In his latest Endtimes Issues newsletter (#134,) Samuele Bacchiocchi, Adventist scholar, criticises the popular Adventist tradition (as he calls it) that claims that the pope’s tiara has the words “Vicarius Filii Dei” written on it, and that these words add up to 666.
Bacchiocchi says:
Another example of the blinding effect of tradition is the popular interpretation of the number of the beast “666” [Rev 13:18], as VICARIUS FILII DEI, a title allegedly used by the Pope on his Tiara-a claim that has been proven to be wrong. In a recent Sabbath School Quarterly devoted to the Book of Revelation, Dr. Angel Rodriguez, Director of BRI, acknowledged that the traditional interpretation, though popular, lacks textual and historical support. Instead, he proposed the figurative interpretation of “666” as the symbol of incompletion, imperfection and rebellion. Concerned Adventists expressed their bitter disappointment with the new figurative interpretation of 666. They viewed it as a rejection of the traditional interpretation developed by our pioneers.
Thank you, Dr Bacchiocchi, for that honesty. The Pope’s tiara does not have the words Vicarius Filii Dei on them. The phrase is not, and never was, used as an official papal title. It’s an anti-Catholic manipulation of a real papal title – Vicarius Christi.
Three articles from my website:
More Vicarius Thrills – the numbers of the beast and the men who flub them
A play on the name Ellen Gould White
Michael Scheifler and Pope Vicarius II
And see this one, about a third of the way down the page (search for Vicarius.)
So Adventism’s leaders are coming round to accepting the facts … Bacchiocchi denies the Adventist tradition of Vicarius Filii Dei, a name that never existed. With time, all will.
