Thief in the Night - Bahá'í Library Online

Thief in the Night

or The Strange Case of the Missing Millennium

by William Sears

George Ronald Oxford, England First edition 1961

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up."

II Peter 3:10

The Problem. In the first half of the nineteenth century, there was worldwide and fervent expectation that during the 1840's the return of Christ would take place. The story made the headlines and even reached the Congress of the United States. From China and the Middle East to Europe and America, men of conflicting ideas shared in the expectancy. Scoffers were many but the enthusiasm was tremendous, and all agreed on the time. Why? And what became of the story? Did anything happen or was it all a dream?

The Solution. Patiently, and with exemplary thoroughness, William Sears set out to solve this mystery. In Thief in the Night he presents his fully detailed "conduct of the case" in an easy style which enthuses the reader with the excitement of the chase. The solution to which all the clues lead comes as a tremendous challenge.

This is a mystery story with a difference: the mystery is a real one, and of vital importance to every human being. The author presents the evidence in The case of the missing millennium in such a way that you can solve it for yourself.

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Contents

Part One--The Unsolved Problem 1. Once to Every Man and Nation .............................................................. 1?5 2. The Strange Case of the Missing Millennium ........................................ 5?8 3. The First Promise ................................................................................. 8?11 4. The Second Promise ........................................................................... 11?16 5. The Third Promise .............................................................................. 16?21 6. Other Promises ................................................................................... 21?25 7. And Others Still .................................................................................. 25?29 8. Lift Up Your Heads ............................................................................ 29?31 9. The Mystery of the White Stone ........................................................ 31?35 10. The Rich Who are Poor ............................................................................ 35 11. The Light that Blinds................................................................................ 38 12. For None Can Read .................................................................................. 43 13. A Mysterious Springtime ......................................................................... 47 14. The Living and the Dead .......................................................................... 52 15. The Mouthpiece of God............................................................................ 58 16. One Shepherd but Many Folds ................................................................. 62 17. The Unmistakable Signs........................................................................... 66 18. Lightning from the East............................................................................ 72 19. The Vision of the Last Days ..................................................................... 74 20. The Avalanche.......................................................................................... 79

Part Two--The Solution 1. The Mystery Begins to Unravel ............................................................... 84 2. The Remarkable Parallel .......................................................................... 87 3. The Twin Fires of Heaven ........................................................................ 90 4. The Witnesses........................................................................................... 94 5. The Hidden is Revealed............................................................................ 98 6. The Glory of God ................................................................................... 102

Part Three--The Proof 1. The King from the Sunrise ..................................................................... 107 2. Ancient Land of Mystery........................................................................ 110 3. Begotten in Babylon ............................................................................... 114 4. The Amazing Micah ............................................................................... 117 5. The Eight Astonishing Steps .................................................................. 123 6. No Need of the Sun ................................................................................ 127 7. The Families of the Earth Shall Be Blessed ........................................... 132 8. The Lord of the New Era........................................................................ 137 9. The Door of Hope................................................................................... 144 10. Where the Poor are the Kings of Paradise.............................................. 152

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11. The Blossoming Desert .......................................................................... 159 12. Fire in the Sky! ....................................................................................... 165 13. He Shall Glorify Christ........................................................................... 172 Part Four--Signs in the Heavens 1. The Signs in the Heavens ....................................................................... 178 2. The Shaking Earth .................................................................................. 181 3. The Blast of the Trumpet........................................................................ 183 4. When Stars Fell Like Snowflakes .......................................................... 186 5. The Face of Heaven................................................................................ 189 6. The Night Visitor.................................................................................... 194 Part Five--The Final Evidence 1. Beware of False Prophets ....................................................................... 200 2. Enemy of the People............................................................................... 205 3. The Tree of Life...................................................................................... 208 4. The First Fruit: Home and Family......................................................... 210 5. The Second Fruit: Country .................................................................... 213 6. The Third Fruit: Religion ...................................................................... 216 7. The Fourth Fruit: Individual Life .......................................................... 221 8. A Searching Eye ..................................................................................... 227 9. The Bird with Two Wings ...................................................................... 229 10. The Real Treasury .................................................................................. 231 11. No Man is a Stranger .............................................................................. 233 12. Partners in Progress ................................................................................ 235 13. The Beauty of the Rainbow .................................................................... 237 14. The Worlds Beyond................................................................................ 241 15. Food for the Soul .................................................................................... 245 Part Six--The Challenge 1. Except These Days be Shortened ........................................................... 251 2. Nuclear Giants and Ethical Midgets....................................................... 256 3. The Chariots Shall Rage in the Streets ................................................... 260 4. Terror in the Sky..................................................................................... 265 5. The Hour Hath Come ............................................................................. 271 6. The Day of the Lord ............................................................................... 275 7. The Dawn of a New Day ........................................................................ 279 REFERENCES .................................................................................................. 284 Index .............................................................................................................284-305

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Forward

Passengers aboard Venus rocket Arrive London airport tonight

I admit that the headline intrigued me. Quickly I glanced at the front pages of two other newspapers.

Science proves soul immortal Continent of Atlantis rises in

sea off Portugal

I looked across the television news desk at the editor.

`Anything else?'

He pointed.

Medical discovery ends all disease Hitler found alive in Vienna

I nodded. `It's the end of the world, all right.'

He handed me the magazine in which these headlines were printed.

`Take it along and read it.'

I went back to my desk in the Sports Department, opened the magazine and began to study it carefully. It was a shot in the arm. Only this morning I had felt like a detective who was trying to solve a crime one hundred years after the deed had been committed. Until this moment, the trail had been very cold. At least this article encouraged me to go on with my search. Apparently, thousands of people were still as keenly interested in solving the mystery as I was, even after more than a century.

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I took a folder out of my filing cabinet and with a soft black pencil wrote on it: The strange case of the missing millennium.

The magazine article consisted of sample headlines from newspapers all over the country. Editors had been asked to submit to the magazine some imaginary headlines, headlines which, the editor felt, would be capable of arousing the greatest possible excitement.

They had chosen some dandies: Scholars prove Shakespeare really Marlowe

No more winter ever Holy Grail found in Wales Conan Doyle contacts earth

Santa Claus no myth I chuckled. The morning that all these headlines were printed would certainly be a day to run for the hills. There was one particular effort that instantly gripped my attention. According to these hard-boiled newspapermen, this headline, if authentic, would be the most electrifying of all. This one, they said, would really rock the world back on its heels. It consisted of only two words:

Christ returns I had been working on just such a news story for two years. I had accidentally come upon what I had considered to be an amusing and puzzling mystery, and had already spent two years trying to solve it. It all began harmlessly enough when someone handed me a book written by a namesake of mine, Clara Endicott Sears. No relative. At least so they told me around Searsport and Vanceborro in Maine. If I had known what lay ahead, I might have burned the book right then and there.

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