Daniel

Lessons for Living in a Post-Christian Culture

Tim Dieppe

• Publisher: Wipf and Stock
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9798385271740
  9798385271757
• eBook ISBN:
  9798385271764
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Commentary

Taken captive as a young man and forced to work for a hostile empire, Daniel refused to compromise his faith--even at the risk of death. His unwavering example offers profound lessons for Christians today navigating living in a post-Christian West, where perceptions of Christianity have shifted from cultural respectability to widespread marginalization and ridicule. In recent years, Christians have faced job loss, social ostracism, and even legal consequences--including arrests--for living out their biblical convictions. This kind of treatment of Christians and disregard for Christianity would have been unimaginable just a few decades ago. This accessible commentary examines each chapter of Daniel, unpacking the text's meaning while drawing practical applications for contemporary readers. It robustly defends the book's authenticity as the work of the historical Jewish captive Daniel, who lived and wrote in sixthth-century Babylon--a view increasingly questioned even in evangelical circles. Drawing on insights from both church fathers and the latest academic scholarship, it encourages believers to stand firm with courage, integrity, and hope in an increasingly antagonistic culture.

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• The Authenticity of Daniel
• A Note on the Chronology of the Babylonian Kings
• Timeline of Daniel
• Chart 2: Lineage of the Neo-Babylonian Kings
• Daniel 1: Daniel and His Friends Are Taken to Babylon for Indoctrination
• Excursus 1:Daniel 1:1—A Chronological Conundrum
• Daniel 2: Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream
• Daniel 3: Friends in the Furnace
• Daniel 4: Nebuchadnezzar’s Humiliation and Restoration
• Daniel 5: The Writing on the Wall
• Excursus 2: Darius the Mede
• Chart 3: The Median and Persian Kings
• Daniel 6: The Lions’ Den
• Daniel 7: Daniel’s Vision of Four Kingdoms
• Excursus 3: Son of Man
• Daniel 8: The Ram and the Goat
• Daniel 9: Daniel’s Prayer for His People
• Excursus 4: Dating Artaxerxes’s Reign
• Daniel 10: Daniel’s Final Vision
• Daniel 11: The Kings of the South and the North
• Chart 4: Ptolemies and Seleucids
• Daniel 12: The Time of the End
• Bibliography