1917_The_Finished_Mystery_Text

The succeeding freedom from Papal persecution,and the widespread circulation of the Bible in thelanguages of the people, was declared by thePapal leaders to be the ‘little season' (Rev. 20:3)to follow the thousand-year Reign of Christ onearth; and they are hoping that soon they willregain their former power and prestige and oncemore reign supreme, and that their rule will bepermanent. This Papal Millennium is known inhistory as the ‘Dark Ages.' During those darkcenturies millions were tortured, exiled andmurdered for refusing to bow to the mandates ofthe apostate Church, under the leadership ofPopes, Bishops and priests. Agents and spieswore employed to apprehend and bring topunisment any who were found to expresssentiments contrary to the Papal hierarchy, orwho failed to bow in abject submission to theirauthority. Thus were the nations of Europepaganized, end steeped in error and superstitionand in reverence for men who falsely claimed tobe the special and authorized representatives ofGod on earth. They presumed to have authorityto alter the Laws of God when it seemedadvisable to them to d0 so, andFM302thought to change the time for the Reign ofChrist, as we have shown." (Dan. 7:25; Z.'16-181; B354.)"Those who lived next to the Apostles, and thewhole Church for 300 years, understood them[the "Thousand Years"] in the plain literal sense.'According to Jewish theology, as collected fromthe Talmud, Messiah is to gather in from theDispersion all the scattered descendants of theTribes, to discomfit their foreign oppressors, andfrom Jerusalem as a center to rule over the wholeearth which is to be a scene of temporalenjoyment and prosperity.Thus R. Salomen writes: ‘It is fixed that theworld shall stand for 6000 years, according tothe number of the days of the week; but on theseventh Day is the Sabbath, and during theseventh Millennium the world has rest.'"—Cook.