ABSTRACT: The historical application of the fourth beast in Daniel 7 has almost exclusively been interpreted by Adventist scholars with the emphasis on the western part of the Roman Empire. This is particularly noticeable when the end of the empire is linked with the territory where the little horn appears. This presentation attempts to demonstrate that taking AD 1453 as the end of the Roman Empire brings an opportunity for a much more historically precise application of Daniel 7 in regards to the fourth beast and a much more complete theological understanding of the identity of the little horn.

Introduction

The Background of the Study and the Definition of the Problem: The historical fulfilment of the symbols of the fourth beast, the ten horns and the Little Horn from the prophecy in Daniel 7 have almost exclusively been associated by the SDA scholars with the political and religious events of the western part of the Roman Empire of the fifth and sixth century AD. This is particularly noticeable in the case where the end of the empire is linked with its political descendants in Western Europe on whose territory the little horn appears. The aforementioned observation somehow emerges from the most recent commentaries on Daniel 7 authored by the Hebrew Bible specialists such as Jacques Doukhan, William Shea and Zdravko Stefanovic.

For instance, Doukhan¹ claims that the Little Horn, according to his understanding a symbol for the Papal Rome, appears both chronologically after the ten horns, understood by him as the ten Arian tribes of West Europe that troubled the western part of the Roman Empire, and territorially on the Apennine Peninsula during the fifth century AD.

Similarly, Shea² mentions the barbarian tribes that ‘had filled the vacuum left by the Imperial Rome’ and ‘settled down to occupy their respective territories’. According to Shea, the disappearance of the Imperial Rome was a process that started before the fifth century AD and finished couple of centuries later. Eventually, ‘when Imperial Rome crumbled, the tribes took over its territories evolved into approximately ten kingdoms’, concludes Shea. Finally, Shea points out that the Little Horn is papal Rome that defeated the three tribes (Ostrogoths, Vandals and ‘perhaps’ Visigoths) and established itself as a political and religious power. This is, according to Shea, the historical fulfilment of the part of the vision where the three horns from the head of the fourth beast were plucked out before the appearance of the little horn.

Stefanovic,³ forming his opinion about the historical fulfilment of the fourth beast, the ten horns and the little horn on Shea’s interpretation, is not far away from the previous two interpreters in his conclusion that ‘the little horn fits the activities of the Christian church in apostasy at the time of decline of the Roman Empire’. In particular, Stefanovic states that the three horns, which were uprooted and paved the way to the little horn, were the three Arian tribes: Vandals, Ostrogoths and Heruli (or, Visigoths).

If the traditional SDA view⁴ on the historical appearance of the little horn (after the fall of the western part of Roman Empire in 476 AD), usually used in preparing the individuals for baptism, is added to the picture, then the conclusion is that the ten horns and the Little Horn are exclusively related to the western part of Roman Empire. On the other hand, the eastern part of Roman Empire, later known as Byzantia, disappeared from the historical scene in 1453 AD. It means that the eastern part of the same empire lasted almost one thousand years after the fall of its western counterpart. Further, the raise of the little horn (the fifth and sixth century AD) occurred during the time when the Christian Church was not divided to the western (the Roman Catholic Church) and the eastern church (the Orthodox Church). The last three historical facts create an impression of incoherency between the symbol of the fourth beast interpreted as Roman Empire and relating the ten horns and the little horn exclusively with only the western part of the empire. If the fourth beast represents Roman Empire in its totality, then why only its western part is related to the appearance of the little horn?

The Purpose of the Study and the Research Questions: First, this study is an attempt to scrutinise the traditional SDA interpretation(s) of the historical fulfilment of the fourth beast and the little horn in Daniel 7, and, consequently, to test the option whether the eastern part of Roman Empire, with its political and religious heritage, could be somehow involved in the historical fulfilment of the fourth beast and the little horn of Daniel 7. Particularly, this research will attempt to respond to two questions: (1) Is there any indication in Daniel 7 that will allow the inclusion of the eastern part of Roman Empire in the historical fulfilment of the fourth beast and, particularly, of the ten horns and the little horn? (2) What are the historical and theological characteristics of the eastern part of Roman Empire and its Christian tradition that can be related to the historical and theological identity of the little horn as it is presented in Daniel 7?

The Method of the Study: The method of interpretation of Daniel 7, employed in this study, will be historical-grammatical method. It means that both the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament have been regarded by the author of this article as the inspired word of God. As such, the events, dreams and visions are deemed both historically accurate and revelation from God. Thus, it is expected that the exegetical endeavour, which will pay attention historical and literary context of the book of Daniel and its relation to the rest of the Scriptures, to bring more light to the historical and theological understanding of the fourth beast and the little horn.

The Significance of the Study: Majority of the attempts to interpret the symbols of the fourth beast, ten horns and little horn within the SDA circles have been done from the aspect of the western Christianity. This approach has simply ignored the eastern part of Roman Empire and its Christian tradition. At the same time, it has unintendedly resulted in popular interpretations among the western SDA pastors and church members that only focus on the western part of Roman Empire and its Christian tradition. As far as it is known to the author of this article, this will be one of the first attempts to include the eastern part of Roman Empire in the historical and theological interpretation of the fourth beast, ten horns and little horn.

Further, it is an expectation that the inclusion of the eastern Christian tradition in the historical and theological understanding of the little horn will make it not only more historically consistent, but it will also enrich the present understanding of the theological identity of the little horn. The phrase ‘theological identity of the little horn’ is particularly stressed here, because the interpretations of the identity of the little horn during the regular church outreach activities are mostly argued from the historical point of view (a description of events in the period from the fifth to eighteenth century AD in which the papal Rome was active).

The Limitation of the Study: Due to the limitation of space the present study will not address the issue of dating the composition of the book of Daniel. The author’s view is that the content of the book stems from the sixth century BC. Another limitation, caused by the limitation of space, is that this study will not include the interpretation of the little horn from Daniel 8. Such interpreting activity would have certainly enriched the discussion about the participation of the eastern Christian tradition in the theological identity of the little horn, but broadening the study to Daniel 8 would have well exceeded the format of the present article. However, the interpretation of the little horn of Daniel 8 and its theological identity in the light of both Roman Catholic and Orthodox theological traditions would certainly be the next step.

The Design of the Study: The next section will be dedicated to a detailed critical evaluation of the interpretations of the fourth beast, ten horns and little horn, and their historical application as presented by Doukhan, Shea and Stefanovic. The same section will contain the exegetical insights of the author of this article. By using this section as basis, the next section will deal with the historical and theological relations between the fourth beast and little horn, on one side, and the theological insight about the role of the church and their bishops in the western and eastern Christian traditions. Finally, the conclusion will be offered, and it will contain both the answers on the research questions and suggestions for further research.

Critical Evaluation of the Present SDA Scholarly Interpretations of the Fourth Beast, Ten Horns and Little Horn of Daniel 7