The 4 Beasts and 11 Horns of Daniel 7

The Four Animals

The four animals are four empires.

Daniel 7In Daniel 7, four animals, a lion, a bear, a leopard, and a dragon-like beast, come out of the sea. The four great beasts are explained as “kings” (Dan 7:17). However, Daniel 7:23 says that the “fourth beast will be a fourth kingdom on the earth, which will be different from all the other kingdoms.” In other words, each of the four beasts is a “kingdom”, consisting of a series of kings. Since each of these four kingdoms consists of a multitude of nations, this article prefers to refer to them as ’empires.’

The sea symbolizes the people of the world.

These animals arise out of the sea (Dan 7:3), but Daniel 7:17 explains that these kings will “arise from the earth.” The “sea” (Dan 7:3), therefore, is a symbol for the “earth.” The “earth” is not the physical earth, but refers to the peoples of the world.

The Empires exist one after the other.

Like the metal kingdoms of Daniel 2, these empires will not reign simultaneously but one after the other. For example:

The fourth beast “was different from all the beasts that were before it” (Dan 7:7). [Show More]

The Eleven Horns

The fourth empire divides into several kingdoms.

The fourth beast first has ten horns (Dan 7:7-8), explained as ten kings that will arise “out of” the fourth beast (Dan 7:24; cf. Dan 8:20-22). Since ‘kings’ are equivalent to ‘kingdoms’ (Dan 7:17, 23), these ‘horns’ symbolize kingdoms that will come out of the fourth empire, each consisting of a series of kings.

The 11th horn is the Antichrist.

But the main character and purpose of Daniel 7 is not one of these four empires or the ten horns, but the evil 11th horn that later grows out of the fourth empire, among the 10 horns (Dan 7:8). Daniel 7 allocates more space to this 11th horn than perhaps to all four animals and ten horns together. The only reason that Daniel describes the preceding four empires and ten kingdoms is to enable the reader to identify that 11th horn.

It uproots three of the other horns (Dan 7:8). It is small when it comes out (Dan 7:8), but grows and eventually dominates the other kingdoms (Dan 7:20). It persecutes the saints, blasphemes God, and intends to change times and law (Dan 7:25).

Parallels to Daniel 2

Daniel 2 and 4 predict the same Four Empires.

For reasons such as the following, commentators generally agree that the lion, bear, leopard, and dragon-like beast in Daniel 7 symbolize the same four kingdoms as the golden head, silver chest, bronze belly, and iron legs of the statue in Daniel 2:

    • The man of Daniel 2There are four metals in Daniel 2 and four beasts in Daniel 7.
    • Both the metals in Daniel 2 and the beasts in Daniel 7 symbolize successive kingdoms. (See the discussion of Daniel 2.)
    • Both the fourth metal and the fourth animal are called the “fourth kingdom” (Dan 2:40; 7:23).
    • Both fourth kingdoms are associated with “iron” (Dan 2:40; 7:7).

They predict the same Divided Kingdom.

By referring to it as a “divided kingdom” (Dan 2:33, 41), Daniel 2 indicates that, during this phase, there will not be a single supreme king, but several kings ruling different kingdoms.

The following parallels indicate that the 11 horns in Daniel 7 symbolize the same period as the divided kingdom in Daniel 2. Both are a fifth phase that continues the fourth but divided between many kingdoms:

Assuming that the statue in Daniel 2 has 10 toes, both Daniel 2 and 7 use the number 10 to symbolize the plurality of “kings” in this phase (Dan 7:7).

In both Daniel 2 and 7, that fifth divided phase is a continuation of the fourth:

Daniel 7 describes the fifth phase as ten horns growing “out of” the fourth beast.

In Daniel 2, the metal in the fifth phase is the same as the metal of the fourth kingdom, namely iron (Dan 2:33).

In both chapters, the Divided Kingdom ends with the Eternal Kingdom. For example:

“In the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed” (Dan 2:44, cf. 7:26-27).

Comparison Table

Since the four metal kingdoms in Daniel 2 are the same as the four beast kingdoms in Daniel 7, and since the horns in Daniel 7 are parallel to the divided kingdom in Daniel 2, the two visions can be compared as follows:

Daniel 2 Daniel 7
 Head of Gold Lion with eagle wings
 Breast and Arms of Silver Bear raised up on one side
 Belly and Thighs of Bronze A leopard with four wings and four heads
 Legs of Iron The fourth beast, dreadful and terrifying and extremely strong
 Feet of Iron and Clay At first, it had ten horns but an 11th horn came up among them.
 Eternal kingdom Everlasting Kingdom

Daniel 7 explains Daniel 2.

Since the two prophecies are one, the one explains the other. For example:

Since the Gold Kingdom of Daniel 2 is the Babylonian Empire, the Lion Kingdom in Daniel 7 is the same.

In Daniel 2, there is no indication of an evil power. The most important additional information in Daniel 7 is about an evil king who will reign during the time of the horns.

Academic Consensus

The eleven horns are Greek kings.

In the academic world, the supernatural is not accepted. It does not accept the possibility of miracles. Everything must be explained as natural phenomena. It follows that accurate prophecies of future events are impossible. Therefore, the consensus is that the Book of Daniel was written AFTER the predicted events that can be verified from secular history. In this view, the 11 horns are 11 consecutive kings during the Greek Empire. Specifically, Critical Scholars propose that the book was written during the reign of the Greek king Antiochus IV, whom they identify as the 11th horn of Daniel 7. To make Antiochus fit the prophecy, they:

Identify the fourth empire as Alexander’s Greek empire, and

Propose that the 11 horns of Daniel 7 symbolize 11 consecutive kings of the Greek empire. In other words, the kings rule one after the other during the fourth empire. The evil 11th horn, therefore, is the 11th of a series of kings.

However:

The fourth kingdom is the Roman Empire.

Daniel 8 uses two animals as symbols, identifying them explicitly as the Medo-Persian and Greek Empires. A comparison of these animals with the animals in Daniel 7 (see here) shows that:

      • The Greek Empire is the third animal in Daniel 7, not the fourth.
      • The fourth is the Roman Empire.

The horns exist AFTER the fourth empire.

While the academic view is that the 11 horns are individual kings who reigned DURING the Fourth Empire, Daniel indicates that the horns are distinct kingdoms that exist AFTER the end of the Fourth Kingdom:

The five parts of the statue in Daniel 2 symbolize five eras of human history that exist one after the other. The head represents the first kingdom, the chest the second, the belly the third, and the legs the fourth. Consequently, the feet – the divided kingdom – symbolize the fifth era, existing AFTER the iron legs, not at the same time.

Critical Scholars want the two feet to be part of the two legs, but, while the legs consist only of iron, the feet are “partly of iron and partly of clay.” The feet, therefore, cannot be part of the legs.

Since the horns in Daniel 7 are parallel to the divided kingdom in Daniel 2, the horns follow after the fourth kingdom.

Furthermore, Daniel 7 says: “Out of this kingdom [the fourth] ten kings will arise” (Dan 7:24), implying that these kings will not exist inside or during the fourth kingdom.

The horns exist at the same time.

In the academic view, the horns exist one after the other. However, Daniel shows that they will reign all at the same time. For example:

    • The title “divided kingdom” (Dan 2:33, 41) implies at least two divisions.
    • “They will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another” (Dan 2:43), implying kings living concurrently.
    • Daniel saw the 11th horn among the other ten horns (Dan 7:8).
    • The eleventh horn uproots three other horns (Dan 7:8), implying that the other 7 remained after the three had been dislodged.

In Daniel 8, there are two animals with horns, and, in both instances, the horns represent kingdoms that exist concurrently (Dan 8:20-22):

The ram has 2 horns, representing the Median and the Persian branches of the Mede-Persian Empire (Dan 8:20), which existed simultaneously.

The goat grows 4 horns, representing the four divisions of the Greek Empire, existing simultaneously.


Other Articles

Articles in this series

Daniel 2 sets the stage to identify the Antichrist[Show More]

The 4 Beasts and 11 Horns of Daniel 7 [Show More]

Three interpretations of the evil horn of Daniel 8 [Show More]

Daniel’s fourth beast is the Roman Empire[Show More]

Daniel 8: Did the evil horn come out of the Greek goat[Show More]

Daniel’s 11th horn is the Church of the Roman Empire[Show More]

The Antichrist in Daniel 11 is not Antiochus IV[Show More]

Antiochus IV does not fit Daniel’s description of the Antichrist[Show More]

The Dragon in the Book of Revelation is the Roman Empire[Show More]

Revelation’s Beast is Daniel’s 11th Horn[Show More]

The Throne of the Beast is Christian Religious Authority[Show More]

The Beast’s fatal wound is its sixth head. (Rev 13:3-4) [Show More]

All articles on this site

Justinian and the Byzantine Papacy squashed Arianism.

Overview

In the fifth century, Germanic nations wrestled Europe from the Romans but claimed to remain part of the Roman Empire, subject to the emperor in the East. Although they were Arians, they treated the Roman Church in the West (the Papacy) with respect. This allowed the Papacy to grow in strength for reasons such as its central organization, compared to the fragmented Germanic nations. 

In the Roman view, Church and State were One, with the Emperor as the Head, with the right and duty to protect and regulate the Church. Justinian was the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Emperor from 527 to 565. In his view, his duty to protect and rule extended also to the Papacy in the West. He sent troops to liberate the Papacy and subjected the three Arian nations that were immediate threats to the Papacy. By 553, his troops had dispersed the Vandals to the fringes of the empire, forced the Ostrogoths back north to South Austria, and barricaded the Visigoths with the new province of Spania. 

His conquests began a period of two centuries known as the ‘Byzantine Papacy’ because of the extent to which the Byzantine (Eastern) monarchs dominated the Papacy. One example is the massive growth of Greek speakers in the Papal hierarchy over this period; from almost zero to the majority. During the Byzantine Papacy, the Eastern Empire ruled not only the Papacy but also the Western nations through the Papacy. This continued for two centuries, transformed the Roman Church into a very powerful political organization, and converted the remaining Arian kingdoms to Catholicism.

In conclusion, the Trinity doctrine dominates today because the Roman Empire made it its State Religion and because the Empire dominated. 

Daniel 7 foresaw these events and identifies the Papacy as the 11th horn. 

Fifth Century

In the fifth century, Germanic nations subjected Europe but remained ostensibly under part of the Roman Empire
Arian and Chalcedonian kingdoms in 495
Arian and Chalcedonian kingdoms in 495

In the fifth century, Germanic peoples, who had migrated into the Western Roman Empire over the preceding century or more, became a dominant force within the Western Roman Empire due to their large numbers and military supremacy. They revolted against the severe conditions under which they were allowed to remain in the Empire, sacked Rome twice, and deposed the last Roman Emperor. Through wars, they divided up the territory of the Western Empire into Germanic kingdoms. However, these nations claimed to be part of the Roman Empire—under the governance of the Eastern Emperor.

These Germanic peoples were Arians but treated the Roman Church (the Papacy) with respect

There are at least two reasons why the Germanic peoples might have opposed the Roman Church (the Church of the Roman Empire):

Firstly, the Roman Church was part of the Roman government. There was no separation of Church and State. The Roman Church was like a government department, accountable to the Roman Emperor.

Secondly, the Germanic peoples, including the Ostrogoths, the Visigoths of Spain, and the Vandals in North Africa, were Arian Christians because they converted to Christianity due to the missionary efforts of the fourth-century Arian Church (Read Article).

Despite these facts, since these immigrants wished to remain part of the Roman Empire, they allowed the Roman Church to remain in the West and even showed respect to it.

Despite being subjected to Arian rule, the Papacy grew in strength for reasons such as its central organization

After the Western Roman Empire was divided into these kingdoms, the Roman Church had to depend on the Arian nations for physical protection. However, the Roman Church grew in strength. The reasons include the following:

1. Previously, the Roman Church was subject to the Roman Emperor. Now, it had more independence.

2. The Roman Church’s centralized and superior organization, administration, and expertise in statecraft, from years of being part of the Roman Government, gave it an advantage over the various Germanic nations, which had no centralized control.

3. The Germanic nations desired to remain part of the Empire. As the official religion of the Roman Empire, the Roman Church had a certain status.

Unity of Church and State

Justinian was the Eastern Roman Emperor from 527 to 565.

Justinian I, also known as Justinian the Great, was the Eastern Roman emperor from 527 to 565, ruling from Constantinople; the capital of the empire. Due to his religious preferences and actions, he is venerated by the Roman Catholic and some other churches.

The Byzantine Empire is another name for the Eastern Roman Empire after the Western Empire fell.

This article often refers to the “Byzantine Empire.” Byzantium was an ancient Greek colony in early antiquity that later became Constantinople; the capital of the Roman Empire.

The Byzantine Empire is simply another name for the Eastern Roman Empire after the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and, therefore, was the continuation of the Roman Empire.

Byzantine Empire is a term created after that empire ceased to exist. Its citizens referred to their empire simply as the Roman Empire and to themselves as Romans.

Church and State were One, with the Emperor as the Head, with the right and duty of protecting and regulating the Church

It is important to understand that no separation of Church and State existed. A Cambridge article explains the relationship between church and state in the Byzantine Empire:

“The idea of papal sovereignty was foreign to the Byzantines. … unintelligible, unreasonable, and unhistorical. … (in) their concept of the order of the Christian world … The Christian Roman Emperor was the elect of God and God’s vice-gerent [God’s agent on earth] on earth … His patriarchs or supreme bishops of the Christian Empire … were the spiritual heads of the Christian world, acting in harmony with him. Church and State were therefore one, indissoluble and interdependent.”

In other words, the Emperor was the head of the Roman Church. Similar to his predecessors, Justinian believed that “he had the right and duty of regulating by his laws the minutest details of worship and discipline, and also of dictating the theological opinions to be held in the Church”.1Ayer, John Cullen, ed. (1913). A Source Book for Ancient Church History. Mundus Publishing (2008 reprint). p. 553 Emperor Justinian regulated everything:

At the very beginning of his reign, he promulgated by law the Church’s belief in the Trinity and the Incarnation and threatened all heretics with the appropriate penalties. [Justinian’s Codex Iustinianus, i. 5.]

He made the Nicaeno-Constantinopolitan creed the sole symbol of the Church: “We direct that all Catholic churches, throughout the entire world, shall be placed under the control of the orthodox bishops who have embraced the Nicene Creed.” (Codex Justinianus)

He felt entitled to settle disputes in papal elections, as he did when he favored Vigilius and had his rival Silverius deported.

As a result, the church within the Eastern Roman Empire had become firmly tied with the imperial government. Church and State were one with the emperor as the HeadModern readers may find this concept difficult to grasp but, unless we do, we fail to understand the history of the church or the process through which the Trinity doctrine became accepted.

In Justinian’s view, his right and duty were not limited to the East but extended to the Papacy in the West

.The First Council of Nicaea in 325 affirmed that the bishop of a provincial capital had a certain authority over the other bishops of the province. It also recognized the authority of the sees of Rome, Alexandria, and Antioch and granted special recognition to Jerusalem. The First Council of Constantinople in 381 added the see of Constantinople.

Emperor Justinian assigned to those five sees (in other words, including Rome) a superior ecclesial authority that covered the whole of his empire. In other words, in Justinian’s view, the Church included the Western Roman Church and he, as emperor, had the right and duty also to protect and regulate it. 

He had a genuine interest in the church. 

Over the course of his reign, he authored a small number of theological treatises. He was indeed a “nursing father” of the Church. Both the Codex and the Novellae contain many enactments to benefit the church. Just in Constantinople, he built 25 churches (see traditioninaction). Justinian also rebuilt the Church of Hagia Sophia, with its numerous chapels and shrines, gilded octagonal dome, and mosaics.

He suppressed heretics with violence and even death. 

Emperor Justinian protected the ‘purity’ of the church by suppressing heretics. For example:

The Codex contained two statutes that decreed the destruction of paganism. (Codex, I., xi. 9 and 10) These provisions were zealously enforced.

At Constantinople, on one occasion c.450, several Manicheans, after strict inquisition, were executed in the emperor’s very presence: some by burning, others by drowning. 2Sarris, Peter (2023). Justinian: emperor, soldier, saint. London: Basic Books. p. 279. ISBN 9781529365399. [Show More]

Monophysitism opposed the two-natures theory. Some emperors tolerated it. Justinian was undecided. 

One of the major diverging views in his empire was Monophysitism, which had adherents in Syria and Egypt. While the Council of Chalcedon in 451 concluded that Jesus Christ has two natures; a divine and a human nature, Monophysitism maintained that Jesus Christ has one divine nature; a divine nature, or a synthesis of a divine and human nature. Some previous emperors and the Patriarch of Constantinople tolerated Monophysitism and allowed the appointment of Monophysites to church offices. However, this caused tension with the bishop of Rome. 3Meyendorff 1989, pp. 207–250. (Meyendorff, John (1989). Imperial unity and Christian divisions: The Church 450–680 A.D. The Church in history. Vol. 2. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press. ISBN 978-0-88-141056-3.

Justinian’s predecessor (Justin I) reversed this policy, confirmed the Chalcedonian doctrine, and openly condemned the Monophysites, reestablishing relations between Constantinople and Rome. 4(Meyendorff 1989, pp. 207–250.)

Justinian’s efforts alternated between attempts to force Monophysites to accept the Chalcedonian creed by persecuting their bishops and monks – thereby embittering their sympathizers in Egypt and other provinces – and attempts at a compromise that would win over the Monophysites without surrendering the Chalcedonian faith.

Justinian’s wife Theodora favored the Monophysites unreservedly. While Theodosius’ wife is venerated in the Catholic Church because she was a fervent supporter of the Nicene Creed, Empress Theodora, for Catholics, was “one of the most … deplorable figures of ancient history,” for “she became an enemy of the Faith and a supporter of the heresies, and she strove to make Justinian enter into conflict with the Holy See at the end of his life” (Tradition in Action). 

Wars against the Western Arian Nations

While subject to Arian rule, the Papacy was unable to dominate or compel people to comply with its dictates

After the Germanic peoples divided the territory of the Western Empire between them in the fifth century, the Western Roman Church was subject to their laws. 

The Catholic website Tradition in Action states that the Catholics at the time were groaning under the yoke of the barbarians. But the Jewish Encyclopedia states: “In contrast with the domination of the orthodox church, the Arian was distinguished by a wise tolerance and a mild treatment of the population of other faiths” (Kohler et al, ARIANISM). 

We can conclude, at least, that the Roman Church was unable to dominate or compel the population in Europe to comply with its doctrines.

Justinian considered it his God-given duty to liberate the Papacy. He sent troops and subjected three Arian nations

As an ardent supporter of the Nicene church in Rome, Justinian considered it his God-given duty to restore the Roman Empire to its ancient boundaries and to liberate the Western Roman Church from Arian domination. Justinian never personally took part in military campaigns, but one of the most spectacular features of Justinian’s reign was the recovery of large stretches of land around the Western Mediterranean basin that had slipped out of Imperial control in the 5th century.

Through these wars, Justinian subjected the three main Arian nations that were immediate threats to the Papacy:

In 533–534, his troops dispersed the Vandals of North Africa to the fringes of the empire

The first Arian Christian kingdom that Justinian’s armies attacked was the Vandals in North Africa. Again, from a Catholic perspective, “that whole area had been taken over by the worst barbarians, the Vandals” (Tradition in Action). Although the Arians generally tolerated other faiths, the Vandals, for several decades, tried to force their Arian beliefs on their North African Nicene subjects, exiling Nicene clergy, dissolving monasteries, and exercising heavy pressure on non-conforming Nicene Christians. This might be why Justinian attacked them first.

General Belisarius defeated the Vandals in the Vandalic War of 533–534. They were dispersed to the fringes of the empire and became lost to history.

After a protracted war, Justinian defeated the Ostrogoths in Italy in 553. They returned to South Austria.

Justinian next attacked the Ostrogoths; another Arian Christian nation. This war may be divided into three phases:

In 535, Belisarius invaded Sicily and advanced into Italy, sacking Naples and capturing Rome in 536. In 540 he reached the Ostrogothic capital Ravenna and reclaimed it for the Empire.

But Belisarius was recalled in the face of renewed hostilities by the Persians to the East. While military efforts were focused on the east, the Ostrogoths made quick gains in Italy. They reconquered the major cities of Southern Italy and soon held almost the entire Italian peninsula.

The third phase of the war in Italy (from 541 to 554) followed after a truce was agreed upon with the Persians. Following their final defeat at the Battle of Mons Lactarius in 553, the Ostrogoths returned north and (re)settled in South Austria. Through the Gothic War, Justinian restored Dalmatia, Sicily, Italy, and Rome to the empire after more than half a century of Ostrogoth rule.

In 552, Justinian recovered a strip of land that barricaded the Visigoths from being a threat to the Roman Church in Italy

In 552, Justinian dispatched a force of 2,000 men to invade Visigothic Hispania: another Arian Christian Germanic nation. This short-lived conquest recovered only a small strip of land along the Mediterranean coast, known as the new province of Spania before being checked by the Visigoths. This campaign marked the apogee (apex) of Byzantine expansion. Spania kept the Visigoths as a threat to Hispania alone and not to the western Mediterranean nor Africa.

It is remarkable that Justinian attacked the Christian nations in the west, yet he was prepared to negotiate peace with the pagan nations to the east. In the long term, that was a mistake. These pagan nations later embraced Islam and overran much of the former Eastern Empire’s territories.

Byzantine Papacy

Justinian’s conquests began two centuries called the ‘Byzantine Papacy’ because the Byzantine monarchs dominated the Papacy

After Justinian conquered the Italian peninsula and delivered the church in Rome from Arian domination, he replaced the incumbent pope and appointed the next three popes. In this way, Justinian put the Papacy firmly under the control of the Byzantine monarch. His successors continued this practice for the next two centuries. The Papacy in the years 537 to 752 is known as the Byzantine Papacy because the Byzantine monarch claimed the right to approve the appointment of the bishop of Rome and, therefore, dominated the Papacy also in other ways. This is consistent with the traditional Roman view that the Emperor is the real head of the Church under God.

One indication of Eastern domination is the massive growth of Greek speakers in the Papacy

One indication of the dominance during these years of the Byzantine Empire over the church in Rome is the Greek dominance of the Roman Church:

The two halves of the Empire always had cultural differences. For example, the Western Empire spoke Latin and the East Greek. During the Byzantine Papacy, large numbers of Easterners rose through the ranks of the clergy in Papacy. Easterners constituted less than one percent of the papal hierarchy at the end of the sixth century. In contrast, according to Ekonomou, over a century later, between 701 and 750, “Greeks outnumbered Latins by nearly three and a half to one”.

This confirms that the church in the West was now once again firmly subject to the authority of the (Eastern) Roman Emperor. 

The Eastern Empire now ruled the West through the Papacy, converting the Papacy into a politically powerful institution

After Justinian defeated the Arian Germanic nations, the Roman Church no longer depended on them for protection. With the protection and status it received from the Byzantine Empire, the Papacy became a powerful social and political institution in Europe. 

This relationship also allowed the Byzantine Empire, through the Church, a certain level of control over the Germanic nations in the West. To some extent, the Roman Empire was reunited.

The domination of the Eastern Empire and the Papacy caused the Arian nations to convert to Catholicism

The Franks entered the Western Roman Empire as Pagans. In 496, before the time of Justinian, the pagan king of the Franks Clovis I, was the first important non-Roman ruler to convert to Catholicism rather than to Arianism. After that, he forcibly converted the Franks to Chalcedonian Christianity.

After Justinian began to rule the Germanic tribes through the Papacy, they incrementally abandoned Arianism in favor of Catholicism. The first Germanic ruler to convert from Arianism to Chalcedonian Christianity was Reccared I of the Visigoths in Spain. He converted in 587. Visigothic Spain followed him at the Third Council of Toledo in 589. 

Pope Gregory I reigned from 590 to 604; a few decades after Justinian. He was perhaps the best-known pope of the Byzantine Papacy. Britannica describes him as the first of the medieval popes. With the support of the Byzantine Empire, he reformed the ecclesiastical structures and administration, launching renewed missionary efforts to convert the peoples of northern Europe as far north as Ireland. These efforts were able to convert the Arian peoples to Catholic (Nicene) Christianity:

The Anglo-Saxons of Southern Britain were the predecessors of the English. They had never been part of the Empire and were pagan, but were forcibly converted by their king Æthelberht of Kent, following the work of missionaries sent by Pope Gregory the Great. In turn, the Anglo-Saxons sent missionaries to northwestern Europe – to what is now the Netherlands. 

Aripert I of the Lombards converted to Catholicism in 653. Grimwald, King of the Lombards (662–671), and his young son and successor Garibaldi (671) were the last Arian kings in Europe. By 700, the Lombards in northern Italy have converted from Arianism to Catholicism.

By the 8th century, Arianism had ceased to be the mainstream belief of the Germanic people. Justinian’s goal was achieved through the sword.

Conclusions

The Trinity doctrine dominates today because the Roman Empire made it its State Religion and because the Empire dominated. 

This article confirms that the Trinity doctrine was advanced by the military might of the Roman Empire. The decision to adopt the Trinity doctrine was not taken by Church Councils but by the Roman Emperors; particularly Constantine, Theodosius, and Justinian. If Justinian had not subjected the Arian nations, and if the Byzantine Empire, through the ‘Byzantine Papacy’, had not squashed Arianism in Europe, it might still have dominated Europe and, therefore, the Church today. [Show More]

Daniel 7 foresaw these events and identifies the Papacy as the 11th horn. 

Secondly, this article helps to identify the little horn of Daniel 7 as the Roman Church; the Church of the Roman Empire:

The fourth beast of Daniel 7 symbolizes identified as the Roman Empire. (Read article)

The 10 and later 11 horns that grow out of that beast are the fragments of the Empire as it collapsed. While the previous empires (Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece) were followed by another great empire, Rome was not. It was fragmented.

The first 10 horns describe the Fall of Rome in the fifth century. It was fragmented into several Germanic kingdoms. The current article mentions some of them, such as the Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Vandals, Franks, and the Anglo-Saxons.

The 11th horn that comes up later, uprooting three other horns as it came up (Dan 7:7, 24), describes the birth of the Papacy a political organization in the sixth century. The three uprooted horns are the three nations Justinian conquered: the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, and the Vandals. The Papacy was not able to dominate before Justinian.

The 11th horn will become larger than the others, persecute the saints, and attempt to change the law. This describes the High Middle Ages, when the Papacy dominated the rulers of Europe. See Article.

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FOOTNOTES

  • 1
    Ayer, John Cullen, ed. (1913). A Source Book for Ancient Church History. Mundus Publishing (2008 reprint). p. 553
  • 2
    Sarris, Peter (2023). Justinian: emperor, soldier, saint. London: Basic Books. p. 279. ISBN 9781529365399.
  • 3
    Meyendorff 1989, pp. 207–250. (Meyendorff, John (1989). Imperial unity and Christian divisions: The Church 450–680 A.D. The Church in history. Vol. 2. Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir’s Seminary Press. ISBN 978-0-88-141056-3.
  • 4
    (Meyendorff 1989, pp. 207–250.)