The Last ReformationSmith, F. G. (Frederick George)
Religion
The Last Reformation
Smith, F. G. (Frederick George)
Church -- Biblical teaching; Mission of the church
"And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two
horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the
power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them
which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was
healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down
from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that
dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power
to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the
earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the
wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the
image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and
cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should
be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor,
free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their
foreheads: and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the
mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is
wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the
beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred
threescore and six" (Rev. 13: 11-18).
Protestant commentators generally apply both the ten-horned beast and
the two-horned beast to Rome, the first representing the political
power, and the second the ecclesiastical power. But this position,
while clearing Protestantism of any moral stigma, is such a manifest
violation of the laws of symbolic language and the general principles
of Scriptural interpretation that I marvel that any critical thinker
could decide to adopt it. The two beasts are especially distinguished,
and in each case the symbol is complete. The first beast combines with
its beastly characteristics the qualities of the human, as did the
little horn of Daniel 7, thus clearly and positively representing
_both the political and the ecclesiastical dominion_ of Rome. It is
the human characteristics that constitute the leading feature of the
terrible work ascribed to the first beast; therefore, the papacy _as a
religious power_ is particularly intended. Hence the second beast can
not be intended to represent the ecclesiastical phase of Rome. Notice,
also, that the symbol of the second beast is likewise complete in
itself--animal and human--thus embracing both the political and the
ecclesiastical. _Another system totally distinct from the first is
therefore represented._
I call attention to certain distinct points proving that these two
beasts are not identical or simultaneous:
1. The first is spoken of as "a beast"; the second is called "another
beast."
2. The first came up from the sea; the second came out of the earth.
3. The first was like a leopard; the second was like a lamb.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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