Page:Mahometanism in its relation to prophecy - or, an inquiry into the prophecies concerning antichrist, with some reference to their bearing on the events of the present day (IA mahometanisminit00philrich).pdf/237

 still I confess that I prefer the other interpretation, which seems to me more in accordance with the obvious meaning of Scripture. Besides, the canonization of saints has always been going on in the Church, and the placing of their sacred relics on the altars has been in use even since the very days of St. Polycarp, as we may learn from the epistle of the Church of Smyrna, which recounts the martyrdom of that holy bishop. How, then, could the canonization of saints be the distinguishing mark of the commencement of the thousand years' triumph of the Church of God? But take the first resurrection in the obvious sense of the term, and you have an event at once worthy of God, and of the magnificent epoch it is destined to inaugurate.

In the fourth verse, we read these remarkable words; "But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the Book, even to the appointed time: many shall pass over, and knowledge shall be manifold." From these words we may surely gather, that until near upon the time of their accomplishment, these prophecies would remain hidden and sealed up, that is, uninterpreted or misinterpreted; but that towards "the appointed time" a new and lively interest would be called forth in their regard; and the Prophet gives us a sign of when that period