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This Paper Was Presented to the Daniel and Revelation Committee C0C?0?8 Please Note: This paper wa s presented to the Daniel and Revelation Committee of the General Conference of Seventh­ day Adventists. It should be considered a working paper or draft position. Therefore. the researcher should bear in mind that positions expres s ed in this paper may not necessarily reflect what the author would wish to be in an edited publi s hed paper. Please refer to the book, Symposium on Revelation. published by the Biblical Research Institute, 1992. Adventi s t Heritage Center ADVENTIST HERITAGE CENTER James White Library ANDREWS UNIVERSITY • ' t ~OVENliST ttER\l~GE CENTER Jam .... White \..ibrai'Y ANDREWS UMlV~RS\ll THE MARK OF THE BEAST By C. Mervyn Maxwell Andrews University March, 1989 Preterists have said that the mark of the beast sociated the mark of the beast with papal (Rev 13-20) was something that Nero applied to authority. Questions on Doctrine acknowledges, Christians. Not that preterists have ever proved howevet; that "none of these expositors, of the that Nero did apply a marktoChristians; they're centuries past, applied the mark of the beast just certain that Nero was the beast. Dispensa­ specifically to the Sabbath issue." tional futurists, on the other hand, have said In recent times some Seventh-day Adventists that it's the actual number 666, to be branded on have taken up a new position, namely that the people in the end time by the ruler of a revived mark of the beast is any form of false worship,3 Roman Empire. And Sabbath-keeping Adven­ but this broad interpretation does not seem to tists since the 1840s have generally linked the have gained unanimous adoption. mark of the beast to Sunday keeping and the The thesis of this paper is that the mark of the Roman Catholic Church.1 beast is "committed end-time approval of coer­ The three interpretations cannot all be right; cive Sunday-keeping in opposition to clear light but noteworthy is their agreement that the beast on the Sabbath question and in harmony with has something to do with Rome. classic Roman Catholicism." In perceiving a relationship between the mark In attempting to establish this position, no of the beast and the church of Rome, Seventh­ attempt will be made to redo all that others on day Adventists have had the support of the Daniel and Revelation Committee have al­ numerous commentators of the past. Questions ready done.4 We'll begin with the statement of a on Doctrine,2 cites John Purvey (Wycliffe's as­ few hermeneutical principles and then list some sociate), Andreas Osiandet; Nikolaus von questions to be answered. Amsdor~ Heinrich Bullinget; Nicholas Ridley, Some basic hermeneutical principles. John N apiet; John Cotton, and other famous Some basic hermeneutical principles relevant to men as samples of expositors who have as- our quest include: lSee, e.g., Joseph Bates, The Seventh-day Sabbath a Perpetual Sign, 2d ed (New Bedford, 1847), p. 59: "Is it not clear that the first day of the week for the Sabbath or holy day is a mark of the beast. It surely will be admitted that the Devil was and is the father of all the wicked deeds of Imperial and papal Rome. It is clear then from this history that Sunday, or fJ.rSt day, is his Sabbath throughout christendom." 2(Washington: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1957), pp. 180-181. The authors credit vols. 3 and 4 of LeRoy Edwin Froom, Prophetic Faith of Our Fathers, 4 vols. (Washington: Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1946- 1954). axxx 4Notably, William Johnsson, in the paper he presented at Marienhohe. CMM: The Mark of the Beast (Unflnished), p. 2 Principle No. 1-That the Bible is an in­ Principle No. 4-The major prophecies of spired unit. Though holy men spoke in different Revelation, like those of Daniel, Matt 24-25, and ways, the God of truth spoke through them (Heb 2 Thess 2, (a) stretch from the prophet's day to 1:1; 1 Pet 1:11; etc) and they therefore delivered the second cominEV (b) deal mainly but not ex- a unified message. dusively7 with the harsh side of political and Principle No. 2-That Revelation is closely reli ·o-politicai entlties, (c) warn of major a linked to Daniel and to Matt 24-25 and to 2 Thess • tasy and tn ation, and (d) promise a Christ­ ____..2.5 . centered outCOme, wtfh rewards for the Principle No.3- That when Daniel, Matt ~righteous and destruction for the wickeg. 24-25, 2 Thess 2, and Revelation deal propheti­ Though these prophecies in general progress cally with major political entities, they deal selec­ from the prophet's day to the end of time, they tively with those entities that most directly do not necessarily do so in simple sequential affect GOd's worshipersL primarily Jews and narrative form.S Christians and secondarily Moslems. As God's Principle No. 5-Four sweep-of-hisW!I people have extended their areas of habitation E.,_rophecies are to be found in Daniel (cbs. 2, 7, from the Middle East to Europe, to the Americas, 8-9, 10-12) and four in Revelation (the letters, and to most portions of the globe, prophetic the seals, the trumpets, and the great controver­ foresight has kept pace. ,&stocy). In the first century A.D., when prophetic ful­ Five questions to be discussed. The five fillment focused on events and persons in the questions we'll try to answer are (A) Is the beast Roman Empire, four empires juxtaposed one that has the mark Roman Catholic? (B) Is the another in series across Eurasia, the Roman, mark of the beast presented in Revelation as an Parthian, Kushan, and Han Empires,6 but of end-time phenomenon? (C) Does the mark have these empires, the Roman covered the territory to do with. Sabbath and Sunday? (D) In the past where most of the Jews and Christians lived at has the Catholic Church play an outstanding role the time. Thus it was that the Roman Empire in coercively favoring Sunday at the expense of occupied a major. focus of Daniel's political Sabbath? and (E) What difference does it make? prophecies in the first century. A. Is the Beast that Has the Mark Roman Catholic? That the sea beast is Rome or Roman is sug­ been shown by many others to be Rome and even .eestea at the outset by its obvious links with the the Roman Catholic Church. little hom of the fourth beast of Dan 7, which has A chart confirms the comparison. 5A recent monograph linking Revelation with Daniel is G. K Beale, The Use of Daniel in Jewish Apocalyptic Literature and in the Revelation ofSt. John (Lanham, Md.: University Press of America, Inc., 1984). Another, of course, is Jon Paulien's dissertation on the trumpets. 6See William H. McNeill, The Rise of the West, (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1963), p. 317; also, Maxwell, God Cares, 2 vols. (Boise: Pacific Press Publishing Association, 1981, 1985) 1:36. 7 In contrast to Dan 7 and 8, Dan 2 presents human government at its best: the image is of "exceeding brightness," verse 31 RSV. In the seven letters of Revelation Christ compliments most of the churches. Even to Thyatira He says, "I know your works, your love and faith and service and patient endurance, and that your latter works exceed the fJ.rSt," Rev 2:19. 8Rev 12-14 in particular presents a braid rather than a thread of history, repeatedly backing up to augment information presented earlier. See the Appendix. CMM: The Mark of the Beast (Unfmished), p. 3 The little horn The sea beast Daniel 7 and 8 Revelation 13 Speaks great words against God Utters blasphemies against God Thinks to change time and law Tramples on the sanctuary and the Blasphemes God's name, His dwelling and those host who dwell in heaven Wears out the saints for a time, two Makes war with the saints for forty-two months9 I . times, and half a time So what according to Daniel and Revelation cated is called his "cathedral." The city in which are the characteristic features or marks of the his throne is located is called his sedes in Latin sea beast? (1) Blaspheming God and changing and in English, his "see." The ultimate see in His law, (2) . undermining the ministry of the Catholicism is the Holy See, the city where the ~eavenly sanctua!ll and (3) oppressing God's Pope's throne is located. This ci~ is of course saints during a special.1260-day period. Rome1 or more specifically, ;ince the 1929 Treaty The Catholic Church is avowedly Roman. Its ~f the Lateran with Italy, Vatican City, a 108.7 F ~ official name today, as it has been throughout acre tract on Vatican Hill, lying wholly within most of its long history, is The_Holy Catholic and Rome. Apostolic Church of Rome. 10 And how did the And how did the dragon, the Roman Empire, Catholic church come to possess its unique give its power, its authority, and the place of its Romanness? rulership (its "throne," or see, or city) to the "The dragon gave its power, throne, and great Roman Church? authority to the beast," Rev 13:2. The familiar steps need no elaboration here. A throne is a symbol of authority. But because The empire was named for the city of Rome, this passage already contains the words "power" being in fact an extention of Rome as a city-state and "authority," we expect "throne" here to con­ (analogous to the way the Roman Catholic vey a more literal meaning.
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