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Source Book for Bible Students

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KINGS OF THE GREEKS IN EGYPT

3. Ptolemy Lagus20397, 305
4. Ptolemy Philadelphus38772, 285
5. Ptolemy Euergetes I25102Oct. 24, 247
6. Ptolemy Philopator1711918, 222
7. Ptolemy Epiphanes2414313, 205
8. Ptolemy Philometor351787, 181
9. Ptolemy Euergetes II29207Sept. 29, 146
10. Ptolemy Soter3624321, 117
11. Ptolemy Dionysius2927212, 81
12. Cleopatra222945, 52

KINGS OF THE ROMANS SBBS 401.4

13. Augustus43337Aug. 29, 30
14. Tiberius2235920, 14
15. Caius436315, 36
16. Claudius1437714, 40
17. Nero1439110, 54
18. Vespasian104017, 68
19. Titus34045, 78
20. Domitian154194, 81
21. Nerva1420July 31, 96
22. Trajan1943931, 97
23. Adrian2146026, 116
24. Antoninus2348321, 137

-“Light for the Last Days,” Mr. and Mrs. H. Grattan Guinness, pp. 402, 403. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1893. SBBS 401.5

Note.—Only the two columns “Each” and “Sum” are Ptolemy’s, the former showing the years that he gives each king, the latter the sum of the years from the starting point at the close of each reign. The last column shows the date, Julian time, when the year of the reigns begins in the canon. The calculation is on the authority of Henry Browne, M. A. (England), as printed in the Morning Watch, New York, March 6. 1845. SBBS 401.6

Ptolemy’s Canon, Principles on Which Constructed.—The principles upon which this truly scientific canon was constructed are next to be explained. SBBS 401.7

Rule 1. The reigns consist of full or complete years.... SBBS 401.8

Rule 2. Each king’s reign begins at the Thoth, or New Year’s Day, before his accession, and all the odd months of his last year are included in the first year of his successor. SBBS 401.9

Thus, the actual accession of Alexander the Great, was at the decisive victory of Arbela, Oct. 1. b. c. 331, but his reign in the canon began the preceding New Year’s Day of the same current Nabonassarean year, Nov. 14. b. c. 332, which ended soon after the battle, Nov. 14, b. c. 331. [See Fig. 1.] SBBS 401.10

The death of Alexander the Great was in the 114th Olympiad, according to Josephus, May 22, b. c. 323; but the era of his successor, Philip Aridaus, began in the canon the preceding New Year’s Day, Nov. 12, b. c. 324, as confirmed by Censorinus, who reckons from thence 294 years to the accession of Augustus, b. c. 30. But b. c. 324-294=b. c. 30. [See Fig. 2.] SBBS 403.1

Tiberius died March 16, a. d. 37, but the reign of his successor, Caius Caligula, began in the canon from the preceding New Year’s Day, Aug. 14, a. d. 36. [See Fig. 3.] SBBS 403.2

From these two rules, it follows, that the last year of any reign belongs thereto wholly, or exclusively, and that the beginning of a reign SBBS 403.3

[Graphic of Fig. 1. Alexander’s Succession, Fig. 2. Aridaus’s Succession, Fig. 3. Caligula’s and Succession] SBBS 403.4

is sometimes dated in the canon near a full year before the actual accession.—“A New Analysis of Chronology and Geography,” Rev. William Hales, D. D., Vol. I, pp. 170, 171. London: C. J. G. & F. Rivington, 1830. SBBS 403.5

Note.—Inasmuch as the canon shows only that Artaxerxes began his reign sometime in the Nabonassarean year beginning Dec. 17, 465 b. c., and ending Dec. 17, 464 (see Fig. 1), the question is, At what time of the year did he come to the throne? Here Inspiration itself gives the answer. The record of Ezra and Nehemiah fully establishes the fact that Artaxerxes began his reign at the end of the summer, or in the autumn (Nehemiah 1:1; 2:1; Ezra 7:7-9), which shows that the king came to the throne at such a season that the ninth month Chisleu (November-December) came in order before Nisan, the first (March-April), while the fifth month (July-August) was also in the same year of the king. Thus he came to the throne somewhere between the latter part of August and the latter part of November. His first year, therefore, was from the very late summer or autumn of 464 b. c. to the autumn of 463 b. c., and his seventh year was from the autumn of 458 b. c. to the autumn of 457 b. c. (Fig. 2).—Eds. SBBS 403.6

Ptolemy’s Canon, Authority of.—From its great use as an astronomical era, confirmed by unerring characters of eclipses, this canon justly obtained the highest authority among historians also. It has most deservedly been esteemed an invaluable treasure, omni auro pretiosior, as Calvisius says, and of the greatest use in chronology, without which, as Marsham observes, there could scarcely be any transition from sacred to profane history.—“A New Analysis of Chronology and Geography, History and Prophecy,” Rev. Wm. Hales, Vol. I, p. 166. London: C. J. G. & F. Rivington, 1830. SBBS 403.7

The most valuable record of this period, independent of Scripture, is the Canon of Ptolemy. The length of each reign is there given, expressed in Egyptian years, and dated from the era of Nabonassar, a. c. 747. The Egyptian year consisted of 365 days, without intercalation; and its Thoth, or commencement, will thus fall later in the Julian year the higher we ascend. The accession of each monarch, in the canon, is referred to the beginning of the year in which his reign began.—“The Four Prophetic Empires, and the Kingdom of Messiah; The First Two Visions of Daniel,” Rev. T. R. Birks, M. A., p. 24. London: Seeley, Burnside, and Seeley, 1845. SBBS 403.8

Ptolemy’s Canon, Application of, in Prophecy.—It is a deeply interesting fact that these four empires are similarly presented as successive in the celebrated astronomical Canon of Ptolemy, which traces the course of imperial rule from the era of Nabonassar, king of Babylon, to the reign of the Roman Emperor Antoninus. Between the historical and chronological outline given in the Canon of Ptolemy, and that set forth in the fourfold image of Nebuchadnezzar’s vision, there is the most striking and complete agreement. “As the good Spirit of God,” says Faber [“Sacred Calendar of Prophecy,” Vol. II, p. 7], “employs the four successive empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome, in the capacity of the Grand Calendar of Prophecy, so Ptolemy has employed the very same four empires in the construction of his invaluable canon; because the several lines of their sovereigns so begin and end, when the one line is engrafted upon the other line, as to form a single unbroken series from Nabonassar to Augustus Casar. SBBS 404.1

In each case the principle of continuous arrangement is identical. Where Ptolemy makes the Persian Cyrus the immediate successor of the Babylonic Nabonadius, or Belshazzar, without taking into account the preceding kings of Persia or of Media, there, in the image, the silver joins itself to the gold; where Ptolemy makes the Grecian Alexander the immediate successor of the Persian Darius, without taking into account the preceding kings of Macedon, there, in the image, the brass joins itself to the silver; and where Ptolemy makes the Roman Augustus the immediate successor of the Grecian Cleopatra, without taking into account the long preceding roll of the Consular Fasti and the primitive Roman monarchy, there, in the image, the iron joins itself to the brass. In short, the Canon of Ptolemy may well be deemed a running comment upon the altitudinal line of the great metallic image.”-“Creation Centred in Christ,” H. Grattan Guinness, D. D., pp. 236, 237. London: Hodder and Stoughton, 1896. SBBS 404.2

Note.—While it is true that the Grecian royal line did not become extinct until the death of Cleopatra, b. c. 30, authorities are quite generally agreed that world dominance passed from Greece to Rome at the battle of Pydna, b. c. 168.—Eds. SBBS 404.3

Ptolemy’s Canon.—See Artaxerxes, 41, 42; Daniel, 132. SBBS 404.4

Purgatory Defined.—It is a place in which the souls of the righteous dead, subject to temporal punishment, suffer enough [or make satisfaction].—“Theologia,” Dens (R. C.), Tom. VII, Tractatus de Quatuor Novissimis, N. 25, “De Purgatorio” (Dens’ Theology, Vol. VII, Treatise on The Four Last Things, No. 25, “On Purgatory”). SBBS 404.5

Purgatory, Decree Concerning.—Whereas the Catholic Church, instructed by the Holy Ghost, has, from the Sacred Writings and the ancient tradition of the Fathers, taught in sacred councils, and very recently in this ecumenical synod, that there is a purgatory, and that the souls there detained are helped by the suffrages of the faithful, but principally by the acceptable sacrifice of the altar; the holy synod enjoins on bishops that they diligently endeavor that the sound doctrine concerning purgatory, transmitted by the holy Fathers and sacred councils, be believed, maintained, taught, and everywhere proclaimed by the faithful of Christ.—Decree Concerning Purgatory, published in the Twenty-Fifth Session of the Council of Trent; “Dogmatic Canons and Decrees,” p. 165. New York: The Devin-Adair Company, 1912. SBBS 404.6

Purgatory, Its Place.—The ordinary place of purgatory, which is appropriately and generally understood by the name purgatory, is under the earth, near to hell.—“Theologia,” Dens (R. C.), Tom. VII. Tractatus de Quatuor Novissimis, N. 27, “De Loco Purgatorii” (Dens’ Theology, Vol. VII, Treatise on The Four Last Things, No. 27, “On the Place of Purgatory”). SBBS 405.1

Purgatory, Pretended Scripture Proof for.—Holy Scripture does not mention the word “purgatory,” but the idea is conveyed of a place of expiation after death. This is neither heaven nor hell. From the Old Testament we infer the existence of purgatory, as a belief of the Jews, from the passage telling the action of Judas Maccabeus regarding the dead. He made a collection and sent to Jerusalem 2,000 drachms of silver, that sacrifice might be offered for the sins of those who had died. 2 Mac. 12: 43-45. SBBS 405.2

In the New Testament, reference is generally made to the words of our divine Lord in Matthew 12:32: “He that shall speak against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in the world to come.” St. Augustine and St. Gregory, among many others, have gathered from these words that some sins may be remitted in the world to come, and that, consequently, there is a purgatory. SBBS 405.3

The passage of St. Paul, 1 Corinthians 3:11-15, is taken in its concluding words, “But he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire,” to refer to the cleansing fire of purgatory.—The Catholic Citizen, May 1, 1915. SBBS 405.4

Purgatory Adopted from Paganism.—Go wherever we may, in ancient or modern times, we shall find that paganism leaves hope after death for sinners who, at the time of their departure, were consciously unfit for the abodes of the blest. For this purpose a middle state has been feigned, in which, by means of purgatorial pains, guilt unremoved in time may in a future world be purged away, and the soul be made meet for final beatitude. In Greece the doctrine of a purgatory was inculcated by the very chief of the philosophers. Thus Plato, speaking of the future judgment of the dead, holds out the hope of final deliverance for all, but maintains that, of “those who are judged,” “some” must first “proceed to a subterranean place of judgment, where they shall sustain the punishment they have deserved;” while others, in consequence of a favorable judgment, being elevated at once into a certain celestial place, “shall pass their time in a manner becoming the life they have lived in a human shape.” In pagan Rome, purgatory was equally held up before the minds of men; but there, there seems to have been no hope held out to any of exemption from its pains.... SBBS 405.5

In Egypt, substantially the same doctrine of purgatory was inculcated. But when once this doctrine of purgatory was admitted into the popular mind, then the door was opened for all manner of priestly extortions. Prayers for the dead ever go hand in hand with purgatory; but no prayers can be completely efficacious without the interposition of the priests; and no priestly functions can be rendered unless there be special pay for them. Therefore, in every land we find the pagan priesthood “devouring widows’ houses,” and making merchandise of the tender feelings of sorrowing relatives, sensitively alive to the immortal happiness of the beloved dead.—“The Two Babylons,” Rev. Alexander Hislop, pp. 167, 168. London: S. W. Partridge & Co., 1907. SBBS 405.6

Purgatory.—See Indulgences, 237. SBBS 405.7

Pythagorean Doctrine.—See Galileo, 181. SBBS 405.8