Apologetics

The following 5 sections provide the reasons for believing that the Bible is an accurate revelation from God^[1].

In section 1 the issue of revelation is discussed and the overwhelming evidence for modern miracles is considered. Jesus expected miracles to be seen as a direct sign that God was at work and he also saw them as an authentication of His claim that He is Son of God.

In section 2 the evidence for biblical prophecy being consistently and almost completely fulfilled is examined. Again, as with miracles, the fulfilment of prophecy is seen as a sign that authenticates the divine origin of the Bible.

In section 3 the evidence for design in the biological world is considered. The recent findings of genetics and the complexity of the cell combined with the overall design features of living organisms combine to create an almost irrefutable case for a supernatural designer. As Paul states in Romans chapter 1 ‘we are without excuse’.

In section 4 the geological evidence for a worldwide flood is presented. The conclusion is that the evidence from sedimentary rocks, geomorphology and the presence of carbon 14 alongside soft tissue found in fossils throughout the geological column combine to create a very strong argument for the biblical account of a recent worldwide flood.

In section 5 the issue of cosmology is dealt with. The evidence here is much more problematic. This is understandable given the vastness of the subject and our limitations. However there is still sufficient evidence to indicate that the Universe and our solar system are of recent origin, but unlike the other 4 sections this is not such a strong conclusion.

The following graph is an attempt to pictorially summarise these conclusions by giving the relative strengths to each argument for the accuracy of the Bible. (It is worth noting that none of these arguments gives the balance of evidence as being against the Bible’s accuracy. Also Cosmology has a ‘?’ because of the high level of uncertainty surrounding the nature and accuracy of the evidence we possess.)

Problem of Evil

With regard to the study of apologetics, alongside the arguments for the existence of God, there is the ‘problem of evil’, which includes the question why is there suffering? A number of my philosophy essays, found in the ‘other articles’ section of ‘World History 3967’, tentatively explore this issue. However, my understanding of the book of Job and the rest of the Bible suggest that this issue is so profound that a full understanding of this question and its answer will only be achieved with the Beatific Vision, when we see God face to face - until then we must humble ourselves and ultimately place our trust in Him as we go through the dark valleys that life can bring.

Section 1

The Significance of the Bible as a Source of Knowledge

And the Evidence of Miracles

Introduction

One of the buzzwords today is 'meta-cognition' – thinking about thinking. Therefore it seems appropriate to start a brief study of world history by considering how we think about thinking.

John Locke was an influential thinker during the Enlightenment. He stated:

'Revelation, where God has been pleased to give it, must carry it (the proposition under consideration) against the probable conjectures of reason. Because the mind not being certain of the truth of that it does not evidently know, but only yielding to the probability that appears in it, is bound to give up its assent to such a testimony which it is satisfied, comes from one who cannot err, and will not be deceived.'

        Locke, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding Chap 18

It is not always realised in our 'scientific age' that revelation, where one is confident that it exists, is still the most certain of all forms of knowledge; in fact it is the only form of knowledge that is certain. Post-Modernism was correct in its profound scepticism of absolute truths derived from human reasoning. However, biblical Christianity derives its authority from God's revelation, not human wisdom and, as Locke observed, we are '...bound to give up … assent to such a testimony which it is satisfied, comes from one who cannot err, and will not be deceived'.

If we accept that revelation is the most certain of all forms of knowledge, then we need to ascertain if we have access to such knowledge when considering the history of the world. Is the Bible the type of revelation John Locke was referring to? Evidence for such a claim comes from the large quantity of significant miracles recorded throughout history – including our present age. There is abundant evidence for miracles in the many good quality Christian books that are available, and Professor Craig Keener in his two volume book ‘Miracles’ details over 100 miracles he is aware of and records, that based on research data, it is highly likely that over 200 million people worldwide have either experienced or witnessed a miracle^[2]. Likewise, another important piece of evidence is the fulfilment of biblical prophecies. Both these methods were used by Jesus to authenticate His claim to be the Messiah (see Luke 7:18-23, John 10:37-38 and Luke 24:24-27). They were also the proofs given to Moses by God to authenticate his claim to be speaking on behalf of God (see Exodus 4:1-9). (In fact God repeatedly states that one of His reasons for judging Egypt with ten dramatic signs was to '...show these signs of Mine before him (Pharaoh) and that you may tell in the hearing of your son and your son's son the mighty things I have done in Egypt, and My signs which I have done among them, that you may know that I am the Lord'. (Exodus 10:1-2)

Therefore, starting from the reasonable premise that the abundant testimony of miracles and fulfilled prophecies throughout the ages confirm that the bible is God's revelation to us of His character and His dealings with man, we learn these important principles:

1. God created the heavens and the earth – including biological life.
2. Early on in earth's history ‘man’, who was made in the image of God, sinned and as a consequence the principle of sin and death entered into the world.
3. Since that fall (the entrance of sin and death into the world) God has been active in earth's history, most notably by bringing salvation to us through Jesus Christ.
4. Ultimately Jesus Christ will return to earth to bring judgement and the consummation of all of God's plan for His creation.

This can be summed up as: creation, fall, redemption and consummation.

Returning to our initial consideration of meta-cognition, the issue of the fall does raise important problems for those who believe reason is morally neutral. Sin will affect our capacity to reason, as it affects everything else in our lives. The bible states that the 'fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom' (Proverbs 9:10). Elsewhere in the Bible there are clear indications that natural wisdom is either limited or can be actively opposed to God's will.

        'For it is written I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will

        bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the

        wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age?

        Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since,

in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.'

                                                                1 Corinthians 1:19-22

Scripture states that rejecting godly wisdom will be the characteristic of people who do not worship God as creator. Romans 1:18-32 states that by 'professing to be wise, they became fools'. 2 Peter 3:3-7 clearly states 'that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts' who will deny the creation and the flood – being willingly ignorant of these things. The conclusion to be drawn from these scriptures is that trust in the wisdom of this world is to be qualified and not unconditional.

Further consideration on how our worldview has changed and some the implications of this from a philosophical perspective can gained from the following books: Francis Schaeffer ‘Escape from Reason’ and James Sire ‘The Universe Next Door’, - also for a more unusual take on Christian thinking the following books are interesting: G K Chesterton ‘Orthodoxy, C S Lewis ‘Mere Christianity’ and Os Guiness ‘The Gravedigger File’^[3]. An example of Schaeffer’s thinking can be gleaned from these two quotes:

‘The Bible teaches that though man is hopelessly lost, he is not nothing. Man is lost because he is separated from God, his true reference point, by true moral guilt. But he will never be nothing. Therein lies the horror of his lostness. For man to be lost, in all his uniqueness and wonder is tragic.’

                Francis A. Schaeffer Trilogy, Escape from Reason p268

‘It is possible to take the system the Bible teaches, put it down in the marketplace of the ideas of men, and let it stand there and speak for itself’

                                                                                ibid p265

Ultimately Schaeffer concludes that whilst the Bible does not provide exhaustive truth (only the Beatific Vision at the end of the ages will give us that) it does give us true ‘truth’ and in a world that often questions the existence, or the knowability of truth, that is a profound statement. It is interesting to note that one of Jesus’s final conversations before his crucifixion was with Pilate over the issue of truth, where He states that “I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth.” To which Pilate gives a typical 21st century response “What is truth?” (John 18:37-38). Likewise, Paul explains to the Thessalonians that the great deception will come, ‘because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved’ (2 Thessalonians 2:10).

Authority of Scripture

Throughout church history the Bible has been recognised as authoritative by the church however in the last two hundred years, alongside the issues related to the first 11 chapters of Genesis, which will be discussed in other sections, there has been a general undermining of the traditional view that the books of the Bible were the product of the authors usually assigned to them. For example from the 19th century there has been the commonly accepted claim that Moses did not write the first five books of the Bible instead it was a series of authors/editors who compiled these books - often referred to as the documentary hypothesis, the famous example being the JEDP theory first proposed by Julius Wellhausen in 1878. Josh McDowell’s book ‘Evidence that Demands a Verdict’ addresses the issues raised by this approach and Don Richardson’s book ‘Eternity in their Hearts’ deals with the frequently made claim that monotheism arose out of polytheism, by pointing out that 20th century anthropology has found many tribes where the opposite seems to be the case. Instead belief in one sky God predates belief in the many Gods of polytheism.

With regard to the New Testament and ‘higher criticism’ of the Bible it should be noted that academics such NT Wright have questioned the validity of its approach. For example he states the following:

‘The problem of all such theories is that they are themselves based on nothing more than elaborate guesswork. We simply do not know very much about the early church, and certainly not enough to make the kind of guesses that are on offer in this area. When traditio-historical study builds castles in the air, the ordinary historian need not feel a second class citizen for refusing to rent space in them’

                                        The Resurrection of the Son of God p19

Likewise, CS Lewis in his essay ‘Fern Seeds and Elephants’, states that critics who attempt to read between the lines need to demonstrate the ability to read the lines in the first place. Furthermore, Lewis is highly sceptical of claims made by academics about the purpose of the writers who wrote the gospels, when these academics have no access to such knowledge, and are almost 2000 years distant in cultural understanding. Lewis observes that whenever critics have tried to analyse the motives of his work they have a 100% rate of failure. Therefore, if his observation is that modern day critics of contemporary authors cannot successfully determine a writer's purpose, then why should we believe a 20th century academic can accurately know the motives of writers living almost 2000 years ago. With regard to the historical accuracy of the New Testament it is worth noting that the following experts started out to disprove the resurrection as journalists, lawyers and criminologists and each came to the conclusion the gospel accounts were accurate: Lee Strobel ‘The Case for Christ’, Frank Morrison ‘Who rolled the Stone Away’, J Warner Wallace ‘Cold Case Christianity’. Likewise Ramsey, a Victorian  archaeologist, makes the following statement with regard to the authenticity of Acts.

I may fairly claim to have entered on this investigation without any prejudice in favour of the conclusion which I shall now attempt to justify to the reader [i.e., the reliability of the book of Acts]. On the contrary, I began with a mind unfavourable to it, for the ingenuity and apparent completeness of the Tübingen theory had at one time quite convinced me. It did not lie then in my line of life to investigate the subject minutely; but more recently I found myself often brought in contact with the book of Acts as an authority for the topography, antiquities, and society of Asia Minor. It was gradually borne in upon me that in various details the narrative showed marvellous truth. In fact, beginning with the fixed idea that the work was essentially a second-century composition, and never relying on its evidence as trustworthy for first-century conditions, I gradually came to find it a useful ally in some obscure and difficult investigations." Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, 1904, Putnam and Sons, p.8.

The testimony of these men is that on fair examination using their expertise and against their initial prejudice they came to the conclusion the Bible is accurate.

Section 2

Overview of Fulfilled Prophecies

With regard to fulfilled prophecies as we learn from Daniel 2 (Nebuchadnezzar’s dream), Luke 24 (Jesus on the road to Emmaus), Isaiah 45 (The calling of Cyrus to rebuild Jerusalem) and Genesis 41 (Pharaoh’s dream), these prophecies were seen as evidence for God’s direct involvement in human affairs and that such involvement should produce a response of belief in the God behind the prophecies. If we consider world history in the light of fulfilled prophecy, then I would consider there is excellent evidence that the God of the Bible exists and that the Bible is an accurate revelation from God.

Most prophecies fall into the following four categories:

1. Judgments on Israel and world events affecting Israel prior to the life of Christ.
2. Birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ.
3. The Church Age.
4. Events leading up to the Second Coming.

Judgments on Israel and world events affecting Israel prior to second coming

Repeatedly individual prophets e.g. Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel prophesied the destruction of Israel/Judah often against the fierce opposition of the national leadership and other false prophets. It was their prophecies that were fulfilled rather than the vastly more numerous prophecies about Jerusalem’s deliverance. However these same prophets did prophesy a future restoration of Jerusalem which did take place in 536 BC, and Isaiah 44:24-45:6 shows God even named the ruler who would carry this out, many years ahead of that time. Other prophecies in Daniel show God’s foreknowledge of Alexander the Great (Daniel 8) and the Maccabean revolt (Daniel 10-11).

Birth, life, death and resurrection of Christ

The New Testament is full of references to the birth and life of Jesus being prophesied in the Old Testament and the following suggest the type of prophecies Jesus may have referred to on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:23-27).

Isaiah 9:6-7 - Jesus came as a child but was also so much more - He was God!

Isaiah 53:1-12 - Jesus lived a relatively obscure life but through His death He dealt with our sin.

Daniel 9:24-26 - The main work of Messiah will be to deal with our sin and bring in everlasting righteousness but this will involve His death and the destruction of Jerusalem.

Genesis 3:15 - The seed of the women (Jesus) will destroy Satan but in the process will be hurt (the crucifixion).

Genesis 2:20-24 - Jesus is the second Adam who is put to sleep (that is death) so that out of the second Adam can come a Bride (the church) who cleave to Him for eternity.

The Church Age

If we adopt the historicist method of interpretation then there is plenty of detailed evidence to suggest that large parts of the book of Revelation and 2 Thessalonians 2 have been accurately fulfilled - see addendum after section 6 for more details. Also much of Jesus’s teaching about the church has happened e.g. it started small as a mustard seed but became the largest of all trees, it has regularly suffered persecution and been the sad cause of family division.

Events leading up to the Second Coming

Distinct from the Church Age are events associated with the period just prior to the Second Coming. For example the restoration of Israel (Romans 11), the evangelisation of the world (Matthew 24:14), people being in fear of the future (Luke 21:26), the world culture like the days of Noah and the days of Sodom (Luke 17:26-30) and the church will either be persecuted or asleep. Also as 2 Peter 3 indicates people have increasingly scoffed at the idea of God creating this world and that He sent a worldwide flood.

(see Addendum after section 6 for more details)

Section 3

The Biological Evidence for Creation

Adaptations and Evolution

When teaching Year 9 geography there was a topic on climates in which there was a discussion of how well plants and animals have adapted to their environments. Often people can assume the concept of adaptation is an evidence for evolution, but it is more of an evidence for the remarkable design of each 'kind' of animal and plant, that there is sufficient genetic information to allow this level of optimal design for each biome. How this is achieved is still a mystery, but the process of evolution cannot be the answer, since it involves the corrupting of genetic information through the process of mutation. Occasionally such a loss of genetic information can confer a local advantage, such as the loss of flight for beetles on windy islands. However, this type of mutation will not bring about the huge amount of positive genetic information needed to change one 'kind' of animal/plant into another 'kind'. In all my research on this matter, over many years, I have yet to be convinced that there has been one example of a random mutation producing a significant net increase in useful genetic information. All the examples I have come across have either involved a net loss of useful genetic information – as in the beetle case – or they appear to involve a process that is non-random i.e. the animal/plant has within its genetic code the capacity to adapt – such a process is evidence for design not evolution. (The following article discusses the optimal design of the eye and the arguments surrounding this assertion – it is useful for understanding why this issue is so damaging to the case for evolution see http://creation.com/mueller-cells-backwardly-wired-retina-v-dawkins)

Indeed the issue of evolution has been thoroughly critiqued by creation societies – the following are some other articles on this issue:

http://creation.com/geneticist-evolution-impossible

http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/nab/hasnt-evolution-been-proven

Creation scientists believe evolution fails to provide a convincing account of the obvious level of design seen in the biological world and therefore the argument for design is still valid. It could be said that advances in molecular biology have made the argument for design more powerful than it has ever been. For me the reason for this confidence comes from at least three lines of argument:

1. The origin of life is very improbable given that there are no evolutionary processes available to inorganic compounds and the complexity of the simplest form of living organism is now known to be extremely high.

2. There is no indisputable evidence of any transitional fossils which, considering the variety of species and the length of time (150 years) we have had to search for them since the 'Origin of Species' was published, this is a very serious weakness in the evolutionary story.

3. As explained before, in the scientific literature there are few, if any, examples of random mutations producing net gains in useful genetic information. All mutations are, as one would expect, either neutral or those that would reduce the level of useful genetic information. Since evolution requires billions of these positive mutations the lack of this type of evidence is another very serious weakness in the theory.

Furthermore, where major lines of attack have been made on the viability of Evolution as a scientific theory eg Michael Behe’s book ‘Darwin’s Black Box’ (dealing with the issue of irreducible complexity) and John Sanford’s book ‘Genetic Entropy’(dealt with in addendum 2), the scientific response has been surprisingly weak. In John Sanford’s case almost non-existent, as he explains in the postscript of the fourth edition of his book. With irreducible complexity, such arguments against it that I have come across, concentrate on small details, but appear to miss the main thrust of Behe’s position - which is that it is inconceivable that random mutations can produce a biological system that is irreducibly complex (that is the system can only function effectively if all the parts are present). Therefore, when you read scientific rebuttals of irreducible complexity, at first sight they appear detailed and well supported, until you ask the question how significant is the point being made. Clever arguments about details, that are not particularly significant, does not change the overwhelming power of Behe’s contention that biological systems clearly exhibit irreducible complexity. To refute that position would require clear evidence that complex biological systems have been developed by random mutations, or at the very least a realistic model of how, by random mutations, such a system could have evolved. As Behe points out in his book neither of these requirements have been met or even attempted. Therefore Behe’s argument remains unanswered and I would suggest it is inconceivable that it will ever be answered, because biological systems are so brilliantly designed that almost every feature at every level exhibits very significant levels of irreducible complexity^[4].

Another recent discovery that undermines the plausibility of evolution has been the lack of Mitochondrial DNA differences found in Roundworms, Fruit Flies, Water Fleas and Yeast. All of which is consistent with a recent creation but totally inconsistent with millions of years of evolution. (see Nathaniel Jeanson’s  book ‘Replacing Darwin’ p201-203 and for an analysis of human Mitochondrial DNA differences see this website https://answersingenesis.org/genetics/mitochondrial-genome-mutation-rate/ ). Another exciting development is the growing study of epigenetics that is exploring the cells ability to respond to its environment using its own original design features rather than through mutation and/or natural selection. https://creation.com/epigenetics-challenges-neo-darwinism

Genetic Entropy

Dr. John Sanford, senior geneticist at Cornell University has spent the last 10-15 years studying the problem of genetic entropy.  In his book 'Genetic Entropy' he presents compelling scientific evidence that the genomes of all living creatures are slowly degenerating – due to the accumulation of slightly harmful mutations. He argues that natural selection is unable to address this problem, therefore the mutation/selection process is not only not capable of creating the new biological information that is required for creating new lifeforms, but is unable to preserve our genomes from the process of entropy. As biochemist Dr. Michael Behe of Lehigh University writes in his review of 'Genetic entropy' “...not only does Darwinism not have the answers for how information got into the genome it doesn't even have answers for how it could remain there.” Genetic entropy provides an upper limit to the age of the genome and implies the original genome was created perfect or near perfect and has been degenerating ever since.

http://creation.com/geneticist-evolution-impossible

http://creation.com/from-ape-to-man-via-genetic-meltdown-a-theory-in-crisis

The following videos are also helpful

Hallmarks of Design by Professor Stuart Burgess (Bristol University)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUbBuWZMzFU

Human nervous system by Professor Stuart Burgess (Bristol University)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fTBEWnKSLyw

Uniqueness of Man by Professor Stuart Burgess (Bristol University)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MvJbwA9SZQ

Restoring Adam and Eve - Seven Genetic Evidences supporting a literal Adam and Eve by Professor John Sanford (Cornell University) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV7wA3r2CnQ

The waiting problem - The effects of Genetic Entropy https://biblicalgenetics.com/the-waiting-time-problem/

Genetic Entropy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4yZ-lh37My4

The following diagram of scales is designed to summarise the relative weight of evidence for a recent creation as opposed to evidence for evolution based on our current knowledge. (You will notice there is no outright evidence for evolution instead there are three ambiguous lines of evidence - they are ambiguous because they can be explained using both hypotheses)

Section 4

Geological evidence for the Biblical account of History

Age of the rocks

Using the obvious reading of Genesis 1-11 and Exodus 20 v 8-11 the creation of the earth took place about 6000 years ago, with the world-wide Flood about 4400 years ago. Jesus, and the New Testament writers, imply their support for a recent creation through their statements (see Mark 10:6, Luke 11:50-51, Romans 5:12, 2 Peter chapter 3; also the following article is a helpful discussion of why Genesis 1 should be taken literally: http://creation.com/the-meaning-of-yom-in-genesis-1). This has important implications for the dates assigned for rocks, fossils and geological features such as canyons, river valleys etc. All school/academic textbooks reflect a time-line which involves millions of years and all documentaries/news reports have a similar time-line; therefore providing reasons for believing these features are recent is important in any defence of the Bible as an accurate record of world history.

One of the reasons why Christians can feel intimidated by claims made by scientists about the age of the rocks is that we assume that all scientific statements are equally valid. However, it is important to distinguish between 'operational science' and 'origins science'.

'... science can never be a standard for absolute truth. The sort of  science with which most of us are familiar involves watching

        things happen (observation) and using repeatable experiments.

Call it operational and observation science if you like. But, when we try to understand events of the past we are asking an historical         question, which means that ultimately we have to use historical not scientific categories. This doesn't mean science can't contribute to historical questions, but only that science can never provide us with the final answer. And the science involved in such is a different sort of science – we call it historical, forensic or even origins science' see http://creation.com/its-not-science 

Therefore when dealing with issues that are essentially historical in nature, such as the age of the rocks, or of a geological feature, e.g. canyons, one should not be intimidated by the prevailing scientific sentiment. Whilst one assumes that the scientific evidence is reasonably accurate, as evidence for an historical event it does not carry the authority or weight that at first sight one would anticipate. The reason for this lies in the difference between 'operational science' and 'origins/historical science'. When studying historical events, at best, science can only provide small fragments of information the reliability of which is never certain because the past can never be subject to repeatable experiments. Where it is available, the most important  source of information about the past will always be first hand accounts, and it is the absence of this which hampers historians' attempts to recreate the story behind past events; particularly those events prior to 500BC – a point that is often overlooked by historians of ancient civilizations, which I will explore later on.

The Christian who wishes to defend  the notion that the rocks are only thousands of years old is not without good reasons for their belief in a recent creation - see below.

1. Coal and Diamonds, traditionally dated as millions of years old, have been tested for carbon 14 and, through that method, are assigned ages of only thousands of years.

(see http://creation.com/diamonds-a-creationists-best-friend).

2. Likewise, dinosaur bones dated 65 million years old have also been tested for carbon 14 and have, through that method, been assigned an age of thousands of years.

(see http://www.dinosaurc14ages.com/carbondating.htm) This confirms a growing suspicion that dinosaur fossils may not be that old since one fossil of a dinosaur was found to contain remnants of haemoglobin in the fossilised bones. http://creation.com/dinosaur-soft-tissue-and-protein-even-more-confirmation)(4) An even more remarkable case is that of a fossilised ink sack of a squid, dated over 100 million years old, which it was discovered contained ink that was still usable. (see http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/8208838.stm and see http://creation.com/fossil-squid-ink) If we accept these fossils are only thousands of years old then we would have to accept that all the rocks they were embedded in are only thousands of years old – in which case the theory of evolution does not have the time-scale required. Therefore we live on an earth which is potentially very young and in which the animal kingdom must have been created by an all powerful Creator. (See Romans 1:20). For more evidence that soft tissues in fossils is not an isolated phenomenon see http://www.icr.org/soft-tissue-list/

3.  Another reason for believing that the age of rocks is not the age assigned to them comes from polystrate fossils – this is where a fossilised tree trunk passes through many layers of rock which have traditionally been given various ages separated by many millions of years. As it is impossible for a tree to be fossilised in that position over many millions of years, the more logical conclusion is that these rock layers were formed rapidly (probably during the world-wide flood of Noah's day – see http://creation.com/polystrate-fossils-evidence-for-a-young-earth)
4.  Probably the most extensive and, for my mind, the most conclusive reason for believing in a recent worldwide flood creating the sedimentary rock layers we see today is the flatness of the layers of rock we see around us when they are exposed to view. The most spectacular version of this is the Grand Canyon, where it is very clear to see, because the layers are often of various colours. However, as a test, look at any other example of rocks which are exposed and where layers exist, and notice that they are almost certainly flat ( or in the rare occasions where they are bent/folded they would preserve their flatness if you were to unbend them). The significance of this is that these flat layers show little or no sign of erosion anywhere on the face of the earth – strongly suggesting they were all laid down roughly at the same time – in most cases during Noah's flood  (see http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/am/v4/n1/no-slow-erosion).

There are other reasons for believing the rocks are young (see http://creation.com/age-of-the-earth for 101 examples.).

The following videos are also useful for appreciating the comprehensive nature of the evidence for the evidence that a worldwide flood  laid down the landscapes we see today and formed the sedimentary rocks that contain fossils.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lomau0IBCCo 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=882fmumdm9A&t=27s 

History of the Flood

Once we get beyond Noah's flood we should begin to encounter the recorded history of human existence  in the form of artefacts and, more importantly, contemporary written records. In many ways it is at this point one would expect to find the most telling evidence against the accuracy of the Bible, if such evidence were to exist. If there were clear reliable records of continuous human civilization going back to 10,000BC, with no record of a world-wide flood, then we would be in a position to argue  reasonably against the authenticity of the biblical narrative based, not on the 'probable conjectures of reason' (i.e. science), but on the more certain record of historical events – eye witness accounts.

In fact when we go back to the ancient records, three remarkable observations can be made. Firstly, many ancient civilizations and tribes with oral traditions covering every continent of the earth, testify to the existence of a worldwide flood, with many details similar to those described in the bible (see http://creation.com/many-flood-legends ). The widespread location of these narratives argues against their coming from a common tradition, rather they speak of a common experience that was so powerful that, in often garbled forms, it was felt necessary to transfer this knowledge from one generation to another.

The second observation is to note that the oldest date used for ancient civilisations is usually the middle of the 4th millennium BC, where one finds reference to the beginning of the Egyptian civilisation and the existence of the Sumerian civilisation around Ur of the Chaldees. Whilst these dates are older than the date 2400BC one would like to see, they are at least near that figure and certainly do not push the record of human civilisation too far back in time. Therefore, our evidence for human civilization is reasonably consistent with the biblical account, and not with the obvious outcome of believing the earth is millions of years old. Furthermore, the earliest areas of civilisation are to be found where the bible states they should be i.e. in the plains of Shinar (modern Iraq) and Egypt (both feature heavily in the book of Genesis). We often take this information for granted, not realising it provides considerable support for the authenticity of the Bible. The outstanding difference between the secular and biblical dating system is only 1000 years and I will discuss how that can be reconciled later, as it has important implications on the dating of Egyptian artefacts and royal dynasties.

A third observation is that if we treat the Flood as an event in history then we would expect there to be archaeological evidence for such an event. Such evidence should include sedimentary rocks, many kilometres in depth, laid down rapidly in which trillions of animals and plants are embedded - which is what we do find. Potentially this could give us up to 2 billion cubic kilometres of evidence. (This figure comes from multiplying the surface area of the earth (500 million square kilometres) by an average depth of 4 kilometres of sedimentary rocks produced by the flood). This is particularly pertinent since we now have the evidence of soft tissue and carbon 14 in fossils. Given the scale of this evidence it is hard to see how one could argue against the veracity of the Biblical Flood. Confirmation of this truth can be seen on page 19 & 20 of this booklet, where flat layers, polystrate fossils, carbon 14 in coal and diamonds provide evidence that supports a recent flood. Likewise, the work of Michael Oard on geomorphology (how landscapes form), which I discuss below, also points towards the same conclusion. Furthermore, the evidence we find in the Grand Canyon, that I summarise below also supports a worldwide flood. I believe all this evidence, over such vast areas of the earth’s surface, provides irrefutable archaeological proof for a recent worldwide flood.

 Geomorphology - Landforms that need explaining

Many large scale landforms, some continental even worldwide in scale cannot be explained by gradual processes, but make sense if they were the product of flood waters receding from an event which resulted in the whole world being covered in water. Furthermore this event needs to have been recent because the formations show little sign of erosion since they were produced. http://creation.com/geomorphology-provides-evidence-for-global-flood

The following are the landforms that need explaining.

 Planation surfaces These are extensive elevated flat-topped landforms often cutting across tilted sedimentary strata which contain alternating hard and soft sedimentary layers. Firstly it is hard to conceive of a gradual process that could create such a surface (whereas the run from the flood provides a reasonable explanation) and secondly once created the lack of differential erosion between the hard and soft sedimentary layers suggest they were created recently.

http://creation.com/images/pdfs/tj/j30_2/j30_2_9-10.pdf

Inselbergs These are erosional remnants - tall, steep-sided hills that often stand alone in open plains eg Uluru/Ayers Rock or Devil’s Tower Wyoming. If they were created millions of years ago they should have been severely eroded as their exposed vertical surfaces are open to intense weathering. However the base of these inselbergs show little sign of the erosional fragments you would expect over millions of years. These features make much more sense as by-products of the vast forces involved in the run-off of the flood-waters which would have swept away the surrounding rock layers to expose these isolated hills. The lack of erosion the vertical faces display testify to the recentness of this flood event. http://creation.com/uluru-and-kata-tjuta-a-testimony-to-the-flood

Hard rounded rocks transported distances These rocks are found in large amounts on plateaus often coming from strata more than 1000kms away. There is no process operating today that would create such an effect. However the run-off from a world-wide flood would produce such an outcome.

Gorges and water gaps In mountainous and upland areas rivers pass through steep sided gorges and water gaps which would be impossible for the river to gradually erode as that would require the water to go up the mountainside to create the water gap/gorge. A more logical explanation is a huge catastrophic event such as a massive flood either overtopped the mountain or punched a hole through it creating the gap/gorge which the river then followed. http://creation.com/do-rivers-erode-through-mountains

Coastal Great Escarpments These are steep slopes or cliffs found along some continental coastal areas. They are usually very long - several thousand kilometres - and often over 1000 metres high. They run parallel to the coast, typically 100 to 200 kilometres inland. Remarkable examples can be found encircling southern Africa, eastern Australia, eastern Brazil and western India. These features are inexplicable using gradual processes but they can be explained as a consequence of the waters returning to the oceans after the flood. Furthermore these escarpments show little sign of either erosion or differentiated erosion between hard and soft rocks again suggesting the flood was a recent event. http://creation.com/noahs-flood-helped-form-escarpments

All these landforms make sense if we accept a recent world-wide flood they do not make sense using gradual processes. Other major landforms which cannot be explained by gradual processes are the Continental Shelves - see the following article for a discussion of the issues involved http://creation.com/images/pdfs/tj/j30_1/j30_1_63-69.pdf Also the formation of Mountains - http://creation.com/mountains-rose . The answer to both formations is more easily explained by catastrophic processes such as Noah’s flood but the mechanics of this process is open to debate.

Does the evidence from the Grand Canyon

point to an Old Earth or to a recent World-wide Flood?

The following diagram of scales is designed to summarise the relative weight of evidence for a recent creation & world wide flood as opposed to evidence for an old earth based on our current knowledge of geology.

Section 5

Cosmology and the Bible

Age of the Universe

It is fair to say that dating the age of the universe is even more problematic than the dating processes to do with the earth, because the level of knowledge we have is so small compared to what we need to know. With regard to our solar system, there is good scientific evidence for it being young. The existence of comets (see http://creation.com/comets-and-the-age-of-the-solar-system); the instability of Saturn’s rings (see http://creation.com/the-age-and-fate-of-saturns-rings ); and the geologically active nature of the moons around Jupiter and Saturn (see http://creation.com/revelations-in-the-solar-system ) all point to a young solar system.

With regard to the other galaxies it is difficult to ascertain their age. One obvious method involves the number of light years it takes light to reach us from distant stars. If it takes billions of light years then it seems reasonable to talk of that being the minimum age of the universe. However, to arrive at this figure requires us to make assumptions about the speed of light and the nature of the cosmos which we cannot properly test. As James Gunn of Princeton University points out in a recent article in the Journal of Science:

'Cosmology may look like a science; but it isn't a science. A basic tenet of science is that you can do repeatable experiments, and         you can't do that in cosmology.'

The most reasonable response to the question of the age of the universe is to observe that we have too little scientific information to arrive at a useful  conjecture, and that in the bible we have clear evidence of its youthfulness.

Another interesting aspect of modern cosmology that is worth considering is the position of the earth in regard to the universe. Since the time of Copernicus, scientific opinion has tended to project an ever-increasing sense that the earth does not hold a position of uniqueness in the universe – this is often called the 'Copernican principle'. We are “an insignificant rock orbiting an insignificant sun in an insignificant galaxy”; and now, with the concept of multiverses, I suppose we are in an insignificant universe!  All of this is contrary to the implicit significance of the earth when considered from the perspective of Genesis chapter 1, where the earth is created before the stars and sun. Furthermore, in Psalm 19:1 the psalmist describes the heavens as being created to declare the glory of God. Now this philosophical preference of the modern scientist for the earth to have a non-unique position in the universe, appears to be increasingly at variance with the evidence. In fact Hubble's initial reaction to the idea of the galaxies receding from us was one of horror, since that implied from these observations that we are at or near the centre of the universe (see http://creation.com/in-the-middle-of-the-action and http://www.icr.org/article/battle-for-cosmic-center/ ). To avoid this obvious conclusion he had to invent a concept called spatial curvature so that this effect might become the expected observation from any point of the universe. The following are quotes from the 'Observational view of cosmology' which reflect his concerns:

'Such a condition would imply that we occupy a unique position in the universe... but the unwelcome supposition of a favoured location must be avoided at all costs... it is intolerable; moreover, it represents a discrepancy with the theory because the theory         postulates homogeneity' p50-59

'Therefore in order to restore homogeneity, and escape the horror of a unique position, the departures from uniformity, which are         introduced by the recession factors must be compensated by the second term representing the effects of spatial curvature' p59

Confirmation that Hubble was not alone in viewing a unique position of earth with horror are these comments from Feynman's lectures on gravitation;

'… I suspect that the assumption of uniformity of the universe reflects a prejudice born of a sequence of overthrows of geocentric         ideas. … it would be embarrassing to find after stating that we live on an ordinary planet about an ordinary star in an ordinary galaxy, that our place in the universe is extraordinary... to avoid embarrassment we cling to the hypothesis of uniformity.'

                                          Feynman's lectures on gravitation penguin books p 166

Two points of interest can be drawn from this discussion. Firstly it is a powerful reminder that we must not fall into the trap of assuming our planet is insignificant just because it is small in comparison to the universe. God has invested it with great significance by placing us on it – after all we are created in the image of God – and furthermore He sent his only Son Jesus Christ to earth to redeem us. Neither of these events are insignificant, therefore we must strongly counter the modern concept of our insignificance. (It is true that people separated from God can make themselves insignificant, and as vanity, but that is not God's purpose for us).

Secondly, this discussion highlights the fact that science is not as objective and neutral as it makes itself out to be. Rather, scientists have preconceived philosophical ideas which they expect to be supported by their scientific theories, as the following quote by George Ellis in 'Scientific American' 273 (4):28-29 illustrates:

'People need to be aware that there are a range of models that         could explain the observations... for instance, I can construct you a spherical symmetrical universe with the earth at its centre and         you cannot disprove it based on observations... you can only         exclude it on philosophical grounds. In my view there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. What I want to bring into the open is that we are using philosophical criteria in choosing our models. A lot of         cosmology tries to hide that.'

Notice that these scientists are not prepared to allow any amount of evidence to change their fundamental philosophical position. Just as the Pharisees and Sadducees were not prepared to allow any of Christ's miracles to deflect them from their fundamental belief that Jesus could not be God's chosen Messiah. As Jesus said of the Pharisees

'For judgement I have come into this world, that those do not see may see; and that those who see may be made blind.' Then some

of the Pharisees who were with him heard these words, and said to him, 'Are we blind also?' Jesus said to them 'if you were blind you would have no sin; but now you say, ‘We see’. Therefore your sin         remains' John 9:39-41.

The folly of the Pharisees was their insistence that they could see clearly, when in reality they had made themselves the most blind people in Israel, by failing to see the obvious evidence of Jesus being the Messiah – namely His miracles. Likewise, it could be argued that those who defend an ancient earth, and that uphold the theory of evolution are blind to the clear evidence that the earth was recently created and full of biological entities that positively shout intelligent design (because of the enormous amount of sophisticated information encoded within their cellular structure - see http://creation.com/15-questions ).

                                           Astronomy

With regards to astronomy there are high levels of uncertainty about the quality of the evidence we have for the understandable reason, we have a limited ability to gather this information because it is a big universe and we’re a small planet. This is particularly the case with regard to the 'starlight and time' problem – how can starlight that is measured as billions of lightyears away be a product of a young universe. Rather than attempt to prove or disprove the age the universe I propose look at a series of statements and see if they’re consistent with a young or old universe:

For more information see the following website https://answersingenesis.org/astronomy/solar-system/origin-of-the-solar-system/

The following diagram of scales is designed to summarise the relative weight of evidence for a recent creation as opposed to evidence for an old universe/solar system based on our current knowledge of cosmology.

Section 6

Academic response to the evidence for a recent creation

From the books and articles I have read the consistent pattern has been dismissive with little if any evidence that the writers involved have read or responded to any of the recently produced materials published by creation scientists. The following is a list of books and articles I have read which were aimed at defending an old earth/evolution position and rejecting creationism, with a short summary of the extent of the research into creation science that these authors have demonstrated either through bibliographies, footnotes or from the work itself.

Alexander, Denis, Creation or Evolution (2008)

Limited evidence as no creationist literature was directly quoted whereas ID work by Dembski and Behe was quoted.

Coyne, Jerry A. Why Evolution is True (Oxford University Press, 2009)

Limited reference to any books being read and only one reference to attending a creationist lecture (p51).

Dawkins, Richard, The Greatest Show on Earth (Black Swan, 2009)

No evidence of having read any creationist books however some evidence in the footnotes of engagement with some selected creationist website articles.

Montgomery, David R. The Rocks Don’t Lie (W.W. Norton & Company, 2012)

The only creationist book mentioned in the bibliography, which was engaged with, was the ‘Genesis Flood’ published 1961.

National Academy of Sciences, Science and Creationism (National Academy Press, 1999)

Their understanding of creationist arguments suggests a very limited knowledge of the literature produced by creation scientists.

Peters, Ted & Hewlett, Martinez, Evolution from Creation to New Creation (Abingdon Press, 2003)

Some evidence of research with a number of works produced by Henry Morris being cited and works by Ken Ham, Duane Gish and Bill Cooper referred to - however the most recent of these publication is 1996 and since then the most interesting evidence has been discovered eg Soft tissue and carbon 14 in fossils, no junk DNA, genetic entropy etc,

Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, Creationism (2003 & 2014)

Bibliography contains only two books written by creationists: 'The Genesis Flood’ by Whitcomb and Morris published in 1961 and ‘Evolution: The Fossils say No’ by Duane Gish published in 1973.

Stanford Encyclopaedia of Philosophy, Science and Pseudo-science (2008 & 2017)

Bibliography contains no reference to books written by creationists even though it equates creationism with holocaust denial.

This lack of engagement by the academic community can be best summed up by John Sanford, a very senior geneticist, who has only recently come to the conclusion that a recent creation is the correct way to understand the evidence. In the fourth edition of Genetic Entropy (2014) published almost  ten years after the first edition (2005) Sanford asks the following question: ‘Nine years have passed since the first edition of Genetic Entropy. How has the book fared? … From the scientists in the field who are qualified to respond - I have only heard deafening silence.’ (p239)

Addendum

Fulfilled prophecy in general

Before discussing the role of fulfilled prophecy and ancient Greece we need to consider the role of fulfilled prophecy in Christian doctrine. This has been a relatively neglected subject within contemporary Christianity. Our Victorian forebears wrote much on this subject, but it seems somewhat out of fashion these days – which is surprising since we are living in exciting days in which the whole panoply of fulfilled prophecy can be fully appreciated  for the first time in history. I think one of the reasons for this is that there appear to be so many different opinions about the details. However, that is slightly unfair, since there are very few Bible doctrines which do not have varying interpretations and yet we would not ignore them for that reason. In reality the variations are often not great and the general thrust of the interpretations is fairly fixed.

Another objection which some people make is that these prophecies are somehow mysterious and were never meant to be understood – and yet that is not the impression one gets when reading the main books that contain prophecies relating to world histories e.g. Daniel and Revelation. Daniel always sought to understand the prophecies he was given, and in Revelation on at least two occasions John invites the reader to understand the significance of what has just been written (Rev 13:18 and 17:9); thus indicating that these books of prophecy were meant to be intelligible, even though their messages were coded. Furthermore in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 Paul expected his Thessalonian readers to understand what he is referring to (see 2 Thessalonians chapter 2:5-6 – this point will be explained in more detail later).

The approach I shall adopt in applying fulfilled prophecy to the study of history will be the historicist perspective. This was the dominant method of interpreting prophecy throughout most of church history, except during the Middle Ages, where for reasons that will become obvious when we study this period, it fell out of favour. Elliott in his book Horae Apocalypticae comments that the early Church Fathers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian and Hippolytus all read the prophecies regarding the 'man of sin' and the 'fourth empire with ten horns' as events that would take place soon after the fall of the Roman empire, in a manner that is consistent with the historicist interpretation of prophecy. It is only in the last 150 years that this approach has been replaced by the futurist interpretation of prophecy. Whilst the futurist scheme of interpretation usually leaves most of Daniel's prophecies untouched, it assumes that most of the book of Revelation and Paul's account of the 'man of sin' in 2 Thessalonians 2, refer to the last seven years of human history. (This is often tied in with the idea that the 70th week of Daniel 9 also refers to the last seven years of human history). As to the validity of the futurist approach I do not consider myself a good judge, having never studied it in detail and it may turn out to have some merit, since prophecies can be fulfilled twice – or in some cases more than twice. However, arguments about the validity of the futurist position do not invalidate the historicist method, since it must stand or fall on the evidence of history – i.e. does it accurately foretell the major events of the last 2500 years. As I hope to show it does this very well and in so doing demonstrates the authenticity of the Bible as the word of God, to be trusted in all that it says, and it points us to the almighty character of our God. (Isaiah Chapter 44 – 45 describes how God rebukes Israel for its unbelief by reminding them of how a graven image cannot foretell the future but He can. To prove the point God informs the Jews 200 years before the event that a man called Cyrus will cause Jerusalem to be rebuilt – which we know did subsequently happen – thus confirming there is no other God than our God! When teaching about fulfilled prophecy it is possible to achieve quite a ‘wow’ factor. After all it was on the road to Emmaus that Jesus 'beginning at Moses and all of the prophets... expounded to them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself'  Luke 24:27).

With regard to the fulfilment of prophecy in the book of Daniel there is little debate among contemporary evangelical scholars. Unfortunately, with regard to the book of Revelation, there has been very little agreement because the rise of the futurist interpretation has eclipsed the historicist account and, by its very nature, the futurist position has little to say about the past. However, despite this confusion over the book of Revelation, I believe it is reasonable to use the most reliable of the historicist interpretations because the historical evidence confirms that this interpretation was both correct and, as we shall see, significant - but I would not expect others to follow that scheme unless they were convinced that it was correct – this does not apply to the book of Daniel where there is broad agreement. (Therefore where I believe there is a contentious issue I will make mention of that fact).

With regard to what constitutes the most accurate historicist account, consensus of opinion would point to Edward Elliott’s Horae Apocalypticae, which can be accessed online using the the following website http:www.harvestherald.com/horae/ - be aware it is very long and learned! For a synopsis, wikipedia has a good article on the Horae Apocalypticae. Interestingly, as with most historicist interpreters, Elliott’s mistake is to try and interpret current or recent events in the light of the book of Revelation. This is a difficult task since you often need hindsight to appreciate the significance or, more often, lack of significance an event has. Therefore I think Elliott’s handling of the ‘Bowl’s of Judgement’ in Chapter 16 is poor, but that does not invalidate his previous analysis; it just illustrates the difficulty of assigning prophetic significance to situations when you are too close to them in time. However, it is fair to say that this weakness has been used by opponents of the historicist method to discredit the whole interpretive framework when, in reality, it is only a problem with one aspect of it, an aspect one would naturally expect to have difficulties with.

Fulfilled Prophecy and Ancient Greece

In Daniel there are 4 prophetic references to ancient Greece; they are in Daniel chapter 2, 7, 8 and 10-11. Daniel chapter 2 is Nebuchadnezzar's dream of a statue, the golden head referring to Babylon, the silver chest to the Medes and the Persians, while the Bronze thighs refer to Greece. Likewise, in chapter 7, reference is made to 4 empires, one following after the other with the third empire again being that of Greece. In this case Babylon is the winged lion, Medo-Persian is the bear and Greece the fast leopard. Chapter 8 of Daniel is the most interesting of these prophecies for the history of Greece, as it refers particularly to the reign of Alexander the Great - describing clearly the speed of his conquest and the manner of his death; including the accurate description of his kingdom being divided into four parts after his death and not going to his son.

Interestingly Josephus, the first century AD chronicler of history, makes a comment on this prophecy stating that Alexander the Great granted favourable conditions to the Jews after he had read this prophecy in Daniel, correctly supposing it referred to him – Book 11 Chapter 8 'Antiquities of the Jews'. Likewise, Josephus records that Cyrus gave the order to rebuild Jerusalem after reading the prophecies in Isaiah 44 – 45 which refer to him – see Book 11 chapter 1. Both these examples illustrate that prophecy not only has the ability to encourage the believer, as he sees it being fulfilled, but it can be used by God to assist his people in their own circumstances. We will see this twin effect later when we consider the Reformation and the establishment of the state of Israel.

The other prophetic reference to Ancient Greece can be found in the detailed accounts of Chapter 10 and 11 of Daniel. These prophecies refer to a time after the death of Alexander the Great when his empire, as prophesied in Chapter 8 of Daniel, was divided into four parts. For the purpose of this prophecy, which is primarily referring to the fate of Israel, the two parts of the Greek empire that are relevant are the Kingdom of the North – the Seleucids of Syria, and the Kingdom of the South – the Ptolemies of Egypt. Their wars and diplomacy were obviously of interest to God's people who were sandwiched in the middle. Also, unlike the Babylonians and the Persians, the Greeks were not just interested in ruling other nations, they also wanted to influence the native cultures. A bit like the West today, the Greeks genuinely felt they had a superior culture that should be adopted by any rational human civilisation. So the model of Greek life was exported to every part of their empire. Now this posed a problem to the Jews who had a set of standards that had distinctives which went against the Greek idea of culture. For example the Jews viewed nakedness as sinful – therefore they did not accept or appreciate the Greek vision of athletics – something the Greeks were very proud of. This distinctiveness of the Jewish people made them vulnerable to a ruler who took exception to what he saw as Jewish stubbornness, especially if he felt his kingdom needed unity at this time. Such a ruler did arise and his name was  Antiochus Epiphanes – who is the original type of the anti-Christ. It was he who desecrated the temple and forced pigs to be slaughtered in it and by such actions caused the Jewish people to revolt successfully in 165AD under the leadership of Judas Maccabeus.

The issues raised by this period usefully illustrate some of the problems we as God's people face today. We are surrounded by a dominant culture that is incredibly self-assured and that views our distinctiveness as threatening or subversive. How we respond to this is an issue of great importance. In the end those who sought to compromise with the Greeks – the Hellenised Jews – became irrelevant because ultimately the Greeks had no real sympathy or understanding for the Jewish people. Therefore, when it suited them to ride roughshod over important aspects of the Jewish religion, the Hellenised Jews had no power or authority to resist them. It was left to the non-compromising Jews to make a stand for truth and to fight the forces arrayed against them. It was their determination to resist the culture that surrounded them that saved God's people from facing cultural extinction and God blessed them by giving them deliverance. The feast of Hanukkah which Jesus attended  (see John 10:22 where it is known as the feast of Dedication) refers to the rededication of the temple after its desecration by  Antiochus Epiphanes. Interestingly Josephus also links these events to Chapters 10 – 11 of Daniel in Book 12 Chapter 7 section 6 of 'Antiquities', when he states;

'This desolation came to pass according to the prophecy of         Daniel, which was given 408 years before; for he declared that the Macedonian would dissolve that worship'.

Roman Empire

Central to the biblical prophecy found in Daniel (and therefore Revelation) is the place held by the Roman Empire. It is the 4th Beast, terrible and made of iron, in Daniel Chapter 7, and it is the 4th empire made of iron in Daniel Chapter 2. Both prophecies refer to the brutal strength of this empire, and it is a characteristic of the Roman empire that its army was highly professional and, at the height of its power, almost unbeatable. Also Rome was ruthless in its suppression of dissent, imposing its laws and values across its empire with great effectiveness. From the point of view of spreading the gospel this had the great advantage of providing political stability, good reasonably safe roads for ease of communication and a common language. The disadvantage was that once the empire made Christianity illegal then its ability to persecute the Christians could also be very effective. Fortunately, though these persecutions were cruel, they were often patchy and did not always last very long, so that the church not only survived them but actually flourished and grew. Indeed some have argued that these persecutions actually preserved the church from the curse of people seeking position and power through the offices of the church. Using the historicist method of interpretation this would explain the mystery of lawlessness mentioned in 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2. As mentioned earlier in the section on fulfilled prophecy, the evidence is that the early church understood that the one who restrained this mystery was the Roman emperor -  unwittingly through persecutions! Hence the oblique reference in 2 Thessalonians 2:6 to the fact that the Thessalonians knew who the restraining force was, and verse 5 implies that Paul had already told them these things. The reason for the cryptic code language in Paul's letters and in the book of Revelation with respect to these matters was that the writers did not wish to invite unnecessary persecution of the church by suggesting that the rule of the Roman emperors might come to an end. (A good example of this can be found in Revelation 17:9 where the seven heads are referred to as seven mountains which the woman is sitting on, and the reader is expected to know what this picture refers to. At that time the most obvious answer would be Rome – the city built on seven hills). Confirmation of this guarded approach can be seen in Josephus's account of Daniel Chapter 2, where he avoids giving the interpretation that Rome forms part of the statue since that would imply the stone would destroy Rome – a thing that would be unwise to mention. Whiston, in his commentary on Josephus, is also of the same opinion on this matter, and it is noticeable that this is the only prophecy of Daniel, along with Daniel 7 (which also implies the destruction of Rome) for which Josephus does not give, or at least imply, the interpretation (Book 10 Chapter 11 section 3). In fact early records suggest that the early church always protested that they were obedient to those in authority and that they prayed for them and, as a consequence, they should not be subject to the persecutions they were suffering.

From the historicist perspective the great persecutions of the Roman Empire, particularly those of Diocletian, are referred to in the 5th seal which describes the cry of the martyrs. Interestingly Revelation 6:11 implies that they form the first group of martyrs and that there would be a later group under the persecutions by the beast that were to follow. When dealing with the Roman period it is worth reminding pupils that the church suffered repeated and often fierce persecution. However the history of this period suggests that the church viewed martyrdom as a great privilege! (For the record the other seals refer to the initial success of the pagan emperors from Nerva to Marcus Aurelius – the white horse of victory. Then there is the red horse of conflict, which reflects the almost constant state of civil war within the empire during the first half of the third century. The black horse is more obscure, but probably deals with the growing corruption and taxation of this period which, for Gibbon, was one of the main contributing causes of the decline of Rome. Finally, the pale horse reflects the high level of mortality through disease and famine that afflicted the empire during the second half of the third century. With regard to the sixth seal this relates to the perception of the pagan Romans, as they saw their privileges and position in the empire rapidly disappear with the advent of Constantine as emperor.)  

Another interesting aspect of fulfilled prophecy with regard to the Roman Empire can be seen in Daniel 9:26 where it states that the Messiah will be cut off and the city of the sanctuary will be destroyed. Josephus, in book 10 chapter 11 section 7, states that “in the very same manner Daniel also wrote concerning the Roman government and that our country should be made desolate by them. All these things did this man leave in writing as god had shown them to him, insomuch, that such as read his prophecies, and see how they have been fulfilled, would wonder at the honour where with god had honoured Daniel”. From this statement we can only assume that Josephus had interpreted Daniel 9:26 as referring to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, which he had personally observed. If that is the case, then this gives credence to the view that Josephus may have believed that Jesus was the Messiah, since that is the reasonable conclusion if you believe that the Romans were part of the fulfilment of that prophecy.

This situation changed with Constantine who legalised Christianity in 313AD. In many ways this was a disaster for the Church because it meant that people saw the church as an avenue for advancement so that the quality of its leaders rapidly deteriorated. However, before this was to have a serious effect, two important decisions were made that helped secure the future of the church. First, the church agreed on the full divinity of Christ, in what is known as the Nicene Creed. This was vitally important because of the rapid rise of the false doctrines of Arius – who argued that Christ's divinity was less than that of God the Father. Within a few years of the Nicene Creed being accepted the teachings of Arius re-emerged and almost caused the church to seriously weaken its position on the preeminence of Christ. One excellent character-study of this period is Athanasius who, almost alone among the Bishops, refused to give any ground on this doctrine even though the emperor and the senior leaders of the Church begged him to compromise for the sake of unity. In the end it became known as 'Athanasius against the world', and Athanasius won because he rightly understood that the full divinity of Christ was an essential doctrine – an absolute pillar of the Gospel.

        'Christ “was made man that we might be made divine” …

        Athanasius argued that if Christ was less than God then he could

        not be our saviour. Only God could restore man to communion

        with himself'

                        p136, A Lion Handbook, The History of Christianity

In many ways I wish the Church had had someone of the calibre of Athanasius to stand up for the doctrine of creation in the 19th and 20th centuries, when it was so effectively undermined by the rise of Darwinian evolution. Instead we have a situation where there is not a single UK bible teaching institute I know of that teaches the creation account expounded in Genesis 1 – 11 within the traditional 6000 year framework. The result of our lack of commitment to a central truth of the gospel has, I believe, been catastrophic for the church. Without such a framework for creation the 'fall of man' becomes difficult to defend as an historical event, and without the 'fall of man' what was the point of redemption? This is not a licence to be contentious about every small doctrinal point, but there are certain major doctrines such as the divinity of Christ, the status of God as Creator and the 'fall of man' that are non-negotiable and need to be defended at all cost. (I suggest the inerrancy of the bible is another important doctrine).  Athanasius makes a good role-model as a fearless Christian who was able to stand up for what he believed in no matter what was the cost or loss of reputation.

The other useful consequence of this brief period when the church was free from persecution (brief, because within 100 years of Christianity becoming legal the empire in the west began to fall apart), was the agreement on what constituted the canon of the New Testament – this was finalised in the council of Constantinople. This council did not invent the Canon, it was largely agreed on by common usage, but what it did do was give a final official seal on this matter so that the church could go forward with confidence.

As a side note on this issue, from about this period onwards we find most Greek editions of the bible are very similar. They are often referred to as the 'textus receptus' – however the versions before this time often have a number of minor differences. Since the 19th century it is these earlier versions that have become the basis for modern translations of the Bible. In fact only the King James and the New King James versions of the Bible retain adherence to the 'textus receptus'. Normally as a historian one would give more credence to older versions of a manuscript than the newer versions – hence the preference of modern translators for these older manuscripts – however in this case that may not be so wise, since the standardised 'textus receptus' could well be the product of the churches’ collective wisdom on what was their best understanding of the original manuscripts; whereas these older manuscripts are a collection of documents that reflect the understandably more chaotic nature of the church under persecution prior to Constantine. Unfortunately we do not know the history behind these early documents to verify how reliable they are. I mention this in detail because I use this as one of the reasons why I want young people to be exposed to the New King James version of the Bible. I feel it is important that the church does not lose the tradition of having translations of the bible that use the 'textus receptus'.

Summing up the Roman Empire from a Christian perspective, it is clear that God foreknew its appearance in history and, using Daniel Chapters 2 and 7, there is another opportunity for demonstrating God's power and wisdom in predicting the future so accurately . The Roman Empire provided the stability needed for the Gospel to spread quickly and, in a strange way, its persecutions kept the church reasonably pure for the first 300 years. The brief respite from persecution, brought about by Constantine, allowed the church to agree on the divinity of Christ and the Canon of the Bible; however it had the negative effect of weakening the integrity of the church – an issue that would increasingly plague the church for the next 1200-1300 years.

Historicist interpretation of the book of Revelation

If we adopt the historicist interpretation of Revelation, (which not unreasonably suggests that the prophecies that run from Chapter 6 – 19 give us an account of the history of the world during the age of the church in roughly chronological order - in a similar manner to Daniel’s prophecies) then starting with chapter 6 we would expect to see God's dealings with the pagan Roman Empire. In which case the seals which need to be opened before we can have access to the contents of the scroll deal with the period from 100AD to the middle of the 4th century AD, when paganism became outlawed in the Roman Empire and it officially became a Christian empire. Confirmation of this interpretation can be seen in the 5th seal (verse 9) which refers to the great persecution of the Christians during this time and verse 11 refers to this as the first persecution with others following  – a fact that history confirms.

After the seals come the seven trumpets in Chapters 8 and 9. The first 4 trumpets, which are in part, mirrored by the first 4 vials of Chapter 16, refer to the destruction of the western Roman Empire by various tribes. The 5th and 6th trumpets refer to the destruction of the eastern Roman Empire, and the 5th trumpet deals with the Arab conquest of the Middle East and of North Africa in the 7th and 8th centuries, whilst the 6th trumpet deals with the Turkish destruction of the Byzantine empire in the 12th - 16th centuries.

The Prophetic significance of the Reformation

If I am correct about the importance of the Reformation I would expect it to be referred to in biblical prophecy, and this is the genius of the historicist interpretation of prophecy. In chapters 10,11,12 and 13 of Revelation there is a clear reference to a dark period of church history in which the saints suffer severe persecution over a prolonged period of time – for example chapter 13:10 states that 'he who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience of the saints.' Likewise, in Daniel 7 a dark period is referred to in verse 21 where it states, 'The same horn was making war against the saints, and prevailing against them'. Later on at the close of verse 25 it states, 'the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time'. Here we are first introduced to the biblical timetable of 3½ years (time = 1 year, times =2 years, ½time =½ a year) which is reproduced in Revelation Chapter 13:5 as 42 months – this equals 3½ years. This same period of time is referred to in Revelation 12:6 as 1260 days and Revelation 11:2 as 42 months. You could argue, as the futurists do, that this refers to a literal 3½ years, but to be more consistent, considering these passages are in prophetic code, it is wiser to presume these days represent years. For example in Numbers 14:34 God ascribes for each day  the spies spent in Canaan, a year in the wilderness. Similarly in Ezekiel Chapter 4:6 God describes how each day Ezekiel lies on his side represents one year of captivity. This year/day principle is also used in Daniel Chapter 9 explaining how the 70 weeks equals 490 years from the rebuilding of Jerusalem to the death of the Messiah. Therefore, using this principle, the period being referred to in Daniel 7 and Revelation 11,12 and 13 would be about 1260 years in duration. If we now return to the history of the Roman Empire, we will remember that the chief cause of the corruption of the church was it being too closely allied to the Roman state after the arrival of Constantine  (though we noted the effects of this were to some extent mitigated during the Dark Ages due to the chaos and instability of Europe); but once the Middle Ages started the power and corruption of the church became pronounced and those who questioned her authority were dealt with severely. This state of affairs was not brought to an end until the 16th century with the Reformation – a period of between 1200 and 1300 years after Christianity became the official state religion – the time span repeatedly referred to in Daniel and Revelation.

Further confirmation that these events are what the prophecies of Daniel 7 and Revelation 11,12 and 13 are referring to can be seen in the description of the beasts. If we compare the 4th beast of Daniel 7 with the beast in Revelation 13 they both have 10 horns and the same animals are referred to - a Lion, a Bear and a Leopard. Therefore, if both beasts are the same, then we must assume that Revelation 13 is referring to some aspect of the Roman empire that continued after its fall in the west. It is interesting to note that in Revelation 13:3 the beast is described as having previously received a mortal wound – referring to the fact that the Roman empire appeared to have been destroyed in the 5th century, but instead it  reconstituted itself, so that Western Europe during the Middle Ages saw itself as the heir to the Roman empire. This was classically seen in the crowning of Charlemagne by the Pope in 801AD as the first Holy Roman Emperor. The construction of European Christendom after the collapse of the Roman empire then explains the 10 horns that represent the 10 kingdoms Western Europe maintained during this period - a rare example in history of kingdoms co-existing alongside each other, never being able to destroy each other, and supposedly united in Christian brotherhood for over 1000 years. This then makes sense of the comments made in Daniel 2:42-43 which describes the 10 toes of the statue as being iron mixed with clay therefore 'the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile'. Verse 43 refers to their supposed unity, but in truth, lack of unity. So whereas the legs of Daniel 2 refer to the Roman empire in all its strength, the toes refer to European Christendom that followed on from the fall of Rome, but which owed its spiritual and political origins to the old Roman empire; hence it being treated as one and the same beast in Daniel 7.

It is worth noting that in Daniel 2:44 we are told it is in the days of these kings that the Messiah will set up His kingdom. Likewise, it is in days of the ten horns that the Messiah will come on the clouds (Daniel 7:13). As a historical observation, the kingdoms of Europe have never been subjugated to an empire in all the 1500 years that have elapsed since the collapse of the western Roman Empire. The rest of the world has been subject to empires during this period, but not Western Europe. Ten kingdoms there shall be until the Messiah comes. No Napoleon, Philip II of Spain, Louis XIV or Hitler could alter that state of affairs (or for that matter Henry V at Agincourt - witness God raising up Joan of Arc to save France from subjugation to the English). It is unique in history for such a strange state of affairs to exist for so long; ten kingdoms, partly united and partly divided . (Even to this day we see this drama worked out in the European union. Admittedly there are a lot more than ten kingdoms now, but for most of the last 1500 years ten has been approximately the right number.) As you can see, I get quite excited by the historicist interpretation of prophecy as it fits so neatly the reality of history, and as a consequence, allows me to rejoice in a God who does things so powerfully and so well.

However, even if you are not persuaded by this approach, it is still useful to understand it, because the reformers of the 16th and 17th century saw the conflict they were involved in through this interpretation, and as a consequence they derived great strength and courage to face the heated conflicts of this period knowing that God had prophesied these things to the church. In its day the historicist interpretation of Daniel 2, Thessalonians 2, and Revelation gave the reformers an understanding that God had foreseen the wilderness years of the church during the Middle Ages, and that it was now time for the church to shake off its corruption and superstitions and return to core doctrines of justification by faith, scripture alone and the priesthood of all believers. This was a titanic struggle that gripped Europe for almost 200 years resulting in the Spanish Armada, the gunpowder plot, the 30 years war in Europe and contributed to the English Civil War.

Revelation - An Overall Outline of The Prophecy Chap 5-22

(Historicist Interpretation)

Revelation 5:1-7 & 6:1 Jesus is worthy to open the book with seven seals

Revelation 6:2-17 & 8:1-5 The seven seals are opened - these seals deal with the judgement and fall of Pagan Rome - Remember these seals are the prelude not the substance of the Prophecy.

First seal: Rev 6:1-2 The White Horse of conquest - the rapid expansion of the gospel.

Second seal: Rev 6:3-4 The Red Horse of civil war - all the Roman empire racked by Civil War.

Third seal: Rev 6:5-6 The Black Horse of famine - famine and shortage in the Roman Empire.

Fourth seal Rev6:7-8  The Pale Horse death - due to disease and famine the population of the Roman empire fell dramatically in the third century.

Fifth seal: Rev 6:9-11 The first martyrs martyrdom and persecution under Pagan Rome.

Sixth seal: Rev 6:12-17 Great changes in the heavenlies and on the Earth - the end of pagan Rome, the beginning of Christian Rome.

Seventh Seal: Rev 8:15 Silence in heaven and The Seven trumpets - a period of peace for the church from the time of Constantine to the end of the Western Empire.

Revelation Chapter 7 God's people are sealed - 144000 against the day of the great tribulation. There is also a great multitude who wear white garments having suffered during the great tribulation. A Remnant of Israel will believe Romans chapter 11:1-5. Also we see a preview of the multitude who suffer as a result of the coming apostasy of the Beast.

Revelation 8:7-9:31 The Seven Trumpets

First trumpet Rev 8:7 Hail and Fire on Earth, 1/3 trees and all grass destroyed - the invasion of the Goths AD410.

Second trumpet Rev 8:8-9 The sea becomes blood, 1/3 living sea creatures die and 1/3 ships destroyed - Invasion of the Vandals 429-455.

Third trumpet Rev 8:10-11 The star Wormwood falls to earth, 1/3 rivers become bitter and many die - Invasion of Attila the Hun 441-451.

Fourth trumpet Rev 8:12 One third of the sun moon and stars are darkened - the last Roman emperor of the West deposed 476.

Fifth trumpet Rev 9:1-12 Apollyon and the locust from the pit result in darkness and pain - the rise of Islam (622) and the Saracen invasion which lasted 150 years.

Sixth trumpet Rev 9:13-21 The four angels of the Euphrates released the great army of Horsemen - the fall of the Byzantine Empire and it's capital Constantinople under the Invasion 1057-1453.

Seventh Trumpet Rev 11:15-19 A time of rejoicing along with lightnings, earthquakes and hail - possibly the success of the Reformation.

Revelation 10 A mighty angel with seven Thunders which are to remain sealed. He had a little book, possibly the printed Bible, and announced that the Seventh Trumpet would bring to completion God's mystery. The printed Bible made the Reformation successful because for the first time people could read the whole Bible in their own language and see the truth for themselves and since that day a door has been opened which no man can shut.

Revelation 11:1-14 The second woe - which is the trading under foot of the outer court of the temple for 1260 days or 42 months also the period of time given to the two witnesses who are eventually killed by the Beast and raised up after 3 and 1/2 Days. Using the year day interpretation of Prophecy, 1260 days refers to 1260 years which is the period of spiritual apostasy and darkness that started in 254 when Cyprian was the first Bishop of Rome to say that he was successor to Peter and entitled to precedence over Christendom. By 1514 the fifth Lateran Council declared the following about Pope Leo the tenth ‘the whole body of Christendom is now to be subjected to its head that is to thee’. Exactly three-and-a-half years later Luther nailed his 95 theses to a Wittenberg church door. The Reformation began. The witnesses rose from the dead. The Witnesses were those small band of true believers, like God's 7000 in Elijah's time, who would not bow their knee to Baal eg the Waldensians. The 1260 years can also be traced from 607 when emperor Phocus allowed Boniface to be called ‘Universal Bishop’ Then in 1870  the Pope was stripped of all his lands.

Revelation 12 A woman clothed the sun gives birth to a man child who was to rule all Nations with a rod of iron and that child is taken up to heaven. Then there is a  Dragon with 7 heads, 10 horns and 7 crowns wanting to destroy the child but is frustrated, so after being thrown out of heaven he persecutes the woman for 1260 days. This is possibly one of the most difficult passages to interpret because while it is obvious that the man child is Jesus, by the title he is given and that the Dragon is Satan in the guise of the Roman Empire, it is not clear who the woman is - probably this is the true Church of God which is the true Israel before the cross, and the true church. This chapter also refers to a period of persecution lasting 1260 years, which suggests it is referring to the same period of time as Chapter 11 and Chapter 13.

Revelation 13 The Dragon gives power authority and his throne to the Beast with seven heads, ten horns and 10 crowns. This beast is given authority for 42 months and he successfully makes war against the Saints. The second beast is the lamb who has two horns who persuades men and women to worship the first beast. In chapters 11,12 and 13 we have a common reference to a period of persecution lasting 1260 years, therefore they are describing the same event. Chapter 11 describes it from the perspective of the true church and the faithful two witnesses. Chapter 12 from the perspective of heaven and the Dragon being cast out. Chapter 13 from the perspective of the world and the apparent victory of the beast over the Saints during this period. The two beasts represent the papacy and the Roman Catholic church of the middle ages and it's increasingly cruel suppression of the true Saints or it could represent Europe (the beast) and the church the lamb - this would make more sense since in chapter 17 the beast is clearly Europe and the papacy is the woman - likewise in Daniel 7 the final beast is Europe and the papacy is the little horn (in Daniel 2 Europe is represented as the ten toes).

Revelation 14 Three Angels appear, the first brings the everlasting gospel, the second announces The Fall of Babylon (papal Rome), the third declares the judgement of God against those who worship the Beast. The Reformation brought back the clear preaching of the gospel and ushered in the ultimate destruction of Roman Catholic Europe - see 2 thessalonians 2:8 ‘the man of sin will be consumed by the breath of his mouth’ which is the word of God. In chapter 14 reference is also made to the Patience of the Saints. Probably this is meant to encourage those who turned to the protestant faith in continental Europe during the Reformation yet suffered renewed persecution including the counter-reformation of the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Another comment found in chapter 14 is ‘blessed are the dead their works will follow them’. Interestingly after the counter-reformation has been exhausted the work of God will henceforth never have to face another apostasy of the severity and nature of the great apostasy so new movements of this period will live beyond the death of their founders such as Methodism and the Salvation Army, unlike mediaeval attempts to reform the church which quickly became corrupted with the death of their founder. Finally, in chapter 14 we hear about the two sickles and the two harvests. The Son of Man reaps the gospel harvest - in the last 200 years there's been an explosion of missionary work and the church has spread all over the world. However the other sickle is the Wrath of God - likewise over the last 200 years since the French Revolution there has been a marked increase in the number of bloody world wars and revolutions.

Revelation 15 We are introduced to the seven angels with the seven last plagues - the scene is set for the final act of the drama.

Revelation 16 The seven bowls of the wrath of God against European Christendom.

First Bowl Rev 16:2 Poured on the earth, foul sores on those who worshipped the beast. The age of reason makes Christianity odious - especially in France.

Second Bowl Rev 16:3 Poured on the sea, it becomes as blood, every sea creature dies. From the 18th century the British control the seas, thus ending the power of the Beast at sea.

Third Bowl Rev 16:4-7 Poured on the rivers, they become as blood. The great continental wars often fought in Germany, Austria and Italy 1792-1815.

Fourth Bowl Rev 16:8-9 Poured on the sun, which scorched men with fire and they cursed God - no repentance.

Fifth Bowl Rev 16:10-11 Poured on to the throne of the beast. Darkness and pain and the blasphemed God - no repentance. The territorial fall of Papal Rome 1870.

Sixth Bowl Rev 16:12-16 Poured on the river Euphrates preparing a way for the kings of the East. Also three frogs that gather kings and peoples to the battle of Armageddon. The three frogs are the jingoistic press that helped create the atmosphere needed for WW1 to take place and one of the great battles took place in 1918 at Megiddo where the Turkish army was destroyed which effectively brought to an end the Ottoman  Empire that controlled the region around the Euphrates. Also of interest is that the origins of the reconstituted state of Israel can be traced back to this period with the Balfour declaration in 1917. This might explain the curious comment we find in v15 where Jesus reminds the reader of His imminent return. Also v15 seems to be very similar to Rev 3:18 where Jesus rebukes the Laodicean church for being naked because it has become lukewarm due to its great wealth. It can also be observed that from the end of WW1 individual wealth increases massively and alongside that personal morality takes a nosedive!

Seventh Bowl Rev 16:17-21 Poured on the air. Great Earthquakes hail from heaven and they blasphemed God - possibly WW2

Revelation 17 - The woman on the beast and its interpretation. In this situation the woman is the pope and the beast is European Christendom. The woman is called Babylon the Great and interestingly the name pontiff comes from the title of the chief Babylonian priest and was adopted  by the popes in 378 three years after the Christian emperor Gratian renounced it because of its pagan overtones. For 1000 years the papacy claimed to rule over Christendom but eventually as prophesied the kings of Europe rose up and devoured the harlot verse 16.

Revelation 18 ‘Babylon is fallen’ and her great judgement. To some extent this has already happened with Napoleon imprisoning the pope then in 1870 when the popes lost all their secular territory - however there could still be a further and fuller fulfilment of this prophecy.

Revelation 19:1-9 Rejoicing at the fall of Babylon and rejoicing at the imminent prospect of the marriage of the Lamb.

Revelation 19:11-16 The Word of God on a white horse leading the army of God.

Revelation 19:17-18 An angel inviting the birds of heaven to the supper of the great God.

Revelation 19:19 The armies of the beast and the kings of the earth gathered to make war against the ‘Word of God’ and His armies. The beast and the false prophet are captured and thrown into the lake of fire and the armies are destroyed. (This appears to be the final battle at the time of the second coming - see Zechariah 12-14)

Revelation 20:1-3 Satan bound for one thousand years. This is often referred to as the Millennial age of Christ’s rule on earth as opposed to the New Heavens and the New Earth of Rev 21 & 22. Some commentators in the past have likened this 1000 years to the sabbath day of creation. If we accept that one day is as 1000 years then the 6000 years of human history that lead up to the millennium can also be likened to the 6 days of creation.

Revelation 20:4-6 The millennial reign of Christ with the saints who suffered during the great apostasy - the first resurrection.

Revelation 20:7-10 The final Satanic battle at the end of the Millennium. This passage seems to make reference to Ezekiel 38 and 39. Which is interesting as many people use this as a prophecy relating to the second coming whereas John seems to put it at the end of the Millennial age.

Revelation 20:11-15 Awful judgement!

Revelation 21:1-22:5 New Heaven and New Earth at last - no more suffering - no more sin - eternal fellowship with God - this sounds very good.

Revelation 22:6-21 A series of statements

1. Behold I am coming quickly promised three times (Rev 22:7,12 & 20).
2. Blessed is he who keeps the words of this book (Rev 22:7 & Rev 1:3).
3. Cursed is he who takes away  or adds to this book (Rev 22:18-19).
4. Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book for the time is at hand. This seems to support the historicist position, because unlike the futurist position the historicist position starts to be fulfilled immediately rather than 2000 years later. (Rev 22:10 see also Rev 1:3 & 4:1)

Additional Documents

The following two pages demonstrate the prevalence of the historicist method since the reformation. The first document is a page from a typical mid Victorian Family Bible which contained extensive notes - this page has the notes from Daniel chapter 7 and it discusses the ten horns as representing the ten kingdoms that replaced the Western Roman Empire. The second document is from the 1959 edition of Halley’s Bible Handbook in which he is discussing Revelation chapter 16. It is worth noting that Halley is prepared to declare that the first 5 vials have been fulfilled but leaves vial 6 & 7 open to discussion, believing they could be referring to WW1 & WW2 - which I tend to agree with.

Extract from a Mid Victorian Family Bible (Commentary on Daniel 7)

1959 edition of Hlley’s ‘Bible Handbook’