Having devoted a chapter to this subject in "The World's Sixteen
Crucified Saviors," we shall treat the subject but briefly in this work.
The Old Testament has been thoroughly searched for prophecies, and more
than a hundred texts selected, by various Christian writers, and assumed
to be prophetic of some future event. But a critical and impartial
investigation of the subject will show that not one of them is, strictly
speaking, a prophecy; but most of them refer to events either in the
past, or events _naturally_ suggested by the circumstances under which
the writer was placed. And in many cases the text has no reference
whatever to the event which Bible commentators assume they refer to. In
treating the subject briefly, we will show,--
1. That if one-fourth of the texts from Genesis to Revelation were
prophecies, and it could be shown that every one of them has been
fulfilled to the letter, it would not prove that there was any divine
inspiration or divine aid in the matter; because many facts show that
prophecy, or the power to discover future events, is a _natural_ and not
a supernatural, gift.
2. Many cases are reported in history of the prediction of future
events by pagan or heathen seers, and also by persons not claiming to be
inspired nor even religious. I will cite a few cases: Josephine, wife
of Napoleon, relates that she had all the important events of her future
life pointed out to her by an ignorant, illiterate fortune-teller, long
before they occurred; such as her marriage, her unhappy life, and the
death of her husband,--all of which was fulfilled to the letter. An
astrologer predicted the great fire in London. Rousseau foretold the
French Revolution. Cicero made a remarkable prophecy, which was realized
in the discovery of America and the history of George Washington by
consulting the Sibylline oracles. These, and many other cases that
might be cited, furnish satisfactory evidence that the capacity for
foretelling the occurrence of future events is a natural and inherent
power of the human mind, and hence can do nothing toward proving
the divine origin of any religion, or the divine illumination of
any prophet. Therefore any further argument in the case would be
superfluous. We will only briefly review a few of the Jewish prophecies
(or texts assumed to be prophecies) to show that the Jewish nation
occupied a lower moral plane, and possessed less of the gift of prophecy
than some of the contemporary heathen nations. Hence Christian writers
are wrong in assuming that the Jews alone possessed this power, while
they possessed it in a less degree than some of the Oriental prophets.
Prophecies (assumed to be) relating to Babylon, relating to Damascus,
relating to Tyre, relating to the dispersion of the Jews, relating to
the advent of Christ, &c., have been quoted time and again by Christian
writers and clergymen, and dwelt upon at great length in attempts to
show their fulfillment, in order to deduce therefrom the argument and
conclusion that the Jewish nation were divinely commissioned to furnish
the world with a true system of religion and morals. But we are prepared
to show that _every one_ of these prophecies so called has _utterly
failed_ of any fulfillment in the sense that writers and preachers
assume. As it would require a large work to treat this subject fully, we
shall only briefly refer to one or two cases as samples of the whole. As
Babylon and Tyre are the most frequently referred to, and are regarded
as the strongest cases, our attention will be confined to them. Relative
to Babylon, Isaiah says, "It shall not be dwelt in from generation to
generation; neither shall the Arabian pitch his tent there" (Isa. xiii.
19): but he says, "It shall be inhabited by wild beasts of the desert
and satyrs and dragons,"--not one of which predictions has ever been
realized. It is still inhabited, though its name has been changed to
Hillah, which has now a population of about nine thousand. So far from
the "Arabian not pitching his tent there," it is the very thing they
have done, and are now doing daily. Mr. Lay-ard, who recently visited
the place, says, in his work ("Nineveh and Babylon"), "The Arab
settlement showed the activity of a hive of bees." What a singular
rebuff to Isaiah's prophecy, and also to that of Jeremiah, who says it
should become a "perpetual desolation" (xxv. 12), and that it should not
be dwelt in by man nor the son of man! (Jer. 1. 40.) Isaiah declared,
"Her days shall not be prolonged" (Isa. xiii). And thus the prophecies
have all failed which refer to Babylon. Speaking of Tyre, Ezekiel says,
it should be taken by Nebuchadnezzar, and trodden down by his chariots
and horses; and "thou shalt be built no more, and thou shalt never be
found again." And yet Tyre never was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, nor by
any power; and, although it has suffered like other Eastern cities, it
is still a flourishing city with a population of about five thousand.
St. Jerome spoke of it in the fourth century as being "the most noble
and beautiful city in Phoenicia." And this was more than a thousand
years after Ezekiel's maledictions were pronounced against it, which
declared it should be destroyed, and never be rebuilt. True, it has been
partially destroyed several times,--and what ancient city has not?--but
it has been rebuilt as often. We have, then, before us two illustrative
cases of the failures of Jewish prophecies pronounced against
neighboring cities and kingdoms, probably prompted by a spirit of envy
and animosity because they had either overruled the Jewish nation, and
subjected it to their power, or outstripped it in temporal prosperity.
The Jewish prophets were continually fulminating their thunders and
curses upon those powers and principalities which had overpowered them,
and held them in subjection. This was very natural; and occasionally an
unpropitious prediction may have been realized. But it is a remarkable
fact, that more than forty disastrous events, which the Jewish prophets
declared the Lord would inflict upon Egypt (the nation they so much
contemned and envied because it held them in slavery for four hundred
years), have never been realized in the history or experience of
that nation. Some of these cases are noticed in "The World's Sixteen
Crucified Saviors," as also the prophecies and failures in regard to
Damascus and other cities, to which the reader is referred for a further
elucidation this subject.