Reason 2 of 6 not to use Vicarius Filii Dei
2: Most of the world is unfamiliar with Vicarius Filii Dei as a title of the Pope.
Proponents of the Vicarius Filii Dei teaching should ask themselves one simple question: Why did God choose Vicarius Filii Dei?
There is a myriad of other names that would also point to the Papacy.
For example, the word Catholic in Latin is Catholicus. Using gematria we come up with the following number:
C = 100
A = 0
T = 0
H = 0
O = 0
L = 50
I = 1
C = 100
U = 5
S = 0
The gematrical value of the Catholic Church is 256. Why wouldn’t God use 256 in Revelation 13? It clearly references the Papal system.
Let’s look at another example using the Latin phrase Romanus Pontifex, which, in English means Roman Pontiff.
R = 0
O = 0
M = 1000
A = 0
N = 0
U = 5
S = 0
P = 0
O = 0
N = 0
T = 0
I = 1
F = 0
E = 0
X = 10
Here the calculation for Roman Pontiff equals 1,016. Doesn’t this represent the name of the Pope more clearly than Representative of the Son of God?
One last example. Vatican in Latin is Vaticanae.
Using gematria we calculate the Papal headquarters in the following manner:
V = 5
A = 0
T = 0
I = 1
C = 100
A = 0
N = 0
A = 0
E = 0
The gematrical value for the Vatican is 106. Now ask yourself this simple question— Why wouldn’t God use a phrase that points to the Papacy without a shadow of a doubt?
The word “Catholic” has been used by the Roman church for centuries and continues to be used by them. “Roman Pontiff” clearly points to the system of Popery. Why not refer to this title? Even the word “Vatican” would rightly represent the system that Revelation 13 is pointing to. Any of these names or titles would clearly point to the system that arose from the ashes of the Pagan Roman Empire. Yet, proponents of the Vicarius Filii Dei view believe that God chose a phrase used by a few Popes during the Dark Ages as the way to identify the Papal system? It’s as if God chose the name/title that was the hardest to trace back to the Papal system, and as a result, we are left with hours of research only to find a handful of ancient articles that we consider our smoking gun.
Let me ask you another question: If you were to walk down the street and ask random people what comes to their minds when they hear the phrase Vicarius Filii Dei, what percentage of people would automatically know you were referring to the Pope?
99% will NOT associate that phrase with the Pope or the Papacy….and this percentage probably includes Catholics.
But if you ask them what comes to their minds when you say Vatican, Roman Pontiff, or Catholic, 99% of the people will automatically associate those words to the Papal system.
I don’t know about you, but it’s clear to me that even though Vicarius Filii Dei was once a title used by the Popes, it is not the name of the Beast Revelation 13 is referring to.
