Pope as a temporal prince
is found to be 755-89, or exactly 666 years. See Rev. xiii. 18. There is
another very curious coincidence in this case; for the interval between
the fall of the Western Empire, and the establishment of the Bishop of
Rome as a temporal prince, is 755-476=279 complete, or 280 current
years, that is, 40 prophetic weeks. But it so happens that the period of
human gestation is 40 weeks, and this would lead to the inference that
the Man of Sin was conceived as soon as the Western Empire fell. See 2
Thess. ii. 7, 8. I am not aware that these remarkable coincidences have
yet been noticed, and I therefore submit them to the consideration of
the students of prophecy.

[172:1] See Burton's "Lectures," i. 361.

[172:2] 2 John 1; 3 John 1.

[172:3] 1 Pet. v. 1; Philem. 1.

[172:4] Acts xx. 28.

[172:5] Mark iii. 17.

[172:6] Jerome, "Comment. on Galatians," vi. 10.

[172:7] See Vitringa, "Observationes Sacrae," lib. iv. c. 7, 8.

[173:1] Rev. iii. 16.

[173:2] Rev. iii. 2.

[173:3] Rev. ii. 5.

[173:4] Claudia, the wife of Pudens, supposed to be mentioned 2 Tim. iv.
21, is said to have been a Briton by birth. See Fuller's "Church History
of Britain," vol. i. p. 11; Edit. London, 1837.

[173:5] Euseb. ii. 16.

[173:6] Acts ii. 10.

[174:1] Acts ii. 9, 11.

[174:2] See in Cave's "Fathers," Bartholomew, Matthew, and Thomas.

[175:1] 1 Cor. vi. 9-11.

[175:2] Prov. xviii. 24.

[177:1] John xiv. 26.

[177:2] John xvi. 13.

[177:3] See Irenaeus, "Adv. Haeres.," iii. 1; and Euseb. vi. 14.

[177:4] It is probable that these three Gospels were written nearly at
the same time. When Luke wrote, he does not seem to have been aware of
the existence of any other Gospel. See Luke i. 4.

[177:5] Origen, "Dial, de Recta in Deum Fide," sec. i. tom. i. p. 806;
Edit. Delarue. Paris, 1733. See Whitby's "Preface to Luke." There is
good reason to believe that the "young man" mentioned Mark xiv. 51, 52,
was no other than Mark himself (Davidson's "Introduction to the New
Testament," i. 139); and if so, we have thus additional evidence that
the evangelist had enjoyed the advantages of our Lord's ministry. He has
always been reputed the founder of the Church of Alexandria, and the
testimony of Origen to the fact that he was one of the Seventy is
therefore of special value; as the Alexandrian presbyter was, no doubt,
well acquainted with the traditions of the Church of the Egyptian
metropolis.

[178:1