questions have been added at the close of each chapter. In class study it would be preferable for each member of the class to possess a copy of the book, and in home preparation to read and reread the assigned lesson, being careful to examine the Scripture references in every case. Then when the class meets the teacher should propound the questions as prepared, and let that exercise be followed by one of general discussion and interchange of views. Where it is inconvenient for books to be provided for all the class, the teacher, after careful preparation, might read the lesson to his students when assembled, adding such explanatory remarks as seemed desirable, and then ask the questions. The correct answer might not come as readily in this as in the other case, but the errors and mistakes of some would possess a pedagogic value of their own, and contribute most interestingly to the general discussion at the close. In the preparation of the work the author sought to avoid as far as possible the expression of merely his own opinions in the premises, and to give Scriptural authority for all his interpretations of the prophets. Where he did not know, or was in doubt he said so, and yet the necessary limitations of space in the periodical may have resulted in a flavour of dogmatism here and there which was not intended. Generous consideration is asked for this, as the author fully recognizes the merits of other interpretations than his own, and values the scholarship and judgment with which he is not able always to agree. Notwithstanding, he hopes this simple text-book may be useful to beginners, and stimulate them to broader and profounder study of that "word of prophecy, whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts" (2 Pet. 1:19). I. II. Contents BABYLON: HER COMING RESTORATION |