THE most interesting feature in the prophecy of the seventh chapter of Daniel, and that which most intimately concerns those who are now living, is the little horn mentioned in verses 11, 20, 21, 24, and 25. It will be remembered by those who read the article in these columns last week, entitled, "An Interesting Prophecy," that, according to the specifications of the prophecy, Rome—the power represented by the great and terrible beast referred to in verses 7, 19, and 23—was divided into ten kingdoms, represented by the ten horns of the beast, and that "there came up among them another little horn." It is to the examination of the power represented by this little horn that the reader's attention is invited. In giving to Daniel an explanation of the prophecy, the angel said: "And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise; and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." Verses 24, 25. That the words king and kingdoms, both in the singular and plural forms, are used interchangeably in this chapter, as also elsewhere in the book of Daniel, is shown in verses 17 and 23. In the first of these verses we read, "These great beasts, which are four, are four kings, which shall arise out of the earth;" and in the second we have these words: "The fourth beast shall be the fourth kingdom." If the fourth beast represents a kingdom, certainly the others also represent kingdoms. We are then to understand that "the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten" kingdoms; and this we have seen was literally fulfilled in the division of the Roman Empire into ten parts, between the years A. D. 351 and 476. "And another [kingdom or power] shall rise after them," said the angel, "and he shall be diverse from the first [that is, from the ten], and he shall subdue three kings," or overthrow three of the ten kingdoms. The inquiry naturally arises, What power has risen since A. D. 476 which fulfills this prophecy? The answer to the question raised in the preceding paragraph is not far to seek. With one voice Protestant commentators reply, The Papacy. But as the opinions of even the most learned men are entitled to weight only as they are supported by sound reasons, let us inquire what are some of the reasons for this opinion. In the first place, the conditions of the prophecy require that this little horn must spring up among others. It is not a foreign power which develops upon other territory and then overthrows three of the ten, but it stands among them, dividing power with them; and yet it is different from all of them; and such the Papacy certainly was, and still is. The world had never before seen such a power. Civil rulers had before claimed ecclesiastical power, and made themselves the high priests of pagan rites, but what ecclesiastical power had ever before made such claims as those put forth by the bishop of Rome? None; nor has there been another since. Of the fitness of the symbol, Dr. Barnes says: "Could any symbol have been better chosen to describe the Papal power than this? Could we find any now that would better describe it?" The answer must clearly be, None. But it is not alone in being diverse from all others that the Papacy meets the specifications of the prophecy. It was small at first, so small that great difficulty has been experienced in determining the exact time of its rise; but it grew, and erelong "there were three of the ten horns [the Heruli, the Vandals, and the Ostrogoths] plucked up by the roots" by this power. The last of these powers was overthrown, directly in the interests of the Papacy, in the year A. D. 538, five years after the decree of Justinian declaring the bishop of Rome the corrector of heretics. And as if to mark their power as the one described by the prophet, the Popes, even to this day, wear a triple crown, "a fact," says Dr. Barnes, "that exists in regard to no other monarchs, as if they had absorbed under themselves three separate and distinct sovereignties, or as if they represented three separate forms of dominion." But literal and full as has been the fulfillment by the Papacy of the specifications already referred to, its fulfillment of verse 25 is even more striking. Says the prophecy: "And he shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High, and think to change times and laws; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time." In fulfillment of this, witness the fact that the Pope has, without protest, allowed himself to be styled, "Our Lord God, the Pope;" "Another God upon earth;" "King of kings and Lord of lords;" "The same is the dominion of God and the Pope;" "To believe that our Lord God, the Pope, might not decree as he decreed, is heresy;" "The power of the Pope is greater than all created power, and extends itself to things celestial, terrestrial, and infernal;" "The Pope doeth whatsoever he listeth, even things unlawful, and is more than God." If the assumption of such titles is not speaking "great words against the Most High," the writer would like to know what would fulfill the prophecy. "And shall wear out the saints of the Most High." Of these words, Dr. Barnes remarks: "Can anyone doubt that this is true of the Papacy?" He then continues: "The Inquisition, the persecutions of the Waldenses, the ravages of the Duke of Alva, the fires of Smithfield, the tortures at Goa—indeed, the whole history of the Papacy, may be appealed to its proof that this is applicable to that power. If anything could have worn out the saints of the Most High—could have cut them off from the earth so that evangelical religion would have become extinct, it would have been the persecutions of the Papal power." "And he shall think to change times and laws;" evidently the times and laws of God. This, too, has had a marked fulfillment by the Papacy. And has this power indeed thought to change the law of God, the ten commandments? Let its own catechisms answer. The following from "Butler's Catechism" shows how Romanists teach the commandments:— "Question—Say the ten commandments of God.
"Answer—1. I am the Lord thy God; thou shalt not have strange gods before me, etc. 2. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. 3. Remember that thou keep holy the Sabbath day. 4. Honor thy father and thy mother. 5. Thou shalt not kill. 6. Thou shalt not commit adultery. 7. Thou shalt not steal. 8. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. 9. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife. 10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods." It will be observed that the second commandment, the one which forbids the making and worshiping of images, is omitted. This, however, say they, is not a change, for the second is included in the first. But in the matter of the fourth commandment—third according to their numbering—they admit, or rather boast, a change. In the following from a Catholic work, called the "Abridgment of Christian Doctrine," the Catholic Church asserts its power to change the law, in the following manner:— "Question—How prove you that the church hath power to command feasts and holy days?
"Answer—By the very act of changing the Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow of; and therefore they fondly contradict themselves by keeping Sunday strictly, and breaking most other feasts commanded by the same church.
"Q.—How prove you that?
"A.—Because by keeping Sunday they acknowledge the church's power to ordain feasts, and to command them under sin; and by not keeping the rest by her commanded, they again deny, in fact, the same power." The prophecy says that this power would think to change the law of God, and the Papacy comes up and says, "We have done it." What need we further witness? Is not the charge of thinking to do this thing fully proved? The length of time that this blasphemous power was to hold sway must form the subject for another article. C. P. B.