This is just the beginning of my article, written in 2000, entitled "Isaiah Was a False Prophet." If anyone wants to see more of this article, please request it in the comments. Here is the beginning:
Isaiah Was a False Prophet
The book of Isaiah may be divided into three sections – Isaiah (chapters 1-39), Deutero-Isaiah (chapters 40-54), and Trito-Isaiah (chapters 55-66). Most of the first 39 chapters were written by Isaiah, son of Amoz, between 742 and 700 BC. Deutero-Isaiah was written at the end of the Babylonian captivity – about 539 BC. Trito-Isaiah was written in Jerusalem after 538 BC.[1]
Some believers insist that Isaiah, son of Amoz, wrote the entire book in the 8th century BC. It is not necessary to resolve the issue in order to prove that Isaiah was a false prophet. Suffice it to say that false prophecy is found in each of the three sections.
Egypt
The 19th chapter of Isaiah is a prediction about Egypt. Isaiah prophesied that Egypt would suffer a civil war and the cruelty of a fierce king. The Nile River would completely dry up, causing an economic crisis. Egypt's officials in Zoan and Memphis would be confounded with a supernatural dizziness, and the kingdom of Judah would terrify Egypt. The Egyptians, humbled by their oppressors, would be converted to Jehovah, who would send them a deliverer. After these events, Egypt, Assyria, and Israel would be Jehovah's three chosen powers:
[quote] In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The LORD Almighty will bless them, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance." [end quote] (Isaiah 19:23-25)
Isaiah 19, if it were a true prophecy, must have been fulfilled in the 7th or 8th centuries BC. At the time Isaiah wrote his prediction, Zoan (also called Tanis[2]) was the capital of Egypt, and the royal palace was located at Memphis (also called Noph). It wasn't long, however, before Shabaka, a Cushite king, conquered Egypt and founded its 25th dynasty.[3] During his reign – from about 719 to 703 BC – Pharaoh Shabaka shifted the capital from Zoan to Memphis, after which Zoan declined. Memphis was destroyed by Muslims in AD 640, and it has never been rebuilt.[4] Any fulfillment of the prophecy about the officials of Zoan and Memphis became improbable after 703 BC, and impossible after AD 640. The timing of Isaiah 19 is also restricted by the prediction that Assyria would become a righteous nation. Assyria ceased to exist in 609 BC, when its last troops capitulated to the Medes and Babylonians.[5] The fulfillment of this prophecy, therefore, became impossible after 609 BC.
Between the time of Isaiah and the fall of Assyria, there were civil wars and cruel, fierce kings in Egypt. But the fulfillment of Isaiah's prophecy stops there. The Nile River never dried up. The officials of Zoan and Memphis were no dizzier than any other politician. The Egyptians continued to worship Amon; they never converted en masse to Jehovah. Egypt's relationship with Assyria could never be described as the blissful alliance of independent nations envisioned by Isaiah. Instead, Egypt warred against, was subjugated by, and revolted against Assyria. Only in the last year or two of Assyria's existence did Pharaoh Necho support it as a buffer state against the potential threat of the Medes and Babylonians.[6] Isaiah's utopian trio of righteous nations never materialized. Isaiah's predictions concerning Egypt failed to come true.
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NOTES:
I use the Encyclopædia Britannica CD 98 as my main source of history. The Encyclopædia Britannica is generally considered to be of high scholastic quality and integrity. It is also popular and easily accessible. It is abbreviated below as EB. Other works are cited in full.
[1] EB: Biblical Literature and Its Critical Interpretation: Old Testament literature: THE NEVI'IM (THE PROPHETS): Isaiah.
[2] EB: Tanis
[3] EB: Shabaka
[4] EB: Memphis
[5] EB: The History of Ancient Mesopotamia: Mesopotamia to the end of the: THE NEO-ASSYRIAN EMPRE (746-609): Decline of the Assyrian empire.
[6] EB: Egypt: History: EGYPT FROM 1075 BC TO THE MACEDONIAN INVASION
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Because nobody has expressed any interest in this topic, I'll call it quits. If anyone does want more, just say so, and I'll be happy to continue....
With all respect, I once held in high regard the secular scholars and historians who engage in biblical criticism. Critics like Bart Ehrman and Robert M. Price were once favorite authors of mine. But when I finally saw the bible as it really is--not history, but a work of fiction--I began to see those who quibble about its meaning or authenticity as akin to those who argue ad nauseam over their favorite serial comic strip characters. What is it all worth, in the end? Time to move on.
You are correct in that posting such evidence on this website is like preaching to the choir. The people here don't need further evidence.
On the other hand, though, I think it wise to be prepared to present evidence to those who are not as advanced as we are. For example, I met a Jehovah's Witness at the local park. He initiated a conversation with me, and I read a pamphlet he gave me. In it, the claim is made that fulfilled prophecy is evidence that the Bible is credible. In subsequent conversations, I have been honest with him, telling him that I am an atheist, and I have evidence that the Bible contains false prophecy. He has agreed to read my articles on the topic. I even got him to agree that we should both follow the evidence where it leads. I warned him that I might make an atheist out of him, rather than he making a JW out of me. I suspect he may back out of the evidence-based research at some point, but at least I will have exposed him to some evidence, reason and logic. And it may work on him over time....
@BestWithoutGods An earnest 'sidewalk epistemologist' with your chops would present a formidable challenge for any religionist who understands only that which he/she has been taught to understand. One-on-one conversations are likely the best way to exchange ideas and knowledge.
Incidentally, of the four major 19th century American sects (or, as some of labelled them, cults)--JWs, Christian Scientist, Mormons and Seventh-day Adventists--which have you found to be most open to discussion? They all seem pretty set in their ways and devoted to their prophets, in my experience anyway. One would think it an easier task to demonstrate as false prophets the fairly recent, well documented examples of Charles Taze Russell, Mary Baker Eddy, Joseph Smith and Ellen G. White, than that of Isaiah!
@p-nullifidian Good point. My escape from Moronism (oops, Mormonism) was based on proving Joseph Smith to be a false prophet. Debunking the biblical prophets was just icing on the cake.