In the Papacy we see a man professing to act in the place of God. The Pope does not profess to be opposed to God, but to be His regent, or, as he styles it, God’s “vicegerent”—one who exercises God’s power and authority for Him. But that very term shows that it is not God that is reigning in the Papacy, but a man instead of God. A man assumes the place of God! That is just what Lucifer attempted to do. It has ever been Satan’s one purpose to usurp the place of God, and to claim power that belongs to God alone. Therefore in the Papacy we have not a theocracy, but a democracy, and the same thing exists in every case, whether in nations or individuals, where God is not acknowledged as the sole and supreme ruler. “The prince of the power of the air” is “the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.” EVCO 404.3