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The Number and the Name —
Vicarius Filii Dei and the
AN UNUSUAL STATEMENT—On pp. 85-86 of the June 2002 Senior
Sabbath School Lesson Quarterly (reprinted below), several remarkable
claims are made:
(1) The number 666, in Revelation
13:17-18, could apply to the names of lots of people. That is not true. The
number can only be applied to a relatively few individuals. Select 100
names and see how many fit 666; probably only one or two.
(2) The number probably
only refers to "humanity"; that is, all human beings. We will let
the official English Bible of the Roman Catholic Church refute that claim:
"Six hundred
sixty-six. The numeral letters of his name shall make up this
number."—Revelation 13:18 in the Rheims-Douay (Rheims-Douai) Bible.
THE NUMBER OF A MAN—According to the Bible, it is the
number of a certain human being—a "man,"—not everyone in the
world! To say it is everyone makes a mockery of Revelation 13:17-18. Read
it again. According to the Quarterly, everyone is the beast power!
What "man" would
that be? By the magnitude of the description in Daniel 7 and Revelation 12
and 13, the name would obviously apply to the official title of a
"man" who, by virtue of his office, could continue on, century
after century. That man would be identified as the beast of Revelation 13
and its counterpart, the little horn of Daniel 7. The Bible evidence for
the identification of the last verse in Revelation 13 is conclusive.
But, since 1941, there has,
in addition to our denomination, also been another organization which has
denied that those verses do not apply to the pope.
(In all of the quotations,
italics are theirs and bold and bracketed comments are ours.)
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THE SENIOR SABBATH
SCHOOL QUARTERLY
FOR SECOND QUARTER, 2002
Thursday
June 6
THE MARK
AND NUMBER OF THE BEAST (Rev 13:16-18; 14:1).
What is
John's purpose in mentioning the mark and number of the beast? Rev.
13:16-18.
Why do we
say that those who keep Sunday do not have the mark of the beast now? Why
is it important that we make this point clear?
The number of the
beast. The mark, the name, and the number of the beast are closely
related (Rev. 13: 17). Many suggestions have been made to explain the
meaning of 666. Here we must be very careful. The Bible does not say that
the number is the added numerical value of the letters of a name. Some
see in the meaning of 666 a symbol of humanity separated from God. Humans
were created on the sixth day, and the number can stand as a symbol for
humanity without divine rest (the seventh day). Humans have claimed
ultimate independence from God (the cause of their fall), and even now
they do not want to find rest in Christ.
Over the years,
numerous Bible students have come up with various explanations for the
666. Some found significance in the fact that if you added up the number
of letters in the name of a former president of the United States, Ronald Wilson Reagan, it
came to 666; others saw meaning in that, years ago, all the buses in Jerusalem had 666 on
their license plates. This is futile speculation that adds nothing toward
understanding truth. The important point is that God's Word has given us
enough information to know what the key issues are and who the players
will be in the last days, even if we do not know all the details for now,
such as the precise meaning of 666.
Friday
June 7
Please note the
following points in conclusion to this week's study:
1. Vicarills Filii Dei
(Vicar of the Son of God). Since the Reformation, this papal title has
been used to calculate the number 666. But there are several questions
that should make us cautious. First, it is not clear that this title is
an official one. Second. there is no clear
indication in Revelation 13 that the number is based on the numerical
value of the letters of a name. The phrase "it is the number of a
man" (vs. 18, NIV) could be translated "it is the number of
[humanity]"; that is, of humans separated from God. Third, those who
insist in counting the numerical value of letters confront the problem of
- deciding which language will be used. Because the text does not
identify any language, the selection of a particular one will be somewhat
arbitrary. At the present time, the symbolism of intensified rebellion,
six used three times, and total independence from God seem to be the best
option. Time will reveal the full meaning of the symbol.
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THE 1941 DENIAL—Our Sunday Visitor has, for
over a hundred years, been the largest Roman Catholic weekly in America.
In its August 3, 1941 issue, the Visitor declared for the first time
that Vicarius Filii Dei
is not on the pope’s tiara. Here is the statement:
"A pamphlet has
come to me entitled ‘The Mark of the Beast.’ It identifies the Pope with
this ‘mark’ referred to in Revelations XIII. 17, 18.
"It is too bad that
the Seventh Day Adventists, who are so sensitive to criticism themselves,
should circulate a pamphlet so antagonistic to the Catholic Church.
"The question you ask
has been answered many times, although not in recent years in this paper.
If we have recourse to the best Biblical scholars or exegetes, we find them
applying the test from Revelations to Nero, the arch-persecutor of
Christianity in the first century. To give color to their accusation, enemies
of the Church publicize something that is not at all true, namely that the
Pope’s tiara is inscribed with the words ‘VICARIUS FILII DEI,’ and that
if letters in that title were translated into Roman numerals, the sum would
equal 666."
[Nero (A.D. 37-68) only ruled
the Roman Empire from A.D. 53 to 68, and it was not until 64 that he began
persecuting Christians (as a pretext to cover the rumor that he himself was
responsible for the burning of Rome
that year). After a brief four years in which Christians were persecuted,
Nero committed suicide when the citizens of Rome arose in revolt.]
"As a matter of
fact, the tiara of the Pope bears no inscription whatsoever. [More on
this later.]
"Sometime ago a
clergyman by the name of Reginald Ernest Hull gave a Latin ending to his
two Christian names and then figured out what the sum total would be if he
translated the letters into Roman numerals, and 666 eventuated. Your own
name might spell that number.
"Here is the manner in
which it was done: Reginal[d]us
Ernestus Hull: From his first name four numerals
were drawn I L D V; from his second name only the letter V was extracted;
from his surname the three Roman numerals, namely V L L."
[In the above paragraph,
they made up a fictitious name, and then latinized
the first and middle names (but not the last!), by twice added
"us." Then they included the "d"
which should not properly be latinized.]
"Now the Roman numeral
"D" stands for 500; the L stands for fifty and since there are
three ‘Ls’, they would effect [wrong word: should say "result
in"] 150; the three ‘Us’, which are identified with a ‘V’ would mean
15 more, and the letter ‘I’ would signify one—the total 666.
"The first thirty
Popes lived in the golden age of Christianity and [it is claimed]
twenty-nine of them died martyrs for Christ. [In reality, there were no
"popes" until at least 400 years after the death of Christ,
because until that time, no single bishop ruled the other churches.]
Imagine any one of them being designated the beast of the Apocalypse [the
Catholic Bible name for the book of Revelation]. Among the 262 Popes who
ruled over the Catholic Church from the time of Christ, all but four or
five, even according to the unwilling admission of unfriendly historians,
were among the holiest men of their times. [An astounding statement for its
inaccuracy. Entire books have been written about the evil doings of the
popes.] The few unworthy ones, who were placed on the throne of Peter reached that position through the intrigue of
civil rulers. [Also untrue; they generally paid heavy bribes to get
elected, and then repaid themselves from the papal treasuries; sometimes
assassination was used.] Only five Popes have ruled over the Church during
the greater part of the last century and every person, unless he be absolutely uninformed or ignorant, would rate them
among the saintliest people. [This article was written while Pope Pius XII
was collaborating with Bonito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler.] We say ‘unless
the person were uninformed or ignorant,’ designedly, because the lives of
these Popes have been written by Protestants as well as Catholics.
"It is very strange
that people can regard themselves as religious and still engage in an
apostolate of vituperation and slander."—Our Sunday Visitor, August
3, 1941, p. 7.
1941 ARTICLE CAREFULLY
WORDED—According to
the above article, in 1941, the pope’s tiara does not have the words Vicarius Filii Dei on it. The
denial is carefully worded; (1) It only speaks about the papal tiara (his
jewel encrusted gold crown; "tiara" is Latin for metallic crown),
and does not mention the pope’s mitre (his cloth
cap). Both the tiara and the mitre are in the
shape of a triple crown, signifying that he is the ruler of heaven (which
is blasphemy), earth, and under the earth (where purgatory and hell are
supposed to be located). (2) The denial is also careful not to mention what
might have been written on the tiara in the past. We will learn below that,
by official Catholic statements, the name has for centuries been on both
the tiara and the mitre! We will also learn that
the 1941 Visitor did not mention what was written on the mitre—because only 26 years earlier the Visitor said
the name was on the mitre!
AN ANCIENT DOCUMENT HAS
THE NAME—The
so-called "Donation of Constantine" is one of the most famous
forgeries in the Roman Catholic history. Yet it is, nonetheless, an
important document, dating back over a thousand years. The Donation was
obviously written by the priests at the Vatican,
and not by Constantine.
(In later centuries, even the papacy admitted that Constantine did not write it.) This
document states their view of the official title of the pope, from Peter
onward:
"As the Blessed Peter
is seen to have been constituted vicar of the Son of God on the
earth, so the Pontiffs who are the representatives of that same chief of
the apostles, should obtain from us and our empire the power of a supremacy
greater than the clemency of our earthly imperial serenity as seen to have
conceded it."—Donation of Constantine,
quoted in Christopher B. Coleman, The Treatise of Lorenzo Valla on the Donation of Constantine, p. 13. Yale
University Press, New Haven, Conn.,
p. 12.
The above is a translation
from the Latin. Here is the original:
"Sicut
B. Petrus in terris vicarius Filii Dei
esse videtur constitutus, ita et Pontifices, qui ipsius principis apostolorum gerunt vices, principatus potestatem amplius quam terrena imperialis nostrae serenitatis mansuetudo habere videtur, concessam a nobis nostroque imperio obtineant."—Ibid,
p. 13.
THE TITLE IN 1439—Here is an official declaration of
the Council of Florence, held in Florence,
Italy over
560 years ago:
"We define that the
Holy Apostolic See and the Roman Pontiff holds the primacy over the whole
world, and that the Roman Pontiff himself is the successor of the blessed
Peter, prince of the apostles, and the true vicar of Christ; the
head of the whole church, and the father and doctor of all Christians; and
that to him, in the blessed Peter, was given, by our Lord Jesus Christ,
full power to feed, rule, and govern the universal church, as is contained
also in the acts of the ecumenical councils, and in the sacred
canons."—Council of Florence,
Session XXV, July 6, 1439, Definitio, in J.D. Mansi, ed., Sacrorum Conciliorum [Holy Councils], Vol. 31, Col.
1031 [translated from the Latin].
THE TITLE IN 1862—A noted Catholic author wrote this
140 years ago:
"The highest power in
the world, the Vicar of the incarnate Son of God .
. sat in his tribunal."—Henry
Edward Manning, The Temporal Power of the Vicar of Jesus Christ, 2nd ed., London: Burns and
Lambert, 1862, p. 46.
Cardinal Manning
(1808-1892) was a prolific defender of Catholicism. Later in the same book,
he said this:
"So in like manner
they say now, See this Catholic Church, this Church of God,
feeble and weak, rejected even by the very nations called Catholic. There
is Catholic France, and Catholic Germany, and Catholic Italy, giving up
this exploded figment of the temporal power of the Vicar of Jesus Christ.
And so, because the Church seems weak, and the Vicar of the Son of God
is renewing the Passion of his Master upon earth, therefore we are scandalised, therefore we turn our faces from
him."—Ibid, pp. 140-141.
Manning is writing in
English, but in Latin, "Vicar of the Son of God" is Vicarius Filii Dei, just
as the phrase occurs in the Donation of Constantine, where it is applied to
Peter.
THE NAME ON THE TIARA IN
1939—The 1941 Visitor
article denied that the name was on the papal tiara (gold crown) in
1941. But, according to the following article, the name ("Vicarius Filii Dei" )
was on the tiara only two years earlier, in 1939,—when it was placed
on the head of Eugenio Pacelli, crowning him as
Pius XII:
"What the papacy aimed
at was not simply to be a temporal power by reason of sovereignty over a little
Italian state, but to exercise a universal sovereignty over all sovereigns
by reason of the spiritual office of the pope, who was to be the master and
arbiter of all other temporal authorities.
"The development of
that ideal, the partial achievement of it, and some of the reactions
against it are what we must now consider. Lest this should seem to the
modern reader a threshing over of old straw and a discussion of dead
issues, there should perhaps be inserted here a reminder that all the
popes of the last six centuries have worn the triple tiara. According
to present-day Roman Catholic authorities, its three crowns signify
‘universal episcopate, supremacy of jurisdiction, and universal supremacy.’
In the coronation of all popes—including Pius XII, on March 12, 1939—the
tiara is placed on the candidate’s head with the words [in Latin]:
‘Receive the tiara adorned with three crowns and know that thou art Father
of princes and kings, Ruler of the world, Vicar of our Saviour Jesus
Christ.’ If this phraseology had not been sanctified by long
usage, it would not have been coined in this generation to express the
relation of the pope to the political and social order; but it would not
have been created in the first place if it had not meant then what it
says—‘Ruler of the world.’ "—Paul Hutchinson and Winfred E.
Garrison, 20 Centuries of Christianity: A Concise History, 1st ed., 1959,
p. 120, Harcourt, Brace and World, New
York, p. 120.
TIARA ESTABLISHED—Contrary to what the 1941 Visitor
claimed, we have established that the pope’s special name is written on his
golden crown. But is anything written on his "everyday crown,"
the papal mitre?
THE 1914 VISITOR
STATEMENT—The
answer was written 27 years earlier in the same publication! Notice that the
Visitor does not deny, but admits that the title is in the pope’s mitre, and that it totals 666. So the title is not only
on the golden tiara (crown), but it is also on the pope’s mitre (the cloth cap shaped like three crowns on
top of one another):
"Is it true that
the words of the Apocalypse in the 13th chapter, 18th verse refer to the
Pope?
"The words referred to
are these: ‘Here is wisdom. He that hath understanding, let him count the
number of the beast, for it is the number of a man; and the number of him
is six hundred sixty-six.’ The title of the Pope of Rome is Vicarius
Filii Dei. This is inscribed on his mitre; and if you take the letters of his title
which represent Latin numerals (printed large) and add them together they
come to 666:
VICARIVS
FILII DEI
5
1 10 1 5 150 1 1 500 1
"Add these together
and the result will be 666 . .
Almost every eminent man in
Christendom, who has enjoyed the privilege of possessing enemies, has had
his name turned and twisted till they could get the number 666 out of
it."—Answers to readers’ questions in Our Sunday Visitor, November
15, 1914, p. 3.
ONLY ONE
RATIONALIZATION—Notice
that the above 1914 Visitor denial was the boast that nearly
everyone’s name can, in its Latin numeral equivalents, be tallied up to
666. That is also the same argument put forth by the 1941 Visitor article
and our June 2002 Quarterly!
THE 1915 VISITOR
STATEMENT—Only five
months later, the Visitor once again admitted that Vicarius Filii Dei is
inscribed on the papal mitre;—and once again
used the very same argument in an attempt to explain away the fact:
"What are the
letters supposed to be in the Pope’s crown, and what do they signify, if
anything?
"The letters
inscribed in the Pope’s mitre are these: Vicarius Filii Dei, which is
the Latin for Vicar of the Son of God. Catholics hold that the Church
which is a visible society must have a visible head. Christ, before His
ascension into heaven, appointed St. Peter to act as His representative.
Upon the death of Peter the man who succeeded to the office of Peter as
Bishop of Rome, was recognized as the head of the Church. Hence to the
Bishop of Rome,
as head of the Church, was given the title ‘Vicar of Christ.’ "—Answers
to readers’ questions in Our Sunday Visitor, April 18, 1915, p. 3.
THEY FULLY ADMIT IT—The question in the 1914 Visitor asked
whether Revelation 13:18 refers to the pope. Significantly, to
answer the question the Visitor called attention, not to the word,
"pope," but to his official title, Vicarius
Filii Dei, as embroidered into the very fabric of
his three-level cap.
The question, a few months
later, asked whether the letters in the "pope’s crown" had any
meaning. The answer revealed that the mitre is
one of his crowns, and once again talked about that title on it. The
reply also stated that every bishop of Rome, since Peter, has had that title. It
is his permanent name.
Notice that never—never—,
in any of their statements, does Rome
deny that Vicarius Filii
Dei is the pope’s official title!
How can we be sure that Vicarius Filii Dei is the official
title of the pope? We can know it because it is the only phrase written on
both of his crowns!
BASIS OF THE POPE’S
AUTHORITY—The rest
of the above 1915 statement explains why the papacy cannot abandon that
title: It gives the pope his authority to rule.
"Enemies of the papacy
denounce this title as a malicious assumption. But the Bible informs us
that Christ did not only give His Church authority to teach, but also to
rule."—Ibid.
The most important
doctrine of Romanism is the claim that the one man, the pope, rules in the
place of God. And
that is the claim by which you can identify him as the beast of Revelation
and the little horn of Daniel 7. His special qualities are fourfold: a
different kind of temporal kingdom, blasphemy against God, the changing of
God’s law, and the persecution of God’s people (Dan 7:8, 20-21, 24-25; Rev
12:13-17; 13:5-7).
POWER IN PLACE OF GOD—As
vicegerent of the Son of God, the pope has power to change God’s law and to
decide who will go to heaven and to hell.
"The Pope is of so
great authority and power that he can modify, explain, or interpret even
divine laws . . Petrus
de Ancharano [d. 1416]
very clearly asserts this in Consil.
373, no. 3 verso:
"The Pope can modify
divine law, since his power is not of man, but of God, and he acts in the
place of God upon earth, with the fullest power of binding and loosing his
[God’s] sheep."—Lucius Ferraris,
"Papa," art. 2, in his Prompta
Bibliotheca [Handy Library], Vol. 6, Venice;
Gaspar Storti, 1772, p. 29 [translated from the
Latin].
"We [the popes] hold
upon this earth the place of God Almighty!"—Pope Leo XIII,
Encyclical Letter, "The Reunion of Christendom," dated June 20,
1894, translated in The Great Encyclical Letters of Pope Leo XIII, New York: Benziger, 1903, p. 304.
THE MEANING OF THE
CROWNS—Both his
tiara and mitre are shaped like three crowns on
top of one another. It is of highest significance that the "Vicarius" phrase is on those crowns. The crowns
symbolize the basis of his authority; the phrase, Vicarius
Filii Dei, states it.
"Hence the Pope is
crowned with a triple crown, as king of heaven and of earth and of the
lower regions [Latin: infernorum; hell]."—Op.
cit., p. 26.
Would you like to be the
king of hell? The pope says he is. Perhaps that is so; he has sent more
people there than all others in history, holding a single, titled office.
BACKGROUND OF THE
CHANGEOVER—It is an
intriguing fact that the papacy decided in 1941 to stop bragging about the
name on the papal tiara; and, instead, they began telling people that the
number 666 could apply to most anyone’s name. It made that decision 61
years ago because of publications distributed by our own denomination.
That made our church a
target for conquest, for we were about the only major denomination which
was still denouncing the pope.
Vatican II (1962-1965) was
a major event. A number of our leaders attended and initiated friendly
contacts at Vatican headquarters. From
1965 to the present, we have sent special representatives to World Council
of Churches headquarters, in Geneva,
to meet with Protestant and Catholic leaders. Agreements have been made.
Now we no longer apply the 666 to the pope. For more on this, we refer you
to the following books of ours:
Seventh-day
Adventist/Vatican Ecumenical Involvement Book 1: History—80 pp., 1999 $6.00
+ $2.50 8-1/2 x 11
Book 2:
Documents—133
pp., 1999 $11.00 + $2.50 8-1/2 x 11.
MAIL ORDERS: HARVESTIME BOOKS - BOX 300 - ALTAMONT, TN 37301
CREDIT CARD ORDERS: 931-692-2777
FAX-
931-692-3013
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