Dissertations on the True Inheritance of the Saints

THE BEGINNING OF THE LITTLE HORN, OR PAPACY

Daniel says it came up among the ten horns of the Roman empire, meaning the ten kings; and that he should be diverse or different from the ten. Then he would subdue three kings. Also, Daniel 11:31: “They shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and place the abomination that maketh desolate.” Paul agrees with Daniel 2 Thessalonians 2:3-8: “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.” Verse 4: his character. Verse 5: “Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you of these things? And now ye know what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time: for the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now hindereth will hinder, until he be taken out of the way; and then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming.” DTIS 34.2

John says of the same power, Revelation 13:2: “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, (the Grecian kingdom,) and his feet were as the feet of a bear, (Persian,) and his mouth as the mouth of a lion, (Babylon;) and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.” Also, in Revelation 17:12, 13: “And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.” DTIS 35.1

In these passages we must expect to get a clue to know when and where we shall find the beginning of the twelve hundred and sixty years. DTIS 35.2

1. We can satisfy any mind that it was among the ten kings; therefore, we cannot begin it before about A.D. 538. Then the ten kings became, of course, of one mind; for when they were all converted to the Christian faith, then how natural that they should agree and give their kingdom unto the beast until the words of God shall be fulfilled. DTIS 35.3

2. The three kingdoms were then plucked up, — the Heruli, Vandals, and Ostrogoths, — the last of which was the Roman kingdom, in 538. DTIS 36.1

3. Justinian, emperor of Constantinople, (called the dragon,) gave the pope of Rome “his power,” — meaning a code of laws, on which his power was established, and which were continued until the French abolished them, when Italy was made a republic, in 1798, — “and his seat,” — the city of Rome, the capital of the Roman empire, — “and great authority:” he made the bishop, or pope, head over all others, both in the Greek as well as in the Latin churches. DTIS 36.2

4. The remainder of the kings acknowledged the supremacy of the pope, and became subject to his ecclesiastical domination, about the same time. Thus was the rise and establishment of that power, which Daniel calls the “little horn,” and the “abomination that maketh desolate;” Paul calls, “the man of sin,” “that wicked;” John calls the same power, “beast,” and “women,” “mystery Babylon, mother of harlots.” DTIS 36.3

This power, thus described by these inspired prophets, as they tell us, was to exercise power over the kings of the earth, and war against the saints, “time, times, and a half,” or “forty-two months,” which, in prophetic language, means twelve hundred and sixty years. If this time began when the emperor Justinian subdued the Ostrogoths and Arians in Italy, and gave power to the bishop of Rome to rule over all others, both east and west, and when the city of Rome was made the seat of papal power, and when that power began to be exercised over the kings of the ancient Roman empire, and a war of extermination began against the saints, who would not yield obedience to the idolatrous worship of papacy; then it must have had its rise in A.D. 538, to which add twelve hundred and sixty, and it will end in A.D. 1798. We will now see if the prophecy of the end will warrant us in the beginning. DTIS 36.4