claimed, was a prediction made centuries before the event occurred. Joel’s ability to predict future events, however, is negatived by his next effort: “But Judah shall dwell forever, and Jerusalem from generation to generation” (20).
“Nineveh is laid waste: who shall bemoan her?” (Nahum iii, 7).
The composition of Nahum is placed between 720 and 698 B.C. Nineveh was destroyed 606 B.C., a century later.
The first verse of Zephaniah declares that the book was written “in the days of Josiah,” in the seventh century B.C.; the last verse shows that it was written in the days of Cyrus, in the sixth century B.C. Every chapter of Habakkuk and Obadiah’s single chapter show that these books were written after the dates assigned.
The book of Haggai is ascribed to Haggai, the last person in the world to whom it can reasonably be ascribed. It is not a book of Haggai, but about Haggai. Excepting a few brief exhortations, of which it gives an account, it does not purport to contain a word from his tongue or pen. This argument applies with still greater force to Jonah.
The greater portion of the Minor Prophets are probably forgeries. The names of their alleged authors are attached to them, but in most cases in the form of a superscription only. Each book opens with a brief introduction announcing the author. These introductions were not written by the authors themselves, but by others. The only authority for pronouncing the books authentic, then, is the assurance of some unknown Jewish scribe or editor.
A damaging argument against the authority, if not against the authenticity, of the Prophets is the fact that while the historical records of the Old Testament cover the time during which all of them are said to have flourished, only a few of them are deemed worthy of mention.