Prologue
While the
greater part of the Protestant world talks about an "invisible Church", which cannot be traced in History as
a church with a specific structure, hierarchy and faith
(striving thus to justify their sudden appearance after the
16th century) and instead claims that the Church is
supposedly comprised of all who are faithful to
Christ, regardless of the thousands of dogmatic differences
(their familiar "branch theory"), there is one, much smaller
portion of that world - the so-called 7th Day Adventists -
who maintain that it is prophesied in the Book of
Revelations that the Church will supposedly remain in hiding
during the persecutions and would reappear during a specific
point in time, near the End Times.
We shall take a
look at what the Adventist author says in brief, also what
the 12th chapter of Revelations actually says, then we shall
comment on the errors that we located in the author's
arguments and afterwards point out what Christ and the
Fathers had said about the persecutions against the Church.
Part 1
What the author says, in a few words:
Basing himself on the 12th chapter of Revelations, the
author teaches that "the true Church could not have appeared
before the year 1798." We will follow his train
of thought and identify the mistakes and the arbitrariness he
resorts to, in order to convince about things that are not
supported by the Holy Bible, nor of course by the Book of
Revelations. The basis of his overall theory focuses on
the 1260 days mentioned in the 12th chapter. Now, as to how the
author denies the crystal-clear words of Christ, Who spoke of a
Church that is VISIBLE in the world ("You
are the light of the world.
A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden"
-
Matth.5:14), and how the kingdom of heaven could have possibly
multiplied throughout the world from a "hidden
and invisible church", much like
a mustard seed,
("which
a man took and sowed in his field, which
indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown
it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the
birds of the air come and nest in its branches"
- Matth.13:31-32), by misinterpreting the Book of
Revelations, is for the author to explain. The reason
he did this, I believe is obvious. It is because they cannot
prove they are a historical continuity of the ancient
Church.
What does the 12th chapter of Revelations tell us, in a few
words?
The 12th chapter of Revelations describes the history of the
Church, with the use of symbolic images. Saint Hippolytus of
Rome (200 A.D.) mentions: "The woman therefore who is
'clothed with the sun' clearly implies the Church"
(Library Hellenic Fathers 6:218). Of course, according
to Orthodox hermeneutic tradition, the woman also relates to
the Most Holy Theotokos. However, we shall focus on
her significance as "Church".
We are presented with a
three-fold vision. All three parts belong to the same
vision. We are firstly presented with a woman who is ready
to give birth; then there follows the Archangel Michael's
battle, and finally, the dragon's anger directed at the
woman. In the segments that will follow, we shall give
an outline of the Orthodox interpretation by Fr. Athanasios Mytilinaios.
Part 2
The 12th chapter of Revelations, in somewhat more detail.
On the first vision:
We see a woman who is in labour, ready to give birth.
This woman is the Church, suffering birth pangs until She
gives birth to Christ. She is enrobed by the sun, because
She is gestating Christ, Who is the Sun of Righteousness.
The Moon, which is a symbol of an altered secular lifestyle,
is below Her feet, thus symbolizing that She has conquered
the secular phronema. The 12 stars represent the teaching of
the 12 Apostles, upon which the Church is built.
Christ is born noetically inside every faithful, which is
why the the Church has labour pains until the faithful are
reborn, according to Saint Andrew of Caesaria. But the
Apostle Paul says the same about himself, in his Epistle to
Galatians: "My
little children, for whom I labor in birth again until
Christ is formed in you"
(Gal.4:19).
(Fr. Mytilinaios, Interpretation in Revelations, homily 48,
4/4/1982)
On the second vision:
This is the battle waged between Christ and the Devil.
The Devil had strived numerous times to exterminate or
devour the child that the woman had given birth to - that
is, Christ. He used Herod, he fought Him in the
desert, he fought Him throughout His entire earthly life,
and he finally nailed Him to the Cross, without realizing
that this would also be his demise. In here is described
the historical birth of Christ, His entry into the world and
the history of mankind, and His Ascension following His
glorious victory - that is, His exit from human history.
Having undertaken all the above, He opened the path towards
heaven.
Also mentioned here is the Church's flight
into the desert and
the perennial persecutions She is subjected to.
Historically, we have Her first major flight just before the
siege of Jerusalem in 70 A.D.. The historian Eusebius of Caesaria gives the following amazing information:
"…
Besides, the people of the Church in Jerusalem had been
ordered by a certain oracle - given to them through a
revelation to the tried men there - to move out of the city
and migrate to a city of
Peraia named
Pella. Those who had believed in Christ migrated to that
place from Jerusalem, and, since the holy men had entirely
abandoned the Judean royal metropolis and the entire land of
Judea, divine justice thereafter pursued the rest
because they had committed so many
transgressions against Christ and His apostles, and
it entirely obliterated from the world that generation of
the irreverent ..." (3rd book, 5th chapter)
This was the first major flight of
the Church following a relative prophecy which had been
given at the time. God protected the Christians from
the pursuant cruelties and violence by the Romans against
the Judeans. Christ had said the same: "And
when you see Jerusalem surrounded by
armies, then know that its desolation is near. Then
let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains, let those
who are in the midst of her depart, and let not those who
are in the country enter her"
(Luke 21:20-21).
Later we have the catacombs, and at
the very end of the end, we will have the persecution by the
antichrist, where the Church will again seek refuge in the
desert and in remote places.
The persecution of the Church
continued, even after the official cessation by the Decree
of Milan, albeit under various guises. Even just a few
decades ago, the Russian faithful were performing their
Liturgies in remote regions.
Fleeing to
deserted places is a perennial element in the life of the
Church. (Fr. Athanasios Mytilinaios, Interpretation in
Revelations, homily 49).
Besides, a Christian's mystic life is about replenishing the
shortage of Christ's tribulations; to fill the body of the
Church with all the afflictions and tribulations that Christ
did not have enough time to undergo, on account of the
limited time of His stay on earth. The Apostle Paul
writes: "I
now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my
flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the
sake of His body, which is the Church" (Colos.1:24).
Also described is Lucifer's fall. This, according to Saint Andrew
of Caesaria, is discerned in two phases: Lucifer's
fall on account of his arrogance (Isaiah 14:12-15 and
Ezekiel 28:13-19), and the one that befell him due to the
Crucifixion of Christ.
(Fr. Athanasios
Mytilinaios, Interpretation in Revelations, homily 50 on
2/5/1982).
Part 3
On the third vision:
Here we see the dragon's anger vented towards the woman, but
we also see God's protection. The woman receives two
eagle wings, and with them, flies off to the desert. Wings
are a symbol of divine protection (Exod.19:4). This is the
final display of anger, which will manifest itself during
the antichrist, who will be a political personage.
Her flight will literally be to a desert region. In
fact, the duration of Her stay there will be "one time and
times and half a time" - in other words, three and a half
years. We see the serpent spewing water out of its
mouth like the flow of a river, in order to drown the woman.
The river, as a sign of a catastrophe, represents the flood
of major persecutions that the Church undergoes, from Her
founding through to the end of Time, as well as the heresies
that deprive Her of the genuine theognosy and the
anti-Christian systems that seek to eliminate the Church.
The Church of course cannot be vanquished, because She has
God as Her leader. The devil merely lashes out at the
remnant of Her seed. This remnant is comprised of those who
have preserved the will of God; who have been born of God;
who are the genuine faithful. Among the baptized,
among God's people, only a portion preserves the Church. The
Apostle Paul says of this remnant: "God
has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not
know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with
God against Israel, saying, 'Lord,
they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars,
and I alone am left, and they seek my life'? But
what does the divine response say to him? 'I
have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not
bowed the knee to Baal.'
Even
so then, at this present time there is a
remnant
according to the election of grace. (Romans 11:2-5).
Just as during the time of the Prophet Elijah the greater
portion of God's people were worshipping Baal whereas the lesser
portion worshipped the true God, so it is today in the Church. (Fr.
Athanasios Mytilinaios, Interpretation in Revelations,
homily 51 on 9/5/1982).
Moving on, to the author's errors.
1st error. The author says:
"This
description provides only a small indication of the horror of
the violence that had broken out against the apostolic church.
In actual fact, all of the initial disciples and the heads of
the church had martyred for their faith. The cruel pagan
emperors had turned their arenas into theatres of death for
those who had followed the true Gospel. Very soon, pagan Rome
had turned into a pagan, Papist Rome and the persecution
continued with renewed vigour. Millions had found tragic
death under the atrocious inquisitions that strived to
exterminate any reaction whatsoever to the Papal system.
Historians estimate that during the Medieval age, more than
fifty million people preferred to give their life rather than
give up their Protestant faith."
The author quite correctly speaks of the general and local
persecutions that Christians had suffered during the three
first centuries. The most terrible, major persecutions
had indeed taken place between 64 A.D. and 311 A.D. (Feidas' Ecclesiastic History, Vol. A, pp.114-129). However,
after this (and with the expression "very soon"), the author
leaps to events that took place entire centuries later, in
order to turn against Papism. In fact, he also mixes in
Protestants. From 311 A.D., he "very soon" shoots over to
the age of the Holy Inquisition of the Papists, and the
Reformation! This is at an era where the Schism
between the Westerners and the Easterners had already taken
place; where the Church in the West had been turned into a
Papist one. We are all familiar with Rome's
arbitrariness, which is why we won't expand on this point.
The Reformation reached its peak during the 16th century
A.D., during which time the severing from the Papists had
taken place, while the Holy Inquisition had been established
as the instrument for dealing with heretics much earlier,
under Pope Gregory IX (1227- 1241). (Feidas'
Ecclesiastic History, Vol. B, pp.458- 459).
Clearly, we also do not condone these anti-Christian
methods. However, they do not pertain
to the Orthodox Eastern
Church, but the Papist one, which had fallen into heresies
after severing itself from the Eastern Church, having
thirsted for secular power.
The question
is: From around 311 A.D. when the persecutions
officially ceased, up until 1227 A.D. when the Holy
Inquisition was enforced (obviously after the Schism
of 1054 A.D.), what became of the Church? Did Her
history come to an end? Because the Papists' Holy
Inquisition and the Protestants' Reformation were formed
entire centuries after the 4th-5th century A.D..
2nd
error.
Further along in his article, the author has taken all that
Revelations mentions in the 12th chapter and has ARBITRARILY
adapted it to the Protestants of a much later era, with
total disregard for the interim persecutions that the
Orthodox had undergone (even after the Faith had been
officially recognized by the now Byzantine empire), by
emperors who had a distorted religious conscience and had
often collaborated - each for his own purposes - even with
heretics. One striking example is the formidable era
of Arianism during the 4th century, during which Orthodox
Hierarchs and faithful had been persecuted. Or, even
the era of Iconomachy later on. And these are not the
only instances. If one examines History, many similar
incidents will be found. The reason the author has
ignored the Orthodox Church is obvious. He focuses on the
Protestants, because further along, from among various
arbitrary interpretations, he will conclude that the true
church is that of the 7th Day Adventists - which arose from
the Protestants.
3rd error. The author of the article has taken a passage from the Book
of Revelations that speaks of the persecution of the Church and
Her flight into the desert; he has also taken other, irrelevant
passages from other books of the Holy Bible, and then reaches
the following conclusion: "The true church could not have appeared before the year
1798. It had to have remained hidden "in its place" until the
end of the 1260 years, and that period ends in 1798 A.D."
4th error.
Take note of the calculations and the
mistakes:
"How
long was that church to remain hidden? The prophecy states
that it would be for "a time, and times, and half a time".
There you have the mystery! What could this strange description
of the specific time mean? The answer is given in verse 6:
"Then
the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place
prepared by God, that they should feed her there one
thousand two hundred and sixty days."
(Revel.12:6). Now the picture begins to clear. The one
verse says that the woman was in the wilderness for 1260
days, while the other verse says "a time, and times, and
half a time". These two periods are equal, which means that
the one "time" must be one year (according to the prophetic
symbolism); the "times" are two years, and the "half a time"
means half a year. When we add them together, we find
three and a half years. And they add up to 1260 days, by
using the biblical accounting method that 30 days are one
month. There is another principle that we need to take
into account here. In the symbolic prophecies of the
Bible, one day is always reckoned as one year. You
will find the key to this principle in Ezekiel 4:6: "A
day for a year I have assigned you."
Elsewhere, we find: "According
to the number of the days in which you spied out the land,
forty days, for each day you shall bear your guilt one
year, namely forty
years...".
After quite correctly telling us that "a time, and times,
and half a time" (ie 1 + 2 + ½ = 3½ years) is equal to 1260
days (1260 / 365 = 3,45), he then tells us that "in the
symbolic prophecies of the Bible, one day is always reckoned
as one year", and he quotes verses from Ezekiel and Numbers
- which are cases where God is actually speaking of specific issues,
to specific people, regarding specific eras -
then arbitrarily applies them to the prophecy of
Revelations!
However,
he also fails to mention other verses which also speak symbolically, where one day is
reckoned as one thousand years. In the Apostle Peter's
words: "with
the Lord one day is as
a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day"
(2 Peter 3:8). In Psalm 90 it says "because
a thousand years in Your sight are like the day of yesterday
that passed and a watch in a night."
(verse 4) Not only as one day, but also as a night-watch,
which is about 3-4 hours' duration! From the moment we
cannot know for sure (because Time does not exist for God),
we cannot base our teachings on such unstable foundations.
In Revelations - the par excellence book that uses
symbolisms - could the 1000-year kingdom be exactly that?
Further along, we shall prove from the Holy Bible itself
that the 1260 days or the
3½ years or the 42 months are the same thing and that they
are meant word for word, not symbolically, and that they
pertain to the End Times, when the antichrist will be
hunting down the Church.
Let us examine some verses in parallel:
In Daniel, it says about the antichrist: "And he shall
speak words against the Most High and shall wear out the
holy ones of the Most High and shall consider in order to
change seasons and law, and it shall be given into his hand
for a time and times and half a time." (Daniel 7:25)
Hippolytus of Rome explains: "...for
it shall be given unto his hand for a time and times and
half of a time, which signifies three and a half years..."
(Library of Hellenic Fathers 6:83) The duration of his
main activity, when his true person is revealed and he
persecutes the truly faithful, will be
3½ years.
In Revelations,
it says that the two prophets whom God will send, will
prophesy for 1260 days, or otherwise 42 months: "And
they will tread the holy city under foot for forty-two
months. And
I will give power to my two witnesses, and they will
prophesy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, clothed in
sackcloth.”
(Revel.11:2-3)
Saint Hippolytus again explains: "...While
the two witnesses will be preaching for three and a half years,
the antichrist for the remainder of the seven (years)
will be fighting the saints and laying waste the world..."
(Library of Hellenic Fathers 6:105). In other words,
the time and times and half of a time are literally 3½
years, during which the antichrist will be persecuting the
Church.
In Revelations, it says:
"And
he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies,
and he was given authority to continue for forty-two
months. Then
he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme
His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It
was granted to him to make war with the saints and to
overcome them. And authority was given him over every
tribe, tongue, and nation."
(Revel.13:5-7)
"Then
the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place
prepared by God, that they should feed her there one
thousand two hundred and sixty days."
(Revel.12:6).
"But
the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she
might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is
nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the
presence of the serpent."
(Revel.12:14).
The above references (in which are mentioned the 3½ years)
all have as their common theme the persecution of a
VISIBLE,
NOT a "vanished" Church. It is not likely, that the
antichrist or the prophets would be alive for 1260 years!
The devil, (or, "God's ape" according to the blessed
Augustine),
strives to mimic Christ;
Christ's ministry lasted for
approximately 3½ years? So will the
antichrist's. This is interpreted for us by saint Hippolytus of
Rome in his work "On Christ and the antichrist", when he writes:
"For in everything does the deceiver want to simulate the Son of
God...." (Library of Hellenic Fathers
6, 199).
Part
4
5th
error. According to the author: "This places the woman at her place of refuge in the
desert for a period of 1260 years. Our conclusion
therefore must be that the true church could not have appeared
in the world, except only after the 1260 years were completed.
Did something like that occur with God's chosen ones? For how
long did the papal system continue to oppress the true dogmas
through the enforcement of religious-political power? This
is a breathtaking part of History: In 538 AD, a decree was
issued by the emperor Justinian, which gave absolute spiritual
supremacy to the church of Rome. Gradually, this religious
tyranny joined forces with the political powers, up until the
point where the kings had to finally obtain the pope's approval
before they could begin to reign. This power remained in
force until the year 1798, during which Europe was shaken by the
French revolution. Then followed the revolution by the
oppressed peasants against the feudal lords, and the pope was
arrested in 1798. The papal fortunes were confiscated and
the French government issued a decree by which the bishop of
Rome was abolished. The pope's oppressive rule came to an
end, exactly 1260 years after its inauguration in 538 AD."
It is a well known historical fact that the
Schism - which led Papism to its decline and finally to its full
religious-political power - took place in 1054 AD. But -
did Justinian actually issue any decree that gave the
church of Rome "absolute supremacy" in 538 AD? The author
does not present us with this decree. And even if it did
exist, we have an extremely important piece of information,
which comes after 538 AD. In the 6th Ecumenical Council in
691 AD, the 36th Canon (below) clearly decrees equal
privileges between the Patriarchate of Constantinople and
Rome:
Canon XXXVI (36)
Renewing the
enactments by the 150 Fathers assembled at the God-protected and imperial city,
and those of the 630 who met at Chalcedon; we decree that
the
See of
Constantinople shall have equal privileges with the See of Old Rome, and shall
be highly regarded in ecclesiastical matters as that is, and shall be second
after it. After Constantinople shall be ranked the See of Alexandria, then that
of Antioch, and afterwards the See of Jerusalem.
Also:
CANON XXVIII (28)
Everywhere following the
decrees of the Holy Fathers, and aware of the recently
recognized Canon of the one hundred and
fifty most God-beloved Bishops
who convened during the reign of Theodosius the Great
of pious memory, who became emperor in the
imperial city of Constantinople otherwise known as New
Rome; we too decree and vote the same things in
regard to the privileges and
priorities of the most holy Church of that same
Constantinople and New Rome. And this is in keeping with
the fact that
the Fathers naturally
enough granted the priorities to the throne of Old Rome
on account of her being the imperial capital. And
motivated by the same object and aim
the one hundred and fifty most
God-beloved Bishops
have accorded the like priorities to
the most holy throne of New Rome, with good reason
deeming that the city which is
the seat of an empire, and of a state,
and is equal to old imperial Rome in respect of other
privileges and priorities, should
be magnified also as she is in
respect of ecclesiastical affairs, as
coming next after her, or as being second to her.
Their privileges are equal. The fact that the
Patriarchate of Rome is mentioned as first in line, does not signify
that it was superior to the others. It merely enjoyed honorary
privileges among the other, equal Patriarchates. Perhaps
numerically first in mention when being addressed, but still,
equal to the others. It was not dominant throughout
all of Christendom.
A
second element that is mentioned in a later period than 538 is
that the Papal throne autonomized itself from the Byzantine
Empire during the reign of Charlemagne (768-814), when the
Arian-believing Franks had taken over all the West (Feidas' Ecclesiastic History, Vol.B,
p.96). The
first Papal state was founded in 754 AD with the contribution of
Pope Stephen II and the Frankish king, Pepin the Short. It
was from then on that the Papal arbitrariness expanded. We
were unable to locate the decree that the author so vaguely
mentioned. We did however locate information that would have
refuted the decisions of that decree - even in the event that it
had existed. At least up until 691 AD, no absolute power
was recognized for Rome, by both the Church and the State, and
the creation of the Papal State is placed much later than 538
AD, to 754 AD.
6th
error. "The woman (=church)
simply could not emerge before the interceptive powers of the
papal reaction were done away with. This prophesied event took
place in 1798 and the truth which had until then been hidden
away began to emerge from obscurity, in the form of a glorious
"remnant of her seed" from the woman."
Why has the author presumed as a given fact
that the persecutions the woman in the 12th chapter of
Revelations (=the church) suffered were necessarily those that
happened to the Protestants and the Papists? The author himself
had stated earlier that "This description provides only a small indication of the
horror of the violence that had broken out against the
apostolic church. In actual fact, all of the initial
disciples and the heads of the church had martyred for their
faith. The cruel pagan emperors had turned their
arenas into theatres of death for those who had followed the
true Gospel." And yet, he now
claims that "The woman (=the
church) simply could not emerge before
the interceptive powers of the papal reaction were done away
with"! Does that mean the Apostolic Church that was being
persecuted during the first 300 years was "hidden"?
That the people weren't aware of Her existence? And if She was
hiding, if She had gone to a remote desert, then how come we
have been left with murals in catacombs, how come we are in
possession of ancient ecclesiastic texts of that period, and
generally speaking, how is it that we know about Her today?
If She was indeed obscure - in the sense that She was unknown -
then we should not be in possession of so many historical,
archaeological and literary records. Does this also apply
to 7th Day Adventism? Can they prove to us that what they
believe in today, was believed by the Church during EVERY
century? And how do we know that Adventism is being
prophesied here, and not the other groups also, which emerged
from Protestantism? Which is the "remnant of Her seed"?
Even if we did follow the author's train of thought as regards his erroneous calculations, we would still see that numerous
other groups had emerged after 1798. It was not just the
Adventists, as the author claims:
"The
only church that fulfills the prophetic
descriptions that pertain to the remnant of the church is the
church of the 7th Day Adventists. It appeared around 1844 and
began the program of restoring the truth which had been lost or
distorted during the Middle Ages."
Well, we can enumerate other such
movements and groups which make the same claims: the "Holiness
Movement" (1867), the "Laestadian Movement" (1840), the
"Divine Healing Movement" (1850), the "Keswick Movement" (1875),
the "Catholic Apostolic Church" (1820), the "Disciples of Christ
(Campbell) Movement" (1809) etc... All of these entities
could easily have asserted the same things.
In the Epilogue, we
shall refer to what the Holy Bible says, regarding the
ever-persecuted Church.
7th
error. In his attempt to justify his
arbitrary arguments, the author writes: "Satan intends to war
against the REMNANT of the true church. Which is that
remnant? It is the endmost segment of the fabric of a
garment. It is the same as the first segment that was cut off
from the same fabric, except that it lies at the other extreme
of the fabric - at the end - and it also happens to be a small
segment. What does this tell us about the woman's remnant? That
it is the last segment of the true church, at End Times, which
will be observing the exact same teaching as the original,
apostolic church."
The
Church always has a remnant, IN EVERY era. It is not a supposed
"cut-off segment", because Christ Himself had spoken of His
Church, that He was to be with, for all days, until the end:
"...and
lo, I am with you always, even to
the end of the age.” (Matth.28:20). The word "always"
denotes exactly an unbroken continuity, beginning from the first
apostolic century, through to the End Times. Since the Lord
therefore remains with Her always, through to the End Times,
then there cannot be any margins for "torn off segments".
Furthermore, the Lord also gave another promise. He told
us:
"And
I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will
build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail
against it."
(Matth.16:18). These "gates of Hades" - according to the
interpretation of the ancient Church - are the heresies and the
heresy leaders. "...and the Gates of Hades are heresies
and heresiarchs..." (Saint Epiphanios of Cyprus)
When saying
"remnant", we mean those few who actually believe and who
actually follow the Lord Jesus Christ - and they were always the
few. The Lord Himself said: "For
many are called, but few are chosen"
(Matth.22:14).
This fact is dependent on the predisposition of each person, and
not on God. In the parable, He had said: "Again,
the kingdom of heaven is like a dragnet that was cast into the
sea and gathered some of every kind, which, when it was full,
they drew to shore; and they sat down and gathered the good into
vessels, but threw the bad away." (Matth.13:47-48). The "bad fish" that the net contained are the
Christians who - albeit churchgoers - merely adhere to
formalities, far away from the essence of our faith. In
Revelations, the Angel tells John to take a reed (a measuring
instrument of the time) and to measure the Temple and those
worshipping there. But he instructed John to exclude the
courtyard of the Temple, because it was given to the Gentiles:
"Then I was given a reed like a measuring rod. And the angel
stood, saying, “Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar,
and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is
outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given
to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city
underfoot for forty-two months."
(Revel.11:1-2).
The Apostle Paul
mentions:
"God
has not cast away His people whom He foreknew. Or do you not
know what the Scripture says of Elijah, how he pleads with God
against Israel, saying, 'Lord,
they have killed Your prophets and torn down Your altars, and I
alone am left, and they seek my life'?
But what does the divine response say to him? 'I have
reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the
knee to Baal.' Even so then,
at this present time there is a remnant
according to the election of grace."
(Rom.11:2-5).
Just as in the time
of Elijah there was a remnant in the people of Israel - God's
people in the Old Testament - so it is nowadays. The "remnant of
the seed of the Church" is all those who were born "above". And
yet, the author suggests that the sum of heresies and schisms
constitutes the Church, and Adventism as the tiny "remnant"!
8th
error. In his attempt to support his claim that Adventism is the "tiny remnant of End Times",
the author again falls into absurdities.
He regards those
"who preserve God's commandments" as the ones who keep
the 10 Commandments.
The truth is that the 10 Commandments are interpreted by Jesus
Christ Himself, during His Sermon on the Mount. There, our
Saviour analyzes them and explains what true sanctification is.
Thus, it is not enough for one to not commit murder (as the
commandment says), but to not even become angered!
However, when speaking of the 10 commandments, the author omits
all the other ones that the New Testament mentions on various
issues - as, for example - the instruction for Baptism in water.
Of course, all of God's commandments aspire to one purpose - the
fulfilment of love: "...therefore
love is the
fulfilment of the law." (Romans
13:10).
The author believes
that the "true church" observes the Sabbath;
however, Christians from the very beginning have honoured the
Sabbath day as a preparatory day for Sunday (or, "the ONE",
according to Moses) and have dedicated it to the souls of the
deceased. In the New Testament we do not celebrate
Creation, but the re-Creation of everyone - which began with the
Resurrection of Christ - each Sunday. There is sufficient
data evidencing that the ancient Church regarded Sunday as the
par excellence day of worship, and not the Sabbath (Saturday).
From as early as the apostolic era, the Apostle Paul had said: " So
let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a
festival or a new moon
or sabbaths, which
are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ."
(Coloss.2:16-17)
Around 107 AD, Saint Ignatius said: "...for, if those of old
had converted by the writings and had come to a renewed hope,
they never again Sabbatize, instead living a Sunday life, in
which our life also has risen through Him" (Ignatius the
God-bearer, "Epistle to Magnesians" 9:1).
Saint Justin Martyr around 150-160 AD mentions: "My
friends, is there any other accusation you have against us than
this, that we do not observe the Law, nor circumcise the flesh
as your forefathers did, nor keep the Sabbaths as you do? (Justin
Martyr, Dialogue with Tryphon the Judean, 10:1)
We shall not comment on this article further, given that we
believe we have adequately proven the errors in the author's
reasonings. We shall conclude, by exposing the absurdity
in his central reasoning, which has the persecuted Church
described in the 12th chapter of Revelations as supposedly
"hidden" and reappearing at the End Times.
Part
5
What
do Christ and the New Testament say
about the persecutions against the
Church? Do they speak of a
Church which, because of the
persecutions She was to undergo,
would remain hidden and only be
revealed at a specific, given point
in time? We would indicatively
like to mention:
«…they
will lay their hands on you and
persecute you, delivering you up to
the synagogues and prisons. You will
be brought before kings and rulers
for My name’s sake. But it will turn
out for you as an occasion for
testimony.» (Luke
21:12-13).
According to Christ's words,
persecution is an opportunity for
WITNESS. Witness cannot be
given by a hidden and invisible
church.
«“Blessed
are you when they revile and
persecute you, and say all kinds of
evil against you falsely for My
sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly
glad, for great is your reward in
heaven, for so they persecuted the
prophets who were before you".» (Matthew
5:11-12).
When
the Prophets of the Old Testament
were being persecuted, they were not
invisible. Neither was the Church.
«Now
Saul was consenting to his death. At
that time a great persecution arose
against the church which was at
Jerusalem; and they were all
scattered throughout the regions of
Judea and Samaria, except the
apostles. [...] Therefore
those who were scattered went
everywhere preaching the word.» (Acts
8:1-4).
Here
too, we see that the Church
evangelized the word of God, as a
result of persecution.
«For
you, brethren, became imitators of
the churches of God which are in
Judea in Christ Jesus, because you
also suffered the same things from
your own countrymen, just as
they did from the Judeans, who
killed both the Lord Jesus and their
own prophets and have persecuted us
and they do not please God and are
contrary to all men, forbidding us
to speak to the Gentiles that they
may be saved, so as always to fill
up the measure of their sins. But
wrath has come upon them to the
uttermost.» (1
Thess.2:14-16).
The
persecuted Church of Thessaloniki
was likewise not invisible. If She
were invisible, She could not have
been persecuted.
What
do the Fathers say about the
persecutions?
Saint
Hippolytus of Rome (200 A.D.) in his
memorandum on the 12th chapter of
the Book of Revelations places the
persecution described therein around
the era of the antichrist. «And
as for the persecution and the
tribulation that will be imposed on
the Church by the Opponent, John
also says: "...and I saw a great
sign and wondrous; a woman clothed
with the sun" (Library of
Hellenic Fathers 6:218). In
fact, Hippolytus takes the 1260 days
mentioned therein literally, as
pertaining to the "time and times
and half a time." "...a
time and times and half a time from
the presence of the Serpent. These
are the one thousand two hundred and
sixty days, the half of the total
seven (Daniel's note) during which
the tyrant will prevail while
persecuting the Church, who will
flee from city to city and will be
hiding in the desert and in the
mountains..." (Library of
Hellenic Fathers 6:219). The
wings that are given to the woman
are interpreted by Hippolytus as
divine protection; in fact, the
protection that springs from faith
in the Cross of Christ. "Two
wings of the great eagle, that is,
of the faith in Christ Jesus, Who,
when stretching out His holy arms
upon the wood of the Cross was
stretching out two wings.» (Library
of Hellenic Fathers 6: 219).
Saint
Cyril of Jerusalem (348 A.D.)
mentions the following about the
persecutions: «Well, this Church,
with Her offensive and defensive
weapons of justice, having tried
glory and dishonor had - during
older times of persecutions and
tribulations - crowned the holy
martyrs with the various and
many-blossomed wreaths of patience...» (18th
Catechism, 27).
On
the persecutions during the time of
the antichrist he mentions the
following: «I wonder, who will
that blessed person be, who will be
martyred for Christ with faith
during that time? I say that
the martyrs of that period will be
above all martyrs; because the
previous ones had fought against men
only, whereas in the days of the
antichrist, they will be fighting
against satan himself.» (15th
Catechism, 17).
It is
therefore obvious that when the
Bible speaks of the persecutions
against the Church, it in no way
implies that She will be hidden and
invisible, and that She will
suddenly appear out of nowhere,
without any continuance and history.
Even during the days of the
antichrist, the Church may seek
refuge in Her desert, but She will
not remain invisible - just as She
did not remain invisible during the
300 years of persecutions that She
was subjected to by the idolaters.