Affiliation:
1. Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Abstract
For Newton, chronology served a higher purpose: to provide a timeline
onto which to map scriptural prophecy and identify the four monarchies
prophesied in the book of Daniel and their contemporary equivalents. He
soon found himself in disagreement with ancient and modern historians
and applied a nuanced literary criticism to in particular the books of Ezra
and Nehemiah. Combining the framework developed in the ‘Originals’
for the histories of the Latins and Greeks with his studies of the kings
who reigned over Babylon during the Jewish Exile eventually led to the
chapters that would form the Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended,
which he was still redrafting to combat criticism of an illegally published
abstract of his work when he died.
Publisher
Amsterdam University Press