THE PAPACY IN PROPHECY by R. C. P.

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Jan 5, 1915

THE PAPACY IN PROPHECY

By R. C. P.

Is to Dominate the World Again — The Last Milepost of Prophecy

It is always interesting to the student of prophecy to observe in current history the minute application of predictions made by prophets millenniums in the past.

It is well known to all Bible students that the papacy is a subject of prophecy. Its location among the ten kingdoms of Europe, the time and manner of its rise, its position of supremacy as a spiritual power, its reign of terror during the days of the Inquisition, are all clearly outlined in Daniel 7 and Revelation 17.

THE DEADLY WOUND IS HEALED

There is a very extraordinary prediction made in prophecy about the overthrow of the temporal supremacy of the papacy. It is declared that when the temporal supremacy of the papal power is overthrown, it will be accomplished by the infliction of a deadly wound. But after this, when that hierarchy is supposed to be dead, it is to arise and command the world’s admiration and worship. “And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.” Rev. 13: 1-3.

THE MOST STRIKING SIGN

The fulfillment of this prophecy constitutes a most striking sign of the end of the world. When, under the influence of the Reformation, the French republic captured the pope in the city of Rome, in 1798, and carried him prisoner to France and declared that city a republic, the temporal supremacy of the papacy was completely broken. The deadly wound was inflicted. The world said, The papacy has had its day and has passed into history.

The prophet had predicted not only that the papacy should still live, but that as a spiritual power it should again so arise to supremacy that all the world should in amazement be captivated by her power, and bow to her authority. Revelation 13. Not only so, but it is as emphatically stated that she shall as a last act before her final overthrow by the King of kings at His second advent, again attempt as of old to compel, through religious persecution, the worship of the whole world.

A SPIRITUAL WORLD-EMPIRE

The world has recently very unexpectedly read the news of the death of the pope of Rome, Pius X. In reviewing his life, and the history of the papacy during the last century, it was stated, in connection with the announcement, that “the papacy at the outset of the twentieth century possessed a vigor that it was far from possessing a hundred years earlier. There can be little doubt, although the curia would not admit it, that the spiritual power of the papacy has been greatly increased by the loss of the temporal power. The pope is no longer a petty Italian prince, but the monarch of a vast, admirably organized spiritual world-empire.” (Italics mine.) (The China Press, August 21, 1914.)

This is precisely what is predicted of the papacy in Rev. 17: 3-8: “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication; and upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the great, the mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and ten horns. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is.”

“I SIT A QUEEN”

It is here plainly foretold that just before the papacy goes into perdition, as she has been drunken with the blood of the saints and martyrs in the past, she will arise to drink the blood of saints and martyrs again. This hierarchy which was a persecuting power, but for a period after the overthrow of the temporal power was seen shorn of that power, ascends again to her former position as a persecuting power before her final visitation of divine judgment. At that moment of exaltation she will say: “I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.” Rev. 18: 7, 8.

THE LAST WAYMARK

No panorama ever more fully revealed any historic scene than statements of current history present the rise to world supremacy of the papal power in her spiritual-political relation to the nations of the world. The end is not yet. She is fast rising to the climax of the prophetic scene when she will assume world supremacy in the spiritual realm as she did during the Dark Ages. That is the last waymark before the second coming of Christ as universal King of a clean universe. We are now facing the close of earth’s history and the ushering in of the everlasting kingdom of Christ. These prophetic signs were given as warnings by which the world should be aroused to preparation for the judgment of God. Every thoughtful reader should pause, consider, and prepare.

R. C. P.