During Dark Ages

“I saw one of [the beast’s] heads as though it had been smitten unto death; and his death-stroke was healed” (Revelation 13:3, ASV).

The fall of the Roman Empire, and the rise of Papacy, instituted a new condition for Christians, as well as for the rest of the world.

How it Happened

The four beasts of Daniel 7 collectively had 7 heads and 10 horns. From Babylon to the Roman Empire the diadems had been on the 7 heads. When the beast arose, the diadems were transferred to the 10 horns (Revelation 12:3, 13:1), the 10 Germanic tribes which took over the entire Western Roman Empire in the fifth century.

The Western Roman Empire had left the military to the (Germanic) Heruli tribe, when in 476 Odovacer, at their head, deposed the young Emperor Romulus Augustus and slew his corrupt uncle Orestes, and then ruled Rome as king. (In 493, another Germanic tribe, the Ostrogoths, slew Odovacer and took over Rome.) In Constantinople, Justinian remained Emperor of the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire, and with nominal authority over the West.

In February 535, there was an enormous volcanic eruption, probably Krakatoa.¹ Equatorial regions were hurt the worst, with Constantinople affected more severely than Rome. Power was about to shift.

Eastern Roman General Belisarius first took Rome from the Ostrogoths, and in the Summer Solstice of 538, pursued them and left Pope Vigilius as the civil ruler of Rome. Belisarius tricked the Ostrogoths and took the capital Ravenna, but was recalled by Justinian before the Spring Equinox of 540,² which left the Pope as civil ruler in the West. That was the beginning of Papal power.³ By the end of the century, Pope Gregory I was the dominant political power in the West. Papal power reached its peak under Innocent III (1198-1216).

Prophesied Long Before

God had revealed to Daniel (2:31-43) that three kingdoms later, Rome would rise, but in two stages: first, the iron legs picturing the civil Roman Empire, and later the iron mixed with miry clay, feet and toes (2:41), picturing the mixture of civil and religious — Papal Rome. Daniel was later shown a beast with iron teeth and ten horns (7:7-26). A Papal horn would then rise up and terminate three horns (Herules, Ostrogoths and Lombards⁴); so the number of horns changes. The “32 times” (7:25) seem sharply marked: AD 538 when the Pope was left in charge of Rome, and then 539 when his civil power widened over Italy, to 1798 when the French drove Pope Pius VI out of Rome, and 1799 when he died without successor (for a full six months).⁵

(1) The case for Krakatoa is made at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbwyR5jLSUQ. The blast was heard in China, a few thousand miles away! The world was darkened, and famine persisted for years afterward.
(2) The only known history for this period is that of Procopius.
(3) Papal power was terminated in the French Revolution. The Pope was driven from Rome in 1798 and died in 1799, with no successor elected for another six months. Thus, Papal power lasted for 1260 years.
(4) Some good students of scripture look before Papacy arises and reckon the Vandals instead of the Lombards.
(5) See additionally “The Importance of 1799,” Herald, July /August 2025.

Thracians founded Rome, as shown in 8:8-26, where the Roman “little horn” comes out of the Thracian horn. The “2300 evenings and mornings” (8:14; interpret: years) are variously understood: BC 454 to AD 1846, from the rebuilding command to the Evangelical Alliance (Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 2, page 67, Volume 3 page 119), BC 457 to AD 1844, from when Ezra left Babylon with the decree to the Ottoman Emperor’s decree of tolerance for Christians (R. E. Streeter, Daniel the Beloved of Jehovah, page 277); or BC 387 to AD 1914, from the beginning of the rise of Rome (when the Gauls abandoned their siege of Rome) to the beginning of World War 1.

Daniel 11:34-39 takes us from Constantine’s edict of toleration (March 313) to the end of Papal power (the end of 1260 years).

The Revelation Account

Revelation 12 describes the Roman Empire under the dragon (Satan), while chapter 13 shows Papal Rome (13:1-10), and then the successful Anglican division from it (13:11-17). The “death-stroke” (13:3) would be the Germanic rule over Rome (476-538), during which Constantinople remained the great power. Thus, Papal Rome may be considered an “eighth,” but of “the seven” (17:9-11,6 geographically the same as #6, Pagan Rome). Chapter 17 distinguishes the religious power (harlot, like Jezebel) from the civil power (scarlet beast, like King Ahab).

That the Antichrist was not as early as Pagan Rome may be deduced from 2 Thessalonians 2:3-10.⁷

(6) Suggest: The five fallen kings were Babylon; Medo‑Persia; three Grecian governments: Macedonia (Alexander), Egypt (Ptolemies) and Syria (Seleucids). When Apostle John wrote, Pagan Rome then was #6. Grecian Thrace (Constantinople) was more than two centuries future, and still later was the return of power to (Papal) Rome.
(7) A discussion of Antichrist may be found in Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 2, pages 267-361, although the Catholic Banner boast that the Inquisition burned 35,534 men and women is likely exaggerated by an order of magnitude.)

Moral problems became rampant from the priests on up, which spurred so many reformers before the Reformation: Jacobus Baradaeus (6th century), Peter Waldo (12th century), John Wyclif (14th century), John Hus (ca.1373-1415), and John Wessel Gansvoort (ca.1420-1489) among them.

Lessons for Us

From the time Papacy was established as a political power until the Reformation, special problems existed for faithful Christians, and there are lessons for us even now.

From inception, Papal Rome as both a religious and civil power dictated who could be regarded as a Christian, and even who could live or die. The creed was defined by Rome. Arians had been banned. Now Monophysites (Jesus had only one nature here on earth) and others were also banned. The reigning church warred against the Paulicians and then the Cathars and the Anabaptists. Thousands were burned at the stake.

Let us take a lesson: Salvation is not by knowledge alone (e.g., Gnosticism, especially “not the deep things of Satan,” Revelation 2:24). Nor is it by compromising principles. We are neither to compromise principles nor to demand that others do so. Back then, the faithful were to reject the teachings of spiritual “Jezebel,” as we also should. In our time is the added call, Come out of spiritual Babylon “that ye have no fellowship with her sins” (Revelation 18:2, 4 ASV).

Immorality was a result of tyrannical power, and it is utterly addictive. In our own time, each of us must beware of both our actions and our thinking (Matthew 5:27-28). It is said that pornography is the most severely addictive, more than alcohol, smoking or illicit drugs.

“Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with men, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-11 ASV). ourselves, which temptation is most likely to reject me from the kingdom of God? Is it worth it?

During the Dark Ages, teaching the Bible risked being killed. Today, under lesser threats and greater opportunities, should we not the more share the Bible message? (Mark 8:38).