{"id":4001,"date":"2016-09-02T18:00:51","date_gmt":"2016-09-02T16:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/?p=4001"},"modified":"2020-03-07T22:22:20","modified_gmt":"2020-03-07T20:22:20","slug":"vicarius-filii-dei-and-666","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/?p=4001","title":{"rendered":"Vicarius Filii Dei and 666"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"fcbkbttn_buttons_block\" id=\"fcbkbttn_left\"><div class=\"fcbkbttn_button\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DiscussingAdventismBook\" target=\"_blank\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/wp-content\/plugins\/facebook-button-plugin\/images\/standard-facebook-ico.png\" alt=\"Fb-Button\" \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div><div class=\"fcbkbttn_like \"><fb:like href=\"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/?p=4001\" action=\"like\" colorscheme=\"light\" layout=\"standard\"  width=\"400px\" size=\"small\"><\/fb:like><\/div><div class=\"fb-share-button  \" data-href=\"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/?p=4001\" data-type=\"button_count\" data-size=\"small\"><\/div><\/div><p>Adventists like to present a fake papal title, Vicarius Filii Dei, as evidence that the papacy is linked to the number 666 found in Revelation 13:18, because, using Roman numerals, the title adds up to 666.<\/p>\n<p>The supposed title is said to be used in two significant Catholic texts, as well as a Catholic newspaper.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_2781\" style=\"width: 212px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/?attachment_id=2781\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"attachment noopener wp-att-2781 noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2781\" class=\"wp-image-2781 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Pope-Pius-XII-212x300.jpg\" alt=\"His Holiness, Pope Pius XII\" width=\"212\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Pope-Pius-XII-212x300.jpg 212w, http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Pope-Pius-XII-725x1024.jpg 725w, http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Pope-Pius-XII.jpg 1204w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 212px) 100vw, 212px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2781\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">His Holiness, Pope Pius XII<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The texts:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The Decretum of Gratian, quoting the forged document known as the Donation of Constantine<\/li>\n<li>Crossing the Threshold of Hope by Pope St John Paul II<\/li>\n<li>Our Sunday Visitor, 1915<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>The Decretum of Gratian, quoting the forged document known as the Donation of Constantine.<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>This is the relevant passage from the Donation of Constantine:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Et dum haec praedicante beato Silvestrio agnoscerem et beneficiis ipsius <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">beati Petri<\/span> integre me sanitati comperi restitutum, utile iudicavimus una cum omnibus nostris satrapibus et universo senatu, optimatibus etiam et cuncto populo Romano, gloriae imperii nostri subiacenti, ut, sicut in terris <span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">vicarius filii dei<\/span> esse videtur constitutus &#8230;<\/span><br \/>\n&#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thelatinlibrary.com\/donation.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Donation of Constantine<\/a><\/p>\n<p>You can see the words above contain &#8220;<em>beati Petri<\/em>&#8221; (blessed Peter) and &#8220;<em>vicarius filii dei<\/em>&#8221; (vicar of the Son of God).<\/p>\n<p>This made its way into the Decretum of Gratian, 1148 AD, which was an early collection of church law, in the following form, copying the underlined text from above:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">&#8220;Beatus Petrus in terris vicarius Filii Dei videtur esse consitutus.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Translated into English, this means:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">&#8220;Blessed Peter is seen to have been constituted vicar of the Son of God on earth.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It is clear that in both texts, the term &#8220;<em>vicarius filii dei<\/em>&#8221; is not used as a title, but rather as a descriptive term, saying what Peter was.<\/p>\n<p>So, looking honestly at these texts, there is no evidence of such a title.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_980\" style=\"width: 202px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/?attachment_id=980\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"attachment noopener wp-att-980 noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-980\" class=\"wp-image-980 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/PopeJohnPaul2.jpg\" alt=\"His Holiness, Pope John Paul II\" width=\"202\" height=\"250\" srcset=\"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/PopeJohnPaul2.jpg 202w, http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/PopeJohnPaul2-121x150.jpg 121w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-980\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">His Holiness, Pope John Paul II<\/p><\/div>\n<h3><strong>Crossing the Threshold of Hope by Pope St John Paul II<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>The book contains the following phrase:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #000080;\">&#8220;The Pope is considered the man on earth who represents the Son of God &#8230;&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Adventists argue that &#8220;<em>who represents the Son of God<\/em>&#8220;, when translated into Latin, is &#8220;<em>vicarius Filii Dei<\/em>&#8220;.<\/p>\n<p>Firstly, this is not a title. Secondly, &#8220;<em>represents<\/em>&#8221; is not a noun, but rather a verb, and is translated as &#8220;<em>repraesentat<\/em>&#8220;, and &#8220;<em>the Son<\/em>&#8221; is accusative, not genitive &#8211; so the correct translation is &#8220;<em>Filium Dei repraesentat<\/em>&#8221; and not &#8220;<em>vicarius Filii Dei<\/em>&#8220;.<\/p>\n<p>So, again, no title to be found here, and not even a use of the phrase.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Our Sunday Visitor, 1915<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">In the issue of 18 April 1915, the following question and answer were given:<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">What are the letters on the Pope&#8217;s crown, and what do they signify, if anything?<\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #ff6600;\"> The letters on the Pope&#8217;s crown are these: Vicarius Filii Dei, which is a Latin for &#8220;<em>Vicar of the Son of God.<\/em>&#8220;<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This one is simple &#8211; journalists are not infallible, they do not represent official Catholic teaching, and this statement provides no real support for the claim that &#8220;<em>Vicarius Filii Dei<\/em>&#8221; was a papal title omitted from all known lists of papal titles.<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, the author subsequently acknowledged that he was mistaken, and that no such inscription is present. People looked at the tiara, confirmed the absence of such an inscription, and it seems that the author had actually been misled by Adventist propaganda.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Adventist evidence<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Worth noting is that Adventist scholar Dr Samuele Bacchiocchi did his own research into this, and had the following to say:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #003300;\">Another example of the blinding effect of tradition is the popular interpretation of the number of the beast &#8220;666&#8221; [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 &#8220;666&#8221; 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.<\/span><br \/>\n&#8211; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblicalperspectives.com\/endtimeissues\/et_134.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Samuele Bacchiocchi, Endtimes Issues newsletter #134<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Thank you, Dr Bacchiocchi, for that honesty. The Pope&#8217;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&#8217;s an anti-Catholic manipulation of a real papal title &#8211; Vicarius Christi.<\/p>\n<p>Lastly, more for amusement than anything else, the name of the Adventist prophetess, Ellen White, adds up to 666.<\/p>\n<p>Ellen Gould White: eLLen goVLD VVIte (the origin of the letter W is a double V)<\/p>\n<p>L + L + V + L + D + V + V + I<br \/>\n= 50+50+5+50+500+5+5+1<br \/>\n= 666<\/p>\n<p>In contrast to the pope, for whom no real title exists that adds up to 666, the name of Ellen White does indeed add up to 666. Make of it what you will.<\/p>\n<h3><strong>Further reading:<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/?p=5496\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Michael Scheifler and Pope Vicarius II<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/?p=1368\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> Bacchiocchi, 666, and Vicarius Filii Dei<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/?p=567\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"> More Vicarius Thrills \u2013 the numbers of the beast and the men who flub them<\/a><br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.catholicshare.com\/the-pope-is-not-the-beast-of-revelation-13-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Pope Is Not The Beast of Revelation 13<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Adventists like to present a fake papal title as evidence that the papacy is linked to the number 666 found in Revelation 13:18.<\/p><p><a class=\"more-link btn\" href=\"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/?p=4001\">Continue reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2781,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Vicarius Filii Dei and #666\r\n#happysabbath #Adventist #Catholics","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[8,12],"tags":[112,81,57,114,83,84,810,33,85,113],"class_list":["post-4001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adventism","category-catholic","tag-112","tag-adventist","tag-catholic-church","tag-donation-of-constantine","tag-honest-quoting","tag-papacy","tag-papal-mitre","tag-pope","tag-samuele-bacchiocchi","tag-vicarius-filii-dei","item-wrap"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3fpVQ-12x","jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/Pope-Pius-XII.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4001"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4001\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2781"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.theotokos.co.za\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}