Failed Prophecy

That prophecies do not prove the truth of the Christian religion, is evident from the consideration, that some of those which are most clear and explicit, have absolutely failed in their accomplishment. The twenty-fourth chapter of Matthew is adduced to prove the present assertion; in that chapter Christ foretelleth the destruction of Jerusalem, and the end of the world; the inquiry being made, when shall these things be accomplished, the answer is, that this generation shall not pass away till all these things be fulfilled. But it is necessary to quote the whole passage, to show that this prophecy, which is as clear and definite as any one contained either in the Old or New Testament, has not been fulfilled that the time of its fulfilment expired long ago, even in that generation in which it was spoken, and that this of itself ought to destroy the validity of all Christian prophecies; because, when detected in one positive and absolute falsehood, the veracity of Testament writers is for ever afterwards to be suspected.

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