114 THE UNITED STATES IN PROPHECY.
great American Catholic Church, instead of a great Ro-
man Catholic Church; and who shall teach men that
they can be good Catholics without professing allegiance
to a pontiff on the other side of the Atlantic.”
There is every indication that at no distant day
such a church will be seen, not, indeed, raised up
through the instrumentality of a Luther, but rather
through the operation of the same spirit that in-
spired a Fernando Nunez or a Torquemada.
————
Chapter Ven.
THE MARK OF THE BEAST.
T principal acts ascribed to the two-horned
beast which seem to be performed with spe-
cial reference to the papal beast, are, causing
men to worship that beast, causing them to make
an image to that beast, and enforcing upon them
the mark of the beast. The image, after it is
created and endowed with life, undertakes to en-
force the worship of itself. To avoid confusion, we
must keep these parties distinet in our minds.
There are three here brought before us :—
1. The papal beast. This power is designated as
“the beast,” “the first beast,” “the beast which
had the wound by a sword, and did live,” and the
“beast whose deadly wound was healed.” These
expressions all refer to the same power; and wher-
ever they occur in this prophecy, they have exclu-
sive reference to the papacy.
2. The two-horned beast. This power, after its
introduction in verse 11 of Rev. 13, is represented
through the remainder of the prophecy by the pro-
THE MARK OF THE BEAST. 115
noun ‘“he;” and wherever this pronoun occurs,
7 down to the 17th verse (with possibly the exception
of the 16th verse, which perhaps may refer to the
= image), it refers invariably to the two-horned beast.
3. The image of the beast. This is, every time,
| with the exception just stated, called the image; so
© that there is no danger of confounding this with
any other agent.
The acts ascribed to the image are, speaking, and
E enforcing the worship of itself under the penalty of
. death ; and this is the only enactment which the
prophecy mentions as enforced under the death pen-
© alty. Just what will constitute this worship, it will
perhaps be impossible to determine till the image:
| itself shall have an existence. It will evidently be:
| some act or acts by which men will be required to-
acknowledge the authority of that image, and yield
obedience to its mandates.
The mark of the beast is enforced by the two-
horned beast, either directly or through the image.
~The penalty attached to a refusal to receive this.
¢. mark is a forfeiture of all social privileges, a depri-
t- vation of the right to buy and sell. The mark is
- the mark of the papal beast. Against this worship
of the beast and his image, and the reception of his
mark, the third angel's message of Rev. 14: 9-12, is
- 8 most solemn and thrilling warning.
Here, then, is the issue before us. Human organ-
izations, controlled and inspired by the spirit of the
dragon, are to command men to do those acts which
are in reality the worshiping of an apostate religions
power and the receiving of his mark, or lose the
rights of citizenship, and become outlaws in the
nd,—to do that which constitues the worship of
“the image of the beast, or forfeit their lives. On
the other hand, God says, by a message mercifully
~8ent out a little before the fearful crisis is upon us,