Historicism Debunked, Pt. 2 - The Four Beasts

"The Second proof [that Antichrist has not come] is taken from another sign that will precede the times of Antichrist, which will be the desolation in every way possible of the Roman Empire. At length, it must be known that the Roman Empire was divided into ten kings, none of whom will be called 'King of the Romans,' although all will occupy some provinces of the Roman Empire in the same way that the King of France, the King Spain, the Queen of England, and by chance some others hold parts of the Roman Empire; at length they are not Roman kings or emperors, but until they cease to hold those dominions Antichrist cannot come." (St. Robert Cardinal Bellarmine, On the Roman Pontiff, Bk. III, ch. V)

"In a still clearer light has John, in the Apocalypse, indicated to the Lord's disciples what shall happen in the last times, and concerning the ten kings who shall then arise, among whom the empire which now rules [the earth] shall be partitioned. He teaches us what the ten horns shall be which were seen by Daniel, telling us that thus it had been said to him: And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have received no kingdom as yet, but shall receive power as if kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and give their strength and power to the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them, because He is the Lord of lords and the King of kings. It is manifest, therefore, that of these [potentates], he who is to come shall slay three, and subject the remainder to his power, and that he shall be himself the eighth among them. And they shall lay Babylon waste, and burn her with fire, and shall give their kingdom to the beast, and put the Church to flight. After that they shall be destroyed by the coming of our Lord. For that the kingdom must be divided, and thus come to ruin, the Lord [declares when He] says: Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand. It must be, therefore, that the kingdom, the city, and the house be divided into ten; and for this reason He has already foreshadowed the partition and division [which shall take place]." (St. Irenaeus, Against Heresies, Bk. V, ch. 26)

It is clear that the beasts in the apocalyptic vision of Daniel 7 are accurately interpreted by the Protestant historicists as the succeeding Empires of the Babylonians, Medo-Persians, Greeks, and Romans. I find the assertions of the Preterists to be baffling in regards to this text. For the symbolism of the third beast clearly depicts the division of the four generals of Alexander the Great and the Macedonian-Greek Empire. Further, this position is backed by St. Jerome as Bellarmine proves. Thus, Tradition establishes that the four beasts are the Babylonians, Medo-Persians, Greeks, and the Romans. There is no need for Catholics to dispute this in order to shake off the false and blasphemous charge that the Papacy is Antichrist because the very St. Irenaeus who admits this also speaks of Our Lady such,

"And if the former did disobey God, yet the latter was persuaded to be obedient to God, in order that the Virgin Mary might become the patroness (advocata) of the virgin Eve. And thus, as the human race fell into bondage to death by means of a virgin, so is it rescued by a virgin; virginal disobedience having been balanced in the opposite scale by virginal obedience." (Against Heresies, Bk. V, ch. 19)

And what anti-Papist would speak of Our Lady like that? Indeed, they blasphemy Her and state that Our Lady could not possibly advocate for anybody attempting to claim that She's dead when in fact She was raised to life again three days after Her reposal!

So yes, the last beast is the Roman Empire. And there you have it. The heretics can now go on with their histories of the ten kings except...which one is even accurate? Adam Clarke teaches that it's the Lombards, the Exarchate of the Greeks in Ravenna, the Goths, Saxons, Saracens, Burgundians, Franks, Alemans, Buns, and the Roman Senate. John Gill holds that these are the Britons, Saxons, Franks, Burgundians, Visigoths, Suevians and Alanes, Vandals, Almanes, Ostrogoths, Greeks (Exarchate of Ravenna, that is). Albert Barnes says that they are the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Sueves and Alans, Vandals, Franks, Burgundians, Heruli and Turingi, Saxons and Angles, Huns, and Lombards.

Still, the SDA heretics insist that the ten kings are the "Huns, Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Suevi, Burgundians, Heruli, Anglo-Saxons, and Lombards" (Understanding Daniel and Revelation, 38). Barnes also gives the arrangement of Sir Isaac Newton, an Arian heretic himself, who gives the arrangement as the Vandals and Alans in Spain and Africa, the Suevians in Spain, the Visigoths, the Alans in Gallia, the Burgundians, the Franks, the Britons, the Huns, the Lombards, the Exarchate of Ravenna. The kingdoms are arranged differently in each narrative because none of the kingdoms actually exist. They are historical inventions of the heretics in order to indict the Papacy and justify their own blasphemies.

Is there a reason to provide further refutation at this point? The four beasts theory is solid and based in Tradition. It is given to us by men who believed in and affirmed the Perpetual Virginity of Our Lady. It was not given to us by heretics. The problem as to their ten kings and why they cannot agree on an arrangement unless they plagiarize each other is that there were never ten kings who took over the western half of the Roman Empire. And there is the major problem as to their delusion. They think the Roman Empire fell in 476 A.D. That is false and it is generally upheld by secular classicists apologizing for the Pagan Roman Empire as distinct from the Christian Roman Empire. But the Roman Empire did under the Holy Emperor Constantine, declare Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire. What else did Constantine do? He moved the capital of the Roman Empire to Constantinople. The "Western Roman Empire" is not what the fourth beast is. The fourth beast didn't split in half but remained whole while the ten horns reigned over it. It needs to be understood that the Byzantine Empire is the Roman Empire is the Fourth Beast because it is the Roman Empire.

The Roman Empire fell to the Turks in 1453 A.D. So the heretics wishing to indict the Papacy on the Tradition that the beasts are understood as the Babylonians, Medo-Persians, Greeks, and Romans, invent different arrangements of the ten kings because this was not what was prophesied in Scripture but rather the fall in 1453 A.D. was what was predicted. Their historical analysis of the Roman Empire is West-centered and neglects the totality of the Roman Empire either conscientiously or deliberately forgetting that the Roman Empire was still in-tact almost a millennium longer than they think it fell. Their ten kings simply cannot be because they never were.

Of course, this also should repudiate those who think the Antichrist is imminent in today's world. Considering that Bellarmine has indicated that as long as the ten kings reign, and Tradition affirms this, Antichrist will not come. John Gill cites St. Jerome, 

"all ecclesiastical writers, that when the Roman empire is destroyed, there shall be ten kings who shall divide it among them; and an eleventh shall arise, a little king, who shall conquer three of the ten kings; and having slain them, the other seven shall submit their necks to the conqueror:"

So if England, Spain, the Netherlands, Saudis, Emirates, Jordan, Liechenstein, all have their monarchies in-tact, and if the pretenders still have supporters to their claims of legitimacy, it cannot be said that the Antichrist will come. Until they cease holding the dominions of the Roman Empire, Antichrist will not come. The Protestant attempt to indict not only ignores the historical fact that the Roman Empire did not fall until 1453 A.D., but also it neglects that the Tradition upholds that the ten kings will lose their dominion over the former Roman provinces. Which they do not uphold. Antichrist is just not coming in our lifetime it seems.