Facts of Faith

The Little Horn

“I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn.” Daniel 7:8. Let us now consider all the characteristics this prophecy gives to the little horn, and we shall be forced by weight of evidence to settle on just one power as the fulfillment of these predictions. FAFA 35.5

(1) It was to come up “among” the ten European kingdoms into which the Roman Empire was split. (V, 8) (2) It “shall rise” to power “after them.” (V, 24) (3) “And he shall be diverse from the first” ten kingdoms; that is, different from ordinary, secular kingdoms. (V, 24) Any one acquainted with history knows that the Papacy is the only power that answers to all these specifications. It rose “among” the kingdoms of Western Rome, “after” they were established in A. D. 476, and it differed from a purely civil power. But the angel gives still another mark of identity to the little horn. (4) Before it “there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots.” (V. 8.) That is, in coming up it pushed out before it three of the former horns by the roots. Thus three kingdoms were to be plucked up to give place for the Papacy. This prediction found its exact fulfillment in the destruction of the three Arian kingdoms: the Heruli, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths, as we now shall see. Rev. E. B. Elliott, M.A., says: FAFA 35.6

“I might cite three that were eradicated from before the Pope out of the list first given; viz., the Heruli under Odoacer, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths. “Horae Apocalypticae,” Vol. III, p. 168, Note 1. London: 1862. FAFA 36.1

In former days crowns of conquered kings were placed on the head of the conqueror. (2 Samuel 12:30.) It is symbolically fitting, therefore, that the pope wears a triple crown. Bishop Thomas Newton, speaking of the power that destroyed the three horns, says: “And the pope hath in a manner pointed himself out for the person by wearing the triple crown. “Dissertations on the Prophecies,” p. 220. London. FAFA 36.2

A brief statement of the political and religious conditions in the Roman world is necessary here in order that the reader may better grasp the real situation in which these three Arian kingdoms found themselves. After Constantine had removed the seat of the empire from Rome to Constantinople, the Roman people were (at intervals) ruled from that Eastern capital, until the pope had grown to power in Rome. While the Papacy was gradually gaining control over the people of the West, the Eastern emperors were courting the good will of the popes in order to hold their Western subjects. FAFA 36.3

From the time of Constantine to that of Justinian there was a deadly struggle between the two largest factions of the Church, the Catholics and the Arians. Often there was terrible strife, and even bloodshed. “The streets of Alexandria and of Constantinople were deluged with blood by the partisans of rival bishops.” — “History of Christianity,” H. H. Milman, Book III, chap. 5, par. 2, p. 410. New York: 2-vol. ed., 1881. Most of the barbarian nations into which the Roman Empire was now split had accepted the Catholic faith. But the Heruli, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths were Arians. FAFA 36.4

While the emperors courted the help of the popes for political reasons, the popes sought the assistance of the emperors to destroy the Arians. Theodosius, the Emperor of the East, had already (380-395 A. D.) given “fifteen stern edicts against heresy, one on the average for every year of his reign.... So began the campaign which ended in the virtual extinction of Arianism in the Roman world.” — “Italy and her Invaders,” Thomas Hodgkin, Vol. I, pp. 368, 369. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 8-vol. ed. of 1899. FAFA 37.1

In A. D. 380, the Emperor Theodosius issued an edict which said: “We order those who follow this law to assume the name of Catholic Christians: we pronounce all others to be mad and foolish, and we order that they bear the ignominious name of heretics.... These are to be visited ... by the stroke of our own authority.” — “Italy and her Invaders,” T. Hodgkin, Vol. I, p. 183. Two-vol. ed. of 1880. FAFA 37.2

“Thus did the reign and legislation of Theodosius mark out the lines of future relationship between Pope and Emperor.” — Id., p. 187. FAFA 37.3

Embassies passed continually between the pope of Rome and the emperor of Constantinople, and in 381 A. D. Theodosius arranged for a general council of the clergy at Constantinople, which finally established the Catholic doctrine. “To him also, at least as much as to Constantine, must be attributed the permanent alliance between the Church and the State.” — Id., pp. 182, 183. FAFA 37.4