Thematic Links Between the Historic and Prophetic Sections of Daniel

U ovome članku autor iznosi osnovna pitanja u svezi sa zajedničkim odlikama dvaju dijelova Knjige proroka Danijela za koje se često smatra da su ih pisala dva autora u dva različita vremenska doba. Autor izdvaja očite paralele u sadržaju obaju dijelova i zaključuje: "Gledište da je Knjiga proroka Danijela jasno podijeljena između dvaju osnovnih dijelova, povijesnog i proročkog, s lingvističkim rasporedom što podupire ovu podjelu, smatra se suviše pojednostavljenom premisom za daljnje proučavanje. Radije, knjiga sadrži stanovit broj preklapanja što na različitim dodirnim točkama neposredno udružuju u jednu cjelinu povijesni i proročki dio. Tako ovi odnosi predstavljaju dodatni argument u prilog cjelovitosti Knjige proroka Danijela u svezi s povijesnim i proročkim narativima."In this essay the author presents the basic issue in commonality between portions of the book of Daniel that frequently are attributed to different authors and origins. He lists a number of different comparisons and concludes that the view that the book of Daniel divides neatly between two major sections, the historical and the prophetic, with the linguistic arrangement supporting such division, is seen to be an overly simplistic premise from which to work. Rather, the book presents a number of overlappings across various junctures. In this way, these relations provide an additional supporting argument for the unity of the book with respect to its historical and prophetic narratives

Daniel: A Book of Significant Reversals

Knjiga proroka Daniela je posebno bogata porabom preokreta. I to kako s obzirom na tematske tako i na jezične značajke. U ovom kratkom članku promotreni su samo tematski preokreti. Brojni tematski preokreti u knjizi Daniel bave se sudbinom pojedinaca, naroda, svjetske povijesti i Božjeg naroda. U povijesnom dijelu knjige autor pokazuje kako babilonsko sužanjstvo hebrejskog naroda sadrži veličanstvene ilustracije Jahvine potpune kontrole nad povijesti i sudbinom, te činjenicu da je Jahve Bog koji može i donosi cjelovito i slavno spasenje svojoj odanoj djeci u najtežim okolnostima. Proročka poglavlja knjige izlažu motiv svemoćnog Jahvea, Boga cjelokupne povijesti i svih naroda, koji će u velikom razrješenju obraniti svoje svete potpuno i dodijeliti im mjesto u svom slavnom i vječnom kraljevstvu.The book of Daniel is especially rich in its use of reversals which occur with respect to both thematic and linguistic features. In this brief article only the thematic reversals are treated. The numerous thematic reversals in the book of Daniel deal with the fate of individuals, of nations, of world history, and of God’s own people. In the historical section of the book, the author demonstrates how the Babylonian captivity of the Hebrew people contained magnificent illustrations of Yahweh’s full control of history and destiny, and of the fact that Yahweh is a (Jod who can and does bring complete and glorious deliverance to his faithful children in the severest of circumstances. The prophetic chapters of the book expand the motif of the all-powerful Yahweh, Lord of all history and of all people, who will in the great denouement vindicate his saints fully and will grant them a place in his glorious and eternal kingdom

Ratio temporum : Dániel próféta és a magyar történetírás

RATIO TEMPORUM (The Prophet Daniel and Hungarian Historiography) The study discusses time schemes of Early Modern historiography and their Hungarian reception. The structuring of time – should it be based on linear or cyclical progression with rising and declining periods added or perhaps the combination of the two in an organic model – is of utmost importance: it provides the deep structure of historical writings, affects the choice of sources and helps define the limits of investigation as regards both time and space. Nonetheless, in actual historical narratives this understanding of time, however seminal it might be, is hardly ever explicit, mostly remains hidden. In case of a modern historical work it is the relevant contemporary philosophical (mostly historico-philosophical) works that establish the framework for historical investigation. What concerns Early Modern times, however, it is contemporary theological theories and trends as well as denominational dogmatic differences in the interpretation of the Scripture that provide the contextual clues to an author’s understanding and treatment of time. In this regard the reception of the Book of Daniel has assumed special importance. The most discussed question of Early Modern Daniel commentaries was whether the events in the Book of Daniel should be attached unique historical significance, or whether the prophecies of Chapters 2 and 7 could be applied to the times after Christ or to the postbiblical period, i.e. the times of the commentaries. The two different readings (by Luther, Melancthon and Sleidan, and Calvin and Bodin respectively) can be be seen as the matrixes of modern historical thinking; they offer two different ways of structuring time, of ratio temporum. The latter, allowing of the further application of prophecies, offers a strong interpretation, a fixed, clear vision, and at the same time opens up world-historical horizons; the former leaves the reader to his own devices, its present and future appear as a space open to all kinds of possibilities, its relative lack of interpretive tools allows for imprecise predictions, and world history can only be dimly perceived heuristically, by examining and comparing the roles particular nations play in God’s plan of salvation (which nation when and for how long is the „chosen one”). By adding this element of uncertainty this conception has proved to be the most direct route to our modern mainstream understanding of history, which, however, does not mean that the stronger interpretive trend has no modernist followers. The study discusses this turn brought about by the teachings of Calvin and Bodin in Hungary, by examining János Kecskeméti Alexis’ commentaries on the Book of Daniel, written in the form of sermons around 1609. It claims that the immediate source of the Hungarian preacher’s work is In Danielem prophetam ... commentarius, the Daniel commentary written by Amandus Polanus, a Ramist theologian from Basel in 1599. The life of Kecskeméti Alexis’ work also serves as an example for how authorial intentions can be overridden by the interpretation of subsequent generations: the Daniel commentary was introduced by its first publisher (Margittai Péter, 1621) as a work propagating the „four monarchies” theory, and its author has been considered a representative of the Wittenberg school of historical thinking. Furthermore, the lessons drawn from the history of the book’s reception can have wider implications as well, since the rivalry between the two schools of thought still exists, both in the realm of public history and historiography