CHAPTER 12
In Daniel 8:12 we are reminded that the Little Horn power was in a continual battle against God and the truth of God. We will see how he continued Satan’s rebellion against God and the truth of God and was allowed by God to practice and to prosper to the end that his true character would be unveiled.
AND A HOST WAS GIVEN HIM against the DAILY sacrifice BY REASON OF TRANSGRESSION
Daniel 8:12 And a host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
The only Hebrew words really included in the original Hebrew text are “Host given daily transgression; cast down truth ground practiced prospered.” The word against was added by the translators. It could better read:
The host given for daily transgression, cast down truth to the ground and practiced and prospered.
The Hebrew word for “host” means army. This means the Little Horn power goes to war with an army against the truth!
HOST H6635
צָבָא tsâbâʼ, tsaw-baw'; or (feminine) צְבָאָה tsᵉbâʼâh; from H6633; a mass of persons (or figuratively, things), especially reg. organized for war (an army); by implication, a campaign, literally or figuratively (specifically, hardship, worship):—appointed time, (+) army, (+) battle, company, host, service, soldiers, waiting upon, war(-fare). https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H6635&t=KJV
As discussed in previous chapters, the Little Horn power of Daniel 8 is also the “Leopard-like beast” of Revelation 13 and the “Little Horn power” of Daniel 7. We can see from scripture that in each place this power described in different parts of the Bible is in a battle against God, His people, and His truth.
Revelation 13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
Daniel 7:21 I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them;
This beast or little horn power is empowered by the dragon or Satan.
Revelation 13:2 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.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Revelation-Chapter-13/
Ultimately the dragon makes war against those who keep God’s commandments and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.
But let’s look at it from the point of view of Daniel 8:12.
DAILY TRANSGRESSION
Daniel 8:12 And a host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Daniel-Chapter-8/
The word “against” was added by the translators and is not in the Hebrew text. We have looked at the Hebrew word translated “daily” in our discussion on Daniel 8:11. However, let me refresh your memory. Daily means continually or perpetually. But this word is connected to the word transgression which means rebellion in Hebrew. In other words, there is an army in continual rebellion against the truth of God which is practicing and prospering.
DAILY H8548
תָּמִיד tâmîyd, taw-meed'; from an unused root meaning to stretch; properly, continuance (as indefinite extension); but used only (attributively as adjective) constant (or adverbially, constantly); elliptically the regular (daily) sacrifice:—alway(-s), continual (employment, -ly), daily, (n-)ever(-more), perpetual. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H8548&t=KJV
TRANSGRESSION H6588
פֶּשַׁע peshaʻ, peh'-shah; from H6586; a revolt (national, moral or religious):—rebellion, sin, transgression, trespass. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H6588&t=KJV
With the words “daily transgression” God is warning us of a daily or continual moral rebellion against God. See the same word “daily” used in Daniel 8:11 & 13 also. God has emphasized it three times in three verses in a row in Daniel.
Daniel 8:11 Yea, he magnified himself even to the prince of the host, and by him the daily sacrifice was taken away, and the place of his sanctuary was cast down.
12 And an host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
13 Then I heard one saint speaking, and another saint said unto that certain saint which spake, How long shall be the vision concerning the daily sacrifice, and the transgression of desolation, to give both the sanctuary and the host to be trodden under foot?
The Bible tells us about an evil “daily” with the words perpetual, forever, daily, and continually.
Psalms 74:3 Lift up thy feet unto the perpetual desolations; even all that the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary…
10 O God, how long shall the adversary reproach? shall the enemy blaspheme thy name for ever?....
22 Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily.
23 Forget not the voice of thine enemies: the tumult of those that rise up against thee increaseth continually.
Contrary to the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the spirit of Satan is to continually or daily accuse or condemn. The power to accuse or condemn the repentant sinner was abolished or broken by the death of Jesus Christ. But this accusing spirit was also the spirit of the papacy during her 1260 year reign where she put thousands to death for not worshipping at her footstool by obeying her man-made commands.
Revelation 12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.
Christ on the cross satisfied justice by offering Himself as an atonement to satisfy the claims of a broken law. With His bruised and broken body he covers the defenseless sinner. His victory on the cross forever silenced the accusing power of Satan over the sinner.
9 And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth.
10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Isaiah-Chapter-53/
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/John-Chapter-8/
2 Corinthians 3:9 For if the ministration of condemnation be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory.
The Little Horn power of Daniel 8 over time, propagated pagan rituals, holydays, and a man-made sabbath. The papacy required self-denial in the form of acts of voluntary humility which were taught to the people as the means of their salvation. They taught the people to rely on ceremonial worship of images of saints and religious pagan relics and liturgical traditions rather than God.
CAST DOWN TRUTH
Daniel 8:12 And a host was given him against the daily sacrifice by reason of transgression, and it cast down the truth to the ground; and it practised, and prospered.
CAST DOWN H7993
שָׁלַךְ shâlak, shaw-lak; a primitive root; to throw out, down or away (literally or figuratively):—adventure, cast (away, down, forth, off, out), hurl, pluck, throw. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H7993&t=KJV
TRUTH H571
אֶמֶת ʼemeth, eh'-meth; contracted from H539; stability; (figuratively) certainty, truth, trustworthiness:—assured(-ly), establishment, faithful, right, sure, true (-ly, -th), verity. https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/Lexicon/Lexicon.cfm?strongs=H571&t=KJV
Psalms 51:16 But unto the wicked God saith, What hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or that thou shouldest take my covenant in thy mouth?
17 Seeing thou hatest instruction, and castest my words behind thee. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Psalms-Chapter-51/
Psalms 119:142 Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth
Psalms 119:151 Thou art near, O LORD; and all thy commandments are truth. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Psalms-Chapter-119/
So how did the little horn power accomplish the casting down of truth? Let’s look at the way this power distorted the truth or the words in the Law of God.
During the Middle Ages, the papacy prohibited the circulation of the Bible among the laity. (Edward Peters. Heresy and Authority in Medieval Europe (Council of Toulouse, 1229, Canon 14), p. 195. The people were forbidden to read it or to have it in their houses. The bishops and priests interpreted its teachings to support the false doctrines of the church of Rome. Without the Word of God, the pope came to be almost universally acknowledged as the vicegerent of God on earth, endowed with authority over church and state and Satan worked according to his will. God through the prophet Daniel had declared that the Little Horn power (papal Rome) was to “think to change times and laws.” Daniel 7:25.
Daniel 7:25 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.
Below is some of the ways the papacy worked blasphemously to change the times and laws of God. I have used Scripture to show God’s will. My information source for the papal practices and claims is from the book authored by Ellen G. White entitled, The Great Controversy, pp 51-60. But the Catholic church has not changed and still practices these false doctrines.
Below compare the Word of God with Papal Practices and Claims:
THOU SHALT HAVE NO OTHER GODS BEFORE ME
Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Luke 4:8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.
Matthew 23:8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.
Colossians 1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
The papacy states that the pope is the visible head of the universal church of Christ invested with supreme authority over bishops and pastors in all parts of the world.
In early Roman Catholic Canon Law, called the Corpus Juris Canonici, the pope is given the title “Lord God the Pope” though currently the papacy does not claim to require worship of the pope.
In the Vatican Council of 1870-71 the papacy declares the pope to be infallible.
THOU SHALT NOT MAKE UNTO THEE ANY GRAVEN IMAGE
Exodus 20:4 Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;
Adoration of images and relics was gradually introduced into the Christian worship. The decree of the second council of Nicaea, A.D. 787, established the worship of images. The Roman church changed the second commandment in the law of God, forbidding image worship, and divided the tenth commandment into two to preserve the number of commandments as ten as seen in the “Catechism” of the Catholic church.
REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY
10But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
In the early fourth century, emperor Constantine issued a decree making Sunday a public festival throughout the Roman Empire. The day of the sun was reverenced by his pagan subjects and was honored by Christians; it was the emperor’s policy to unite the conflicting interests of heathenism and Christianity. Eventually over years the Sabbath was done away with and those who continued to keep it were persecuted and Sunday worship was enforced.
HIGH PREISTHOOD OF CHRIST
Daniel 7:25 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.
26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
28 For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.
1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
People were taught that the pope was their earthly mediator and high priest and that none could approach God except through him or a priest of the Roman Catholic Church; and, further, that he stood in the place of God to them and was therefore to be implicitly obeyed. A deviation from his requirements was sufficient cause for the severest punishment to be visited upon the bodies and souls of the offenders. People worshipped out of fear. Today the Catholic church teaches the following:
“While Christ is our high priest with respect to sacrifices (he offered the great sacrifice of himself; see Hebrews 7-10) and is the ultimate head of all God’s people, he has left Peter here to serve as his visible representative in his absence. The pope, as the successor of Peter, thus has a function similar to that of the high priest as the earthly head of God’s people.” https://www.catholic.com/qa/is-the-pope-similar-to-the-high-priest-in-the-old-testament
FOR BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH
“Penance is a sacrament of the New Law instituted by Christ in which forgiveness of sins committed after baptism is granted through the priest's absolution to those who with true sorrow confess their sins and promise to satisfy for the same. It is called a "sacrament" not simply a function or ceremony, because it is an outward sign instituted by Christ to impart grace to the soul. As an outward sign it comprises the actions of the penitent in presenting himself to the priest and accusing himself of his sins, and the actions of the priest in pronouncing absolution and imposing satisfaction. This whole procedure is usually called, from one of its parts, "confession", and it is said to take place in the "tribunal of penance", because it is a judicial process in which the penitent is at once the accuser, the person accused, and the witness, while the priest pronounces judgment and sentence. The grace conferred is deliverance from the guilt of sin and, in the case of mortal sin, from its eternal punishment; hence also reconciliation with God, justification. Finally, the confession is made not in the secrecy of the penitent's heart nor to a layman as friend and advocate, nor to a representative of human authority, but to a duly ordained priest with requisite jurisdiction and with the "power of the keys", i.e., the power to forgive sins which Christ granted to His Church.”
https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/11618c.htm
Ephesians 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Men were taught to trust to their own works to atone for sin in performing long pilgrimages, acts of penance, the worship of relics, the erection of churches, shrines, and altars, the payment of money and in some cases large sums to the church to appease the wrath of God or to secure His favor.
NONE IS GOOD, SAVE ONE, THAT IS GOD
Luke 18:19 And Jesus said unto him, Why callest thou me good? none is good, save one, that is, God.
Matthew 20:25 But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them.
In the eleventh century, Pope Gregory VII proclaimed the perfection of the Roman Church, declaring that the church had never erred, nor would it ever err, according to the Scriptures. He also claimed the power to depose emperors, and declared that no sentence which he pronounced could be reversed by anyone, but that it was his prerogative to reverse the decisions of all others.
Genesis 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
THIS MORTAL MUST PUT ON IMMORTALITY AT THE LAST TRUMP
Doctrine of the immortality of the soul
Genesis 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
This doctrine laid the foundation upon which Rome established the invocation of saints and the adoration of the Virgin Mary. From this sprang also the heresy of eternal torment for the finally impenitent, which was early incorporated into the papal faith.
Genesis 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.
Purgatory
By this heresy is affirmed the existence of a place of torment, in which the souls of such as have not merited eternal damnation are to suffer punishment for their sins, and from which, when freed from impurity, they are admitted to heaven.
MAKE NOT MY FATHER'S HOUSE A HOUSE OF MERCHANDISE
Luke 9:58 And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.
1 Peter 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
The doctrine of indulgences.
Full remission of sins, past, present, and future, and release from all the pains and penalties incurred, were promised to all who would enlist in the pontiff’s wars to extend his temporal dominion, to punish his enemies, or to exterminate those who dared deny his spiritual supremacy. The people were also taught that by the payment of money to the church they might free themselves from sin, and also release the souls of their deceased friends who were confined in the tormenting flames. By such means did Rome fill her coffers and sustain the magnificence, luxury, and vice of the pretended representatives of God.
16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
18 And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.
20 And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.
21 And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled
23If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
THE LORD'S SUPPER A SYMBOL
The Scriptural ordinance of the Lord’s Supper had been supplanted by the idolatrous sacrifice of the mass. Papal priests pretended, by their senseless mummery, to convert the simple bread and wine into the actual “body and blood of Christ.”—Cardinal Wiseman, The Real Presence of the Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Blessed Eucharist, Proved From Scripture, lecture 8, sec. 3, par. 26. With blasphemous presumption, they openly claimed the power of creating God, the Creator of all things. Christians were required, on pain of death, to avow their faith in this horrible, Heaven-insulting heresy. Multitudes who refused were given to the flames.
TEACHING IN THE NAME OF JESUS - OBEYING GOD RATHER THAN MAN
In the thirteenth century was established the Inquisition. “Babylon the great” was “drunken with the blood of the saints.” The mangled forms of millions of martyrs cried to God for vengeance upon that apostate power.
The inquisition:
an ecclesiastical tribunal established by Pope Gregory IX c. 1232 for the suppression of heresy. It was active chiefly in northern Italy and southern France, becoming notorious for the use of torture. In 1542 the papal Inquisition was re-established to combat Protestantism, eventually becoming an organ of papal government.
https://www.google.com/search?q=the+inquisition+definition
Revelation 17:6 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.
Hosea 4:1 Hear the word of the LORD, ye children of Israel: for the LORD hath a controversy with the inhabitants of the land, because there is no truth, nor mercy, nor knowledge of God in the land.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Hosea-Chapter-4/
For references, I have included the following Appendix from the book “The Great Controversy,” pp 51-60.
GENERAL NOTES
REVISIONS ADOPTED BY THE E. G. WHITE TRUSTEES NOVEMBER 19, 1956, AND DECEMBER 6, 1979
PAGE 50. TITLES.—IN A PASSAGE WHICH IS INCLUDED IN THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CANON LAW, OR CORPUS JURIS CANONICI, POPE INNOCENT III DECLARES THAT THE ROMAN PONTIFF IS "THE VICEGERENT UPON EARTH, NOT OF A MERE MAN, BUT OF VERY GOD;" AND IN A GLOSS ON THE PASSAGE IT IS EXPLAINED THAT THIS IS BECAUSE HE IS THE VICEGERENT OF CHRIST, WHO IS "VERY GOD AND VERY MAN." SEE DECRETALES DOMINI GREGORII PAPAE IX (DECRETALS OF THE LORD POPE GREGORY IX), LIBER 1, DE TRANSLATIONE EPISCOPORUM, (ON THE TRANSFERENCE OF BISHOPS), TITLE 7, CH. 3; CORPUS JURIS CANONICI (2D LEIPZIG ED., 1881), COL. 99; (PARIS, 1612), TOM. 2, DECRETALES, COL. 205. THE DOCUMENTS WHICH FORMED THE DECRETALS WERE GATHERED BY GRATIAN, WHO WAS TEACHING AT THE UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA ABOUT THE YEAR 1140. HIS WORK WAS ADDED TO AND RE-EDITED BY POPE GREGORY IX IN AN EDITION ISSUED IN 1234. OTHER DOCUMENTS APPEARED IN SUCCEEDING YEARS FROM TIME TO TIME INCLUDING THE EXTRAVAGANTES, ADDED TOWARD THE CLOSE OF THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY, ALL OF THESE, WITH GRATIAN'S DECRETUM, WERE PUBLISHED AS THE CORPUS JURIS CANONICI IN 1582. POPE PIUS X AUTHORIZED THE CODIFICATION IN CANON LAW IN 1904, AND THE RESULTING CODE BECAME EFFECTIVE IN 1918.
FOR THE TITLE "LORD GOD THE POPE" SEE A GLOSS ON THE EXTRAVAGANTES OF POPE JOHN XXII, TITLE 14, CH. 4, DECLARAMUS. IN AN ANTWERP EDITION OF THE EXTRAVAGANTES, DATED 1584, THE WORDS "DOMINUM DEUM NOSTRUM PAPAM" ("OUR LORD GOD THE POPE") OCCUR IN COLUMN 153. IN A PARIS EDITION, DATED 1612, THEY OCCUR IN COLUMN 140. IN SEVERAL EDITIONS PUBLISHED SINCE 1612 THE WORD "DEUM" ("GOD") HAS BEEN OMITTED.
PAGE 50. INFALLIBILITY.—ON THE DOCTRINE OF INFALLIBILITY AS SET FORTH AT THE VATICAN COUNCIL OF 1870-71, SEE PHILIP SCHAFF, THE CREEDS OF CHRISTENDOM, VOL. 2, DOGMATIC DECREES OF THE VATICAN COUNCIL, PP. 234-271, WHERE BOTH THE LATIN AND THE ENGLISH TEXTS ARE GIVEN. FOR DISCUSSION SEE, FOR THE ROMAN CATHOLIC VIEW, THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, VOL. 7, ART. "INFALLIBILITY," BY PATRICK J. TONER, P. 790 FF.; JAMES CARDINAL GIBBONS, THE FAITH OF OUR FATHERS (BALTIMORE: JOHN MURPHY COMPANY, 110TH ED., 1917), CHS. 7, 11. FOR ROMAN CATHOLIC OPPOSITION TO THE DOCTRINE OF PAPAL INFALLIBILITY, SEE JOHANN JOSEPH IGNAZ VON DOLLINGER (PSEUDONYM "JANUS") THE POPE AND THE COUNCIL (NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 1869); AND W.J. SPARROW SIMPSON, ROMAN CATHOLIC OPPOSITION TO PAPAL INFALLIBILITY (LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, 1909). FOR THE NON-ROMAN VIEW, SEE GEORGE SALMON, INFALLIBILITY OF THE CHURCH (LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, REV. ED., 1914). [680]
PAGE 52. IMAGE WORSHIP.—"THE WORSHIP OF IMAGES . . . WAS ONE OF THOSE CORRUPTIONS OF CHRISTIANITY WHICH CREPT INTO THE CHURCH STEALTHILY AND ALMOST WITHOUT NOTICE OR OBSERVATION. THIS CORRUPTION DID NOT, LIKE OTHER HERESIES, DEVELOP ITSELF AT ONCE, FOR IN THAT CASE IT WOULD HAVE MET WITH DECIDED CENSURE AND REBUKE: BUT, MAKING ITS COMMENCEMENT UNDER A FAIR DISGUISE, SO GRADUALLY WAS ONE PRACTICE AFTER ANOTHER INTRODUCED IN CONNECTION WITH IT, THAT THE CHURCH HAD BECOME DEEPLY STEEPED IN PRACTICAL IDOLATRY, NOT ONLY WITHOUT ANY EFFICIENT OPPOSITION, BUT ALMOST WITHOUT ANY DECIDED REMONSTRANCE; AND WHEN AT LENGTH AN ENDEAVOR WAS MADE TO ROOT IT OUT, THE EVIL WAS FOUND TOO DEEPLY FIXED TO ADMIT OF REMOVAL. . . . IT MUST BE TRACED TO THE IDOLATROUS TENDENCY OF THE HUMAN HEART, AND ITS PROPENSITY TO SERVE THE CREATURE MORE THAN THE CREATOR. . . .
"IMAGES AND PICTURES WERE FIRST INTRODUCED INTO CHURCHES, NOT TO BE WORSHIPED, BUT EITHER IN THE PLACE OF BOOKS TO GIVE INSTRUCTION TO THOSE WHO COULD NOT READ, OR TO EXCITE DEVOTION IN THE MINDS OF OTHERS. HOW FAR THEY EVER ANSWERED SUCH A PURPOSE IS DOUBTFUL; BUT, EVEN GRANTING THAT THIS WAS THE CASE FOR A TIME, IT SOON CEASED TO BE SO, AND IT WAS FOUND THAT PICTURES AND IMAGES BROUGHT INTO CHURCHES DARKENED RATHER THAN ENLIGHTENED THE MINDS OF THE IGNORANT—DEGRADED RATHER THAN EXALTED THE DEVOTION OF THE WORSHIPER. SO THAT, HOWEVER THEY MIGHT HAVE BEEN INTENDED TO DIRECT MEN'S MINDS TO GOD, THEY ENDED IN TURNING THEM FROM HIM TO THE WORSHIP OF CREATED THINGS."—J. MENDHAM, THE SEVENTH GENERAL COUNCIL, THE SECOND OF NICAEA, INTRODUCTION, PAGES III-VI.
FOR A RECORD OF THE PROCEEDINGS AND DECISIONS OF THE SECOND COUNCIL OF NICAEA, A.D. 787, CALLED TO ESTABLISH THE WORSHIP OF IMAGES, SEE BARONIUS, ECCLESIASTICAL ANNALS, VOL. 9, PP. 391-407 (ANTWERP, 1612); J. MENDHAM, THE SEVENTH GENERAL COUNCIL, THE SECOND OF NICAEA; ED. STILLINGFLEET, DEFENSE OF THE DISCOURSE CONCERNING THE IDOLATRY PRACTICED IN THE CHURCH OF ROME (LONDON, 1686); A SELECT LIBRARY OF NICENE AND POST-NICENE FATHERS, 2D SERIES, VOL. 14, PP. 521-587 (NEW YORK, 1900); CHARLES J. HEFELE, A HISTORY OF THE COUNCILS OF THE CHURCH, FROM THE ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS, B. 18, CH. 1, SECS. 332, 333; CH. 2, SECS. 345-352 (T. AND T. CLARK ED., 1896), VOL. 5, PP. 260-304, 342-372.
PAGE 53. THE SUNDAY LAW OF CONSTANTINE.—THE LAW ISSUED BY THE EMPEROR CONSTANTINE ON THE SEVENTH OF MARCH, A.D. 321, REGARDING A DAY OF REST FROM LABOR, READS THUS:
"ALL JUDGES AND CITY PEOPLE AND THE CRAFTSMEN SHALL REST UPON THE VENERABLE DAY OF THE SUN. COUNTRY PEOPLE, HOWEVER, MAY FREELY ATTEND TO THE CULTIVATION OF THE FIELDS, BECAUSE IT FREQUENTLY HAPPENS THAT NO OTHER DAYS ARE BETTER ADAPTED FOR PLANTING THE GRAIN IN THE FURROWS OR THE VINES IN TRENCHES. SO THAT THE ADVANTAGE GIVEN BY HEAVENLY PROVIDENCE MAY NOT FOR THE OCCASION OF A SHORT TIME PERISH."—JOSEPH CULLEN AYER, A SOURCE BOOK FOR ANCIENT CHURCH HISTORY (NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 1913), DIV. 2, PER. 1, CH. 1, SEC. 59, G, PP. 284, 285.
THE LATIN ORIGINAL IS IN THE CODEX JUSTINIANI (CODEX OF JUSTINIAN), LIB. 3, [681] TITLE 12, LEX 3. THE LAW IS GIVEN IN LATIN AND IN ENGLISH TRANSLATION IN PHILIP SCHAFF'S HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, VOL. 3, 3D PERIOD, CH. 7, SEC. 75, P. 380, FOOTNOTE 1; AND IN JAMES A. HESSEY'S BAMPTON LECTURES, SUNDAY, LECTURE 3, PAR. 1, 3D ED., MURRAY'S PRINTING OF 1866, P. 58. SEE DISCUSSION IN SCHAFF, AS ABOVE REFERRED TO; IN ALBERT HENRY NEWMAN, A MANUAL OF CHURCH HISTORY (PHILADELPHIA: THE AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, PRINTING OF 1933), REV. ED., VOL. 1, PP. 305-307; AND IN LEROY E. FROOM, THE PROPHETIC FAITH OF OUR FATHERS (WASHINGTON, D.C.: REVIEW AND HERALD PUBLISHING ASSN., 1950), VOL. 1, PP 376-381.
PAGE 56. FORGED WRITINGS.—AMONG THE DOCUMENTS THAT AT THE PRESENT TIME ARE GENERALLY ADMITTED TO BE FORGERIES, THE DONATION OF CONSTANTINE AND THE PSEUDO-ISIDORIAN DECRETALS ARE OF PRIMARY IMPORTANCE. "THE 'DONATION OF CONSTANTINE' IS THE NAME TRADITIONALLY APPLIED, SINCE THE LATER MIDDLE AGES, TO A DOCUMENT PURPORTING TO HAVE BEEN ADDRESSED BY CONSTANTINE THE GREAT TO POPE SYLVESTER I, WHICH IS FOUND FIRST IN A PARISIAN MANUSCRIPT (CODEX LAT. 2777) OF PROBABLY THE BEGINNING OF THE NINTH CENTURY. SINCE THE ELEVENTH CENTURY IT HAS BEEN USED AS A POWERFUL ARGUMENT IN FAVOR OF THE PAPAL CLAIMS, AND CONSEQUENTLY SINCE THE TWELFTH IT HAS BEEN THE SUBJECT OF A VIGOROUS CONTROVERSY. AT THE SAME TIME, BY RENDERING IT POSSIBLE TO REGARD THE PAPACY AS A MIDDLE TERM BETWEEN THE ORIGINAL AND THE MEDIEVAL ROMAN EMPIRE, AND THUS TO FORM A THEORETICAL BASIS OF CONTINUITY FOR THE RECEPTION OF THE ROMAN LAW IN THE MIDDLE AGES, IT HAS HAD NO SMALL INFLUENCE UPON SECULAR HISTORY."—THE NEW [682] SCHAFF-HERZOG ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE, VOL. 3, ART. "DONATION OF CONSTANTINE," PP. 484, 485.
THE HISTORICAL THEORY DEVELOPED IN THE "DONATION" IS FULLY DISCUSSED IN HENRY E. CARDINAL MANNING'S THE TEMPORAL POWER OF THE VICAR OF JESUS CHRIST, LONDON, 1862. THE ARGUMENTS OF THE "DONATION" WERE OF A SCHOLASTIC TYPE, AND THE POSSIBILITY OF A FORGERY WAS NOT MENTIONED UNTIL THE RISE OF HISTORICAL CRITICISM IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. NICHOLAS OF CUSA WAS AMONG THE FIRST TO CONCLUDE THAT CONSTANTINE NEVER MADE ANY SUCH DONATION. LORENZA VALLA IN ITALY GAVE A BRILLIANT DEMONSTRATION OF ITS SPURIOUSNESS IN 1450. SEE CHRISTOPHER B. COLEMAN'S TREATISE OF LORENZO VALLA ON THE DONATION OF CONSTANTINE (NEW YORK, 1927). FOR A CENTURY LONGER, HOWEVER, THE BELIEF IN THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE "DONATION" AND OF THE FALSE DECRETALS WAS KEPT ALIVE. FOR EXAMPLE, MARTIN LUTHER AT FIRST ACCEPTED THE DECRETALS, BUT HE SOON SAID TO ECK: "I IMPUGN THESE DECRETALS;" AND TO SPALATIN: "HE [THE POPE] DOES IN HIS DECRETALS CORRUPT AND CRUCIFY CHRIST, THAT IS, THE TRUTH."
IT IS DEEMED ESTABLISHED THAT (1) THE "DONATION" IS A FORGERY, (2) IT IS THE WORK OF ONE MAN OR PERIOD, (3) THE FORGER HAS MADE USE OF OLDER DOCUMENTS, (4) THE FORGERY ORIGINATED AROUND 752 AND 778. AS FOR THE CATHOLICS, THEY ABANDONED THE DEFENSE OF THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE DOCUMENT WITH BARONIUS, ECCLESIASTICAL ANNALS, IN 1592. CONSULT FOR THE BEST TEXT, K. ZEUMER, IN THE FESTGABE FUR RUDOLF VON GNEIST (BERLIN, 1888). TRANSLATED IN COLEMAN'S TREATISE, REFERRED TO ABOVE, AND IN ERNEST F. HENDERSON, SELECT HISTORICAL DOCUMENTS OF THE MIDDLE AGES (NEW YORK, 1892), P. 319; BRIEFWECHSEL (WEIMAR ED.), PP. 141, 161. SEE ALSO THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE (1950), VOL. 3, P. 484; F. GREGOROVIUS, ROME IN THE MIDDLE AGES, VOL. 2, P. 329; AND JOHANN JOSEPH IGNAZ VON DOLLINGER, FABLES RESPECTING THE POPES OF THE MIDDLE AGES (LONDON, 1871).
THE "FALSE WRITINGS" REFERRED TO IN THE TEXT INCLUDE ALSO THE PSEUDO-ISIDORIAN DECRETALS, TOGETHER WITH OTHER FORGERIES. THE PSEUDO-ISIDORIAN DECRETALS ARE CERTAIN FICTITIOUS LETTERS ASCRIBED TO EARLY POPES FROM CLEMENT (A.D. 100) TO GREGORY THE GREAT (A.D. 600), INCORPORATED IN A NINTH CENTURY COLLECTION PURPORTING TO HAVE BEEN MADE BY "ISIDORE MERCATOR." THE NAME "PSEUDO-ISIDORIAN DECRETALS" HAS BEEN IN USE SINCE THE ADVENT OF CRITICISM IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
PSEUDO-ISIDORE TOOK AS THE BASIS OF HIS FORGERIES A COLLECTION OF VALID CANONS CALLED THE HISPANA GALLICA AUGUSTODUNENSIS, THUS LESSENING THE DANGER OF DETECTION, SINCE COLLECTIONS OF CANONS WERE COMMONLY MADE BY ADDING NEW MATTER TO OLD. THUS HIS FORGERIES WERE LESS APPARENT WHEN INCORPORATED WITH GENUINE MATERIAL. THE FALSITY OF THE PSEUDO-ISIDORIAN FABRICATIONS IS NOW INCONTESTABLY ADMITTED, BEING PROVED BY INTERNAL EVIDENCE, INVESTIGATION OF THE SOURCES, THE METHODS USED, AND THE FACT THAT THIS MATERIAL WAS UNKNOWN BEFORE 852. HISTORIANS AGREE THAT 850 OR 851 IS THE MOST PROBABLE DATE FOR THE COMPLETION OF THE COLLECTION, SINCE THE DOCUMENT IS FIRST CITED IN THE ADMONITIO OF THE CAPITULARY OF QUIERCY, IN 857.
THE AUTHOR OF THESE FORGERIES IS NOT KNOWN. IT IS PROBABLE THAT THEY [683] EMANATED FROM THE AGGRESSIVE NEW CHURCH PARTY WHICH FORMED IN THE NINTH CENTURY AT RHEIMS, FRANCE. IT IS AGREED THAT BISHOP HINCMAR OF RHEIMS USED THESE DECRETALS IN HIS DEPOSITION OF ROTHAD OF SOISSONS, WHO BROUGHT THE DECRETALS TO ROME IN 864 AND LAID THEM BEFORE POPE NICHOLAS I.
AMONG THOSE WHO CHALLENGED THEIR AUTHENTICITY WERE NICHOLAS OF CUSA (1401-1464), CHARLES DUMOULIN (1500-1566), AND GEORGE CASSENDER (1513- 1564). THE IRREFUTABLE PROOF OF THEIR FALSITY WAS CONVEYED BY DAVID BLONDEL, 1628.
AN EARLY EDITION IS GIVEN IN MIGNE PATROLOGIA LATINA, CXXX. FOR THE OLDEST AND BEST MANUSCRIPT, SEE P. HINSCHIUS, DECRETALES PSEUDO-ISIDORIANIAE AT CAPITULA ANGILRAMNI (LEIPZIG, 1863). CONSULT THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE (1950), VOL. 9, PP. 343-345. SEE ALSO H. H. MILMAN, LATIN CHRISTIANITY (VOLS.), VOL. 3; JOHANN JOSEPH IGNAZ VON DOLLINGER, THE POPE AND THE COUNCIL (1869); AND KENNETH SCOTT LATOURETTE, A HISTORY OF THE EXPANSION OF CHRISTIANITY (1939), VOL. 3; THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, VOL. 5, ART. "FALSE DECRETALS," AND FOURNIER, "ETUDES SURE LES FAUSSES DECRETALS," IN REVUE D'HISTORIQUE ECCLESIASTIQUE (LOUVAIN) VOL. 7 (1906), AND VOL. 8 (1907).
PAGE 57. THE DICTATE OF HILDEBRAND (GREGORY VII).—FOR THE ORIGINAL LATIN VERSION SEE BARONIUS, ANNALES ECCLESIASTICI, ANN. 1076, VOL. 17, PP. 405, 406 OF THE PARIS PRINTING OF 1869; AND THE MONUMENTA GERMANIAE HISTORICA SELECTA, VOL. 3, P. 17. FOR AN ENGLISH TRANSLATION SEE FREDERIC A. OGG, SOURCE BOOK OF MEDIEVAL HISTORY (NEW YORK: AMERICAN BOOK CO., 1907), CH. 6, SEC. 45, PP. 262-264; AND OLIVER J. THATCHER AND EDGAR H. MCNEAL, SOURCE BOOK FOR MEDIEVAL HISTORY (NEW YORK: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 1905), SEC. 3, ITEM 65, PP. 136-139.
FOR A DISCUSSION OF THE BACKGROUND OF THE DICTATE, SEE JAMES BRYCE, THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE, REV. ED., CH. 10; AND JAMES W. THOMPSON AND EDGAR N. JOHNSON, AN INTRODUCTION TO MEDIEVAL EUROPE, 300-1500, PAGES 377-380.
PAGE 59. PURGATORY.—DR. JOSEPH FAA DI BRUNO THUS DEFINES PURGATORY: "PURGATORY IS A STATE OF SUFFERING AFTER THIS LIFE, IN WHICH THOSE SOULS ARE FOR A TIME DETAINED, WHO DEPART THIS LIFE AFTER THEIR DEADLY SINS HAVE BEEN REMITTED AS TO THE STAIN AND GUILT, AND AS TO THE EVERLASTING PAIN THAT WAS DUE TO THEM; BUT WHO HAVE ON ACCOUNT OF THOSE SINS STILL SOME DEBT OF TEMPORAL PUNISHMENT TO PAY; AS ALSO THOSE SOULS WHICH LEAVE THIS WORLD GUILTY ONLY OF VENIAL SINS."—CATHOLIC BELIEF (1884 ED.; IMPRIMATUR ARCHBISHOP OF NEW YORK), PAGE 196.
SEE ALSO K. R. HAGENBACH, COMPENDIUM OF THE HISTORY OF DOCTRINES (T. AND T. CLARK ED.) VOL. 1, PP. 234-237, 405, 408; VOL. 2, PP. 135-150, 308, 309; CHARLES ELLIOTT, DELINEATION OF ROMAN CATHOLICISM, B. 2, CH. 12; THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, VOL. 12, ART. "PURGATORY."
PAGE 59. INDULGENCES.—FOR A DETAILED HISTORY OF THE DOCTRINE OF INDULGENCES SEE MANDELL CREIGHTON, A HISTORY OF THE PAPACY FROM THE GREAT [684] SCHISM TO THE SACK OF ROME (LONDON: LONGMANS, GREEN AND CO., 1911), VOL. 5, PP. 56-64, 71; W.H. KENT, "INDULGENCES," THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, VOL. 7, PP. 783-789; H. C. LEA, A HISTORY OF AURICULAR CONFESSION AND INDULGENCES IN THE LATIN CHURCH (PHILADELPHIA: LEA BROTHERS AND CO., 1896); THOMAS M. LINDSAY, A HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION (NEW YORK; CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 1917), VOL. 1, PP. 216-227; ALBERT HENRY NEWMAN, A MANUAL OF CHURCH HISTORY (PHILADELPHIA: THE AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY, 1953), VOL. 2, PP. 53, 54, 62; LEOPOLD RANKE, HISTORY OF THE REFORMATION IN GERMANY (2D LONDON ED., 1845), TRANSLATED BY SARAH AUSTIN, VOL. 1, PP. 331, 335-337, 343-346; PRESERVED SMITH, THE AGE OF THE REFORMATION (NEW YORK: HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY, 1920), PP. 23-25, 66.
ON THE PRACTICAL OUTWORKINGS OF THE DOCTRINE OF INDULGENCES DURING THE PERIOD OF THE REFORMATION SEE A PAPER BY DR. H. C. LEA, ENTITLED, "INDULGENCES IN SPAIN," PUBLISHED IN PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CHURCH HISTORY, VOL. 1, PP. 129-171. OF THE VALUE OF THIS HISTORICAL SIDELIGHT DR. LEA SAYS IN HIS OPENING PARAGRAPH: "UNVEXED BY THE CONTROVERSY WHICH RAGED BETWEEN LUTHER AND DR. ECK AND SILVESTER PRIERIAS, SPAIN CONTINUED TRANQUILLY TO FOLLOW IN THE OLD AND BEATEN PATH, AND FURNISHES US WITH THE INCONTESTABLE OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS WHICH ENABLE US TO EXAMINE THE MATTER IN THE PURE LIGHT OF HISTORY."
PAGE 59. THE MASS.—FOR THE DOCTRINE OF THE MASS AS SET FORTH AT THE COUNCIL OF TRENT SEE THE CANONS AND DECREES OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT IN PHILIP SCHAFF, CREEDS OF CHRISTENDOM, VOL. 2, PP. 126-139, WHERE BOTH LATIN AND ENGLISH TEXTS ARE GIVEN. SEE ALSO H. G. SCHROEDER, CANONS AND DECREES OF THE COUNCIL OF TRENT (ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI: B. HERDER, 1941).
FOR A DISCUSSION OF THE MASS SEE THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA, VOL 5, ART. "EUCHARIST," BY JOSEPH POHLE, PAGE 572 FF.; NIKOLAUS GIHR, HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS, DOGMATICALLY, LITURGICALLY, ASCETICALLY EXPLAINED, 12TH ED. (ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI: B. HERDER, 1937); JOSEF ANDREAS JUNGMANN, THE MASS OF THE ROMAN RITE, ITS ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT, TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY FRANCIS A. BRUNNER (NEW YORK: BENZIGER BROS., 1951). FOR THE NON-CATHOLIC VIEW, SEE JOHN CALVIN, INSTITUTES OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION, B. 4, CHS. 17, 18; AND EDWARD BOUVERIE PUSEY, THE DOCTRINE OF THE REAL PRESENCE (OXFORD, ENGLAND: JOHN H. PARKER, 1855).
PAGE 265. CAUSES OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION.—ON THE FAR-REACHING CONSEQUENCES OF THE REJECTION OF THE BIBLE AND OF BIBLE RELIGION, BY THE PEOPLE OF FRANCE, SEE H. VON SYBEL, HISTORY OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION, B. 5, CH. 1, PARS. 3-7; HENRY THOMAS BUCKLE, HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION IN ENGLAND, CHS. 8 , 12, 14 (NEW YORK, 1895, VOL. 1, PP. 364-366, 369-371, 437, 540, 541, 550); BLACKWOOD'S MAGAZINE, VOL. 34, NO. 215 (NOVEMBER, 1833), P. 739; J. G. LORIMER, AN HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROTESTANT CHURCH IN FRANCE, CH. 8, PARS. 6, 7.
PAGE 267. EFFORTS TO SUPPRESS AND DESTROY THE BIBLE.—THE COUNCIL OF TOULOUSE, WHICH MET ABOUT THE TIME OF THE CRUSADE AGAINST THE ALBIGENSES, RULED: "WE PROHIBIT LAYMEN POSSESSING COPIES OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT. . . . WE FORBID THEM MOST SEVERELY TO HAVE THE ABOVE BOOKS IN THE POPULAR VERNACULAR." "THE LORDS OF THE DISTRICTS SHALL CAREFULLY SEEK OUT THE HERETICS IN DWELLINGS, HOVELS, AND FORESTS, AND EVEN THEIR UNDERGROUND RETREATS SHALL BE ENTIRELY WIPED OUT."—COUNCIL. TOLOSANUM, POPE GREGORY IX, ANNO. CHR. 1229. CANONS 14 AND 2. THIS COUNCIL SAT AT THE TIME OF THE CRUSADE AGAINST THE ALBIGENSES.
"THIS PEST [THE BIBLE] HAD TAKEN SUCH AN EXTENSION THAT SOME PEOPLE HAD [688] APPOINTED PRIESTS OF THEIR OWN, AND EVEN SOME EVANGELISTS WHO DISTORTED AND DESTROYED THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL AND MADE NEW GOSPELS FOR THEIR OWN PURPOSE . . . (THEY KNOW THAT) THE PREACHING AND EXPLANATION OF THE BIBLE IS ABSOLUTELY FORBIDDEN TO THE LAY MEMBERS."—ACTS OF INQUISITION, PHILIP VAN LIMBORCH, HISTORY OF THE INQUISITION, CHAPTER 8.
THE COUNCIL OF TARRAGONA, 1234, RULED THAT: "NO ONE MAY POSSESS THE BOOKS OF THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENTS IN THE ROMANCE LANGUAGE, AND IF ANYONE POSSESSES THEM HE MUST TURN THEM OVER TO THE LOCAL BISHOP WITHIN EIGHT DAYS AFTER PROMULGATION OF THIS DECREE, SO THAT THEY MAY BE BURNED LEST, BE HE A CLERIC OR A LAYMAN, HE BE SUSPECTED UNTIL HE IS CLEARED OF ALL SUSPICION."—D. LORTSCH, HISTOIRE DE LA BIBLE EN FRANCE, 1910, P. 14.
AT THE COUNCIL OF CONSTANCE, IN 1415, WYCLIFFE WAS POSTHUMOUSLY CONDEMNED BY ARUNDEL, THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY, AS "THAT PESTILENT WRETCH OF DAMNABLE HERESY WHO INVENTED A NEW TRANSLATION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN HIS MOTHER TONGUE."
THE OPPOSITION TO THE BIBLE BY THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH HAS CONTINUED THROUGH THE CENTURIES AND WAS INCREASED PARTICULARLY AT THE TIME OF THE FOUNDING OF BIBLE SOCIETIES. ON DECEMBER 8, 1866, POPE PIUS IX, IN HIS ENCYCLICAL QUANTA CURA, ISSUED A SYLLABUS OF EIGHTY ERRORS UNDER TEN DIFFERENT HEADINGS. UNDER HEADING IV WE FIND LISTED: "SOCIALISM, COMMUNISM, CLANDESTINE SOCIETIES, BIBLE SOCIETIES. . . . PESTS OF THIS SORT MUST BE DESTROYED BY ALL POSSIBLE MEANS."
ERROR (CINCINNATI, 1869).
https://www.ellenwhite.info/books/ellen-g-white-book-great-controversy-gc-appendix.htm
After the Little Horn of Daniel 8 became the ruling church/state power of the world, she practiced and prospered. Scripture tells us in the book Revelation that this power would blaspheme God for 1260 years (a day stands for a year in prophecy; a time stands for 360 days). See the next chapter for an explanation.
Revelation 13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?
5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months.
6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Revelation-Chapter-13/
Daniel 7:25 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. https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Daniel-Chapter-7/
“They shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and three-score days, clothed in sackcloth.” During the greater part of this period, God’s witnesses represented in Revelation 11 by Moses (the Law) and Elijah (the Prophets) remained in a state of humility or sackcloth. Those who dared to proclaim the truths of the Bible were persecuted and martyred for their faith. Still, they continued their testimony for 1260 years by the grace and direction of God.
Revelation 11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
3 And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
God has solemnly warned men against changing His words or commands in any way by placing their own opinions or maxims above God’s Word to suit their own convenience. God has given significant warnings in scripture not to change even a jot or tittle of His word.
Revelation 11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.
Matthew 5:18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
19 Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/Matthew-Chapter-5/
Those men, the army or host of the Little Horn power, who did the evil work of casting truth to the ground for the papacy and Satan will one day realize that their part has been taken out of the book of life. One day, these men will have to meet God for their injury to the character of God, God’s people, and His truth.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
In Daniel 8:12 we are reminded that the Little Horn power was in a continual battle against God and the truth of God. We will see how he continued Satan’s rebellion against God and the truth of God and was allowed by God to practice and to prosper to the end that his true character would be unveiled.
Scripture shows us that the Little Horn power goes to war with an army against God, His people, and His truth.
With the words “daily transgression” God is warning us of a daily or continual moral rebellion against God.
Contrary to the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the spirit of Satan is to continually or daily accuse or condemn. The right to accuse or condemn the repentant sinner was abolished by the death of Jesus Christ. But this accusing spirit was also the spirit of the papacy during her 1260-year reign where she put thousands to death for not worshipping at her footstool by obeying her man-made commands.
We discovered that the Commandments or Words of God are truth. We looked at how the Little Horn power distorted the truth or the words in the Law of God by introducing pagan ideas with truth changing the truth of God into a lie.
Some of these lies were:
-That the pope is in the place of God here on this earth
-Prohibition of circulation of the Bible to remove the detector of error.
-Changing the very times and laws of God:
Removing the second command of God on image worship
Changing the Sabbath of the fourth commandment from the seventh day to the first day of the week to take away God’s great memorial of creation and the revelation of God as the Creator.
-That the pope is the earthly mediator and no one can approach God except through him or his priests. And as the representative of God, he, a mere man, is to be implicitly obeyed.
-To trust works, money or acts of penance to atone for sin instead of the gift of Jesus Christ
-encouragement of superstition
-That the Roman church is perfect and the pope infallible so he has power over all other earthly leaders, power to remove them and set them up
-Doctrinal errors not taught by scripture but believed by pagans were introduced including:
-The natural immortality of the soul and his consciousness in death
-Eternal torment for the finally impenitent
-Purgatory
-Doctrine of indulgences
-Idolatrous sacrifice of the mass, pretending to convert the bread and wine into the actual body and blood of Jesus Christ openly claiming the power to create God.
-The inquisition
After the Little Horn of Daniel 8 became the ruling church/state power of the world, she practiced and prospered, blaspheming God for 1260 years described as three and a half years in Bible prophecies, each day standing for a year. Because of persecution, the gospel was in a state of obscurity for 1260 years. Those who dared to tell its sacred truth were persecuted and martyred for their faith, or compelled to flee to the wilderness. Yet they continued their testimony throughout the entire period of 1260 years. In the darkest times there were faithful men who loved God’s Word and were jealous for His honor. To these loyal servants were given wisdom, power, and authority to declare His truth during the whole of this time. These men represented the testimony of the law and the prophets to the world.
Those men, the army or host of the Little Horn power, who did the evil work of casting truth to the ground for the papacy and Satan will one day realize that their part has been taken out of the book of life. God has given significant warnings in scripture not to change even a jot or tittle of His word. One day, these men will have to meet God for their injury to the character of God, His people, and to His truth.