160 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



head over the Church." This argument was clinched by a refer- 

 ence to Exodus. The right hand of the monster, said to be like an 

 elephant's foot, they made to signify the spiritual rule of the Pope, 

 since " with it he tramples upon all the weak " : this they proved 

 from the book of Daniel and the Second Epistle to Timothy. The 

 monster's left hand, which was like the hand of a man, they de- 

 clared to mean the Pope's secular rule, and they found passages to 

 support this view in Daniel and St. Luke. The right foot, which 

 was like the foot of an ox, they declared to typify the servants of 

 the spiritual power, and proved this by a citation from St. Mat- 

 thew. The left foot, like a griffin's claw, they made to typify the 

 servants of the temporal power of the Pope, and the highly devel- 

 oped breasts and various other members, cardinals, bishops, priests, 

 and monks, " whose life is eating, drinking, and unchastity " : to 

 prove this they cited passages from Second Timothy and Philip- 

 pians. The alleged fish-scales on the arms, legs, and neck of the 

 monster they made to typify secular princes and lords, " since," as 

 they said, " in St. Matthew and Job the sea typifies the world, and 

 fishes men." The old man's head at the base of the monster's 

 spine they interpreted to mean "the abolition and end of the 

 papacy," and proved this from Hebrews and Daniel. The dragon 

 which opens his mouth in the rear and vomits fire, " refers to the 

 terrible, virulent bulls and books which the Pope and his minions 

 are now vomiting forth into the world." The two great reformers 

 then went on to insist that, since this monster was found at Rome, 

 it could refer to no person but the Pope, " for," they said, " God 

 always sends his signs in the places where their meaning applies." 

 Finally, they assured the world that the monster in general clearly 

 signified that the papacy was then near its end. To this develop- 

 ment of interpretation Luther and Melanchthon especially devoted 

 themselves ; the latter by revising this exposition of the prodigy, 

 and the former by making additions to a new edition. 



So great was the success of this kind of interpretation that 

 Luther, hearing that a monstrous calf had been found at Freiburg, 

 published a treatise upon it, showing, by citations from the books 

 of Exodus, Kings, the Psalms, Isaiah, and Daniel, and the Gospel 

 of St. John, that this new monster was the especial work of the 

 devil, but full of meaning in regard to the questions at issue 

 between the reformers and the older Church. 



The other great branch of the reformed Church appeared for a 

 time to establish a better system. Calvin's strong logic seemed at 

 one period likely to tear his adherents away from the older 

 method ; but the evolution of scholasticism continued, and the 

 great influence of the German reformers prevailed. At every 

 theological center came an amazing development of interpretation. 

 Eminent Lutheran divines in the seventeenth century, like Ger- 



