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And against
the Most High he will speak words and oppress the saints of the Most High; he
even dreams of abolishing the holidays and the law from them, and they will be
delivered into his hand until a time and times and half a time.
Daniel 7.25
What
behavior of the small horn symbolizes the relationship of papal authority to
the Almighty?
“And he
will speak words against the Most High” (Dan 7.25).
How does
Paul, speaking of the man of sin, describe this same authority?
“The one
who opposes and exalts himself above all things, called God or holy, so that he
sits in the temple of God as God, posing as God” (2 Thess 2.4).
Note.
The
following extracts from the writings of many authoritative theologians, most of
whom are supporters of the Catholic Church, show us how far the papacy has come
in its claims to the authority and authority of God.
“All the
names and titles by which Christ is called in Scripture as head of the church
apply equally to the pope“ (Robert Bellarmine, Disputatones de Controversiis,
Vol.2, "Controversia Prima", Book 2 ["De Consiliorum
Auctoritate" ], chap.17 [1628 ed.], vol.1, p.266).
“For you
are the Shepherd, you are the doctor, you are the husband, you are the ruler,
you are God on earth” (Christofor Marcellus’ Oration in the Fifth Lateran
Council, 4th session, in J.D. Mansi, Sacorum Conciliorum… Collectio, vol.32,
col.761).
“For it is
not man, but God, who separates the Roman pontiff, who functions not as a
mortal man, but as an almighty God, weighs the needs or benefits of the
churches, and disposes not of human, but of Divine authority” (“The Decretas of
Gregory IX”, Book 1, title 7 , chap.3, in Corpus Juris Canonici [1555-56 ed.],
vol.2, col.203).
“The pope
is the supreme judge of the law of the whole earth…He is not only the eternal
high priest, but the king of all kings and the lord of all lords” ( La Civilta
Catolica, March 18, 1871, guoted in Leonard Woosley Bacon, An Inside View of
the Vatican Council [ American Tract Society ed.], p.229, n.).
“Christ
entrusted his earthly throne to the pontiff-general…for to him belongs all
power in heaven and on earth… therefore, the pontiff-general, who is the vicar
of Christ, has all his authority” (Corpus Juris Canonici [1555-56 ed.], vol. 3,
Extravagantes Communes, Book 1, chap.1, col.29, transl. from Porro Subesse
Romano Pontiff).
“The Pope
is crowned with a triple crown - as the king of heaven, earth and underworld
(hell)“ (Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Biblioteca, "Papa", art.2 [1772-77
ed.], vol.6, p.26).
“All
believers in Christ need to be firmly convinced that the Roman Pontiff is on
the holy papal throne and is the archbishop of all the earth and the successor
of blessed Peter, the first of all the apostles, the true vicar of Jesus
Christ. Blessed Peter was the head of the whole church, the father and teacher
of all the followers of Jesus Christ, and through him the Roman pontiff
received divine power and authority to lead, nourish, shepherd and rule over
the worldwide church of Jesus Christ” (Pastor Aetrenus, publ. in the fourth
session of the Vatican Council, 1870, chap.3, in Philipp Shaff, Creeds of
Christendom [New York: Harper], vol.2, p.262).
“We teach
and determine that it is a dogma revealed to us from above that the Roman
pontiff, being in his chair or performing the duties assigned to him as a
shepherd, doctor and teacher of all Christians, by the power of his supreme
authority determines the teaching of the church in everything that concerns
faith and morality, so that the whole church will listen and obey this
teaching. With the divine help promised to the pope in blessed Peter, he
possesses infallibility and, according to the will of the Divine Redeemer, who
desires that His Church has the exclusive right to determine the doctrine of faith
and morals, the decrees of the Roman pontiff are unchangeable, neither by his
subsequent decrees, nor with the consent of the church“ (ibid., chap.4,
pp.270,271).
Among the
27 statements known as the “Decrees of Hildebrand”, who under the name of Gregory
VII held the papacy from 1073 to 1087, are the following :
2. Only a
Roman pontiff can rightfully bear the title of ruler of the world.
6. No one...
can live under the same roof with an excommunicated person.
9. All
princes can only kiss his feet.
12. The
pope has the power to depose emperors.
18. No one
has the right to review his sayings, while he can consider the decisions of
others.
19. No one
can judge the Pope.
22. The
Catholic Church is infallible. She never made mistakes and never will make them,
for this is what the Holy Scriptures say.
26. No one
can be considered a Catholic without accepting the true teachings of the
Catholic Church.
27. He (the
pope) can release vassals from the dependence of wicked rulers (overlords). (Cesare
Baronius, Annales, 1076, secs.31-33, vol.17 [1869 ed.], pp.405,406).
“They
endowed the pope with the infallibility that only God has. They arrogated to
themselves the divine right to forgive sins. They claim to be able to open and
shut the way to heaven, forgetting that everything is in the hands of God. They
declare that the pope is above all the kings of the earth and that without God
they can free entire nations from their oath dependence and loyalty to their
kings if they do not like these kings. They go directly against God by selling
indulgences for sins, which is the worst of all their blasphemies” (Adam
Clarke, Commentary, on Daniel 7.25).
What does
the prophecy say about the attitude of the little horn towards the people of
God?
“And he
will oppress the saints of the Most High“ (Dan 7.25).
Note.
“According
to these bloody principles, the papacy severely persecuted the people of God.
These persecutions became especially strong starting from the 11th-12th
centuries, and, now weakening, then again intensifying, they continued almost
to the present day, leaving a special page in the history of Christianity“.
After an
open call for the destruction of heretics was made in the canons of Orleans,
the Crusades, the establishment of the Inquisition, cruel attempts to destroy
the Waldensians, the extermination of the Albigensians, mockery of the
Lollards, cruel wars against Bohemia in order to exterminate its inhabitants
who did not wish to obey the pope, burning at the stake Jan Hus and Jerome, as
well as a great many other faithful followers of Christ. Here is just a short
list of everything that the Catholic Church undertook before the Reformation in
order to subdue all the peoples of its power. But even later, the Catholic
Church more than once, with limitless cruelty, fell upon its opponents, as it
was in the Netherlands, the torment and torture of dissidents did not stop
during the reign of Queen Mary, the supporters of the Reformation in Spain and
Italy were exterminated by fire and sword, deceit and open persecution in
Poland, followed by the St. Bartholomew in Paris, the persecution of the
Huguenots and all the atrocities and treachery associated with the repeal of
the Edict of Nantes. Here are just the most famous and noteworthy historical
facts that testify to the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy. “Nor did we
mention the slow and covert murders of faithful Christians by the Holy
Inquisition, whose courts were everywhere” (T.R. Birks, The Four Prophetic
Empires, and the Kingdom of Messiah [1845 ed.] , pp.248,249).
Llorent's
book "History of the Inquisition in Spain" gives an approximate
number of all the victims of the Inquisition in Spain. The author was secretary
of the Holy Inquisition, and we can fully trust this authoritative testimony.
Llorent claims that in Spain alone, more than 300,000 people were killed as a
result of the persecution of the Inquisition, of which 31,912 were burned alive
at the stake.
Millions of
people in Europe were executed for their Christian beliefs.
“The fact
that the Catholic Church has shed more innocent blood than anyone else in the
history of mankind is an indisputable fact for everyone. The documentary
evidence of many of the iniquities of the papacy towards dissenters is so
hidden that it is simply impossible to form a complete idea of how many
people were victims of it, and no imagination can imagine all their suffering” (W.E.H.
Lecky, History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe
[1910 ed.], vol.2, p.32 (see also The Catholic Encyclopedia, p.362) ).
What does
the prophecy testify about the further work of the little horn?
“He even
dreams of abolishing their holidays and the law” (Dan 7.25).
Note.
Here is
what a Catholic author writes about the power of the pope to change divine
commands :
“The Pope
has such authority, power and power that he can modify, explain and interpret
even Divine laws, as he has God's authority and acts as the vicar of God on
earth“ (Lucius Ferraris, Prompta Biblioteca, "Papa", art.2) .
Although
the Ten Commandments, the Law of God, is given unchanged in the Catholic
translation of the Holy Scriptures, believers are taught not from the Bible,
but from the church catechism. From it it’s clear that the Law of God was
changed and remade by the papacy in its own way. Moreover, Catholics are not
only guided by the church's interpretation of the Law of God, but also turn to
the church in all matters of its observance and receive its blessing only if
their behavior and life are in accordance with the will of the church hierarchs.
The second
commandment, which forbids the making and worship of idols and idols, is not
included in the Catholic catechism, and the tenth commandment, which says
"thou shalt not covet", is divided into two commandments.
As evidence
that the Catholic Church, through the power of the pope, has personally changed
the Law of God and that it has appropriated to itself the power, authority and
right to change Divine commands, we invite you to pay attention to the
following quotations from Catholic literature:
“Question:
Do you have evidence that the Catholic Church has the power to establish church
holidays?
Answer: If
she did not have such authority, she would not do what all modern believers
agree with her - she would not replace the observance of Saturday, the seventh
day of the week, with Sunday, the first day of the week, for this change does
not find no scriptural justification (Stephen Keenan, A Doctrinal Catechism,
"On the Obedience Duc to the Church", chap.2, p.174).
Question:
How can you prove that the Roman Catholic Church has the authority to establish
weekends and holidays?
Answer: By
the very fact of changing the celebration of Saturday to the celebration of
Sunday. Even the Protestants do not object to this, although they contradict
themselves by this, for, strictly observing Sunday, they do not recognize all
the main holidays established by the Catholic Church.
Question:
How can you prove it?
Answer: In
view of the fact that they keep Sunday, they thereby recognize the power of
Christ to establish feast days and consider their non-observance as a sin; by
failing to observe all the other precepts of the Roman Church, they are, in
effect, denying the same authority which these days has established” (Henry
Tuberville, An Abridgement of the Christian Doctrine, p.58).
“You can
read the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation and you won't find a single
line confirming the sanctity of Sunday. The Scriptures require the religious
observance of the Sabbath, a day we never keep” (James Cardinal Gibbons, The
Faith of Our Fathers [1917 ed.], pp.72,73).
Until what
time, according to the prophecy, will the power of the little horn last?
“And they
will be delivered into his hand until a time, times and half a time” (Dan
7.25).
What other
Bible prophecy mentions this period?
“And to the
woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the
wilderness in her place from the presence of the serpent, and there she ate for
a time, times, and half a time” ( Rev 12.14).
“And there
was given unto him a mouth speaking proudly and blasphemies, and power was
given unto him to act forty-two months” (Rev 13.5, see Rev 11.2).
“But the
woman fled into the wilderness, where a place had been prepared for her by God,
to be fed there a thousand two hundred and sixty days” (Rev 12.6).
What does
one day mean in biblical prophecy?
One literal
year (Ezek 4.6).
Note.
In the
prophecies of the second, seventh, and eighth chapters of the book of Daniel,
and in most of the prophecies in the book of Revelation, people, animals, and
objects are represented as symbols. By themselves, they do not represent real
events, but in a figurative form they speak of real persons and events. In
accordance with this, the periods of time in these prophecies are also
represented symbolically.
As an
example, we can take a verse from the 4th chapter of the book of the prophet
Ezekiel, where the prophet was to perform a symbolic act for forty days, each
of which symbolized one literal year.
In
addition, it should be noted that the periods of time referred to in the
seventh and eighth chapters of the book of Daniel - 1260 and 2300 days - do not
correspond in meaning to any known historical periods of time, for no such long
periods of time in history were calculated in days. This supports the conclusion
that these numbers denote time symbolically and not literally. It must also be
borne in mind that if we recognize a period of 2300 days as a whole, and at the
same time 490 years from the ninth chapter of Daniel are part of this period,
then it is obvious that the period of 2300 days (evenings and mornings) must be
considered symbolically.
"Time"
in the prophecy is identified with the year (see Dan 11.13); times with two
years means three and half-time respectively means three and a half years. Obviously,
the same applies to forty-two months. Since these two periods, in the above
texts, are equal in duration to 1260 days, it is obvious that this is a
prophetic year and consists of 360 days, or 12 months of 30 days each. Since in
biblical prophecy the day symbolizes the year, this period of time indicates
the length of time during which the little horn (papacy) will exalt itself over
the holy, festive times and the Law of God, and is 1260 years.
Decree of
Emperor Justinian, issued in 533 AD. , recognizes the pope as "head of all
churches" (Justinianus Codex, Book 1, title 1, sec.4, in the Civil Law,
tralsl. by S.P. Scott, vol.12, p.12). The crushing defeat of the Ostrogoths at
the siege of Rome five years later, in 538, was a mortal blow to the independence
of the supporters of the teachings of Arius, who then dominated all the Italic
churches. This year is a significant milestone in the formation and exaltation
of the pope over the entire Christian world. Thus, this year can rightly be
considered the year of the beginning of the countdown of the prophetic period
of 1260 years, which ended in 1798. The immediate result of the uprising
against papal authority during the French Revolution was the capture by the
French army under the leadership of Marshal Berthier in February 1798 of Rome
and the capture of the pope, who died a year later while in exile in the city
of Valencia, in France. The year 1798, in which the papacy was mortally
wounded, may therefore be regarded as the last year of this prophetic period.
What fate
will eventually befall the little horn?
“Then the
judges will sit down and take away from him the power to destroy and destroy to
the end” (Dan 7.26).
To whom
will the kingdom and power belong?
“And the
kingdom and dominion and majesty of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be
given to the people of the saints of the Most High” (v.27).
