Daniel is one of the most interesting and most controversial books of the Bible. Reason for the controversy: If this book was written when it was set, then it is very accurate prophesy. That's no problem for those who believe in an all-powerful, all-knowing God. For those who reject that premise, that's a different story. So they claim it was a forgery written late enough that it's history pretending to be prophesy.
"With the Clouds of Heaven: The book of Daniel in biblical theology," authored by James M. Hamilton, Jr., is the 32nd of 67 books of the New Studies in Biblical Theology series. For those unfamiliar of the concept of Biblical Theology, it is developing a theology through individual books and then analyzing how it fits in the whole of Scripture (as compared to Systematic Theology, which looks at all the verses on a particular subject to develop one's theology.
Hamilton starts off with the question of authorship, and points out the problems with the view of Daniel being a forgery. He then looks at how Daniel fits in the Scripture, the literary make-up of the book, and how the New Testament authors interpret it. Finally, he compares Joseph and Daniel, and notes how this comparison has parallels with Abraham, Jehoichin, Esther/Mordecai, and Nehemiah.
I've read 18 of the books in this series. Some are basically intellectual, while others are inspirational. This one is somewhere in the beginning; the simplest way to put it is that it confirms and strengthens my faith in the truth of Scripture.
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