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Daniel in the critics' den: Historical evidence for the authenticity of the Book of Daniel

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This was Josh McDowell's fourth book (after Evidence That Demands a Verdict, More evidence that demands a verdict: Historical evidences for the Christian Scriptures, and More Than a Carpenter). The "More Evidence" book dealt with Biblical Criticism in general, but he and his research staff concluded the book of Daniel merited a fuller treatment.

(Incidentally, the title of the book was actually from Sir Robert Anderson's Daniel in the Critics' Den: A Defense of the Historicity of the Book of Daniel; Anderson was also the author of THE COMING PRINCE: The Marvelous Prophecy of Daniel's Seventy Weeks Concerning the Antichrist, which is a key book cited in McDowell's book.)

McDowell defends Daniel's accuracy against charges of critical scholars such as S.R. Driver (An Introduction to the Literature of the Old Testament) who point out difficulties such as the use of Greek and Aramaic words in the book; the identity of Darius the Mede, etc.

A key component in McDowell's argument is the interpretation of Daniel as having predicted EXACTLY when Jesus would appear. (McDowell's approach is very dependent upon Harold Hoehner's Chronological Aspects of the Life of Christ, as well as Anderson's book.)

Other Christian authors/lecturers have slightly different dates than this book uses, and don't rely on the unproven "360-day prophetic year" interpretation that Anderson and Hoehner favor.

To see critical views of this approach, you might read the Anchor Bible's The Book of Daniel (The Anchor Yale Bible Commentaries); for a traditionial Jewish critique, try Tovia Singer's Let's Get Biblical! Why Doesn't Judaism Accept the Christian Messiah?. But McDowell's book remains a pillar of concise argumentation and clearly-presented reasoning, and is still well worth detailed study.

This is a very good book a must read, for any one especially matt baumer.