It seems fair to ask, “what if the past failures of the historical interpretation picked the wrong starting place?” It is for that reason that in Petrus Romanus we survey the rise of papacy up until the reformation and explain in detail the reformers unanimous charge that the papacy fulfilled the Antichrist prophecies. We also discuss the leader of the first Great Awakening in America,[i] Jonathan Edwards, who was open to two possible dates for the rise of the papal Antichrist, 606 and 756. In our book, Petrus Romanus, we show how in AD 756, Pope Stephen used the fraudulent document, The Donation of Constantine, to convince King Pepin to go to war for the Vatican to take various lands which became the Papal States. According to contemporary historians: “In 756 a Frankish army forced the Lombard king to surrender his conquests, and Pepin officially conferred the Ravenna territory upon the pope. Known as the ‘Donation of Pepin,’ the gift made the pope a temporal ruler over the Papal States, a strip of territory that extended diagonally across Italy from coast to coast. Peter recovered his sword.”[ii]
We first learned that Edwards was open to this date in a Church History journal article which stated, “Edwards considered that the most likely time for the end of the reign of Antichrist was 1260 years after either A.D. 606 (the recognition of the universal authority of the bishop of Rome), or A.D. 756 (the acceding of temporal power to the pope).”[iii] We sought to verify this by examining a collection of Jonathan Edward’s voluminous writings and in the book we publish examples from Edward’s works. The suggestions we offer are right in line with what Mr. Edwards taught, so we rest secure being in agreement with such a seminal figure in Christian theology. As a sample for what the book reveals, we also found this letter by Edwards which addresses the starting date for the 1260 days:
The rise of Antichrist was gradual. The Christian church corrupted itself in many things presently after Constantine’s time; growing more and more superstitious in its worship and by degrees bringing in many ceremonies into the worship of God, till at length they brought in the worship of saints, and set up images in their churches. The clergy in general, and especially the bishop of Rome, assumed more and more authority to himself. In the primitive times, he was only a minister of a congregation; then a standing moderator of a presbytery; then a diocesan bishop; then a metropolitan, which is equivalent to an archbishop; then a patriarch. Afterwards he claimed the power of universal bishop over the whole Christian church; wherein he was opposed for a while, but afterwards was confirmed in it by the civil power of the emperor in the year six hundred and six. After that he claimed the power of a temporal prince, and so was wont to carry two swords, to signify that both the temporal and spiritual sword was his. He claimed more and more authority, till at length, as Christ’s vice-regent on earth, he claimed the very same power that Christ would have done, if he was present on earth reigning on his throne; or the same power that belongs to God, and was used to be called God on earth; to be submitted to by all the princes of Christendom.
[edited for blog posting]
Your Affectionate Brother and Servant,
In Our Common Lord,
Jonathan Edwards
As we demonstrate decisively in the book, the pope’s rise to temporal power began when the pope Stephen began courting Pepin around 751 and then became a reality in 756 with the expulsion of the Lombards. We quickly broke out our calculators and saw that 756 placed the target sometime in 2016 which can also be thought of as in the range of three and a half years from 2012. Perhaps it seems we are mixing up our eschatological systems? It may seem a bit odd as the futurist view gets seven years from Daniels seventieth week, but usually bifurcates it into two, three-and-a-half-year periods with the latter representing the Great tribulation (the part with the severe trumpet and vial judgments). Of course, the three and a half years is the same as the 1260 days (Rev. 11:3; 12:6) or “times time and half a time” (Dan 7:25; 12:7) that the historicist view uses to span 756 to 2016. Is it possible that the year/day theory and the literal three and half years could both be true? We make a compelling case in the book.
We offer another startling find by a friend Trey Clark who emailed Tom Horn after doing some of his own digging. This is from a collection titled “Lectures on the Revelation” by the Reverend William J. Reid, former pastor of First United Presbyterian Church in Pittsburgh, PA, which were given over a period of time ending in March of 1876. Where there seems to be a little disagreement in the nineteenth-century historical scholarship concerning the date of the Donation of Pepin, his lecture is still astounding. He reached the same conclusions we did, but we only became aware of this document near the end of writing this book. Here is a scan of the document published in 1878:
Keep in mind this was published in 1878! What is it about this period of time we have entered? What is it about this period of time inaugurated in 2012 that has caught the attention of so many divergent traditions? What are we to make of Jesuit Rene’ Thibaut deriving 2012 from the Prophecy of the Popes along with the above? Is it a mere coincidence?
This is merely the tip of the iceberg… You will read even more startling connections in Petrus Romanus.
[i] See http://www.great-awakening.com/?page_id=12 for more information.
[ii]Bruce L. Shelley, Church History in Plain Language, Updated 2nd ed. (Dallas, TX: Word Pub., 1995), 175.
[iii] Clarence Goen, “Jonathan Edwards: A New Departure in Eschatology” (Church History 28, 1 Mr 1959), 29.
[iv] Jonathan Edwards, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, Volume 1, 594. Included FREE on Petrus Romanus library DVD.
[v] William J. Reid, Lectures on the Revelation (Stevenson, Foster, 1878), 306. Included FREE on Petrus Romanus library DVD.
About Cris Putnam
So what about the 538 to 1798 dates? In 538, the power to correct heresy was given to the Rome Bishop by the Eastern Roman emperor. The discussion about the land beast doesn’t even appear until after the 1260 ‘days’ is mentioned. Plus, the land beast has two horns (i.e. two kingdoms come out of one kingdom). All this could take some time beyond 1798, when the Bishop of Rome was brought under captivity by the French. There is no reason, based on the language of the text, to suppose that the end of the 1260 days brings Christ immediately.
Most historicist believe the 1260 days in Daniel and Revelation are speaking of the same period and the text in Daniel does seem to infer the end. Daniel asks the angel how long until the end of these wonders and he replies:
“And I heard the man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and when he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished.(Da 12:7)
Why do you think 1798 is compelling?
the date 538 to 1798 = 1260 years
and 756 to 2016 = 1260 years now read revelation and you will have understanding
“In 1798 the French general Berthier, with a French army, marched into Rome and proclaimed the political rule of the Papcy at an end and took the Pope prisoner. The Pope was removed to France where he died in exile.”
http://www.wwco.com/religion/believe/believe_36.html
By 1798 the RCC could no longer persecute “heresy.” The passage in Da 12:7 could refer only to the time of persecution (i.e. scattering the power of the holy people) and not necessarily to the end of this present age. It would depend on what the context requires.
Marty,
it doesn’t really work to me because the pope made a deal with Mussolini and got his temporal power back (plus millions of dollars for the land) a few years later. If you look back at the books during the period, most people thought that Napoleon was the Anitchrist because of those events.
Cris,
I’m sure that some people thought that Napoleon was the antichrist, but the pope was still the enemy in the days of Spurgeon and J.A. Wylie (i.e. 19th century). Temporal power is one thing, but I’m not talking about temporal power. I’m talking about the power to persecute ‘heresy.’ Making war with the saints is not just temporal power.
It is interesting to note that David Flynn, in his book Temple at the Center of Time, also notes the date of 753 BC as the founding of the city of Rome (April 21st no less). Then using the mirror of BC to AD begins also at 753 AD to then add the 1260 years. He arrives at 2012. He notes that Newton also attempted to project forward with the 1260 years but apparently chose the wrong date as well. The 753 BC date mirrored to 753 AD appears also to support the date chosen by Edwards.
Flynn also notes that the 1798/1799 date as significant as Napoleon issued a declaration supporting the Jews to return to their homeland. Then, as he did with the time/distance calculations to London, David also measure the distance in nautical miles to Paris. Yep, 1799 nautical miles. Interesting stuff.
Mark
Mark,
Thanks for your reply. Newton did not have the advantage of all the scholarship that we have access to today and he thought the Pope’s rise to temporal power was AD 800, that is why he put the end times at 2060. (800 + 1260) However, we know with certainty today that Pope Stephen’s deal with Pepin was circa 756. I have David’s book too and it is very interesting. I’m not sure what to make of all the distance calculations from the temple mount but they do return some interesting numbers. If it is really by design, it’s very hard to imagine how it was put in place. It would require supernatural intervention.
Does anyone care about 2070 AD? Two thousand years from the end of the old covenant age seems noteworthy.
Cris,
If you reference back to Flynn’s book he makes some startling discoveries. Just the fact alone that 33 degrees plus 33 minutes equals 2012.9 nautical miles is eye opening enough. What are the odds?! God could easily place this calculation into His geographical creation, earth. Then there’s the fact that 33.33 by 33.33 measured from the Paris Meridian and the equator comes to rest over the mount of Hermon. Then there’s the location of Roswell related to pi. Then this calculation by Flynn: 19 minutes and 48 seconds as a fractal pf the 60-minute hour possibly pointing to the rebirth date of the nation Israel. On top of this, the 1948.?(I don’t have the book with me) nautical miles lines up with the city of London from the Temple Mount. One more. The measured distance via satellite the Flynn showed to be 666 nautical miles from the Temple Mount to the Kabba Stone in Mecca.
All these are too much to be coincidence. This appears to be Divine information designed into the landscape of God’s creation from the beginning. He is no doubt in control of events, places and times; able to declare the end from the beginning. It is one thing to discover these things; impressive in fact. But it is entirely another to encrypt it from creation of the world! But this of course goes for the prophecy contained within the pages of Scripture as well.
The words of Tom Horn continue to ring in my ears from a recent broadcast where he said something like, “a person would have to be an idiot….”, basically not to see what is going on here. The “coincident” information you guys are continuing to present is already mathematically overwhelming.
I’d like to leave you with one more thought. You know how the “Doomsday Clock” is continually tinkered with from year to year either approaching 12 or pushed back? Originally it was established in 1947 (interesting year). Originally it was set at 7 minutes to 12. But I wonder if it was not the hour of “12” that wasn’t in fact encoded into the clock to indicate the time – information hidden in plain sight once again. According to the A.L. Calendar we are in the year 6012. J.R. Church made some interesting observations regarding the way the rabbis accounted for time in his studies on the “missing years” from the Jewish calendar. If all of this is true, we don’t have long to wait…
Mark
Mark,
Thanks to your insightful comments, I am posting some info from Flynn’s book in my next post. Thanks!
Cris,
I went looking for this video by David Flynn. I thought it might pique your interest in timelines. Maybe you have seen it. But the interesting thing to me is where he states that the Kabbalah seems to account for and recognize the 240 missing years of the Jewish calendar. Again, JR Church did a program with Gary Stearman a few years ago now where they accounted for the missing years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=lEsVPFdNju4
How incredibly interesting is it that the year 5776 A.L. is the A.D. year 1776 (Year of our Lord) begins the countdown of the 240 year pyramid which ends in 5776 AM? This simply indicates once again the choice of 1776 at the base of the pyramid on the dollar bill is no coincidence. It is looking more and more probable that the Temple will begin construction in 2012!
Mark
About the 70 yearweeks of Daniel
First of all that should be 70 feasts of weeks(pentacost), so these count as 70 years. There is no special 7 year tribulation. The tribulation is almost done. People are being misled to think that there will be a temple being rebuilt in Jerusalem and that some sort of antichrist will place himself in, declaring himself as God. No, the temple is u! God lives u! What the AC=beast out of the sea, did is this removing Gods law from your heart and placing his law instead of it. That makes him living in Gods temple, thats his mark(beast) while Gods mark are his law and feasts and sabbats. As i said the tribulation is almost done.
Gods works through jubulee years, after every 49 years, he 50th year is a jubilea year. Lets say 1967 i a jubulee year, then indeed the Day of the Lord should be on 2015, plus 1 year Gods wrath. If 1967 is a jubulee year, 1917 should be one aswell, well well end of ottomon empire, and begin of belfourt declaration(jewish homeland). So God is working out his plan.
1946 yom kippoer, USA signs deal of Jewish Homeland, after ww2. (daniel)Add 62 feast of weeks=2008, add another 7 feast of weeks=2015!
Fascinating ha?
Oh and btw, i agree with the fact that vatican(=beast of the sea) rose to power in 755 AD, so yea i totally agree with 755+1260=2015
The power that is withhelding the lawlessness Paul was talking about in Tessaloicensen is the roman emperor..After the emperor was removed the beast out of the sea got on stage….changing times and law(Gods feasts and calender) and killing millions and millions of Jews and good Christians)
The result is a 2012 church proclaiming that the law of Moses is not relevant anymore, Cuz we r free in Christ! Well we are free in Christ, but obey to Gods law! Thats your mark with God, anything else is the mark of the beast
Last remark: 1929 the deadly wound was heald. Interesting is that since that time 7 popes rose to power…revelation 17 is talking about 8 kings….since the current king/pope is kinda sick…it could become interesting
(Im not english nor american, so please forgive me for my bad english )
So interesting! Where did u get all of this info?
Wouldn’t it have been something if it was A.D. 666, rather than A.D. 606, as the date marking the recognition of the universal authority of the bishop of Rome?