Origins and uses of the phrase
The earliest known instance of the phrase Vicarius Filii Dei is in the Donation of Constantine, now dated between the eighth and the ninth centuries AD.
- It et cuncto populo Romanae gloriae imperij subiacenti, ut sicut in terris vicarius filii Dei esse videtur constitutus etiam et pontifices, ...
The phrase later appeared in the Corpus Iuris Canonici, quoting the Donation of Constantine.
- ... ut sicut B. Petrus in terris uicarius Filii Dei esse uidetur constitutus, ita et Pontifices, ..
The Catholic Encyclopedia states that "many of the recent critical students of the document, [i.e. Donation of Constantine] locate its composition at Rome and attribute the forgery to an ecclesiastic, their chief argument being an intrinsic one: this false document was composed in favour of the popes and of the Roman Church, therefore Rome itself must have had the chief interest in a forgery executed for a purpose so clearly expressed".
However, it goes on to state, "Grauert, for whom the forger is a Frankish subject, shares the view of Hergenröther, i.e. the forger had in mind a defence of the new Western Empire from the attacks of the Byzantines. Therefore it was highly important for him to establish the legitimacy of the newly founded empire, and this purpose was especially aided by all that the document alleges concerning the elevation of the pope.
Gratian excluded it from his "Decretum". Later it was added as "Palea". It was also included in some collections of Greek canons. As a forgery it currently carries no dogmatic or canonical authority, although it was previously used as such for hundreds of years in the past.
[edit]Protestant view
Main article: Antichrist (historicism)
The conviction that the Pope is the Antichrist was once a common belief among Protestants. Some mainstream Protestant denominations have since rejected this teaching, but it is still part of the confession of faith of some Protestant churches, such as those within Confessional Lutheranism. Some Protestant groups controversially identify the Roman Papacy with the "number of the beast" (666) from the book of Revelation.
The earliest extant record of a Protestant writer on this subject and addressing the phrase Vicarius Filii Dei is Andreas Helwig in 1612. In his work Antichristus Romanus he took fifteen titles in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin and computed their numerical equivalents in those languages, arriving at the number 666 mentioned in the Book of Revelation. Out of all these titles, he preferred to single out Vicarius Filii Dei, used in the Donation of Constantine, for the reason that it met "all the conditions which [Cardinal]Bellarmine had thus far demanded." Besides being in Latin, the title was "not offensive or vile," but rather was "honorable to this very one." (The sum works as follows: VICARIVS FILII DEI = 5+1+100+1+5+1+50+1+1+500+1 = 666, where 'U' is taken as 'V').
Helwig suggested that the supposed title was an expansion of the historical title Vicarius Christi, rather than an official title used by the Popes themselves. His interpretation did not become common until about the time of the French Revolution. Some later Protestant figures claimed that Vicarius Filii Dei was an official title of the Pope, with some saying that this title appeared on thepapal tiara and/or a mitre.
[edit]Catholic view
The Donation of Constantine was widely accepted as genuine for about 800 years and was used by medieval Popes to bolster territorial and secular claims to power. The document was acknowledged by the church as fraudulent about the time Andreas Helwig published Antichristus Romanus. The Roman Catholic Church has since consistently denied the existence of such a titleVicarius Filii Dei for Popes and has labeled it an "anti-Catholic myth".
The title "Vicarius Filii Dei" later became a topic of controversy, when it appeared in an issue of Our Sunday Visitor, an American Catholic weekly newspaper. An article in the April 18, 1915 issue of Our Sunday Visitor had the following question and answer:
What are the letters on the Pope’s crown and what do they signify if anything? The letters on the Pope's mitre are these, 'Vicarius Filii Dei,' which is a Latin for 'Vicar of the Son of God.'– Our Sunday Visitor, April 18, 1915
The Catholic Encyclopedia distinguishes between the mitre and the tiara by describing the tiara as a non-liturgical ornament and the mitre as one worn for liturgical functions. The writer of the 1914 and 1915 articles later withdrew his comments. An issue published in 1941 also issued a rebuttal stating that the tiara has no inscription Vicarius Filii Dei. A rebuttal was also mentioned in 1922.
The Pope claims to be the vicar of the Son of God, while the Latin words for this designation are not inscribed, as anti-Catholics maintain, on the Pope's tiara.– Our Sunday Visitor, 11, No. 14, July 23, 1922
In the Catholic Church the teaching office is held by the Pope and Bishops in communion with him. The magisterium is only exercised by them. Our Sunday Visitor is not a magisterial document and does not claim to be one. It does not speak authoritatively on theological or canonical issues.
[edit]Seventh-day Adventist views
In 1866, Uriah Smith was the first to propose the interpretation to the Seventh-day Adventist Church.[12] See Review and Herald 28:196, November 20, 1866. In The United States in the Light of Prophecy he wrote
- The pope wears upon his pontifical crown in jeweled letters, this title: "Vicarius Filii Dei," "Viceregent of the Son of God;" the numerical value of which title is just six hundred and sixty-six The most plausible supposition we have ever seen on this point is that here we find the number in question. It is the number of the beast, the papacy; it is the number of his name, for he adopts it as his distinctive title; it is the number of a man, for he who bears it is the "man of sin."
Prominent Adventist scholar J. N. Andrews also adopted this view.[14] Uriah Smith maintained his interpretation in the various editions of Thoughts on Daniel and the Revelation, which was influential in the church.[12] Regarding 666 Ellen White stated ...
I saw all that ‘would not receive the mark of the Beast, and of his Image, in their foreheads or in their hands,’ could not buy or sell. I saw that the number (666) of the Image Beast was made up; and that it was the beast that changed the Sabbath, and the Image Beast had followed on after, and kept the Pope's, and not God's Sabbath. And all we were required to do, was to give up God's Sabbath, and keep the Pope's and then we should have the mark of the Beast, and of his Image.– A Word To The Little Flock, p. 19, Ellen White
Various official documents from the Vatican do contain wording such as "Adorandi Dei Filii Vicarius, et Procurator quibus numen aeternum summam Ecclesiae sanctae dedit" See (Vatican Document - Prefecture Apostolic of Bafia, Cameroon, to a Diocese)
