FROM YOUR PASTOR’S DESK:
GOOD-BYE HERULI, HELLO EMPEROR JUSTINIAN
First, the last thoughts of the prophesied end of the Arian Heruli kingdom, then to how and why Justinian, then emperor of Eastern Rome, is called “the Son of the Church,” that is, the Church of Rome, not Christ’s church:
The historian “Hodgkin points out that this coming of the archbishop to meet the Ostrogoths was STAGED so as to ‘impress vividly on the minds of both Italians and Ostrogoths that Theodoric came as a FRIEND of the Catholic Church.’ -‘Italy and Her Invaders,’ Vol.III, book 4, pp. 234, 235. Hodgkin further states that the Roman clergy were PRIVY to a terrible secret plot of murdering the followers of Odovacar all over Italy.(Ibid, 225, 226).
“The Heruli disappeared from from history. Thus the FIRST of the ‘three horns’ of Daniel 7:8 was ‘plucked up by the roots,’ and history leaves no room for doubt that the Papacy THROUGH its allies engineers this act because of its opposition to Arianism.
The Emperor Justinian.”Before passing on to the next power destroyed by the Papacy we shall briefly state the CONDITION of the Roman Empire at [that] time.
“Justinian had finally ascended the throne of Constantinople as the Emperor of the East, 527 A.D. [The Roman Empire was divided into Eastern and Western Rome]. He was a SHREWD POLITICIAN, and in his effort to extend his rule over the WHOLE of the Roman Empire he realized his need of securing the COOPERATION of the HIGHLY ORGANIZED Catholic Church, for it was directed by a single head (the pope), and worked as a UNIT all over the [Roman] empire, while the Arian nations STOOD SEPARATELY, without a central organization, and hence they were weak.
Then too, the Arians were VERY WEALTHY, and if Justinian could conquer them IN THE NAME OF ‘THE TRUE CHURCH,’ he could confiscate their property and thus secure means to carry on his many wars. We read:
“Justinian (527) ….already meditated ….the conquest of Italy and Africa.’ – ‘Decline and Fall,’ Edward Gibbon, ch. 39, par. 17. “Justinian felt that the support of the Pope was necessary in reconquering the West [i.e., the Western Roman Empire]. – ‘History of Medieval Europe,’ L. Thorndike, Ph.D., p. 133, Cambridge, Mass.: 1918.
“Justinian spared nothing in his efforts to conciliate the Roman Church, and we find inserted with evident satisfaction in Justinian’s CODE PONTIFICAL LETTERS, which praised his efforts to maintain the peace of the Church and the unity of religion [Roman Catholic].” – ‘Cambridge Medieval History,” Bury, Gwalkin, and Whitney, Vol. II, p. 44, NY, 1913.
More to follow, NMF.