p. 11 | The 1260 Years of Papal Supremacy

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Apr 28, 1910

The 1260 Years of Papal Supremacy

By William Ambrose Spicer

“AND they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.” Dan. 7:25. “And power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.” Rev. 13:5.

Thus prophecy assigns a period of 1260 prophetic days, literal years, as the time of the papal supremacy. The papal spirit was at work in apostolic times, and the historic Papacy developed. It is to carry on its work to the end; but for a certain period it was represented as having supremacy.

No specific event is named in the prophecy as marking the beginning of this period, such as was given in the seventy weeks of Dan. 9:24, 25—“from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem,” etc.; but, nevertheless, history bears sure, and doubly sure, testimony to events marking the beginning and the ending of this prophetic period of 1260 years.

In a recent published attack upon our work, an opponent in an Eastern State has made capital of an inaccurate statement in one of our books, which others have noted before him. He quotes from “Daniel and the Revelation” (page 177, new edition, comments on Dan. 7:23-26):—

We think it clearly established that the three horns plucked up were the powers named; viz., the Heruli in A. D. 493, the Vandals in 534, and the Ostrogoths in 538.

Then our opponent quotes from history some testimonies showing that the Ostrogothic power was not “plucked up” till the successful campaign of Narses, 552-553. Such testimony might have been continued at much greater length, for all historians date the overthrow, or plucking up, of this kingdom in 552-553. Had our opponent looked further, he might have quoted testimony to this effect from “Daniel and the Revelation” itself; for, in history quoted on page 554 (comments on Rev. 8:12), it is said of Narses,—

He defeated the Goths (A. D. 552), achieved “the conquest of Rome,” and the fate of the senate was sealed.

But the point to be noted is that the prophecy does not at all represent that the period of papal supremacy begins from the plucking up by the roots of the last of the three horns of Dan. 7:8. The prophecy simply states that the plucking up took place before, or in the presence of the little horn, the Papacy—“before whom there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots.”

The only questions are, At what period in the gradual development of the Papacy was it given power (over the saints and times and laws) answering to the prophecy? and, What vital events of well-established and incontrovertible history mark the beginning of this prophetic period? and, Do similarly vital events mark the close of that period? The response of history is clear and undeniable.

The sure word of prophecy foretold the apostasy. It pictured an ecclesiastical, kingly power rising in the field of the old Roman empire, setting itself forth in spiritual empire over the souls of men, mingling with the civil powers and asserting authority over them. To this apostasy the dragon was to give “his power, and his seat, and great authority.” In other phrase, it was spiritual Babylon, or Rome, “that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.”

The apostasy developed. The bishop of Rome gradually came to assert precedence. With the removal of the seat of the empire to Constantinople, the bishop of that city was a rival. Schaff says:—

In this long contest between the two leading patriarchs of Christendom, the patriarch of Rome at last carried the day. The monarchical tendency of the hierarchy was much stronger in the West than in the East, and was urging a universal monarchy in the church.—“History of the Christian Church,” Vol. III, page 236, sec. 57.

Of the times of Pope Simplicius (A. D. 468-483), when the Western empire fell, and the division into ten kingdoms was completed, Schaff says:—

Now, to a certain extent, it [the Papacy] stepped into the imperial vacancy, and the successor of Peter became, in the mind of the Western nations, sole heir of the old Roman imperial succession.—Id., page 323, sec. 64.

The “little horn” of Daniel’s prophecy was lifting itself up, with a look “more stout than his fellows.” The Papacy was inheriting the power and seat and great authority, or prestige, of the universal Roman empire. The historical development was an exact filling in of the prophetic outlines. As old Thomas Hobbes, of Malmesbury, wrote:—

If any man will consider the original of this great ecclesiastical dominion, he will easily perceive that the Papacy is none other than the ghost of the deceased Roman empire, sitting crowned upon the grave thereof.

But just where in the process of development may we find the pivotal stage, the definite steps, by which the Papacy passed from the period of strife for power to the period of acknowledged supremacy assigned in prophecy to the 1260 years? The pivotal stage between ancient and medieval history was the time of Justinian, who ruled the empire from Constantinople. J. B. Bury says of Justinian:—

He may be likened to a colossal Janus bestriding the way of passage between the ancient and medieval worlds. . . . His military achievements decided the course of the history of Italy, and affected the development of western Europe; . . . and his ecclesiastical authority influenced the distant future of Christendom.—“History of the Later Roman Empire,” Vol. I, pages 351-353.

Of this world-shaping time, George Finlay says:—

The reign of Justinian is more remarkable as a portion of the history of mankind, than as a chapter in the annals of the Roman empire, or of the Greek nation. The changes of centuries passed in rapid succession before the eyes of one generation.—“Greece Under the Romans,” page 231.

Prophecy was fulfilling in that generation. The time had come for the dawn of the papal supremacy. The primary event that marks the supremacy of the Papacy is found at this very pivotal point. It was the formal imperial recognition of that supremacy by Justinian in his famous letter of A. D. 533, declaring that “all the priests of the whole East” were subject to the Pope of Rome, and declaring him to be “the head of all the holy churches.”

The great significance of this decree (for the letter had all the force of a decree and was later officially recognized as such) has been emphasized by us in all our history. I was impressed with this a few months ago in going through the old files of the REVIEW. Joseph Bates (Aug. 7, 1860) said that the 1260 years of papal supremacy began “where Justinian made his head bishop the Pope.” Hiram Edson, one of the pioneers (July 30, 1867), refers to this decree of Justinian as making the Pope “head of all the holy churches, and the effective corrector of heretics.” And U. Smith, when asked what author was most reliable on this question of papal supremacy (Feb. 14, 1882), answered: “The author whose testimony seems conclusive respecting the source from which the Papacy claims its supremacy, and the date when that supremacy was conferred, is Croly.” And in his “Daniel and the Revelation” (page 325, comments on Dan. 11:31), he printed the strong testimony of Croly, as follows:—

The highest authorities among the civilians and annalists of Rome, spurn the idea that Phocas was the founder of the supremacy of Rome; they ascendto Justinian as the only legitimate source, and rightly date the title from the memorable year 533.

Again, in “Daniel and the Revelation” (page 666, comments on Rev. 13:11-17), it is stated by the author:—

The full development of the beast, or the establishment of papal supremacy, dates from the famous letter of Justinian, which was made effective in A. D. 538.

Thus, all along, the issuing of the decree of 533 has been accepted as the primary event laying the foundation of papal supremacy. But we have placed practically all the emphasis, as to time, on the later date, 538, at which time, while the Ostrogothic horn was not plucked up, there was a decisive stroke by the sword clearing the way for the Papacy. The period of papal supremacy is doubly fortified and established if along with the event that we have emphasized as the primary one, the issuing of the decree of Justinian, we emphasize also the date of that document, 533, as a primary date.

Then we have the notable decree (by the Papacy’s chief supporter) in A. D. 533, formally recognizing papal supremacy, and a decisive stroke with the sword at Rome, cleaving the way, in 538.

Exactly 1260 years later we have the notable decree of the French government (which had been the Papacy’s chief supporter), abolishing church and religion, in 1793, and a decisive stroke with the sword at Rome, in 1798. The parallel is complete.

When Justinian’s letter was issued, in 533, a heretical Arian and Gothic king ruled Italy from Ravenna, his capital. The Gothic kings claimed the right to interfere in papal elections at Rome. To restore Italy to the empire and drive out Arian heresy, Justinian undertook his Italian campaigns. While in the sixteen years of these campaigns the city of Rome “changed masters five times, and suffered three severe sieges,” the real crisis of the contest was reached in 538, at the close of the first siege. The imperial army, under Belisarius, held the city of Rome, and the Goths, under King Witiges, had gathered practically their whole nation to take it. “If a single post had given way,” says Gibbon, “the Romans and Rome itself, were irrecoverably lost.” The Goths were defeated, and this defeat, says Hodgkin, dug “the grave of the Gothic monarchy in Italy.” Though again and again they rallied, and twice afterward occupied Rome, this resistance of 538 against Witiges was the crucial hour in the history. Finlay says:—

With the conquest of Rome by Belisarius, the history of the ancient city may be considered as terminating; and with his defense against Witiges [538], commences the history of the Middle Ages.

—“Greece Under the Romans,” page 295.

And the Middle Ages was, roughly speaking, the day of the Papacy.

Not only was this stroke by the imperial sword at Rome, in 538, a decisive event in clearing the way for the assertion of the papal supremacy already recognized, but another deeply significant train of events begins with this year. Pope Silverius had been made Pope by the Gothic king. In November, 537, through intrigue, and on accusation that he had negotiated to betray the city to the besieging Goths, Silverius was stripped of his papal robes by Belisarius, and exiled, and Vigilius named in his stead. But the emperor intervened, and sent Silverius back to Rome, early in 538, with orders for a trial, and to be restored to the papal throne if found innocent. Belisarius delivered him to Vigilius, who quickly got him off to a desolate island, and evidently did away with him. Vigilius was thereafter recognized as Pope. And of him Schaff says:—

Vigilius, a pliant creature of Theodora, ascended the papal chair under the military protection of Belisarius (538-554).—“History Christian Church,” Vol. III, page 327.

The arms of the empire put the Pope there; and though he was personally humiliated under Justinian’s arbitrary demands that he should approve and condemn according to imperial fancy, this use of the papal supremacy strengthened the idea that the Pope of Rome must be the one to speak and condemn for the universal church.

Next, Pelagius I (554-560) was made Pope “by order of Justinian,” says Schaff, and this time again his elevation to the papal seat was secured “by the military aid of Narses.” Pelagius demanded that the arms that had put a Pope on the throne should enforce subjection to papal rule against bishops who failed to recognize his authority:—

Pelagius endeavored to enlist the civil power in his aid. He wrote several letters to Narses, who seems to have shrunk from using violence, urging him to have no scruples in the matter. These letters are an unqualified defense of the principle of persecution.—Smith and Wace, Dictionary of Christ. Biog., art., Pelagius (Pope).

Thus the Papacy asserted its claim to wield the sword of persecution. The supremacy had been recognized imperially in Justinian’s decree of 533. The sword had struck a decisive blow to clear the way in 538, and the arms that there set the Pope on the throne continued to be used by the Papacy in its warfare against the saints and the laws of the Most High.

Just another glance now at the closing events of the long prophetic period.

From the decree of supremacy, 533, the 1260 years bring us to 1793, the climax of the French Revolution, which is the special subject of the prophecy of Revelation 11. In this chapter, specific events are described as marking the end of the 1260 years. Verses 3, 7, 8. These specifications, we all know, were fulfilled in the scenes of the Reign of Terror, of 1793. The Papacy, in the view of the French, represented Christianity, and in their revolt against its despotism they struck at all religion.

Again, as following the event of 533 came the events of 538, in the establishing of the papal supremacy, so out of the events of 1793 came the event of 1798, the taking of Rome by the French, the overturning, for the time, of the papal government, and the exile of the Pope. Dr. Adam Clarke, who lived in those times, in 1825 wrote in his “Commentary,” on Dan. 7:25, 26:—

The end [of the Papacy] is probably not very distant; it has already been grievously shaken by the French. In 1798 the French republican army under General Berthier took possession of the city of Rome, and entirely superseded the whole papal power. This was a deadly wound, though at present it appears to be healed.

Thus it appeared to men living at the time. Other tribulations have come to the Papacy, but the French Revolutionary and the stroke of 1798 growing out of it, announced to the world that a despotic supremacy, formerly asserted, was broken.

Thus by a double set of closely related events, the period of 1260 years of papal supremacy is clearly pointed out and securely established. W. A. S.