Dr. Martin Luther BIBLE
© DrMartinLuther.info by John Biermanski, Germany 2024 - DATENSCHUTZERKLÄRUNG - IMPRESSUM - old webside: www.sabbat.biz

The little Horn 2

Daniel 7, verse 23

From   the   historical   testimony   above   cited,   it   is   clearly   established   that   the   three   horns   plucked   up   were   the   powers   mentioned;   viz., the Heruli in A.D. 493, the Vandals in 534, and the Ostrogoths in 538. After   pointing   out   to   us   the   place   occupied   by   this   beast   as   a   world   power,   and   giving   the   number   of   the   nations   which   he   should annihilate because they oppose him (verses 23, 24), Daniel next describes the attitude of this beast toward God and His saints. 1.   "He   shall   speak   great   words   against   the   Most   High."   Has   the   papacy   done   this?   Here   are   a   few   of   the   Pope‘s   self-accepted   titles: "Vicegerent   of   the   Son   of   God,"   "Our   Lord   God,   the   Pope."   „Another   God   upon   earth,“   „King   of   the   world,“   „King   of   kings   and   Lord   of lords.“   Said   Pope   Nicholas   to   Emperor   Michael,   "The   Pope,   who   is   called   God   by   Constantine,   can   never   be   bound   or   released   by   man; for   God   cannot   be   judged   by   man."   Is   there   need   of   bolder   blasphemy   than   this?   Listen   also   to   the   adulation   the   popes   have   received from   their   followers   without   rebuke.   A   Venetian   prelate   in   the   fourth   session   of   the   Lateran,   addressed   the   Pope   as   follows:   „You   are our   Shephard,   our   Physician,   in   short,   a   second   God   upon   earth.“   Another   bishop   called   him   „the   lion   of   the   tribe   of   Judah,   the promised   Saviour.“   Lord   Anthony   Pucci,   in   the   Fifth   Lateran,   said   to   the   Pope,   "The   sight   of   thy   divine   majesty   does   not   a   little   terrify me;   for   I   am   not   ignorant   that   all   power   both   in   heaven   and   in   earth   is   given   unto   you;   that   the   prophetic   saying   is   fulfilled   in   you,   'All the   kings   of   the   earth   shall   worship   him,   and   nations   shall   serve   him.'"   (See   Oswald's   Kingdom   Which   Shall   Not   Be   Destroyed,   pp.   97- 99.)   Again,   Dr.   Clarke,   in   verse   25,   says:   "'He   shall   speak   as   if   he   were   God.'   So   St.   Jerome   quotes   from   Symmachus.   To   none   can   this apply   so   well   or   so   fully   as   to   the   popes   of   Rome.   They   have   assumed   infallibility,   which   belongs   only   to   God.   They   profess   to   forgive sins,   which   belongs   only   to   God.   They   profess   to   open   and   shut   heaven,   which   belongs   only   to   God.   They   profess   to   be   higher   than   all the   kings   of   the   earth,   which   belongs   only   to   God.   And   they   go   beyond    God   in   pretending   to   loose   whole   nations   from   their   oath   of allegiance   to   their   kings,   when   such   kings   do   not   please   them.   And   they   go   against    God   when   they   give   indulgences   for   sin.   This   is   the worst of all blasphemies." 2.   "And   shall   wear   out   the   saints   of   the   Most   High."   Has   the   papacy   done   this?   For   the   mere   information   of   any   student   of   church history,   no   answer   need   here   be   given.   All   know   that   for   long   years   the   papal   church   has   pursued   its   relentless   work   against   the   true followers   of   God.   Chapter   after   chapter   might   be   given,   did   our   limited   space   permit.   Wars,   crusades,   massacres,   inquisitions,   and persecutions of all kinds, - these were their weapons of extinction. Scott's   Church   History   says:   "No   computation   can   reach   the   numbers   who   have   been   put   to   death,   in   different   ways,   on   account   of their   maintaining   the   profession   of   the   Gospel,   and   opposing   the   corruptions   of   the   Church   of   Rome.   A   million    of   poor   Waldenses perished   in   France;   nine   hundred   thousand    orthodox   Christians   were   slain   in   less   than   thirty   years   after   the   institution   of   the   order   of the   Jesuits.   The   Duke   of   Alva   boasted   of   having   put   to   death   in   the   Netherlands   thirty-six   thousand    by   the   hand   of   the   common executioner   during   the   space   of   a   few   years.   The   Inquisition   destroyed,   by   various   tortures,   one   hundred   and   fifty   thousand    within thirty   years.   These   are   a   few   specimens,   and   but   a   few,   of   those   which   history   has   recorded.   But   the   total   amount   will   never   be   known till the earth shall disclose her blood, and no more cover her slain." Commenting   on   the   prophecy   that   the   little   horn   should   “wear   out   the   saints   of   the   Most   High,”   Barnes,   in   his   “Notes   on   Dan.   vii.   25,” says:   “Can   anyone   doubt   that   this   is   true   of   the   papacy?   The   Inquisition,   the   persecutions   of   the   Waldenses,   the   ravages   of   the   Duke   of Alva,   the   fires   of   Smithfield,   the   tortures   at   Goa   {India}   –   indeed,   the   whole   history   of   the   papacy   may   be   appealed   to   in   proof   that   this is   applicable   to   that   power.   If   anything   could   have   worn   out   the   saints   of   the   Most   High   –   could   have   cut   them   off   from   the   earth   so that   evangelical   religion   would   have   become   extinct   –   it   would   have   been   the   persecutions   of   the   papal   power.   In   the   year   1208   a crusade   was   proclaimed   by   Pope   Innocent   III   against   the   Waldenses   and   Albigenses,   in   which   a   million   men   perished.   From   the beginning   of   the   order   of   Jesuits   in   the   year   1540   to   1580,   nine   hundred   thousand   were   destroyed.   One   hundred   and   fifty   thousand perished   by   the   Inquisition   in   thirty   years.   In   the   Low   Countries   fifty   thousand   persons   were   hanged,   beheaded,   burned,   or   buried alive,   for   the   crime   of   heresy,   within   the   space   of   thirty-eight   years   from   the   edict   of   Charles   V   against   the   Protestants   to   the   peace   of Chateau    Cambresis    in    1559.”    …    (See    Buck's    “Theological    Dictionary,”    art.,    “Persecutions;”    Oswald's    “Kingdom,”    etc.,    pp.    107-133; Dowling's   “History   of   Romanism;”   “Foxe's   Book   of   Martyrs;”   Charlotte   Elizabeth's   “Martyrology;”   “The   Wars   of   the   Huguenots;”   “The Great   Red   Dragon,”   by   Anthony   Gavin,   formerly   one   of   the   Roman   Catholic   priests   of   Saragossa,   Spain;   histories   of   the   Reformation, etc..) To   parry   the   force   of   this   mass   of   damaging   testimony,   papists   deny   that   the   church   has   ever   persecuted   anyone;   it   has   been   the secular   power;   the   church   has   only   passed   the   decision   upon   the   questions   of   heresy,   and   then   turned   the   offenders   over   to   the   civil power,   to   be   dealt   with   according   to   the   pleasure   of   the   secular   court.   The   impious   hypocrisy   of   this   claim   is   transparent   enough   to make   it   an   absolute   insult   to   common   sense.   In   those   days   of   persecution,   what   was   the   secular   power?   -   Simply   a   tool   in   the   hand   of the   church,   and   under   its   control,   to   do   its   bidding,   And   when   the   church   delivered   its   prisoners   to   the   executioners   to   be   destroyed, with   fiendish   mockery   use   of   the   following   formula:   And   we   do   leave   thee   to   the   secular   arm ,   and   to   the   power   of   the   secular   court ; but   at   the   same   time   do   most   earnestly   beseech   that   court   so   to   moderate   its   sentence   as   not   to   touch   thy   blood ,   nor   to   put   thy   life   in any   sort   of   danger .”   And   then,   as   intended,   the   unfortunate   victims   of   popish   hate   were   immediately   executed.   (Gedde's   “Tracts   on Popery”, “View of the Court of Inquisition in Portugal,” p. 446; “Limborch,” Vol. II, p. 289.) But   the   false   claims   of   papists   in   this   respect   have   been   flatly   denied   and   disproved   by   one   of   their   own   standard   writers,   Cardinal Bellarmine,   who   was   born   in   Tuscany   in   1542,   and   who,   after   his   death   in   1621,   came   very   near   being   placed   in   the   calendar   of   saints on   account   of   his   great   services   in   behalf   of   popery.   This   man,   on   one   occasion,   under   the   spur   of   controversy,   betrayed   himself   into an   admission   of   the   real   facts   in   the   case.   Luther   having   said   that   the   church   (meaning   the   true   church)   never   burned   heretics, Bellarmine,   understanding   it   of   the   Romish   (Roman   Catholic)   Church,   made   answer:   “This   argument   proves   not   the   sentiment,   but   the ignorance   or   impudence   of   Luther;   for   as   almost   an   infinite   number    were   either   burned   or   otherwise   put   to   death,   Luther   either   did   not know   it,   and   was   therefore   ignorant;   or,   if   be   knew   it,   he   was   convicted   of   impudence   and   falsehood;   for   that   heretics   were   often burned by the church ,  may be proved by adducing a few from many examples.” … Pagan   Rome   persecuted   relentlessly   the   Christian   church,   and   it   is   estimated   that   three   million    Christians   perished   in   the   first   three centuries,   yet   it   is   said   that   the   primitive   Christians   prayed   for   the   continuance   of   imperial   Rome;   for   they   knew   that   when   this   form of   government   should   cease,   another   far   worse   persecuting   power   would   arise,   which   would   literally,   as   this   prophecy   declares,   “wear out   the   saints   of   the   Most   High.”   Pagan   Rome   could   slay   the   infants,   but   spare   the   mothers;   but   papal   Rome   slew   both   mothers   and infants   together.   No   age,   no   sex,   no   condition   in   life,   was   exempt   from   her   relentless   rage.   “When   Herod   died,”   says   a   forcible   writer, “he   went   down   to   the   grave   with   infamy;   and   earth   hat   one   murderer,   one   persecutor,   less,   and   hell   one   victim   more.   O   Rome!   what will not be thy hell, and that of thy votaries, when thy judgement shall have come!” „After   describing   the   terrible   career   of   the   little   horn,   and   stating   that   the   saints   should   be   given   into   his   hand   for   1260   years, bringing   us   down   to   1798,   verse   26   declares:   „But   the   judgment   shall   sit,   and   they   shall   take   away   his   dominion,   to   consume   and   to destroy   it   unto   the   end.“   In   verse   10   of   the   same   chapter   we   have   substantially   the   same   expression   relative   to   the   Judgment:   „The judgment   was   set.“   It   would   seem   consistent   to   suppose   that   the   same   judgment   is   referred   to   in   both   instances.   But   the   sublime scene   described   in   verse   10,   is   the   opening   of   the   investigative   judgment   in   the   sanctuary   in   heaven,   as   will   appear   in   remarks   on   Dan. viii.   14   and   ix.   25-27.   The   opening   of   this   judgment   scene   is   located   by   the   prophecy   at   the   close   of   the   great   prophetic   period   of   2,300 years,   which   terminated   in   1844.   Four   years   after   this,   in   1848,   the   great   revolution   which   shook   so   many   thrones   in   Europe,   drove   the Pope   also   from   his   dominions,   and   his   restoration   shortly   after   was   due   to   foreign   aid.   8   Dec.,   1854,   the   dogma   of   the   Immaculate Conception   was   decreed   by   the   Pope.   21   July,   1870,   in   the   great   OEcumenical   council   assembled   at   Rome,   it   was   deliberately   decreed, by   a   vote   of   538   against   2,   that   the   Pope   was   infallible.   In   the   same   year,   France,   by   whose   bayonets   the   Pope   was   kept   upon   his throne,   was   crushed   by   Prussia,   the   the   last   prop   was   taken   from   under   the   papacy.   Then   Victor   Emmanuel,   seeing   his   opportunity   to carry   out   the   long-cherished   dream   of   a   united   Italy,   seized   Rome   to   make   it   the   capital   of   his   kingdom.   To   his   troops,   under   General Cadorna,    Rome    surrendered,    20    Sept.,        1870.        The    Pope‘s    temporal    power    was    thus    wholly    taken    away,    nevermore,    said    Victor Emmanuel,   to   be   restored;   and   since   that   time,   the   popes,   shutting   themselves   up   in   the   Vatican,   have   styled   themselves   „prisoners.“ His   dominion   was   to   be   consumed   unto   the   end,   implying   that   when   his   power   as   a   civil   ruler   should   be   wholly   destroyed,   the   end would not be far off. The      overthrow   of   the   papacy   in   1798,   marked   the   conclusion   of   the   prophetic   period   of   1,260   years,   and   constituted   the   „deadly wound“   prophesied      in   Rev.   xiii.   3,   to   come   upon   this   power;   but   this   deadly   wound   was   to   be   „healed.“   In   1800   another   Pope   was elected;   his   palace   and   temporal   dominion   were   restored,   and   every   prerogative   except,   as   Mr.   Croly   says,   that   of   a   systematic persecutor,   was   again   under   his   control;   and   thus   the   wound   was   healed.   But   since   1870,   he   has   enjoyed   no   prestige   as   a   temporal prince among the nations of the earth.“ („Daniel and the Revelation“   by Uriah Smith, pp. 148, 149)

Let There Be Light / Rekindling the Reformation - Walter Veith

Dr. Martin Luther BIBLE

The little Horn 2

Daniel 7, verse 23

From   the   historical   testimony   above   cited,   it   is clearly   established   that   the   three   horns   plucked up   were   the   powers   mentioned;   viz.,   the   Heruli in     A.D.     493,     the     Vandals     in     534,     and     the Ostrogoths in 538. After   pointing   out   to   us   the   place   occupied   by this    beast    as    a    world    power,    and    giving    the number      of      the      nations      which      he      should annihilate   because   they   oppose   him   (verses   23, 24),    Daniel    next    describes    the    attitude    of    this beast toward God and His saints. 1.   "He   shall   speak   great   words   against   the   Most High."   Has   the   papacy   done   this?   Here   are   a   few of   the   Pope‘s   self-accepted   titles:   "Vicegerent   of the    Son    of    God,"    "Our    Lord    God,    the    Pope." „Another   God   upon   earth,“   „King   of   the   world,“ „King    of    kings    and    Lord    of    lords.“    Said    Pope Nicholas   to   Emperor   Michael,   "The   Pope,   who   is called   God   by   Constantine,   can   never   be   bound or   released   by   man;   for   God   cannot   be   judged   by man."   Is   there   need   of   bolder   blasphemy   than this?   Listen   also   to   the   adulation   the   popes   have received   from   their   followers   without   rebuke.   A Venetian    prelate    in    the    fourth    session    of    the Lateran,   addressed   the   Pope   as   follows:   „You   are our   Shephard,   our   Physician,   in   short,   a   second God   upon   earth.“   Another   bishop   called   him   „the lion   of   the   tribe   of   Judah,   the   promised   Saviour.“ Lord   Anthony   Pucci,   in   the   Fifth   Lateran,   said   to the   Pope,   "The   sight   of   thy   divine   majesty   does not   a   little   terrify   me;   for   I   am   not   ignorant   that all   power   both   in   heaven   and   in   earth   is   given unto   you;   that   the   prophetic   saying   is   fulfilled   in you,   'All   the   kings   of   the   earth   shall   worship   him, and    nations    shall    serve    him.'"    (See    Oswald's Kingdom   Which   Shall   Not   Be   Destroyed,   pp.   97- 99.)   Again,   Dr.   Clarke,   in   verse   25,   says:   "'He   shall speak   as   if   he   were   God.'   So   St.   Jerome   quotes from   Symmachus.   To   none   can   this   apply   so   well or   so   fully   as   to   the   popes   of   Rome.   They   have assumed   infallibility,   which   belongs   only   to   God. They   profess   to   forgive   sins,   which   belongs   only to   God.   They   profess   to   open   and   shut   heaven, which   belongs   only   to   God.   They   profess   to   be higher    than    all    the    kings    of    the    earth,    which belongs   only   to   God.   And   they   go   beyond    God   in pretending    to    loose    whole    nations    from    their oath    of    allegiance    to    their    kings,    when    such kings   do   not   please   them.   And   they   go   against   God   when   they   give   indulgences   for   sin.   This   is the worst of all blasphemies." 2.    "And    shall    wear    out    the    saints    of    the    Most High."   Has   the   papacy   done   this?   For   the   mere information   of   any   student   of   church   history,   no answer    need    here    be    given.    All    know    that    for long    years    the    papal    church    has    pursued    its relentless    work    against    the    true    followers    of God.   Chapter   after   chapter   might   be   given,   did our     limited     space     permit.     Wars,     crusades, massacres,   inquisitions,   and   persecutions   of   all kinds, - these were their weapons of extinction. Scott's    Church    History    says:    "No    computation can   reach   the   numbers   who   have   been   put   to death,    in    different    ways,    on    account    of    their maintaining    the    profession    of    the    Gospel,    and opposing   the   corruptions   of   the   Church   of   Rome. A   million    of   poor   Waldenses   perished   in   France; nine   hundred   thousand    orthodox   Christians   were slain     in     less     than     thirty     years     after     the institution   of   the   order   of   the   Jesuits.   The   Duke of   Alva   boasted   of   having   put   to   death   in   the Netherlands   thirty-six   thousand    by   the   hand   of the   common   executioner   during   the   space   of   a few   years.   The   Inquisition   destroyed,   by   various tortures,   one   hundred   and   fifty   thousand    within thirty   years.   These   are   a   few   specimens,   and   but a   few,   of   those   which   history   has   recorded.   But the   total   amount   will   never   be   known   till   the earth    shall    disclose    her    blood,    and    no    more cover her slain." Commenting    on    the    prophecy    that    the    little horn   should   “wear   out   the   saints   of   the   Most High,”   Barnes,   in   his   “Notes   on   Dan.   vii.   25,”   says: “Can    anyone    doubt    that    this    is    true    of    the papacy?   The   Inquisition,   the   persecutions   of   the Waldenses,   the   ravages   of   the   Duke   of   Alva,   the fires   of   Smithfield,   the   tortures   at   Goa   {India}   indeed,   the   whole   history   of   the   papacy   may   be appealed   to   in   proof   that   this   is   applicable   to that   power.   If   anything   could   have   worn   out   the saints   of   the   Most   High   –   could   have   cut   them   off from   the   earth   so   that   evangelical   religion   would have   become   extinct   –   it   would   have   been   the persecutions    of    the    papal    power.    In    the    year 1208   a   crusade   was   proclaimed   by   Pope   Innocent III    against    the    Waldenses    and    Albigenses,    in which     a     million     men     perished.     From     the beginning   of   the   order   of   Jesuits   in   the   year   1540 to   1580,   nine   hundred   thousand   were   destroyed. One   hundred   and   fifty   thousand   perished   by   the Inquisition   in   thirty   years.   In   the   Low   Countries fifty   thousand   persons   were   hanged,   beheaded, burned,   or   buried   alive,   for   the   crime   of   heresy, within   the   space   of   thirty-eight   years   from   the edict   of   Charles   V   against   the   Protestants   to   the peace    of    Chateau    Cambresis    in    1559.”    …    (See Buck's           “Theological           Dictionary,”           art., “Persecutions;”    Oswald's    “Kingdom,”    etc.,    pp. 107-133;      Dowling's      “History      of      Romanism;” “Foxe's    Book    of    Martyrs;”    Charlotte    Elizabeth's “Martyrology;”    “The    Wars    of    the    Huguenots;” “The    Great    Red    Dragon,”    by    Anthony    Gavin, formerly   one   of   the   Roman   Catholic   priests   of Saragossa,   Spain;   histories   of   the   Reformation, etc..) To    parry    the    force    of    this    mass    of    damaging testimony,   papists   deny   that   the   church   has   ever persecuted    anyone;    it    has    been    the    secular power;   the   church   has   only   passed   the   decision upon   the   questions   of   heresy,   and   then   turned the   offenders   over   to   the   civil   power,   to   be   dealt with    according    to    the    pleasure    of    the    secular court.    The    impious    hypocrisy    of    this    claim    is transparent    enough    to    make    it    an    absolute insult     to     common     sense.     In     those     days     of persecution,    what    was    the    secular    power?    - Simply    a    tool    in    the    hand    of    the    church,    and under   its   control,   to   do   its   bidding,   And   when the     church     delivered     its     prisoners     to     the executioners     to     be     destroyed,     with     fiendish mockery   use   of   the   following   formula:   And   we do    leave    thee    to    the    secular    arm ,    and    to    the power   of   the   secular   court ;   but   at   the   same   time do    most    earnestly    beseech    that    court    so    to moderate   its   sentence   as   not   to   touch   thy   blood , nor   to   put   thy   life   in   any   sort   of   danger .”   And then,    as    intended,    the    unfortunate    victims    of popish      hate      were      immediately      executed. (Gedde's   “Tracts   on   Popery”,   “View   of   the   Court of    Inquisition    in    Portugal,”    p.    446;    “Limborch,” Vol. II, p. 289.) But    the    false    claims    of    papists    in    this    respect have   been   flatly   denied   and   disproved   by   one   of their   own   standard   writers,   Cardinal   Bellarmine, who   was   born   in   Tuscany   in   1542,   and   who,   after his   death   in   1621,   came   very   near   being   placed in   the   calendar   of   saints   on   account   of   his   great services   in   behalf   of   popery.   This   man,   on   one occasion,      under      the      spur      of      controversy, betrayed   himself   into   an   admission   of   the   real facts    in    the    case.    Luther    having    said    that    the church   (meaning   the   true   church)   never   burned heretics,    Bellarmine,    understanding    it    of    the Romish   (Roman   Catholic)   Church,   made   answer: “This   argument   proves   not   the   sentiment,   but the    ignorance    or    impudence    of    Luther;    for    as almost   an   infinite   number    were   either   burned   or otherwise    put    to    death,    Luther    either    did    not know    it,    and    was    therefore    ignorant;    or,    if    be knew    it,    he    was    convicted    of    impudence    and falsehood;   for   that   heretics   were   often   burned by   the   church ,    may   be   proved   by   adducing   a   few from many examples.” … Pagan       Rome       persecuted       relentlessly       the Christian   church,   and   it   is   estimated   that   three million     Christians    perished    in    the    first    three centuries,     yet     it     is     said     that     the     primitive Christians      prayed      for      the      continuance      of imperial    Rome;    for    they    knew    that    when    this form   of   government   should   cease,   another   far worse    persecuting    power    would    arise,    which would   literally,   as   this   prophecy   declares,   “wear out   the   saints   of   the   Most   High.”   Pagan   Rome could   slay   the   infants,   but   spare   the   mothers; but   papal   Rome   slew   both   mothers   and   infants together.    No    age,    no    sex,    no    condition    in    life, was    exempt    from    her    relentless    rage.    “When Herod    died,”    says    a    forcible    writer,    “he    went down   to   the   grave   with   infamy;   and   earth   hat one   murderer,   one   persecutor,   less,   and   hell   one victim   more.   O   Rome!   what   will   not   be   thy   hell, and   that   of   thy   votaries,   when   thy   judgement shall have come!” „After   describing   the   terrible   career   of   the   little horn,   and   stating   that   the   saints   should   be   given into   his   hand   for   1260   years,   bringing   us   down   to 1798,   verse   26   declares:   „But   the   judgment   shall sit,   and   they   shall   take   away   his   dominion,   to consume    and    to    destroy    it    unto    the    end.“    In verse      10      of      the      same      chapter      we      have substantially   the   same   expression   relative   to   the Judgment:    „The    judgment    was    set.“    It    would seem     consistent     to     suppose     that     the     same judgment   is   referred   to   in   both   instances.   But the   sublime   scene   described   in   verse   10,   is   the opening    of    the    investigative    judgment    in    the sanctuary   in   heaven,   as   will   appear   in   remarks on   Dan.   viii.   14   and   ix.   25-27.   The   opening   of   this judgment    scene    is    located    by    the    prophecy    at the   close   of   the   great   prophetic   period   of   2,300 years,    which    terminated    in    1844.    Four    years after    this,    in    1848,    the    great    revolution    which shook    so    many    thrones    in    Europe,    drove    the Pope      also      from      his      dominions,      and      his restoration   shortly   after   was   due   to   foreign   aid. 8    Dec.,    1854,    the    dogma    of    the    Immaculate Conception    was    decreed    by    the    Pope.    21    July, 1870,       in       the       great       OEcumenical       council assembled   at   Rome,   it   was   deliberately   decreed, by   a   vote   of   538   against   2,   that   the   Pope   was infallible.    In    the    same    year,    France,    by    whose bayonets    the    Pope    was    kept    upon    his    throne, was   crushed   by   Prussia,   the   the   last   prop   was taken     from     under     the     papacy.     Then     Victor Emmanuel,   seeing   his   opportunity   to   carry   out the     long-cherished     dream     of     a     united     Italy, seized     Rome     to     make     it     the     capital     of     his kingdom.   To   his   troops,   under   General   Cadorna, Rome   surrendered,   20   Sept.,      1870.      The   Pope‘s temporal    power    was    thus    wholly    taken    away, nevermore,      said      Victor      Emmanuel,      to      be restored;     and     since     that     time,     the     popes, shutting    themselves    up    in    the    Vatican,    have styled   themselves   „prisoners.“   His   dominion   was to    be    consumed    unto    the    end,    implying    that when   his   power   as   a   civil   ruler   should   be   wholly destroyed, the end would not be far off. The      overthrow   of   the   papacy   in   1798,   marked the   conclusion   of   the   prophetic   period   of   1,260 years,     and     constituted     the     „deadly     wound“ prophesied        in    Rev.    xiii.    3,    to    come    upon    this power;     but     this     deadly     wound     was     to     be „healed.“   In   1800   another   Pope   was   elected;   his palace    and    temporal    dominion    were    restored, and   every   prerogative   except,   as   Mr.   Croly   says, that     of     a     systematic     persecutor,     was     again under    his    control;    and    thus    the    wound    was healed.     But     since     1870,     he     has     enjoyed     no prestige   as   a   temporal   prince   among   the   nations of the earth.“ („Daniel    and    the    Revelation“     by    Uriah    Smith,    pp. 148, 149)

Let There Be Light /

Rekindling the Reformation

- Walter Veith

© DrMartinLuther.info by John Biermanski, Germany 2024  - DATENSCHUTZERKLÄRUNG - IMPRESSUM - old webside: www.sabbat.biz