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continental Europe -- as well as an antagonism to Rome's ecclesiastical authority. This resistance to
Rome should clearly be evident at the time the chronological period is reached when the nations repre-
sented by the feet of Daniel's image are active.
After the fall of Imperial Rome, and the destruction of its Eastern Empire, the way was open for
the rise of European nations. We should not expect to find the stone smiting the feet of the image until
after this, because it was not until the subdivision of the Roman Empire into the nations of Continental
Europe that the Stone Kingdom was to begin its smiting. Because Rome, as represented by the two legs
of iron, was divided into the Western and Eastern branches of the Empire with capitals at Rome and
Constantinople, and was active in both the ecclesiastical and civil manifestations of its authority, we
should expect to find the Stone Kingdom in opposition to both phases or areas of its administration.
This is exactly what we find as we study history.
The Medieval Era
When the might of Imperial Rome waned, the way was then open for the invasion of the Empire
by the Barbarians in the fifth century A.D. The following facts of history, presented by George P. Fisher,
demonstrate the accuracy of Daniel's prophecy --
The middle ages include the long interval between the first general eruption of the
Teutonic nations toward the close of the fourth century, to the middle of the fifteenth
century, when the modern era began. Two striking features are observed in the medieval
era. First, there was a mingling of the conquering Germanic nations with the peoples pre-
viously making up the Roman Empire. [Daniel declared, "They shall mingle themselves
with the seed of man"], and a consequent effect produced upon both. The Teutonic tribes
modified essentially the old society. On the other hand, there was the reaction of Roman
civilization upon them. The conquered became the teachers and civilizers of the conquer-
ors. Secondly, the Christian Church, which outlived the wreck of the Empire, and was al-
most the sole remaining bond of social unity, not only educated the new nations, but
regulated and guided them, to a large extent, in secular as well as religious affairs. Thus,
out of chaos Christendom arose, a single homogenous society of peoples. It was in the
Middle Ages that the pontifical authority reached its full stature. The Holy See exercised
the lofty function of arbiter among contending nations....As we approach the close of the
medieval era, a signal change occurs. The nations begin to acquire a more defined indi-
viduality; the superintendence of the Church in civil affairs is more and more renounced
or relinquished; there dawns a new era of invention and discovery, of culture and reform
(Outline of Universal History).
Here we find stated by a historian what Daniel pointed out as the significance of the mixture of
clay and iron in the feet of the image. Daniel had already pointed out that although men would mingle to-
gether, they still would not cleave to one another. Following the fall of Rome the citizens of the Roman
world and the Germanic tribesmen did mingle but there was no unity of purpose -- nor did a fifth world
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