Daniel Prophesied The Roman Catholic Church
This is not a treatise to condemn anyone who was born and raised in Catholicism. I would say from the start that some of the Catholics I have known are among the finest hardworking, moral and honest people I have dealt with. Not only that, but there are a few Roman Catholics who have exposed the great “Jewish” conspiracy, such as William Guy Carr, Charles E. Coughlin and other conservative Catholics who weren’t afraid to speak out and take a stand for justice, for whom I have the highest respect. Neither is this a composition to gloss over Protestantism, for Protestantism is nothing more than warmed-over Catholicism. I view these religious systems as stages we’ve gone through in our deserved Israelite punishment of seven times, or 2,520 years since being taken captive by Assyria. Rather, this theme is a brief effort to determine how we have arrived at where we now stand.
Daniel prophesied at Dan. 7:24-25: “ 24 And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”
You will notice that this earthly power was to last “until a time and times and the dividing of time”. A “time” in Scripture is 360 years, so this amounts to 360+720+180 or 1260 years, not 3½ calendar years as some maintain. Since this exceeds man’s life span, it is not speaking of one individual man, but there are key men involved.
Our next two clues in this passage are: “he shall subdue three kings” ... “and think to change times and laws.” There’s only one man in all history since Daniel that fits this description, and that is Justinian I, emperor of the Eastern Roman Empire. I will now quote from The World Book Encyclopedia, volume 11, page 168 to get further insight on this subject:
“JUSTINIAN I, jus TIN ih un (A.D. 482-565), was the Byzantine (East Roman) emperor from A.D. 527 until his death. He collected Roman laws under one code, the Corpus Juris Civilis (Body of Civil Law). This code, also known as the Justinian Code, is the basis of the legal systems in many nations today ... Justinian was called The Great. He recaptured from barbarians many parts of what had been the West Roman Empire. He built fortresses, harbors, monasteries, and the famous church of Saint Sophia in what is now Istanbul, Turkey.
“Justinian was born in a part of Macedonia that is now in Yugoslavia. His uncle, Emperor Justin I, made him co-ruler in 527. Justin died a few months later, and Justinian became sole emperor. During Justinian’s reign, his wife, Theodora, tried to influence his politics ... Justinian was an orthodox Christian, and tried to unify his empire under one Christian faith. He persecuted Christian heretics (those who opposed church teachings), Jews, and pagans (non-Christians). In 529, he closed the schools of philosophy in Athens, Greece, because he felt they taught paganism.
“In the early 530’s, Justinian began a series of wars against the Vandals, Ostrogoths, and Visigoths, who had conquered most of the West Roman Empire in the 400’s. By the mid-550’s his armies had taken northern Africa, Italy, and parts of Spain ...” Justinian did indeed “change times and laws” and “did conquer three kings”.
From William Finck’s note #22 on Comparet’s 9th lesson on The Book Of Revelation: “Daniel describes Rome at 7:23. Justinian was the eleventh emperor of the Eastern Empire at Constantinople (7:24) and he reconquered for the East portions of the Western Empire which had fallen to the Germanic hordes, in Italy, Spain and Northern Africa (also Dan. 7:24). Justinian codified Roman law, the Codex Justinianus finished in 529 A.D. which was all of Medieval Europe’s chief legal text (except England) and which still influences European laws today (Dan. 7:25). Justinian first established the Temporal Power of the papacy, and a later pope, Gregory the 13th, gave us the Gregorian calendar (7:25). Daniel, not John, dates this second beast to 1260 years, the ‘time, times and a dividing of time’ of Daniel 7:25.”
In the year 508, Arthur, king of England, was elected monarch of Britain. The See of Rome was also in unusual circumstances at the time. As a recent convert from paganism, Symmachus by bloodiness ascended the pontifical throne and reigned until A.D. 514. He was lauded as being the successor to, or another, St. Peter. His flatterers began to maintain he was formally appointed judge in the place of God, and vice-regent of the Most High. A strong papal party now existed in all parts of the empire and was encouraged by both east and west. In 508, civil war swept fire and blood through the streets of the eastern capital, which Gibbon records under the years 508-518, speaking of commotions in Constantinople (Decline And Fall, vol. 4, p. 526.)
By 508, paganism and the Romish “church” had merged and became Catholic, gained strength and began a successful war against the civil authority of the empire and the “church” of the East which had embraced a Monophysite doctrine. The extermination of 65,000 so-called heretics was the result. Among the supporters of paganism was Clovis, but he soon yielded to the Catholic faith and became its champion. This was preparatory to the setting up, or establishment of the papacy, which was a separate and subsequent event to which the prophetic narrative now leads us to speak:
The little horn that had eyes like the eyes of man [Dan. 7:8] was not slow to see when the way was open for his advancement and elevation. From 508 on, his progress toward universal supremacy was without parallel. In 533, Justinian was about to wage a war of great magnitude and difficulty against the Vandals. In doing so, he wished to secure the influence of the bishop of Rome who had attained a position of great weight among a large portion of Christendom. In order to accomplish this, Justinian took it upon himself to give precedence to the See of Rome, making him chief of the whole ecclesiastical body of the empire. Upon this, Justinian, by a letter, 25th March, 533, pronounced many honors on the so-called “apostolic chair”. Answering in 534, the Pope observes that among the virtues of Justinian “one shines as a star” for his reverence for the “apostolic chair” to which Justinian subjected and united all the “churches” as being truly “head of all”. The “Novellæ” of the Justinian code give unanswerable proof of the authenticity of the title ... The 131st, on the ecclesiastical titles and privileges, chapter 2 states: “We therefore decree that the most holy pope of the elder Rome is the first of all the priesthood, and that the most blessed archbishop of Constantinople, the new Rome, shall hold the second rank after the holy ‘apostolic chair’ of the elder Rome.”
The See of Rome continued to contend for the authenticity of the decree of Justinian, but the provisions of the decree could not at once be carried into effect, for Rome and Italy were held by the Ostrogoths, who were Arians, in faith strongly opposed to the religion of Justinian and the Pope. Upon that, it was decided that the Ostrogoths must be rooted out of Rome before the Pope exercised his power. To accomplish that goal, the Italian war was begun in 534. At the head of the campaign was the trusted Belisarius. Approaching Rome, several cities of the Goths forsook their sovereign Vitijes and joined the armies of the Catholic emperor. Upon this, the Goths decided to delay any offensive until spring, thus allowing Belisarius to enter Rome unopposed, where he was given a grand welcome Dec. 10, 536.
But the struggle for the Goths was not over. Rallying their forces, they resolved to retake the city by siege in March, 537. Fearing treachery on the part of the people, several senators, along with Pope Sylverius, on suspicion of treason, were sent into exile, and the emperor commanded the clergy to elect a new bishop. After solemnly invoking the Holy Ghost, says Gibbon, they elected the deacon Vigilius, who, by a bribe of two hundred pounds of gold, had purchased the honor.
Assembling at Rome for its siege, the Ostrogoths melted away under heavy, frequent and bloody combats for the year and nine days of its duration, consuming nearly the whole Ostrogothic nation. During the month of March, 538, danger threatening from other quarters, they raised the siege, burned their tents, retiring in tumult and confusion with hardly enough in number to preserve their identity as a people.
Thus, the Gothic horn (the last of the three) was plucked up before the little horn of Daniel 7. Nothing now stood in the way of the pope preventing the exercise of the power conferred upon him by Justinian five years previous. The prophecy of Daniel 7:24-26 had been fulfilled, setting in motion the 1260 years that the power of the Pope (666) would continue as sovereign. Near the close of the 6th century, John of Constantinople rejected Roman supremacy and assumed for himself the title of universal bishop. Thereupon Gregory the Great indignantly denounced John, declaring him “Antichrist.” In 606, Phocas took sides with the bishop of Rome. [The previous six paragraphs of the history during this period I gleaned from Uriah Smith’s Daniel and the Revelation, dated 1897. May we all set our goal to be as diligent a scholar of history as he!]
That the office of the pope represents the number 666 is evident when viewing his miter (of which I have a photographic copy which clearly has the three words each placed below the other. On the top line is “VICARIUS”; middle line “FILII”; and the bottom “DEI”). William Finck states: “Here, with an understanding of the phrase Vicarius Filii Dei, there should no longer be any contention over the identity of the second beast [of Rev. 13], and for the following reasons:
· “It is a title long claimed and used by the popes themselves.
· “It is in Latin, the official language of the Catholic ‘Church’ and a tongue that most popes knew well and used consistently.
· “The value of its letters, in Roman (Latin) numerals, is equivalent to the sum given us to recognize this beast, at Revelation 13:18, or ‘six hundred and sixty six.’
· “While there have been many attempts to identify the ‘666’ of this passage with men and kingdoms and entities, none are so plain and profound as this one. The papacy, each pope in succession, is clearly this second beast of Revelation 13.”
From the book, Study in Daniel, by Howard B. Rand, pages 182 and 183: “Having discovered the identity of the four beasts; let us now note the meaning of the little horn which Daniel saw arise from among the ten horns on the fourth beast. The ten horns represent subdivisions in the Roman Empire:
“The little horn that arose among the ten, which was diversified from them, pulling up three, is none other than Justinian at the head of the Eastern [Roman] Empire at Constantinople. History reveals that he subdued three of the ten kingdoms which were established in the Roman Empire after the fall of Imperial Rome. These were the Vandals whose kingdom had been established in north Africa, the Ostrogoths who had established a kingdom in Italy and the Alemannian [sic Visigothic] kingdom ... In the eyes and the mouth that appear in this little horn we have a new power associated with the rule of the little horn. In fact, this power became the eyes and mouth of the civil and economic activities of the government represented in the little horn. Justinian, as head of the civil government, and the Pope, as the head of the Church, united their interest and Church and State became one. Finally the Pope became the director of both Church and State and ruled as a great politico-ecclesiastical potentate. One needs but read the utterances of past Popes to recognize the fulfillment of speaking ‘great words against the most High’ as prophesied by Daniel.” [emphasis mine] Evidently Rand has Justinian I confused with Emperor Julian about the “Alemanni” (a term sometimes used for all Germans tribes). See Ency. Britannica 9th ed., vol. 1, page 422 under “Alemanni”.
CATHOLICISM PROVES HERSELF FALSE
Again from Daniel, the “little horn” of Daniel 8:9 was Mohammed. The other “little horn” at 7:8 represented the papacy. Mohammed, a half-jew, founder of Islam, was born at Mecca Aug. 20, 570 A.D. At age 40, he claimed a revelation from Gabriel and launched a hybrid religion. Gaining adherents and an army, he soon conquered all of Arabia and summoned Persia, Abyssinia and Constantinople to embrace his religion, but died before taking on Asia Minor and the Roman Empire. After his death, his fanatical followers pressed into Egypt, Palestine, Persia and Syria, and 50 years later moved into North Africa and Spain, giving the conquered an ultimatum of conversion or the sword, raping the women as they went. Upon sweeping northward into Spain, they broke the rule of the Visigoths in 711, bringing with them Berbers from Africa making Cordova their seat of government. In Spanish history, the term “Moor” is used interchangeably with “Arab” and “Saracen”. Later the Moorish forces invaded France, but were defeated at Tours in 732 by Charles Martel which was a major turning point in history.
The progress of the Mohammedans northward had continued unchecked for a distance greater than a thousand miles from Gibraltar, and had they not been stopped they would have carried the Crescent to the borders of Poland and the Scottish Highlands. The sedate Gibbon conjectured that the Koran would today be used as the principal textbook at the University of Oxford.
Destiny had a different plan. The battle-axe, Charles (called the “hammer”) Martel, was not about to allow the Moors’ advance to continue. The Frankish warrior was already hardened by twenty-four years of service. With this great emergency upon the kingdom, Charles’ policy was to let the Arabian torrent diffuse itself before attempting to stem the tide. Here Europe was arrayed against Asia and Africa; the Cross against the Crescent; Christ against Mohammed. For six days the battle appeared to favor Islam, but on the seventh day the fierce Germans arose with their battle-axes upon the lighter soldiery from the south. As night closed, Europe was victorious, for Abdalrahman was slain. In the confusion of the darkness the Moorish warriors rose against each other till sunrise when the few remaining retreated south.
One would think that Charles Martel would have received the highest honors the Christian world could bestow! But just the opposite occurred after the victory. Martel, in raising and equipping his army, had been obliged to appropriate the treasures of several churches, and the unthankful clergy never forgave him but consigned him to hellfire. As far as the church was concerned, the hero of Poitiers could roast in purgatory’s flame. [Gleaned partly from the Cyclopædia of Universal History by John Clark Ridpath, volume II, pages 150-152.]
This should demonstrate beyond all doubt that the Roman Catholic church has no regard for racial purity as taught in Scripture, and its universalist position of sending its missionaries throughout heathen lands such as Mexico and the heart of Africa, which is not inspired by Yahweh! Ditto for Protestantism. The Roman Catholic church of Justinian I’s time is so far removed from the church that Paul knew there is no comparison! Many who didn’t die in the Roman persecutions from Nero unto Diocletian fled to the mountains of northern Italy and were called the Vaudois (people of the valleys). They were originally called “Vallenses”, the V in Latin being a U, and with the W added to the alphabet in Medieval times representing vv or uu, and one of the l’s changed into a d, the name became “Waldenses” and still meant “people of the valleys”, and never at any time did this term have anything to do with the name of Peter Waldo.
