Prophet Dan, here. (Not really a prophet)

Hi Everyone!

I just registered, and I'm excited to be here.

That said, despite the title of my thread, I'm definitely not a prophet! I'm an academic philosopher. (I teach ethics and medieval philosophy.) I just completed a book entitled Approaching Armageddon: Disaster, War and Persecution, and I'd like to do an online "author meets readers" study. In other words, if you order and read the book, I'd like to make myself available for a Q&A thread on Christian Chat. I think the book makes some very important claims, and a discussion like this would be a good way to engage one another.

If no one is up for the "author meets readers" study, then that's fine, too. I made sure the book is an easy and fast book to read. (It is only 196 pages, excluding the dedication, table of contents, etc.) By a careful examination of passages in Daniel, 2 Thessalonians and Revelation, I explain why it is probable (no guarantees!) that WWIII and a major persecution will begin in 2012, ending with the Battle of Armageddon in 2016.

I look forward to hearing from you!

In Christ,
Daniel

that should be interesting I've heard many claims about that online in fact here's a pod cast on the subject....

Harold Camping seems to agree with you, and that is some thing to be concerned about...

Fighting for the Faith: False Prophets

what about Jesus telling us "you shall not know the how or time of My return" is not clear in the Bible?

just curious.

Welcome!

Great questions--thanks.

No, I am nothing like Camping!

Everyone thinks that we can know something about when Christ will return. For example, if you lived during the final 1,260 days of the "tribulation" in Revelation, you could know when the tribulation was going to end, no?

Historically, Protestants believed that the 1,260 "days" mentioned in Daniel and Revelation are similar to Daniel's Seventy Weeks. They are similar in this respect: each day represents a year. (See Ezekiel 4:6--"each day for a year.") It is by this "day for a year" principle that we make sense of Daniel's prophecy that Messiah the Prince should enter the scene "69 weeks" after the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem. (See Daniel 9.) 69 weeks = 483 years.

Either way, if the "1,260 days" represent 1,260 years during which Antichrist reigns, then we can know to the approximate year when the Antichrist will be destroyed, supposing we know when he began to reign as Antichrist.

On that note, I don't believe Christ's Second Coming and the destruction of Antichrist are simultaneous. So my book doesn't say anything at all about when Christ's Second Coming will happen.

Other Protestants who share my belief that the 1,260 days = 1,260 years include Jonathan Edwards, John Gill, Isaac Newton, James Durham, and a myriad of others. They all thought what I'm doing is perfectly reasonable and Biblical, and I'm very careful to avoid presumptuous predictions.

One last thing: I have included an appendix in the book about how my suspicions about 2016 could be wrong, and how Armageddon could happen long after I suspect it will probably happen. I'm hardly a Harold Camping type. (I do, however, mention his movement in chapter 1 when I discuss irresponsible and overly ambitious eschatologies.)

I hope this clarifies things.
Dan

if you want a discussion on the topic I would suggest you post something on the Bible discussion forum but be warned you won't get an easy crowd. Good luck and welcome to cc.

Sounds fascinating Dan. I might take a read. Welcome to CC!

Hello approaching_armageddon welcome to christian chat.

Wow, thanks for the kind reception everyone!

Hello Daniel, and welcome to CC, your book does sound interesting.

Thanks, Forgiven. I hope you'll read it. Do you think it is a good idea to have an "author meets readers" thread in the future? Or do you know of a better way to do this? Whether or not there's a discussion of the book, I'm glad there's some interest.

I've also had a nice time chatting in the chat room last night. This seems like a great place to keep in touch.

BTW, the book was finally listed on Amazon. If you'd prefer to buy it there, you can. It's here.

--Dan