From the preceding files it will be seen that the specific anti-Catholic position , advocated by the Seventh Day Adventist Church and many other sects, that the 1260 years of Daniel 7 refer to the period of “papal power” from 538 to 1798, are without foundation. We have seen, specifically, that:
There is no sound basis whatsoever for setting the institution of Justinian’s Code to 538, nor for the start of “papal power” to that date (particularly given the fact that pope Vigilius (538-555) was thrown into prison by the same Justinian).
The Code of Justinian did not make any new changes with regard to the papacy which were not already in existence from the time of Theodosius.
To claim that the papacy lost its 1260 years of power in 1798 when Napoloen’s general Berthier threw Pope Pius VI in prison, rings very hollow. Not only was Pius VI the latest in a series of popes to be imprisoned by an emperor (yes, even during the “papal power” of 1260 years), but the restoration of the papacy almost immediately afterwards cannot be fitted into the Adventist or anti-Catholic interpretations of Daniel.
The claims of anti-Catholic that competing methods of prophetical interpretation (namely preterism and futurism) were “invented” in the 16th century to smokescreen the “truth” of the anti-Catholic historicist view, are utterly without foundation. Whiel the Jesuits did write on these methods, the methods thmeselves had existed from the earliest days of the church.
These facts are in addition to the details of the reconquest of Italy which refute the notion that Daniel’s “three horns” were defeated by 538, a requirement for the Adventist position. I refer the reader to Stephen Korsman’s paper
SDA and the 3 horns of Daniel 7:8,24
