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Erroneous Chronology And False Conclusions.
MANY are the false chronologies and erroneous and very misleading
applications of prophecy in our day, but the majority of them being little
known it is not necessary that their errors should be specially pointed out.
But during the past five years numerous tracts and pamphlets have been
published and widely circulated by a Mr. Dimbleby of England, and by a Mr.
Totten of the United States, which present a so-called "Bible
chronology," and various prophetic interpretations based thereon, which
are quite misleading to many,--inclining them to false expectations and thus
diverting their attention away from correct expectations, and consequently away
from the real duties of the present "harvest" work and time.
Their chronology, and methods of applying such prophecies as they attempt
to expound, are practically the same, with a few exceptions which we will show
later on. Mr. Dimbleby is conceded to be the originator of the Chronology,
which is far from clear, and very disconnectedly stated. It is built only in
part upon the testimony of the Bible; and, while claiming exactness to the
fraction of a day, it is one hundred and twenty-nine years astray, according to
the Bible record. This is shown in the article following, on "The True
Bible Chronology";--to which, for straightforward, unvarnished simplicity,
no other chronology we have ever seen will compare. We do not claim it as
"our" chronology: on the contrary, we claim it is God's chronology,
supplied in the Bible to all that are his, and for our common use and behoof. We
fear human speculations and manufactures along these lines, by ourselves or
others.
But it may be asked, Why should any be confused by this Dimbleby-Totten
chronology, which they do not understand, and which is not simple? We reply, it
is chiefly because of five things:--
(1) Because these gentlemen claim to back up their chronology by
astronomical calculations, eclipses, etc.
(2) Because Mr. Dimbleby is or has been connected with the British
Chronological and Astronomical Association; and Mr. Totten is a man of some
erudition, who for some time held the position of Instructor of Military
Tactics in Yale College, and therefore is known as Professor Totten.
(3) Because the majority of people know little about mathematics,
chronology and astronomy--especially the latter--and are apt to overestimate
possibilities along those lines.
(4) Because both of these gentlemen, following a very common failure,
employ their talents rather to impress their readers with reverence
for their learning, and thus for their views, than to
elucidate and prove their subject. They use technical terms, and assert astronomical
proofs of their chronology which the average readers do not comprehend, the
latter are convinced of their own ignorance, and proportionally convinced of
the wisdom of these gentlemen; and forthwith they accept what
they do not at all comprehend. And as for those who have some knowledge of
astronomy, they usually have little knowledge of the Bible, and no knowledge of
Bible chronology. They are therefore as unprepared to see, as they would be
indifferent to expose, the errors of statement on this subject made by Mr.
Totten and Mr. Dimbleby.
(5) Because these gentlemen state themselves boldly, as though they
believe all that they are teaching.
Respecting the last proposition: We must remind our readers that it is
nothing uncommon for people to deceive themselves, as well as others. Saul of
Tarsus, one of the most zealous, God-fearing men in Israel, was deceived to the
extent that he persecuted the Church while verily [R1974 : page 104] thinking
that he did God service. Hence, while charging these gentlemen with serious
errors, we do not believe that they were originally actuated by any desire to
deceive themselves or others. They desired to find a chronology, and concluded
they ought to be able to find and prove one. They set about it; and have bent
and warped their own judgments so that they no doubt at first believed what
they were teaching, which, as we proceed to show, is very far astray
chronologically, and without a particle of astronomical support. But we do find
fault with them in that afterward, when they became involved in difficulties
from which they could not extricate their theories, either logically or
Scripturally, they taught and still teach them instead of refuting them.
Their "Bible Chronology" is defective; because in certain
places where the historic account of the Bible is broken, they have neglected
to take the divinely given "bridging" for those "chasms,"
specially provided by the Lord in the New Testament; hence the difference
between it and the simple, easily comprehended, Bible chronology presented in
MILLENNIAL DAWN, VOL. II., Chapter II. (See p.42), and stated in Anno
Mundi order
on another page of this issue. The largest portion of this error (100 years) is
made in reckoning the period of the Judges. The error next in magnitude is made
in connecting Bible chronology with secular chronology,--the "seventy
years desolation
of the
land" being
taken to mean seventy years of captivity, whereas
the captivity began eighteen years before. Thus one hundred and eighteen
(100+18) years are lost from their reckoning. In these two errors these
gentlemen have followed Bishop Usher, whose chronology appears in the margin of
our common version English Bibles. Indeed, it may be said that they use Usher's
chronology with but slight deviation, until, finding it too short, they adopt a
peculiar, "original" and erroneous method of lengthening it, the
fallacy of which we will expose.
But, says some one, if their chronology is wrong to the extent of one
hundred and eighteen years, or even one year, or even one day, how could they prove
it by
astronomy?
They do not prove it, we answer; they merely assert that
they prove it: and we will show you why it is impossible, absolutely
impossible, for them or for any one else to prove their chronology, or any
other Bible chronology, by astronomy. [R1975
: page 104]
Now do not allow yourself to conclude that because you know
nothing about astronomy you can therefore only choose between their claim to
prove their chronology by astronomy and our claim that such a procedure is as
impossible as the most impossible thing you ever heard of; for the matter is
not nearly so abstruse as some learned people pretend and some unlearned people
suppose. When we have explained, in simple language, the principle of applying
astronomy to chronology, you can understand
it, and will understand
it; and you will see and fully endorse our declaration that astronomy cannot in
any sense or degree be applied to Bible chronology.
First.--Astronomy has taken note of the fact that the
heavenly bodies move with such regularity that it is possible to calculate
their movements into the future and say, Unless some remarkable and now
unforeseen change occur, the sun will rise and set at such hours on a certain
day five hundred years hence, and that during that year there will be such
eclipses at such and such hours on such and such days. By similar calculations
or by reference to tabulated reckonings (just as in reckoning interest one
person would figure it out while another would refer to an "Interest
Table"), it is a very simple matter to know that such and so many eclipses
occurred one thousand years ago or ten thousand years ago, unless some unknown
changes occurred in the meantime.
But now suppose that you had reckoned the matter out, and found that
just five thousand years ago to-day the sun rose at 5 A.M. and set at 7 P.M. in
the vicinity of Palestine; and that during that year the moon was eclipsed four
times, and the sun twice; suppose that you were very precise and had reckoned
the very day, hour and minute at which each of those six eclipses occurred;
suppose that you noted, also, a transit of Venus and a transit of Mercury, to
the very day, hour and minute, that same year. Of what value would all that
reckoning be to you, or to any one, so far as giving a knowledge of human
history, or of enabling anyone to connect your astronomic reckoning with mankind
and the chronology of human affairs?
None whatever!
All can see that! Any grammar school pupil can see that it would be
absurd to claim that because you had found that certain eclipses and transits
occurred in a certain year, therefore, that must be the year in which Adam
died; or in which Noah was born; or in which Moses and Israel came out of
Egypt.
But, says some one, while that seems logical enough, will you not
explain how astronomy is sometimes used in ascertaining, or at least in
corroborating, dates of history?
In ancient times a connected chronology was not valued and preserved as
now. The solidarity of the race was not appreciated then as now, and no common
era was recognized. The first effort to bring time-order into the world's
general history was in the second century of the Christian era (A.D.), by that
celebrated astronomer, mathematician and geographer, Ptolemy, of Alexandria, in
a book entitled "A Table of Reigns." In it he gives a chronological
table of the Assyrian, Persian, Greek and Roman sovereigns from his own day
back to Nabopolassar, the father of Nebuchadnezzar, of Bible note. The records
of those kings and dynasties had been written independently; and Ptolemy
attempted to reconcile and harmonize them into one. And, although generally
quite accurate, no doubt the mistake of
reckoning the "seventy years desolation" as seventy years of captivity, in
his endeavor to unite Bible [R1975
: page 105] history
with secular history, was originally his. It has been followed, very generally,
since.
Astronomy was one of the early "sciences"; but in early times
it was so mixed with vague imaginations and astrology as to be of little value,
and astronomers (rather astrologers) then not only claimed to foretell
something respecting the future state of the weather, but after the style of
the modern "fortune-teller" pretended to predict future
events;--teaching that there was some connection, or relation, between the
eclipses and transits of heavenly bodies and the events of earth,--such as
births, battles, deaths, revolutions, plagues, etc.;--and they frequently made
note of eclipses in connection with their records of events which they supposed
answered as fulfilments of these superstitious notions, just as superstitious
people now often connect things together in their imaginations which have not
the remotest philosophical relationship--as, for instance, the breaking of a
looking glass to be a sign of a death, etc., etc. Thus it happened that
Ptolemy, who was a historian as well as an astronomer, found in those
superstitious records of the world connections between
history and astronomic data which he was able to use; and his knowledge of
astronomy and of dates and times when eclipses had occurred helped him
in bringing order and harmony out of the histories of the four principal
heathen nations of his day--Assyria, Persia, Greece and Rome.
To illustrate the incompetency of astronomy in fixing dates, we note the
fact that scholars are still in doubt and dispute respecting the date of our
Lord's birth. Some hold that it occurred one year and three months before the
beginning of the year A.D. 1, while others contend that it occurred four years
(and some six years) previous to A.D. 1. Both parties appeal to astronomy to
assist them in proving their dates. There is nothing in the Scriptural account
to assist (except the reference of Luke 3:1to
the reign of Tiberius; see MILLENNIAL DAWN, VOL. II. p.54), for in the Bible
nothing is recorded respecting eclipses or transits; but in secular history
something was found that might bear upon the subject, at least indirectly,--the
date of Herod's death, supposed to have been the year in which our Lord was
born, or the year after. The only astronomical date was Josephus' record that
the same year that Herod died a sedition occurred and several of the rebels
were burnt alive by Herod's orders; and "that very night there
was an eclipse of the moon." This is more data
for an astronomer to work on than is furnished by any incident mentioned in the
Scriptures: but was it sufficient to fix the year of Herod's death? No; because
there are from one to four eclipses of the moon every year.
How absurd it is, therefore, to talk about establishing Bible chronology
by astronomy! The absurd claim of the Mormons that God gave them a new Bible
engraved upon copper plates is no more incredible. The one proposition is as
worthy of belief as the other.
The following from the American Cyclopedia bears upon the point we are
considering. It says:-- "Greek and Roman dates are generally well
authenticated [back] to the first Olympiad (about 776
B.C.).... The Assyrian, Babylonian and Egyptian inscriptions are in extinct
languages and in characters long obsolete.... Ctesia, a Greek, about 415 B.C.,
wrote a history of Babylonia, but it is not regarded as authentic. Herodotus is
valuable only as to his own time, about 459
B.C., and those of a century or two earlier.--Attempts have
been made to bring astronomy to the aid of chronology. Eclipses being anciently
regarded as portents, occasional mention is made of them in connection with
historical events."
Thus it is seen that secular history of very early dates is admittedly
not generally reliable; and that only in a few instances has astronomy been
able to assist in fixing dates to a reasonable degree
of exactness. Two dates are fixed with considerable certainty,--the beginning
of Nabonassar's reign on Feb. 26 of 747 B.C. and the beginning of the reign of
Cyrus in 536 B.C. The former date is valueless to us in the study of Bible
chronology; because Nabonassar is not mentioned in the Scriptures. The latter,
however, is a very important aid; for the Bible chronology ends with the
"70 years desolation of the land," and it tells us that God stirred
up the heart of Cyrus to restore Israel from captivity at the close of that
period, and that this was in the first year of Cyrus;--hence 536 B.C.
The Bible, and the Bible alone, supplies such a chronology as the people
of God can rely upon; and our conviction that God did intend to give us a Bible
record of all past time is strengthened by the fact that the only broken
periods in the Old Testament record are "bridged" by New Testament
records.
If, then, we rely upon the Bible as an inspired declaration on the
subject, why should we not use it as far as it
goes;--to the "seventy years desolation of the land," and thus to
Cyrus. Why not believe that God intended thus to provide a chronology as long
as it was needed-- down to the point where secular history could be
depended upon as accurate--so as to give us a complete chronology A.M.? We do
so believe; and we find most satisfying corroborative evidence of it in the
fact that the whole Bible record fits it with accuracy and precision, as shown
in MILLENNIAL DAWN, VOL. II.
But did not Messrs. Totten, Dimbleby and Usher pursue this same safe
plan, and make use of the inspired chronology of the Bible as far as it will
go,--down to the first year of Cyrus?
No, they did not. They admit that the first year of Cyrus was the end of
the "seventy years desolation of the land"; and that that date is
well established as A.D. 536; but instead of following the
Bible line of chronology back of that, and making the uncertain dates of
secular history conform to the positive statements of the Bible, they reverse
the matter, and attempt to make the Bible record agree with the secular dates,
admitted to be quite obscure and uncertain. For instance, they adopt the
uncertain secular date for the beginning of Nebuchadnezzar's reign; [R1975 : page 106] and
then referring to Dan. 1:1, they thus
fix the
date of [R1976 : page 106] Jehoiakim's
reign and alter other matters to suit.* Then again, they apply the
"seventy years" as years of captivity and
begin them in the third year of Jehoiakim; whereas the Scriptures unequivocally
declare, repeatedly, that those were years of "desolation of the
land," "without an inhabitant." (Jer.
25:11,12; 29:10; 2 Chron. 36:21; Dan. 9:2.)
In this manner the remainder of the reign of Jehoiakim and all of the reign of
Zedekiah (18 years) are reckoned in as part of the "seventy," whereas
Scripturally they were previous and, therefore, additional years.+
*We, on the contrary, by this passage fix the
date of Nebuchadnezzar's reign, from the Bible date of Jehoiakim's reign.
+Thus they lost eighteen years more.--See MILLENNIAL DAWN, VOL. II., pp.
50,51.
In this connection let us remind the intelligent
reader that the secular history, whose dates are taken in preference to the
Bible history and dates, is so confused, that to this very day the ablest
secular students of the subject are not in full agreement as to who was the
immediate predecessor of Cyrus,--Darius or Cyaxares; or whether those two names
were applied to the same ruler, or whether they ruled for a time conjointly
with Cyrus.
It is not surprising that unbelievers put as much confidence in the
uncertain dates of secular history as they do in those furnished by the Bible;
but it is strange that Christians should do so: and that they should give them
the preference and adopt them when professedly giving a "Bible
Chronology" is a matter of regret. The consequence is that while Usher's
chronology is 124 years too short, the chronology of Dimbleby, endorsed and
used by Totten, is 129 years too short. This leads the gentlemen into other
errors (one error almost always leads to another); for they see that there are
strong evidences that we are living somewhere near the end of the Gospel age,
and near the time for the Millennium to be ushered in by "a time of
trouble such as was not since there was a nation."
They believe, with us, that the 6,000 years of permitted sin are to be
followed by the 1,000 years of Christ's reign of righteousness. But whereas the
true Bible chronology shows that the 6,000 years from Adam ended in 1873 (the
very year in which the world-wide depression began), their erroneous chronology
would show the beginning of the seventh millennium to be over
one hundred years
in the future.
To make their short chronology come out to
fit present times, two fallacies are introduced; and their readers, who are
unskilled in chronology, are confused and misled into false calculations and
into false expectations based thereon. As their applications of prophecy differ
a little, we shall consider their efforts separately,--Mr. Totten's first.
With these three thoughts in mind: (1) that the transition should be
expected somewhere about the end of six thousand years; (2) that present
evidences indicate that the Lord's Kingdom is near at hand; (3) that his
adopted chronology shows the end of six thousand years to be more than a
century future, Mr. Totten seems to conclude that he must look
up some means of shrinking his chronology, of shortening the 6,000 years so as
to end them somewhere near the present time; or rather near 1899-1\4--which
date he reckons, by his calculations, will witness the end of the Times of the
Gentiles.
Mr. Totten is ingenious. He reflects that while according to his accepted
chronology the 6,000 years will end in A.D. 2002, yet by reckoning twelve
lunations as a year, each year would be shortened eleven (11) days and the
6,000 years end very shortly now. These he terms "short" or
"lunar" years; while the regular solar year he styles the
"true" year. To count the entire 6,000 years as "lunar"
years, of 354 days each, would make the 6,000 years from creation end in A.D.
1829, rather too early for present use; so looking along the aisles of history,
and figuring, he finds that the date of Joshua's great battle, at which he
commanded the sun and moon to stand still, would be a convenient approximate
date, as well as a marked event upon which to speculate. He reckons the date of
that event to have been the year A.M. 2555-1/4, and declares that the remaining
3444-3/4 years necessary to complete 6,000 years would (if reckoned 354 days to
each year), according to his chronology, end A.D. 1899-1/4. We quote his words
from his own publication of Sept. 22. '90, as follows:--
"Since that [Joshua's] day the millennaries
have been shortened to lunar years, so that there will extend from thence
3444-3/4 lunar years to March 1899 A.D. The sum of the 2555-1/4
"long" or solar years up to that day and the 3444-3/4
"shortened" or lunar years, from thence to the specified equinox, is
exactly 6000. Thus some particular day near the vernal equinox [March] of the
year 1899 A. D. will accurately terminate the
sixth millennary since creation."
We can find no reason whatever for using such a year as 354 days would
make; and know of no reckoning, ancient or modern, upon that basis. The solar
year (i.e., the
year reckoned by the sun, and marked every spring and every autumn by
equinoxes--the equal length of the day and night) has always been used in
reckoning years The ancient Jewish custom was to reckon intermediate time by
"new moons," but this was rectified in a simple manner, and brought
to solar time, by beginning each new year with the first new moon at
the Spring equinox, nature adding an extra month
every few years. Thus the years of the Bible were true or solar years, and may
be reckoned in with our present chronology without difficulty. Although arrived
at in a simple manner, it was no less accurate and scientific than our present
method of intercalation.
But we shortly after discovered another reason why Mr. Totten chose this
date for the ending of 6000 mixed years (part solar and part lunar);--he wanted
it to agree with his "Times of the Gentiles," reckoned by his
chronology.
[R1976 : page 107]
Accordingly, we concluded to examine his "Times of the
Gentiles," which he brings to a close at the same minute, and proves by
similarly careful (?) mathematical (?) and astronomical (?) calculations. What
do we find?
We find that in this, as in his chronology, Mr. Totten goes outside the
Bible account and takes secular history from the first year of Cyrus back to
and through the Babylonian period. Thus doing, he is obliged to deny the Bible
statement that the land of Judea lay "desolate" "without an
inhabitant" for seventy years. (Dan. 9:2; 2 Chron. 36:21; Jer.
25:11,12.) To get the Bible chronology linked to secular chronology he
shortens the desolation period, which followed Zedekiah's captivity, from
seventy to fifty-two years.
But, worse yet; in order to get the "Gentile Times" to end as
early as 1899-1/4 he begins them, not at the time when the crown was removed
from Zedekiah, the last representative of David who sat upon the typical
Kingdom of God; nor even at the date when Nebuchadnezzar had his vision and was
told that he was
the head or beginning of the Gentile governments represented in the image shown
him in his dream. Mr. Totten goes back twenty-two years before
the dream given to Nebuchadnezzar, and forty years before
the crown was taken from God's representative on the
typical throne of David, and begins it with the first year
of Nabopolassar.
God, both by a vision and by his Prophet Daniel, had said to
Nebuchadnezzar, "Thou art
this head of gold, and wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the
field and the fowls of heaven, hath he given intothy hand,
and made thee ruler
over them all." (Dan. 2:38.) And, in view
of this clear, plain statement, no sufficient excuse can be found for such
misapplication of Scripture as the above, by any candid expositor. We can only
suppose, as above suggested, that Mr. Totten, realizing from the signs of the
times that the great crisis of the age is close at hand, let his zeal run away
with his judgment and his conscience, to a greater extent than even he has
fully realized.
(1) He errs in asserting that his chronology is that of the Bible, and
that it is supported by astronomy--eclipses, etc., --when in reality everybody
familiar with the Bible knows, who knows anything about the adaptation of
astronomy to history and chronology, that there is not one solitary event so
recorded in the Bible as to make this a possibility.
(2) In shrinking his (erroneous) chronology 103 years, he supposes a
year such as no people, not even savages, have ever used.
(3) To get his "Times of the Gentiles" near the same date, by
his erroneous chronology, he violates the Bible record and begins them
twenty-two years before God gave any intimation of Gentile Times, and while
God's typical throne still stood.
By reason of the assertive style of Mr. Totten's teachings some
astronomers even, who were not so well posted in the Bible as in astronomy,
have been thrown off their guard, supposing that he had found something new in
the Bible on which to calculate the dates astronomically; and vice versa, some
Bible students were so unfamiliar with astronomy that they were ready to
believe that it could prove anything. And so some very good and some educated
men are misled by Mr. Totten's supposed wisdom, the main evidence of which to
them is his strong statements that he has "solved the riddle of
history," found "the hidden key" to prophecy and chronology,
etc. Many of the unsophisticated of God's children are thus in danger of being
misled so as to ignore and neglect the true light now shining upon God's Word
and plan. Unless helped in time, they are likely by and by to be greatly shaken
by the failure of Mr. Totten's predictions; and then to become easy captives to
the snare of Infidelity.
But, while Mr. Totten is very positive about all past time, he is cautious as
he reaches out into the future. He states himself, but rather vaguely;
intimating that the [R1977 : page 107] "watchers"
will understand: and they do. We see exactly what he expects from his writings
and diagrams, but have difficulty in finding brief, succinct, positive
statements for quotation.
His theory, as presented in his publication of Sept. 22, 1890, chart,
is, that from March 1892 to March 1899, seven years, the world will be crazy;
as represented in the seven years of Nebuchadnezzar's madness.
By March 1891 A.D. the "Jewish
Irredentalism" would be accomplished; i.e., the
Jews would organize as a people, but under the domination of other governments.
By the autumn of 1891 A.D. he announces "Palestine" Redivivus";
i.e., Palestine
would come into existence again, be revived. By this we presume he meant nationally, for
Palestine has been in process of revival otherwise, for nearly twenty years.
That he meant nationally is implied also by his expectation that "Jewish
Irredentalism" would precede it six months.
By March 1892 A.D. (the beginning of the seven years of world-madness),
a man, a prince (Antichrist), representing himself as Messiah, would appear and
deceive many Jews, and make "a compact with
many"; and
the following September would see the "altar finished" and
Antichrist's "edict issued," and then would follow the general
deception and conversion of the whole world to Antichrist,--the
"virgins" being the only exceptions. This would be quickly done, and
fully completed before Sept. 1895 A.D., the "midst of the week."
By Sept. 1895 a wonderful event was to take place;-- the setting up of a
great Image of Antichrist, which every human being on earth was to be compelled
to worship, or else be killed. Onward to 1899 the "plagues" and
"vials" of divine wrath, mentioned in Revelation, will be let loose
upon Antichrist and all whom he had deceived--the whole world; and Antichrist
will perish, while Christ and the [R1977
: page 108] saints
(to be translated about March 1892) will appear in glory, at
that time, March 1899.
That it may be seen that we are not misstating Mr. Totten's views we
quote his words, from his pamphlet of Sept. 22d, 1890, as follows (the brackets
are ours):--
"This table gives upon an enlarged scale the years surrounding the final
seven upon
the 'Times of the Gentiles.' [March 1892 A.D. to March 1899 A.D.] They
antitypify those of Nebuchadnezzar's insanity, and cover
Antichrist's REIGN OF HORROR. The latter half of the seven, which
will probably be bi-sected [divided, Sept. 1895] by the setting up of his IMAGE
[Rev. 13:18] in the temple, is the time of
'Jacob's trouble.'
"The times are now short and their signs are all completed save a
single one--the
manifestation of 'Ho-Anomos' 'That Lawless One' (2 Thes.
2:8), whose synonym in the same language gives us the familiar
neologism,'Ho Anarchos' --(THE ANARCHIST)--and those
short days (a
year and
a half) [Sept.
22d 1890 to March 1892] are the SOLE DAYS OF GRACE THAT YET REMAIN TO US. For
when that One shall have begun his reign [March, 1892] the
Holy Spirit which
hitherto has withstood it (2 Thes. 2:6,7) will
have withdrawn! From
that dread moment [March 1892] we must date the 'Great Tribulation,' which is
the time of 'the harvest'....Progressive interpretation of the Word now
suggests the awful
certainty that
the Holy Spirit, grieved beyond endurance, will withdraw [March
1892] before the Second Advent! With it 'the
elect' will probably be 'caught up' to join the returning Savior in the air.
But 'woe to
the inhabiters of the earth' (Rev. 12:12) when
the 'wise virgins' disappear! The 'foolish' will then be truly surrounded by a
pack of wolves, for when the Holy Spirit 'withdraws itself' man must
literally face the INCARNATE DEVIL."
We take exception to every item of Mr. Totten's program, except that the
Gospel age ends with the second presence of our Lord in the clouds of a great
time of anarchistic trouble, already overshadowing the world. We are not now
presenting our views, however, but criticizing his.
In the beginning of Mr. Totten's presentations of his views, we thought
that few probably would be misled by his errors; and that those few would
quickly be undeceived by the utter failure of the predictions for 1891 and
1892. But no; we had given his followers credit for more discernment than they
possessed; for it seems that they and Mr. Totten become more and more
infatuated with their errors as the predictions one after another fail, until
now they think of no date except 1899-1/4. There they expect something, nay,
everything, to occur; whereas, according to Mr. Totten's claims, if reliable at
all, everything should be over by
that time.
Mr. Totten himself, instead of coming out frankly and admitting that thus
far his
calculations and predictions are certainly erroneous, still infatuated with
them, writes in the same positive manner
as at first. In his publication of Dec. 21st, 1892, after the time predicted
for "Jewish Irrendentalism" and "Palestine
redivivus" had passed and, as every one knows, brought no such
events; and after the
year 1892 had passed, and no Antichrist such as he predicted had appeared, or
made an "edict," or made a covenant or "compact with many"
Jews, so far from admitting his errors Mr. Totten writes thus:--
"I doubt if many hamlets in Saxon lands have failed to hear some
echo of the message, which during the past year I have been constrained to send
forth with no will to hesitate, nor have I aught of it to
curtail or withdraw."
"Whether the date, March 29th 1892, upon which I have fixed as
merely the beginning of Judgments, be
a type only, or
the long delayed antitype itself, it is the one or the other, and in either
sense is FINAL."
All this is the language of desperation, the language of a man who has
staked his all, and
as it disappears will not believe the evidence of his senses, but continues to
mutter to himself, It is so! It must be so, even
if it isn't so! Hear him again:--
"The time has at last arrived when Biblical Chronologists may be absolutely
sure of
certain things; and have no fear that
they will ever have to be moved again."
But Mr. Totten thinks best to take some notice of the dates which had so
evidently proved false, so far as his predictions were concerned. He concludes
to mention the matter guardedly, lest a few should have seen the slip, and need
just a word of assurance from him, that his only reliable and authentic, only
Biblical, and only astronomically proved and double riveted chronology is as
faultless as
ever. Yet
the statement must be so guardedly made that the masses of his readers,
uncritical, would not know that any slip had
occurred. His utterances, therefore, must be as much as possible like the
utterances of the ancient Oracle of Delphi,--capable of being understood
variously, according to the hearer and according to the facts of
the future. Thus
on page 319, Dec. '92 issue, he refers to the "Jewish Times" which he
had previously shown most conclusively would endexactly one
and a half years before March 1892, as proved beyond
shadow of doubt by his wonderful astronomical calculations. Without a word of
retraction of the error (so far as we have noticed), he takes a new place for
beginning those times; viz., 3406 A. M. (his and Dimbleby's
chronology) instead of, as before, 3444-3/4 A.M., a difference of only 38
years--a mere nothing however, in Mr. Totten's exact (?) chronology whichproves (?)
itself to a fraction of a minute.
But more; he not only begins at a different point, but also changes the kind of
time: he now measures it by the "true" or solar year of 365-1/4 days,
instead of by his short and untrue year of 354 days; then, because the
reckoning reaches nowhere, he adds 75 years (for no conceivable reason except
to force a date); and then gives the astonishing (?)
result, 6001 A.M. Here are his own words:--
"Hence, adding to 3406 A.M. these seven times (7x360=2520 years),
we reach the 5926 A.M., and by the further addition of
thirty and forty-five or seventy-five years, we reach the year 6001 A.M., which
is the first of the Sabbath thousand, reckoned on the longest possible or Solar
scale!...Moreover, as we are at this moment (Sept. 20-21 1892 A.D.) only at the
end of Solar year 5890 A.M., it would appear that the first year of the
Millennium [R1977 : page 109] was
still about 111 years off! And so it is upon the long or Solar scale."
This is so stated that Mr. Totten can refer to it by and by and say,--I
showed that the Millennium might not come before 2003 A.D. This would mean that
the poor Jews would be "trodden down of the Gentiles" for ahundred
years more;--a hundred years after the end of Gentile Times, after all
Gentile nations and Antichrist have been destroyed by the establishment of
Christ's Kingdom. Where now is Antichrist's deception of the Jews, getting them
to build him a temple and altar and to worship him--if he flourishes from March
1892 and is destroyed in March 1899; and, poor Jews! must they be
trodden down by their dead enemies for another century?
But Mr. Totten well knew that few, very
few, of his readers would see or appreciate this little statement sandwiched in
with other matter; and so he proceeds on the very next page to reiterate his
older erroneous position, in these words:--
"Our 1899-1/4 A.D.--Now I have elsewhere shown upon a dozen or so
lines of independent calculation that the 'Times of the Gentiles' must
terminate with
this latter date; and it is for this reason that I unhesitatinglyplace
the termination of a hidden scale of 6000 years at
this [R1978 : page 109] very
point."
It will be noticed that March 1899 is no longer stated as the end of
6000 years, but now the end of "a hidden [deceptive]
scale" of years;--part "true" or solar years and part false or
short years. All this we can characterize as nothing short of a jugglery of
language.
Although Mr. Totten had previously acknowledged Mr. Dimbleby as his
"preceptor" "in the critical study of Biblical chronology,"
and claimed that they "use the very same line of A.M. years with the same
respective calendars, all as discovered by Professor Dimbleby"; and
although he had vouched for the whole, and assured his readers that he (Totten)
had verified it by astronomy, etc., etc., proving it to a second and beyond a
shadow of doubt, as it were double riveting it all around by his wonderful discovery,
or inspiration, etc., connected with Joshua's long day and the dial of Ahaz,
etc., etc., yet after critics had taken some notice of its historical and
astronomical inaccuracies, Mr. Totten shoves the blame of them upon Mr.
Dimbleby, saying in his serial of Dec. 25, '94.--
"He [Dimbleby] formerly held the maximum Eclipse Cycle to be 651
years to the very day. The true Eclipse Cycle seems to
be nearer
to exactly 649 years, as he now agrees. Yet for all
practical purposes 651 years is an
accurate Eclipse Cycle. We now believe that
it is really the earth's mean anomalistic period, and that it always closes
with an eclipse to within 4-5 days, sometimes accurately."
Is this a sufficient retraction for men to make who have deceived a
confiding public into the belief that they had found some new means of
verifying their chronology to the fraction of a minute, and, by a system of
stretching and shrinking periods, had led people to expect a fulfilment of
their predictions from 1892 to 1899, which, if not witnessed would impliedly
prove God a liar and the Bible a fraud;--because their
eclipse-proved chronology could not err. Now the
fraction-of-a-minute exactness means, "within 4-5 days, sometimes
accurately," on a short cycle of 649 years!
We have searched carefully for any retraction or acknowledgement of the
error of the statements of what he had previously stated must occur
in the several years 1892 to 1899; but we find none. On the contrary, the Dec.
25 '94 issue speaks of the leading of the Holy Spirit still, although it was to
have been withdrawn in 1892 to make way for Antichrist. Referring to past
teachings in the aggregate, he affirms their truth, saying that it must yet
"be mastered by the scoffers."
Finally, in Nov. 15, '95 issue, he admits just a possibility of some
trifling error; but by his triumphant tone would have his readers believe these
so trifling as to be unworthy of mention. He says:--"Now and then a stray
shot may hit away a 'week-day' designation, and here and there a careless
disposition may entail the sweeping of a whole section of our work into the
dust." But not one syllable as to the gross misapplications of Scripture
and history already pointed out in this paper; which misstatements will surely
do damage to the faith of some well-meaning but too credulous people, unless they
are helped by God's providence.--Psa. 91:11,12.
In the same publication, in view of the proved gross inaccuracies of Mr.
Dimbleby in relation to astronomy, etc., Mr. Totten says: "Any close
astronomical student of Biblical Chronology will detect the specific errors of
Professor Dimbleby." But Mr. Totten himself not only endorsed those
astronomical inaccuracies, but has also used them to delude many trusting
souls. Mr. Totten adds: "Even were every feature of
Prof. Dimbleby's work amenable to the specific criticism of inaccuracy, and
we will not say
it is not, it
has none the less SUPPLIED THE FOUNDATION upon which some of the grandest
truths of Biblical chronology have been discovered."
What an admission of the weakness and unworthiness of the foundation upon
which Mr. Totten has labored for years. And how astounding that any man not
bereft of reason should claim that he had built a substantial faith-structure
upon an unreliable, crumbling proposition which "any close
astronomical student" would at once reject as senseless, if not
fraudulent. Yet Mr. Totten declares, in the same editorial,--"We not only
believe, but are satisfied by PROOF and DEMONSTRATION that
the time of the end of the times of the Gentiles is
almost over, that the world ought to have the message sent to it
at once, and as no message was sent ever before. If we had the means we should
send it at any cost." But as Mr. Totten has not the means, those who
believe his unscriptural, unscientific, unastronomical and mathematically incorrect
presentations can procure them at the wholesale rate of $8.50 per [R1978 : page 110] set
in paper covers, and scatter them as truth, and delude fellow pilgrims. Alas!
that even those who seem to be struggling to open the eyes of their
understanding should be beset by such bewildering false lights.
In a chart issued by Mr. Totten, Oct. 1895, he reiterates his so-called
Bible chronology which we have shown is very unscriptural, and repeats the same
false measurements of Gentile Times, but he says nothing about the withdrawal
of the holy spirit in 1892, nor about the seven years' reign of Antichrist from
1892 to 1899, predicted in a previous chart. Instead, he runs the record of
years down to 1899, and then says, "How long, O Lord!" and following
this he shows another century--until A.D. 2000, for Israel to tussle with a
literal, human Antichrist and get firmly established. Some may consider this
all the retraction of previous errors necessary; but we do not. Many will not
see through it,
and hence the necessity for helping the candid ones, as we now attempt to do.
If we have shown that Mr. Totten's chronology is not Biblical nor
reliable,--and that it is absurd to talk of proving his
(Usher-Dimbleby) chronology, or any other Bible chronology, by
astronomy,--eclipses, etc.--because the Bible contains no record of eclipses
and absolutely no
data of
any kind upon
which astronomy could take hold,--and that his "Times of the
Gentiles" were commenced at a wrong period, for which there is no
authority in reason or Scripture,--and that all of his other prophetic
"discoveries" are based upon these false premises and hence are
equally erroneous and misleading, we have accomplished our purpose.
W.T. R-1974a :
page 103 - 1896r