1917_The_Finished_Mystery_Text

cardinals and placed by them upon the altarthrone.One of the bishops kneels, and thesinging of Te Deum [We praise thee, O God]begins.Meantime the cardinals kiss the feet and handsand face of the pope.' A coin representing thisceremony, struck in the Papal mint, bears thewords, ‘Whom they create, they adore.'"— B316Saying, Who is like unto the beast.— Whatother character in history ever made such claimsor received such homage?— Rev. 18:18.AND who is able to make war with him.—"When, in A. D. 455, the city of Rome wasinvaded and plundered by the Vandals, and allaround was distress and desolation,FM197Leo, the bishop of Rome, improved theopportunity for impressing upon all, bothbarbarians and Romans, his claim of spiritualpower. To the rude and superstitious barbarians,already greatly impressed by what they sawabout them, of Rome's greatness and wealth,Leo, arrayed in his pontifical robes, exclaimed:‘Beware! I am the successor of St. Peter, towhom God has given the keys of the Kingdom ofHeaven and against whose church the gates ofhell cannot prevail; I am the living representativeof divine power on the earth; I am Caesar, aChristian Caesar, ruling in love, to whom allChristians owe allegiance; I hold in my hands thecurses of hell and the benedictions of Heaven; Iabsolve all subjects from allegiance to kings; Igive and take away, by divine right, all thronesand principalities of Christendom. Beware howyou desecrate the patrimony given me by yourinvisible king; yea, bow down your necks to meand pray that the anger of God may beaverted.'"— B295.Revelation 13:5.And there was given unto him a mouth.— Themouth of Antichrist is one of its leadingcharacteristics.— B305; Dan. 7:8, 11, 25.