In Daniel’s Mysticism of Resistance in Its Seleucid Context, Timothy L. Seals proffers a postcolonial interpretation of the book of Daniel, investigating certain texts that constitute Daniel’s mystical way or practice. Daniel uses mysticism to resist the repressive script of Antiochus IV outlawing the Jewish religion in 167 BCE. In his use of non-violence to resist the imperial power of the Seleucids, Daniel stands in the non-violent, passive-resistant tradition of both Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Daniel uses mysticism both to resist imperial intrusions into his humanity and to decolonize his mind in the aftermath of colonization. In this endeavor, mysticism proves to be world-affirming.
The prophet Daniel practiced a mysticism that was resistant to the repressive measures of Antiochus IV in 167 BCE. In this book, Timothy L. Seals argues for a postcolonial interpretation of Daniel that can serve as a spiritual resource in the on-going process of the decolonization of the world and hearts.
