Lead Up to 538 A.D.---
From the time of the imperial decree of Valentinian III, which made the pope the head of the churches in the West, 445 A. D., the popes had increased in power in the church up to Pope Hormisdas, 514-523 A. D. But their triumph was of short duration. Pope Hormisdas was the only pope, up to this point, who had enjoyed such dominion in the universal church. Yet, notwithstanding this union, the pope and the Western Catholic Church were still under Arian control.
In the year 533, Justinian issued a decree in which he united all the priests "in the Orient" to the Apostolic See of Rome.
The emperor's letter must have been sent before the 25th of March, 533. For in his letter of that date to Epiphanius he speaks of its having been already dispatched, and repeats his decision, that all affairs touching the church shall be referred to the Pope, 'Head of all bishops, and the true and effective corrector of heretics.' ['Vel eo maxime, quod quoties in his locis haeretici pullularunt, et sententia et recto judicio illius venerabilis sedis correct! sunt.']"
In the year 535, Epiphanius, who was patriarch of Constantinople, died; but before he died Justinian bestowed the same honor upon him that he had given to the bishop of Rome, and made him the head of the Eastern churches. This is the title Justinian gave to the archbishop of Constantinople, "The Emperor Justinian to Epiphanius, Most Reverend and Blessed Archbishop of this Imperial City, and Universal Patriarch." This title is repeated in the Novella, 7, 16, 42, and applied to the successors of Epiphanius as well.
Pelagius, his successor, could not find three bishops in all Italy to ordain him as a pope, the entire West being against him because of his having been such a strong supporter of Pope Vigilius. He appealed to Jutinian, and finally was ordained by two bishops and one presbyter, supported by the imperial arms of Narses, commander of the imperial army. Pelagius was a pliant creature under Justinian throughout his whole reign in the chair of Peter, 555-560.
The prophetic demand of Daniel 7:24, 25, is that it—the "little horn"—shall root up three of the ten horns which had divided the Western Roman Empire. There were two reasons for the rooting up of these horns; one was political and the other was religious. The aim of the Eastern emperors was to restore Italy to the imperial scepter and to liberate the Catholic Church in the West, which was under Arian control, and unite it with the Eastern church and with the empire.
The Ostrogothic king, Theodoric, proposed to the emperor Zeno to direct him against the Heruli, who governed Italy, and if successful he would govern, in the emperor's name and to his glory, the Roman Senate and the part of the republic delivered from slavery by his aims. The Eastern emperor accepted the terms, and in 493 the Heruli were defeated by Theodoric's arms. Whether the pope had anything to do with this arrangement between Zeno and Theodoric is immaterial, because the emperors often acted on their own initiative for the supposed good of the church.
The Vandals in Africa were defeated 534,535 by Belisarius, Justinian's general. The Ostrogoths were defeated, and surrendered their supremacy over the Catholic Church, 538 A. D.; and this is the only logical and authentic date for the beginning of the supremacy of the "little horn" of Daniel 7, for that year marked the union of the Western Catholic Church, with the pope at its head, to the imperial Eastern Catholic Church, thus making the "little horn" organically complete, never again to be separated for 1260 years.
The Visigoths were not one of the three horns plucked up by the "little horn," for this reason: After they had been defeated by Clovis in the year 508, they passed the Pyrenees into Spain and founded a kingdom there. In the years 589-595 they renounced Arianism and became Catholic. In the year 711, they fought a six-day battle with the Moors, and were vanquished. Roderic, their last king, was killed in the battle. This ended the Gothic monarchy in Spain."
MinistryMagazine 1935
I considered the horns, and, behold, there came up among them another little horn,...
Daniel 7:8
"In the year 519, as a result of the "Formula" written by Pope Hormisdas, and presented to the Eastern Court in Constantinople, the patriarch of Constantinople and the emperor surrendered unconditionally to the claims of the pope of Rome. Thus the East and the West were once more united as a church after thirty-five years of separation.
From the time of the imperial decree of Valentinian III, which made the pope the head of the churches in the West, 445 A. D., the popes had increased in power in the church up to Pope Hormisdas, 514-523 A. D. But their triumph was of short duration. Pope Hormisdas was the only pope, up to this point, who had enjoyed such dominion in the universal church. Yet, notwithstanding this union, the pope and the Western Catholic Church were still under Arian control.
In the year 533, Justinian issued a decree in which he united all the priests "in the Orient" to the Apostolic See of Rome.
The emperor's letter must have been sent before the 25th of March, 533. For in his letter of that date to Epiphanius he speaks of its having been already dispatched, and repeats his decision, that all affairs touching the church shall be referred to the Pope, 'Head of all bishops, and the true and effective corrector of heretics.' ['Vel eo maxime, quod quoties in his locis haeretici pullularunt, et sententia et recto judicio illius venerabilis sedis correct! sunt.']"
In the year 535, Epiphanius, who was patriarch of Constantinople, died; but before he died Justinian bestowed the same honor upon him that he had given to the bishop of Rome, and made him the head of the Eastern churches. This is the title Justinian gave to the archbishop of Constantinople, "The Emperor Justinian to Epiphanius, Most Reverend and Blessed Archbishop of this Imperial City, and Universal Patriarch." This title is repeated in the Novella, 7, 16, 42, and applied to the successors of Epiphanius as well.
Pelagius, his successor, could not find three bishops in all Italy to ordain him as a pope, the entire West being against him because of his having been such a strong supporter of Pope Vigilius. He appealed to Jutinian, and finally was ordained by two bishops and one presbyter, supported by the imperial arms of Narses, commander of the imperial army. Pelagius was a pliant creature under Justinian throughout his whole reign in the chair of Peter, 555-560.
The prophetic demand of Daniel 7:24, 25, is that it—the "little horn"—shall root up three of the ten horns which had divided the Western Roman Empire. There were two reasons for the rooting up of these horns; one was political and the other was religious. The aim of the Eastern emperors was to restore Italy to the imperial scepter and to liberate the Catholic Church in the West, which was under Arian control, and unite it with the Eastern church and with the empire.
The Ostrogothic king, Theodoric, proposed to the emperor Zeno to direct him against the Heruli, who governed Italy, and if successful he would govern, in the emperor's name and to his glory, the Roman Senate and the part of the republic delivered from slavery by his aims. The Eastern emperor accepted the terms, and in 493 the Heruli were defeated by Theodoric's arms. Whether the pope had anything to do with this arrangement between Zeno and Theodoric is immaterial, because the emperors often acted on their own initiative for the supposed good of the church.
The Vandals in Africa were defeated 534,535 by Belisarius, Justinian's general. The Ostrogoths were defeated, and surrendered their supremacy over the Catholic Church, 538 A. D.; and this is the only logical and authentic date for the beginning of the supremacy of the "little horn" of Daniel 7, for that year marked the union of the Western Catholic Church, with the pope at its head, to the imperial Eastern Catholic Church, thus making the "little horn" organically complete, never again to be separated for 1260 years.
The Visigoths were not one of the three horns plucked up by the "little horn," for this reason: After they had been defeated by Clovis in the year 508, they passed the Pyrenees into Spain and founded a kingdom there. In the years 589-595 they renounced Arianism and became Catholic. In the year 711, they fought a six-day battle with the Moors, and were vanquished. Roderic, their last king, was killed in the battle. This ended the Gothic monarchy in Spain."
MinistryMagazine 1935