The Folly Bible: The Bible's Internal Proof of its 100% Human Authorship

By Raúl Casso

The Bible is entirely man-made. The Folly Bible establishes this disruptive thesis by way of a critical analysis of the Bible's own content, in a shooting-itself-in-the-foot sort of way. The first part of the book is a study of what must be the three most famous messianic, old-test

• Language: English
• Publisher: Palmetto Publishing Group
• Release date: Jun 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9781641117821

Raúl Casso

Raúl Casso is a lawyer by profession with 35 years' experience and was a serious Bible student for over twenty years. The combination of that knowledge and experience led to the crossexamination of the Bible where the Bible's irreconcilable, inconsistent statements are irrefutably exposed, and the Bible is thoroughly impeached. Raúl Casso had become almost an itinerant preacher before he happened upon the discoveries in the Bible that led to his writing The Folly Bible. Although Raúl Casso continues to practice law, he has dispensed with his Bible studies.

Book preview

THE

FOLLY

BIBLE

THE BIBLE'S INTERNAL PROOF OF ITS

100% HUMAN AUTHORSHIP

RAÚL CASSO

Palmetto Publishing Group

Charleston, SC

The Folly Bible

Copyright © 2020 by Raúl Casso

All rights reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted,

in any form or by any means, electronic mechanical photocopying, recording, or otherwise,

without the written permission of the author.

First Edition

Printed in the United States

ISBN-13 978-1-64111-778-4

ISBN-10: 1-64111-778-8

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Part I: (MY) RELIGIOUS REVIVAL

CHAPTER 1    THE AWAKENING

CHAPTER 2    THE WAY TO BIBLICAL MISUNDERSTANDING

CHAPTER 3    MY LAST PRAYER

PART II: (MY) RELIGIOUS UNRAVELING

CHAPTER 4    THE ANOINTED ONE

CHAPTER 5    DANIEL 9:24–25, COMPARATIVELY SPEAKING

CHAPTER 6    THE CONTEXT OF DANIEL 9—JPS VERSUS KJV

CHAPTER 7    HOLY TIMELINE

CHAPTER 8    THE 4TH DECREE—HAIL JERUSALEM!

CHAPTER 9    DANIEL 9:25, CONTINUED

CHAPTER 10  GABRIEL, AND A WORD FROM GOD

CHAPTER 11  דבר, DABAR—A HOLY WORD

CHAPTER 12  THE ROCKY ROAD TO REBUILDING JERUSALEM

PART III THE LIBELOUS BIBLE

CHAPTER 13  MESSIANIC PROPHECIES, PSALMS 22:16–18

CHAPTER 14  PSALM 22:19—THEY PIERCED LIKE A LION

CHAPTER 15  BEHOLD, A VIRGIN SHALL CONCEIVE—ISAIAH 7:14

CHAPTER 16  THE REVEALING CONTEXT OF ISAIAH 7:14

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CHAPTER 17  WHO DID WHAT TO HOLY SCRIPTURE?

CHAPTER 18  THE DOCTRINE OF INERRANCY OF SCRIPTURE

PART IV: THE BIBLE FOLLIES

CHAPTER 19  THE BIRTH OF OUR SAVIOR

CHAPTER 20  THE MISINFORMED GENEALOGIES OF JESUS

CHAPTER 21  ST. MATTHEW FAVORS FAST WOMEN

CHAPTER 22  THE MYSTERIES OF JESUS’ CHILDHOOD, BY LUKE AND MATTHEW

CHAPTER 23  ♫ ♪ OH, LITTLE LIE OF BETHLEHEM ♪ ♫

CHAPTER 24  LUKE AND MATTHEW DISAGREE ON JESUS's THREATENED CHILDHOOD

CHAPTER 25  DID MARY KNOW HER SON WAS GOD, OR DID SHE THINK HE WAS CRAZY?

CHAPTER 26  THE IMPRISONMENT OF JOHN THE BAPTIST, OR THE INAUGURATION OF THE DISCIPLESHIP

CHAPTER 27  DESERT WILDERNESS, OR WINE PARTY?

CHAPTER 28  LUKE DISQUALIFIES JESUS AS MESSIAH

CHAPTER 29  MARK MISQUOTES ISAIAH; MATTHEW CAUGHT IN COVER-UP

CHAPTER 30  FIG TREE SLAIN BY A HUNGRY JESUS

CHAPTER 31  ST. MATTHEW DEFENDS JESUS IN FIG TREE SLAYING; QUESTIONS OF MOTIVE LINGER

CHAPTER 32  MATTHEW MAKES UP GOSPEL—DISTORTS JESUS’ TRIUMPHAL ENTRY INTO JERUSALEM ON PASSION WEEKEND

CHAPTER 33  THE DEATH OF JUDAS: DID HE HANG OR BUST A GUT?

CHAPTER 34  ST. PETER AND THE COCK THAT CROWED

CHAPTER 35  WHO DRESSED JESUS IN PURPLE?

CHAPTER 36  DEFENDANT JESUS TESTIFIES AT TRIAL—OR DOES HE?

CHAPTER 37  DISCIPLES DISPUTE JESUS’ LAST WORDS

CHAPTER 38  JOHN AND MATTHEW WRECK THE RESURRECTION

CHAPTER 39  ST. LUKE AND THE RESURRECTION BUSINESS

CHAPTER 40  DISCIPLES DISPUTE DATE OF JESUS's ASCENSION

PART V JESUS'S GRAND FINALE: PASSOVER

CHAPTER 41  JESUS's GRAND FINALE FAILS AT BOX OFFICE

CHAPTER 42  THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH

CHAPTER 43  THE RESURRECTION STORY

CHAPTER 44  COMMENTARY ON BIBLE CONTRADICTIONS— AND MY ANSWERED PRAYER

EPILOGUE

REFERENCES

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

INTRODUCTION

A

s a devoted Bible student, I revered the Bible, believing there to be no better book for excellent wisdom and practical use as a guide in living the Good Life. It is a magnificent volume that I valued as our first and oldest statement addressing the never-ending quest: man's destiny. The more I came to know the Bible, the more I loved it—the more I got into the spirit of it. Indeed, I believed that Scriptures taught us the best way of living, the noblest way of suffering, and the most comfortable way of dying. I trusted the Bible without question as the eternal Word of God.

Over the years, I had developed the practice of devoting my Saturdays to the study of Scripture. And so it was, during the course of an otherwise nondescript Saturday morning Bible study in the quiet of my home, that a couple of verses in the Old Testament book of Daniel, by then well known to me (or so I thought), appeared to me as though I had never seen them before and provoked a question I had never asked about them, in spite of having read them many, many times. Finding the answer to that odd question became the subject of my study that morning, and what I learned got me into trouble: the disturbing answers I was confronted with not only shook my regard for the Bible as the word of God but put my entire Christian faith in doubt.

I had begun my study of my King James Bible that morning with no particular topic in mind. As was my custom, I began with a prayer. Normally, I would pray for guidance from the Holy Spirit. On this fateful morning, however, I changed my normal devotion and prayed instead for truth, no matter what the price. That was an unusual prayer, if not strange—at least for me. I had never prayed it before, and I do not know why I did so then. But having thus appealed to its divine author, I allowed my Bible to open where it might by setting it down on its spine and just letting it fall open. The Bible passages I landed on by happenstance were the lionized verses of Daniel 9:25–26. Lazily, I gazed at those familiar words.

Well recognized in the Christian world as messianic prophecies, those couple of verses from Daniel 9 heralded not only the first advent of Christ the Messiah but provided—centuries beforehand—a time certain for His appearance: an appointment that He, and only He, fulfilled, right on time, with not a moment too soon nor too late, as only the Son of God could have done, and did! We will delve into those few verses in detail further on. For now, however, suffice it to say that each time I had read these verses on countless prior occasions, I had never stopped to cross-examine their import, so confident was I in my belief that they unequivocally predicted the advent of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Now, however, upon reading them anew, I thought to compare their wording in the KJV with how they appear in the Jewish Bible.

I was acting entirely on impulse. In making this comparison, I had no objective to determine anything in particular. I certainly was not trying to discredit the Jewish Bible in any way, and I do not seek to do so in this book. Nor was I double-checking Christianity for veracity. I was just curious. Perhaps I should also say that I was not looking to wind up de-deified (or should I say, defiled?), though that is what happened. I was merely drawing a simple contrast, just as I had done many times before. In all prior instances, though, I had juxtaposed the text of a selected verse in a Christian Bible, such as the King James Version (KJV), with another Christian Bible, such as the New International Version or the New American Standard Bible. On such occasions, I had just been checking out the language for nuances that might shed some meaningful light on the Bible's message. This time, however, I thought to compare the Christian Bible with a Jewish Bible—in this case, the Jewish Publication Society Bible (JPS).¹

Unlike comparisons between Christian Bibles, with this contrast between the KJV and the JPS I encountered not merely subtle nuances in translation, but material differences between the specific passages I had focused on: namely, Daniel 9:25–26. I recognized that the differences between the two Bibles were significant enough to change completely the meaning of the Bible excerpts in question. Not only was my own understanding of these verses brought into cross-examination, but the more I got into it, my regard for the Bible as the word of God was cast into jeopardy.

And there was no way out of the dilemma: the discrepancy I perceived quickly turned into a matter of conviction. I could not simply dismiss it. I needed to determine what was going on with these differences I had blundered into. In short, while not looking for trouble, I found myself in it, with no easy resolution if truthfulness was to be given its due regard. To get to the bottom of which translation was correct and which was not, I committed myself to undertake a word analysis, for my own sake. And, like the trained prosecutor I happen to be, I decided to let the evidence take me where it might. That odyssey in Bible study and investigation, and the biblical reality it led to, are what the book you now have before you is about.

The central thesis of this volume is that the Bible is man-made; it is not the inspired work of any deity. Aside from the epilogue, the main body of this work is organized into five parts.

Part I consists of a brief telling of how I came to study the Bible in earnest and with long-term commitment. This brief synopsis of my personal experience with Bible study in general is followed by a presentation of the main points of study I undertook on that Saturday morning when I stumbled onto the discrepancy between the Christian and the Jewish Bibles’ versions of Daniel 9:25–26. Part I is devoted to retracing and reproducing the substance of that comparative survey. The results of that endeavor are quite revealing. As you go along, however, keep in mind that the purpose of that investigation was not to establish textual superiority of the Jewish over the Christian Bible, or vice versa. That said, however, I must confess with much regret that the Christian Bible takes quite a beating at its own hands. Without commenting on the Jewish text, I can with confidence maintain that the Christian version of the Bible is the author of its own undoing. I will be at pains to demonstrate this ignominious truth in the pages that follow.

Part II evolved as a direct result of the state of denial I found myself in after confronting the discoveries of my investigations, as related in Part I. Try as I might to work my way out of what I had realized, I was profoundly dumbstruck, and thus I stumbled on—until I emerged faithless and with lifelong core beliefs canceled for good. The study in Part II consists of the same type of exercise in differentiation of other well-known messianic prophecies in the Old Testament that I selected for examination based on their prominence as prophecies about the advent of Christ. I selected the most famous prophecies I knew of to undertake the same type of comparative analysis I had conducted with Daniel 9:24–25. As with that initial study, I encountered not only the same, disconcerting, irreconcilable differences in the text, but a certain design in the manner in which those differences were made by those who made them. I discerned a distinct pattern—a modus operandi that, like fingerprints at a crime scene, exposes the misleading practices perpetrated by nameless men who cobbled together our Bibles as we know them today, however many centuries ago. As you read through Part II, I trust I will have clearly exposed that telltale clue so that you, reader, may see it too.

Part III zeroes in on a number of additional Old Testament messianic prophecies, all well known, as an expansion of the sort of biblical inquiry conducted in Parts I and II. It was as though I had to see it yet again, several times, to believe it. I pursued the study in Part III to determine whether the lessons I learned in Parts I and II were anomalies of extraordinary coincidence, or whether what I perceived by those comparisons was duplicated elsewhere in the Bible, exhibiting a distinctive pattern such as to truly constitute a modus operandi employed by those who assembled the Bibles we cherish. As in the earlier studies, in Part III I lay it out, verse by verse, so the reader may be the judge. The pace is faster, however, as the methods employed were, as of the writing of Part III, by then more readily discernable to me. I will show how those who altered the text used a method so defined, and so telling, that once you see it for yourself, it will be like catching a school kid cheating on a test red-handed. I am not kidding nor exaggerating. In any case, my endeavor was to let the Bible speak for itself. I trust the same lessons will be clear for those who undertake a similar study.

Part IV continues in the same skeptical vein but focuses on the New Testament and a comparison of various scenes in the life of Christ from his birth to his death, as told by the different Gospel writers. Part IV is actually a compendium of articles I wrote some years ago for a local Texas publication. Please forgive me if my tirades in Part IV seem repetitive. Such, however, was my statae of mind. I was thoroughly deconverted by the time I wrote Part IV, and, eager to share my insights with others, I cared little for rhetorical niceties and I had, by then, grown insensitive to my own excesses. I have, therefore toned my writings down a bit for this volume by cooling the vitriol resulting from the then newly discovered sciptural realites that provoked the boiling rantings I spewed early on. I was, early on, in a state of outrage by what I had discovered and a sense of personal betrayal consumed me. The tone of my writhings in Part IV are reflective of that internal struggle I was fighting with.

Now I endeavor to present more palatable, reasonable presentations characterized by a professional, clinical detachment that is essential to the critical study of sensitive issues and for a dispassionate rendition of the results of those studies—for good or for bad. My hope is that having done so, that is, by having softened the language a bit, I might reassure the reader that these studies are serious, and taken seriously by the author. The rather detached, clinical perspective with which I present the materials I hope conveys to the reader that my writing style has attained a bit more gravitas in the intervening years.

In the studies included in Part IV, I addressed gross, irreconcilable inconsistencies between the Gospel stories, thereby exposing the human origins of those venerable works. By the time I was writing those articles, I had recovered from the disappointment, disillusionment, anger, and sorrow I had experienced that Saturday morning of my last prayer. Once disabused of the Promise of Salvation, I now looked upon life in general as a child looks forward to that first Christmas after realizing, and accepting, that there is no Santa Claus after all. I had by then resigned myself to the reality of life without an ever-living, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-loving god watching over me; a god who would listen to my prayers and answer them according to his mercy; a god who cared about me and my well-being, personally, because He created me in his image; and, especially, because of his boundless love for humanity—a member of which species I happen to be.

Part V ends with a close look at the resurrection story as presented to us by the Gospels. The resurrection of Christ is the cornerstone of Christianity. Paul the Apostle tells us if Christ be not risen, then…your faith is…vain.² In the context of His astonishing, miracle-studded ministry on Earth, the resurrection is the crown jewel of Christ's achievements, the Grand Finale where Jesus, in a contest of cosmic proportions, defeats the greatest enemy of the human family: Death itself. It is only then that Jesus assumes the almighty throne of King of Kings and Lord of Lords. One would expect such an important story as the resurrection to be carefully told. Eternal life hinges on it, after all. Indeed, the resurrection of Christ should have been a grand finale. As I will demonstrate in Part V, however, there is a rather obvious, simple, and yet profound ingredient missing in the Gospels’ collective rendition of this all-important event. As the reader will see, it is a telling omission that reduced what should have been a major hit to a box-office failure. To learn what that omission is, the reader must read on; I do not want to spoil the drama just yet. I will say, however, that overtly embedded in the resurrection story lies a most important message to us in this day and age that we should not ignore. That message and its implications I explore in Part V.

J. Hamilton once said that the Word of God will stand a thousand readings, and he who has gone over it most frequently is the surest of finding new wonders there. Although I do not know how many times I, personally, have read the Bible or gone over it, I can certainly say that what I found there, and recount in this book, makes me wonder indeed. One may never be too sure of almost anything in this weird life, and that certainly holds true for the belief that our present state of being came about suddenly as the result of a spectacular supernatural intervention. The studies presented in this book explore that proposition from the perspective of what the Bible tells us, and how it tells us what it does: the Bible tells us a fantastic story, and with a straight face.

If you believe in what the Bible says and want your beliefs to remain unchallenged, read no further!

PART I:

(MY) RELIGIOUS REVIVAL

CHAPTER 1:

THE AWAKENING

M

y biblical odyssey began sometime in the spring of 1993. On one lazy evening of that vernal season, I was lying in bed in a vacant mood, glancing with disinterest at the images on the TV screen while at the same time leafing carelessly through the pages of a popular magazine. As my bored gaze took turns looking at the television and then at the tiresome pages of the magazine, a curious advertisement caught my eye. The ad featured an invitation to obtain a free copy of a book authored by a Larry Wilson entitled Wake Up America: Revelation Is About to Be Fulfilled. Not particularly moved by the invitation, I paused long enough to recall the vague interest I had always had about the book of Revelation; an interest that was idle curiosity more than anything. At that time all I knew about the Revelation of St. John the Divine was that it featured four horsemen, with one of them riding a pale horse representing Death, supposedly. I knew nothing about its monsters out of the sea or anything else. Nevertheless, I dialed the toll-free number and left my mailing information on an answering machine. A few days later, I received a copy of Larry Wilson's provocative paperback in the mail.

The front cover of the booklet had the appearance of a graphic novel featuring a dramatic and colorful drawing of a king with a long, flowing white beard, wearing a white robe and riding a mighty white horse as though charging into battle. Behind and below God Almighty on the white charger was an image of Planet Earth in outer space undergoing a meteorite attack. A huge meteorite had smashed into one of its oceans, making a splash of biblical proportions. As I would later learn by reading Larry's book, a sizeable meterorite impacting one of our oceans is one in a series of destructive events outlined in Revelation that the Earth is to suffer, all part of a grand scheme setting the stage for the second coming of Christ. The giant space rock splashing into the ocean is to be the third of four initial calamities, each one different and more devastating than the last, that are to occur in rapid succession at the start of the Great Tribulation as foretold in the Revelation of St. John. Because of these disasters, a full one-third of the Earth was to be decimated and plunged into darkness (as I was later to learn later). At that time, however, I thought the image on the cover of the booklet to be somewhat corny—no more captivating than the cover of an action comic book. Looking at the cover, however, a distant childhood memory arrived unsummoned to mind; a memory, strangely, that was about the same thing.

I was in the first grade. A classmate was taunting me with a scary story about impending doom: he insisted that a giant rock from outer space was going to crash into the earth and kill us all. That's not ture, I shot back. Yes it is true, a giant rock from outspace is headed right for us and it's going to crash into the world, and we’re all going to die! We went back and forth for a while. I remember a feeling of intense fear swelling within me as I argued with that psychological classmate bully. I was as scared as a first grade kid could be, and I almost started to cry but I fought back any tears until the school bell saved me from further taunting. I then ran crying to my mommie. She was waiting for me after school. I hurried to her, and cried to her about this big rock from outer space and how it was going to crash into the earth and how we were all going to die. With urgency, I begged her to tell me it wasn’t true. She assured me it was not. I believed her—but then, I had to; she was, after all, my mother and I was, after all, deeply afraid of that space rock.

But now, as a grown man, here I was looking at that same story again. And this time coming not from a jeering classmate, but from the Bible—from the Word of God himself. I thought, It must be true after all. And then, dismissively, I thought, Nawwww…can’t be. Yet, I decided to read Larry's book.

The introduction of Wake up America: Revelation is About to be Fulfilled explained how, in the biblical books of Daniel and Revelation, God had provided a road map, or schedule of events, leading to the end of the world. Although this end-time itinerary was to be found primarily in the books of Daniel and Revelation, all the other books in the Bible, all sixty-four of them,¹ serve as a reference library to aid in understanding. The introduction went on to provide more details of God's plan and insisted that those who embraced it would be saved. Larry sternly warned that to ignore the plan would result in eternal damnation, according to the Word.

The heavenly schedule of events, Larry assured the reader, included not only milestones to watch for as God's plan unfolded, but encompassed a timetable based on a calendar provided in the Old Testament book of Leviticus, referred to as the Jubilee calendar. By plotting the biblical events according to this Jubilee calendar, one could determine with reasonable certainty where we (read: us, today) were in the chronology of God's plan. As chance would have it, and as has been believed by many generations before us (each of whom also thought they were it), our generation is it, as in last generation, and is destined to endure the end times, also referred to as the Great Tribulation, or the Apocalypse. All of this was as new to me as it was thrilling and terrific. I found Larry's reckoning to be compelling, and my personal interest in the end times, to put it lightly, skyrocketed. My immediate interest turned to understanding what events were next on the timetable. I needed to know what to watch for.

In a nutshell, the end-time course of events, according to the books of Daniel and Revelation, may be generally sketched as follows²: the start of the Great Tribulation would be signaled by a great global earthquake. A global meteorite shower, that is, one that would pepper the entire Earth as it rotates along its orbit through a meteor storm, is to follow, burning up one-third of the trees and grass on the globe. Next, a great meteorite is to splash into one of our oceans, causing a monumental tsunami that will destroy one-third of the sea creatures and one-third of all the ships at sea. The scene of this cataclysm is what was featured on the cover of Larry Wilson's book. The fourth calamity will consist of another meteorite impact, this time on terra firma, causing all the rivers and fountains of water to become contaminated by pollutants leaking into watersheds due to the ensuing fractures of the tectonic plates caused by the meteorite impact. This fourth event is to lead to a fifth disaster, marked by the onset of a nuclear winter. Brought on by thick smoke from fires all over our planet, along with tons of ejecta shot into the atmosphere, this nuclear winter, like the one that killed off the dinosaurs, is to shroud one-third of the Earth in darkness.

A full one-third of humankind is to be wiped out by these initial catastrophic events, and civilization as we know it will be no more. Ad hoc rulers will then spring up here and there, attempting to restore order or gain control of the masses for exploitation. During this time, a process of separating the sheep from the goats will ensue, with much wailing and gnashing of teeth as people are forced into making difficult choices between God and family, erstwhile friend and foe. Perhaps during these awful times, a social context will present itself where the true meaning of Jesus's mandate in Luke 14:26 will manifest.³ Many false prophets will appear, and eventually, the Devil himself is to make a grand entrance, masquerading as the returning Christ. Daniel and Revelation provide detailed clues that will allow one to distinguish the Great Impostor from the true Risen Lord. Watching for and recognizing these telltale signs will be critical for salvation.

However outlandish all this seemed, I was nevertheless fascinated. I had no idea that this kind of stuff was even in the Bible. At that time, I still believed the Bible to be the unerring word of God. This was the first time, however, that I had been exposed to a meaningful and compelling interpretation of it that had an immediate and practical impact on my present life and choices. My own efforts in reading the Bible, up until that time, invariably resulted in waning enthusiasm, with my inevitably putting the Bible aside for other, more captivating reading. Now, however, my interest in the Bible was of a different order: I was now impressed with a sense of urgency; I needed to know what the Bible's message really is. This end-of-the-world business, with a roadmap to navigate through it provided by a merciful God for those with ears to hear and eyes to see, was of a new and vital nature. Far beyond dry words about God's message and the life to live for the sake of the hereafter, this material was urgent, relevant, timely, and, well, alive.

Larry next provided his interpretation of the books of the Bible, starting with Daniel, chapter 2. This, too, was all new to me. In all my years as a Catholic, I had never even thought about interpreting the Bible. All I knew about Daniel was something about his being thrown into a den of lions that wanted to be petted by him instead of having him for lunch. What follows is a paraphrasing of Larry's interpretations blended with my own studies. Any differences between our respective interpretations will be touched upon only as necessary to the telling of the story in this book—which means that the differences will make no difference at all.

I include this outline of Daniel 2 and 7 so that the reader may have an idea of where I was in my studies and how I understood these chapters in Daniel at that time. The book of Daniel figured large in my overall experience with the Bible. As succeeding chapters will show, I began my biblical quest for truth with Daniel 7. That crusade ended when I read, or I should say really read, those few verses in Daniel 9, as I mention in the introduction. My biblical odyssey, then, began and ended with those two chapters of the same Old Testament book. Thus, after ten years, I ended up right about where I started—as though having been thrown for one big loop.⁴

For readers who are familiar with the eschatology of the book of Daniel and for those who may have their own views as to the correct interpretation of what Daniel 2 and 7 say, I urge you not to bother distinguishing your own understanding from that presented here. What is submitted here is not put forward as definitive—that is, as the correct interpretation. Rather, it is one possible exegesis that may be demonstrative of the sort of worldview one may arrive at by way of what Daniel and Revelation may be understood to mean. Regardless, Daniel and Revelation are fascinating as literature, and, to my literary taste, beautiful and enduring works of art—especially the book of Daniel. In short, Daniel tells one helluva story.

The story starts with Babylon and its greatest monarch, King Nebuchadnezzar, who ruled Babylon from 605 to 562 BC. Known for his famous Hanging Gardens, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, Nebuchadnezzar is mentioned by name around ninety times in the Bible. He is infamous for conquering Judah and destroying Jerusalem in 586 BC. After he razed Jerusalem, King Neb captured a horde of Hebrews and took them to Babylon, where they were committed to a life of slavery. The prophet Daniel, a youth at the time, was among those taken captive. Once in the custody of the Babylonians, it would not be long before Daniel would have an opportunity to demonstrate his prophetic prowess.

Chapter 2 of Daniel tells us how Nebuchadnezzar had a nightmare that deeply troubled him. He had forgotten the contents of the dream, however, and therefore assembled his sorcerers and soothsayers, demanding that they tell him what the bothersome dream had been about. Being mere human charlatans, Nebuchadnezzar's magicians, astrologers, and Chaldeans could not tell him this, much less interpret the dream. They pled for the king to relate the imagery of the dream, and they in turn would happily provide an interpretation. The king was infuriated. He demanded that they tell him what he had dreamt, and when they could not do so, in enraged frustration this despot ordered that all the wise men in Babylon be executed—immediately!

Daniel by that time had already acquired a reputation for being a wise man,⁵ and was therefore doomed. When Daniel heard about the slaughter of the soothsayers, he called out to his keepers, "I can show the king the dream and its interpretation!"⁶ The keepers must have thought, Oh, really? Undoubtedly anticipating some fun watching what the king would do with this audacious Hebrew slave, the king's keepers decided to take Daniel over to him. The answer to the riddle of the king's dream, however, was itself revealed to Daniel in a dream of his own, and to the astonishment of all, Daniel not only told King Nebuchadnezzar what his forgotten dream was about, but what it meant.⁷

Daniel told King Nebuchadnezzar that in his forgotten, nightmarish dream, the King had had a vision of a great statue of a man-king constructed of various materials: a head of gold, breast and arms of silver, belly and thighs of brass, legs of iron, and feet made from a mixture of iron and clay. The King's memory must have been restored at this point, and surely it was with intense interest that he now listened to this lowly Hebrew slave. Daniel explained how the statue and its parts represented successive world-ruling kingdoms, starting with Babylon as the head of gold. Other kingdoms, represented by the differing materials of diminishing value, would follow by way of conquering its predecessor kingdom, thus depicting the predatory nature of these entities. Almost certainly, King Neb was not pleased by the news that his kingdom would not last forever but would be conquered by another kingdom of lesser—read, inferior, weaker, less powerful—than his. Those in attendance at Daniel's audience with the monarch, all of whom would laugh heartedly at all of the King's jokes, must have wondered in astonishment at the audacity of Daniel, the Hebrew slave who dared tell King Nebuchadnezzar that he was going to be defeated and his kingdom destroyed.

Be that as it may, the king's displeasure did not make any difference. As history confirms, Babylon was vanquished by the Medes and Persians, and they, in turn, fell to the Grecian armies of Alexander. Greece was later conquered by the legions of Rome. The interpretation of the dream included the astonishing forecast, perhaps chilling to some but warmly welcomed by Christians, that when the last of the kingdoms would be ruling the Earth, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed.⁸

Obviously, and in keeping with world history, Rome ruled for many centuries, but rules no more. Notwithstanding whatever Western powers may be presently at the helm of global dominion, the final kingdom of Heaven has not yet been established. I was certain, however, that as Rome followed Greece, the United States would surely be overcome, perhaps by that heavenly kingdom. With my curiosity thus provoked, on I read.

The story in Daniel 2, with the successive world empires it tells about, is repeated and amplified by the monster drama of Daniel 7. The parallels are easy to draw; they appear obvious. As in Daniel 2, where successive world empires are represented by materials of diminishing value: gold → silver → brass → ending in iron/clay, an unnatural mixture, in Daniel 7 we are treated to the same development, but this time represented by successive animals arising out of the sea. Each animal, or creature, in turn is increasingly distorted as compared to the last, with a corresponding loss of identity with any known animals.

In Daniel, chapter 7, we first encounter a lion, representing the golden age of Babylon. Replacing the majestic lion, we are then met by a ravenous bear representing Media/Persia, Babylon's successor. The bear is somehow raised up on one side, like a hunchback, lending it a clumsy aspect. It is also busy eating; it has a bunch of ribs in its mouth. As compared to the lion of Babylon, the hungry, lopsided bear presents a step down in pride and dignity. Then, however, next comes a winged, four-headed leopard—an unnatural creature if ever there was one, to be upended only by the fourth beast that arises out of the sea—a ferocious animal with iron teeth. Like the unlikely joining of clay and iron that we saw in Daniel 2, this hideous monster offers not a hint of being identified with any known representative of the animal kingdom.

According to what may be the majority view, the four sea creatures represent the same four empires ruling successively, as depicted in Daniel 2: Babylon, the Medes and Persians, the Greeks, and then the Romans—however, with the addition of mysterious information about Rome. This fourth kingdom, Rome, as represented by the dreadful and terrible beast with iron teeth, sprouts ten horns representing the ten separate states that the Roman Empire would fragment into after its fall.⁹

From among these states, yet another ruling power is to emerge, markedly different from the initial ten. Symbolized as a little horn, it would start small, subdue three of the existing states upon its ascension, and grow to become almighty: it would rule the Earth and think to change the times and laws.¹⁰ This kingdom would wield its power and dominion for a time and the dividing of time, or 1,260 years, as I would later come to understand. Moreover, this was to be an evil entity whose purpose would be to lead the saints astray. How ominous. Who might this Little Horn power emerging from the fragments of a crumbling Roman Empire be?

When assembled together (as I have roughly, at least, put forward here), and as do many Bible devotees, Daniel 2 and 7 comprise a rather straightforward historical narrative.¹¹ The whopper for me in all of this, however, came when I learned how the Little Horn of Daniel 7, that evil entity that would rule for 1,260 years, is none other than the Church of Rome—read, the Catholic Church—my Catholic Church! I was shocked. Believing the Bible to be the word of God, I couldn’t believe what the Bible appeared to be saying. Many people put the Catholic religion down for many reasons, but finding it singled out in the Bible was a