Interesting links between Daniel 7, Newton and Christology

A couple weeks ago I continued my study of Daniel. While Catholics and Theologians (who generally don’t believe in supernatural revelation) clearly agree that Daniel was written about 50 years before it was used religiously in the Dead Sea community, many religious Protestants (including the denomination I was raised in and am a member of, Adventists, and Newton) are inclined to identify the fourth beast as Rome and the blasphemous little horn as the Middle Ages Catholic Church.

I haven’t yet read Newton’s writings about Daniel or detailed discussions of them, but in the sermon it was mentioned that the 3 barbarian groups which are identified as being extinguished by the early Catholic Church were Arian (and so not Trinitarian). Newton identified Trinitarianism as the great Apostasy and his date for the return of Christ in 2060 was based on the year for a day principle from the point where he identified Trinitarianism as becoming dominant in the Christian Church.

The Millerites, from whom the Adventists descended (along with other denominations like the Jehovah Witnesses and the Church of God (7th Day)), came up with the date of 1844 as the end of Daniels prophecy using the year for a day principle. Adventists were born out of the Great Disappointment when Christ did not return. While the Bahá'í also identify 1844 as the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy, it isn't clear to me that the interpretation is preferred for any reason other than that it fits the life of the Báb.

Note that while many Adventists are not Trinitarian, most are and I am and was raised Trinitarian. I hope to write a blog post about Trinitarianism at some point in the future.

Psalm of Daniel

This year my church has had a sermon series on Daniel. I decided to reread it, perhaps for the first time in over a decade, and while I didn't get past chapter 7 or so I was initially struck by the praise in Daniel 2. Daniel was a wiseman, one of the educated of his time and in some way the middle eastern antecedent of a scientist, and he praised God for the knowledge that was bestowed on him.

NRSV (Daniel 2:20-23)

“Blessed be the name of God from age to age,
    for wisdom and power are his.
21 He changes times and seasons,
    deposes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
    and knowledge to those who have understanding.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things;
    he knows what is in the darkness,
    and light dwells with him.
23 To you, O God of my ancestors,
    I give thanks and praise,
for you have given me wisdom and power,
    and have now revealed to me what we asked of you,
    for you have revealed to us what the king ordered.”

As I have sought knowledge and understanding as a scientist, I have prayed for insight (and occasionally even for wisdom). I feel that in some small measure that I have been given some. I think it is important, as a scientist and a Christian, to acknowledge God's place in my seeking and appreciate finding in Daniel a biblical model to identify with.

Other Blogs

Sometimes you come across someone that has not only done what you wanted to do, but also has succeeded far more in every way. I realized that it was the case for me when I came across Aron Wall's blog a couple of years ago.

I strongly recommend his blog, named UNDIVIDED LOOKING.
Before that, I came across a nice presentation of his about the Fine Tuning argument for the existence of God.

He is a much more successful physicist, a particle theorist (which was my original interest), regularly updates his blog and blogs about Christianity and Physics. We even had some overlap at the University of Maryland, but I think that we didn't meet as I spent most of my time at Jefferson Laboratory starting in January of 2006.

Evolution of Humans

I read How humans tamed themselves with interest and I have not read the related scientific article(s). But the obvious thing that came to mind, as a parent, is that there is an another obvious hypothesis.

We were tamed by being parents. Our children do not take 6 months or 1 year or even 3 years for basic functionality and not the level of functionality needed to care for themselves until they are somewhere near 12 years old. Orangutans are usually cared for until they are about 6 years so that is pretty long.

When you are caring for someone, and it requires a group not just one person, then you have to put aside violence and work together. And (less domestic) individuals who don't do that, would end up being less successful, and be less likely to have children.