I attended a Bahai meeting in the Masonic Temple in Chicago. The leader read the following verses as all fulfilled in Bahaism.[196] The "son of man" (Dan. vii.) was Abdul Baha, and the "Ancient of Days," Baha. The question of Proverbs xxx. 3, "What is his name and what his son's name?" was answered, Baha and Abdul Baha; similarly in Psalms lxxii. and ii., "The King" and the "King's Son." The "Branch" (Zech. vi. 12-13) who shall build the temple was again Abdul Baha, and the latter is specially urgent that the Bahai Temple in Chicago should be built in his day, so that the prophecy may appear to be fulfilled. The dates in Daniel are juggled with. For example, Abdul Baha explains Daniel viii. by taking the _solar_ year. He calculates[197] that the 2,300 days were completed at the Bab's manifestation in 1844. In Daniel xii. 6 the _lunar_[198] year is resorted to, and the forty-two months (1,260 years) are dated from the hegira of Mohammed, but Daniel xii. 11 does not come exactly right, so the _terminus a quo_ is made to be the proclamation of the prophethood of Mohammed, three years after his mission, which was ten years before the hegira. By this means the date of Baha's manifestation (1863) is reached. In connection with Daniel xii. and Revelation xi. we have the startling information, so contradictory to history, that "in the beginning of the seventh century after Christ, when Jerusalem was conquered, the Holy of Holies was outwardly preserved, that is to say, the house which Solomon built. The Holy of Holies was preserved, guarded, and respected."[199] On this alleged fact Abdul Baha founds an argument.[200] Prophecies referring to the glory of God or of the Father are applied to Baha, because his title means "glory of God." The Bab, according to the custom in Persia, gave many high-sounding titles. Baha's rival was called "The Dawn of the Eternal." Voliva, the successor of Dowie, might assume some fitting title and claim to fulfill the prophecies. He has a good foundation for interpretation, he does really live in Zion City (Illinois). Our Bahais further tell us that the "New Jerusalem," the new heaven and the new earth, mean the new dispensation, the new laws of Baha. This is now "the day of God," "the day of judgment," "the kingdom of God," "the second resurrection."[201] The parable of the vineyard is a favourite proof text. It says that the Lord of the vineyard will come _himself_ and will utterly destroy the wicked husbandmen. This, they say, is a real coming of the Father, even as the Son came. In that case the destroying must be real, and we should expect that Baha would have destroyed the religious leaders of Mecca or Kerbela, Jerusalem or Rome. "No," says the Bahai, "the destroying is figurative, and means simply the abrogation of their authority." Well, if he escapes to a figurative interpretation, we too can interpret the coming of the Lord of the Vineyard as his visitation on Jerusalem in the time of Titus.