A Brief Commentary on the Apocalypse · Sylvester Bliss
1. The beast which received its death-wound (v. 14), was the form of
Chapter 4 of 7 · 1 min read
government to which the image was made, i.e., the imperial. Of this the Roman hierarchy was a perfect counterpart. It was an ecclesiastical government, coëxtensive in its authority with the political power of the empire. And, like the officers of the civil, there was a regular gradation of rank in the subordinates of the religious government. The head of the former was an emperor, chosen by an electoral college,—the senators of Rome.(3) The head of the latter was a Pope, chosen in a similar manner by the college of Cardinals,—the ecclesiastical senators of the religious empire. Each of those bodies constituted the highest deliberative and legislative body in its respective government. The empire had its governors of provinces, appointed by the imperial head; and the spiritual rule of the church was, in like manner, sustained by diocesan bishops who, in their respective provinces, were governors in spiritual matters and creatures of the Pope. Subordinate offices in the state and church, also, singularly corresponded.
