SOURCE: "Europe's Greatest Prophet," in The Story of Prophecy in the Life of Mankind from Early Times to the Present Day, Farrar & Rinehart, Incorporated, 1936, pp. 174-93.

In the following excerpt, Forman examines several prophecies of Nostradamus, positing possible ancient influences, remarking upon his intentional obscurity, highlighting alleged prophecies that came to pass, and concluding that Nostradamus is the once and future "greatest prophet of modern times."

Nostradamus declares that he burned some ancient Egyptian books after having learned their contents by heart. These books, originating in Egypt and in the ancient Persia of the Mages, had come to him by inheritance, from one or the other of his grandfathers. Now, what, ask his latest biographers, Moura and Louvet, did the Hebrews carry away from Egypt in the Exodus? Gold and silver, assuredly, but something besides far more precious.

"They could not have failed to possess themselves of all...