Have We Followed Cunningly Devised Fables? — Robert J. Wieland

A new look at the Old View of
“the Daily” of Daniel 8:11-13

• Preface
• Introduction: Our Current Problem
• The Significance of “the Daily” (ha tamid)
• The Historical Tension Between the Two Views
• Linguistic and Contextual Study of “the Daily”
• An Historical Approach to “the Daily” Problem
• The Jews in Babylonian Exile and “the Daily”
• Conclusion: If This Thesis is Correct …
• Appendix A: Ellen White's 1851 Statement
• Appendix B: A Literal Translation of the ha tamid
• Appendix C: Are We Seventh-day Adventists, or Seventh Day Baptists?

"For want of a nail the shoe was lost;
for want of a shoe, the horse was lost;
for want of a horse, the rider was lost;
for want of the rider, the battle was lost."

—Benjamin Franklin, 1758

Could anything that the prophet Daniel wrote repeatedly be as insignificant as a lost horseshoe nail?

Jesus asks us to "read" and to "understand" Daniel. Close to the nerve center of the great doctrine of the sanctuary that has created the Seventh-day Adventist Church, lies the tiny prophetic detail of "the daily." Daniel attaches great importance to it, speaking of it five times in chapters 8,11, and 12—each in a different context.

The pioneers of the Seventh-day Adventist Church had a clear and cogent understanding of "the daily" which figured in our theological birth as a people. Their view has been all but abandoned today. For want of that pioneer understanding (which Ellen White endorsed), this tract suggests that confusion has settled in many Seventh-day Adventist minds about the vital teaching of the sanctuary. The loss can be immeasurable.