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.