And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death;
and his deadly wound was healed:
and all the world wondered after the beast.
Revelation 13:3
From America the Jesuit Review (2015)----read how Jesuits actually, likely unknowingly for some, agree with our SDA interpretation of Revelation 13:3.
"....in what sense was the Roman Catholic Church, and the papacy in
particular, the same institution before and after Vatican I? ...... the church in the 19th century—and the papacy in particular—was a
radically different institution in the century after the French
Revolution,...." America the Jesuit Review
THE DEADLY WOUND
"Arguably, the church received the most profound shock and injury, nearly fatal, in its entire history during the revolution....In the course of the French Revolution, the papacy came as close to
becoming extinct as it ever had.
There was real
doubt whether there would be a conclave to elect a new pope after the
death of Pius VI, who had been deposed and was a prisoner of the French
revolutionary armies. Rome was occupied by French revolutionary troops,
and the number of cardinals was at a historic low. And, of course, the
agenda of the most radical phase of the revolution had been to eliminate
Christianity itself, replacing it with the Cult of Reason. There were
even many Catholics at this time, including bishops and priests, who
were resigned to the possible disappearance of the papacy, wondering
whether it had outlived its usefulness.
The threat to the Catholic Church and the papacy through the 19th
century was real, and the church’s reaction to that threat was
understandable.
---On
the left, secular liberals sought to reduce or eliminate the role of the
church in public life and civil society (by suppressing church schools,
for example, and expelling religious congregations). The more radical
heirs of the revolution and the socialists and communists into whom they
evolved remained committed to the church’s utter destruction.
---But the
threat was also from the nationalist right. Otto von Bismarck’s Kulturkampf was
aimed directly at the Catholic Church, imposing state supervision of
Catholic schools and seminaries and government appointment of bishops
with no reference to Rome." America the Jesuit Review
First Vatican Council Begins Healing the Wound
"The definition of papal infallibility at Vatican I .... it was the establishment of
the juridical position of the pope in “Pastor Aeternus” as “ordinary and
immediate” pastor of the universal church that worked a revolution in
the governance and structure of the church and represented a significant
departure from earlier practice....now the pope would, for the most part and increasingly, appoint bishops
directly (and he could dismiss them, too). And while the definition gave
significant new juridical powers to the papacy, the veneration of the
pope—in his person as well as in his office—grew up initially around
Pius IX and around every pope subsequently
until it reached its apotheosis in the rock star status of St. John
Paul II. This exaltation of the pope gave individual popes a moral and
spiritual authority and a personal popularity and recognition unlike
anything that had been seen before.
Pius IX Body on Display |
Discipline in the church was extended, in new and significant ways, over
national churches, religious orders, intellectual life and seminary
training, and over the political and social engagement of the faithful
in the name of Catholic Action—political movements in various countries
directed by the hierarchy. All were enhanced by a dramatic expansion in
the reach, authority and personnel of the Vatican congregations.
Historians speak of the “devotional revolution” effected in the course
of the 19th century....the church mirrored and imitated the great empires and national states
of the 19th century, which used new means of communication and
transportation to consolidate power, enforce unity and build
bureaucracies. It did so, once again, out of a great sense of urgency,
driven initially by the conviction that its very survival and existence
were at stake." America the Jesuit Review
PIUS IX STEPS ONTO WORLD STAGE
"He was notable for convoking the First Vatican Council in 1868.....He refused to leave Vatican City, declaring himself a "prisoner of the Vatican". His diplomacy mixes many failures with some successes such as Austria-Hungary, Portugal, Spain, Canada, Tuscany, Ecuador, Venezuela, Honduras, El Salvador, and Haiti... ---In his encyclical Ubi primum he emphasized Mary's role in salvation. In 1854, he promulgated the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, articulating a long-held Catholic belief that Mary, the Mother of God, was conceived without original sin.
---His 1864 Syllabus of Errors was a strong condemnation against... separation of church and state.
---He centralized power in the church in the Holy See and Roman Curia, while also clearly defining the Pope's doctrinal authority. His chief legacy is the dogma of papal infallibility.
---The election of Pius IX created much enthusiasm in Europe
and elsewhere. "For the next twenty months after the election, Pius IX
was the most popular man on the Italian peninsula, where the exclamation
"Long life to Pius IX!" was often heard.
English Protestants celebrated him as a "friend of light" and a reformer of Europe towards freedom and progress.
He was elected without political influences from outside and in the
best years of his life. He was pious, progressive, intellectual, decent,
friendly, and open to everybody.
---Church life, religious vocations, new foundations and religious enthusiasm all flourished at the end of his pontificate." wiki
THEIR OWN SUMMARY
"....the outcome of the church’s near-death experience at the beginning of
the century was the emergence of an organization at the end of the
century that was incomparably stronger, more united (and more
monolithic), with a more triumphalist sense of its own institutional
identity than it had ever possessed." America the Jesuit Review
There you have it----in the words of Jesuits---Adventist Interpretation Vindicated.....from the Deadly Wound to the Healing....Pius IX began the Healing process by dabbling with baby steps back onto the world stage then with Vatican 1 there was a new pep in the step of Catholicism and Pope Pius IX was just about everywhere on the global political stage...
Also, The 70 years of Isaiah 23....1798-1868 with the commencing of Vatican I?
And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten
seventy years, according to the days of one king:
after the end of
seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten;
make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD
will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit
fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the
earth.
Isaiah 23:15-17