History of the Christian Church

HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH

“And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars:” Revelation 12:1

http://breachrepairers.webs.com/

i

Table of Contents HISTORY OF THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH ........................................................................................................................................ i Table of Contents.................................................................................................................................................................. ii The Studying of History................................................................................................................................................. 1 Introduction to Church History ............................................................................................................................. 1 Apostolic Church Government........................................................................................................................................ 6 The Sabbath & the Apostles ............................................................................................................................................. 9 Saint Ignatius & the Pope's Letter .............................................................................................................................. 12 The Centers of Christianity & the Views of Society ........................................................................................ 14 Centers of Christianity ................................................................................................................................................ 14 Views of Society ............................................................................................................................................................. 15 Sacral view .................................................................................................................................................................. 15 Composite view ......................................................................................................................................................... 16 Patrick & the Church in the Wilderness in Ireland.............................................................................................. 17 His History ....................................................................................................................................................................... 17 Loyalty of Patrick to the Bible ................................................................................................................................. 18 His Doctrines and Beliefs: ......................................................................................................................................... 18 Columba and the Church of Scotland ........................................................................................................................ 20 Columba ............................................................................................................................................................................ 20 Organization ............................................................................................................................................................... 20 Law ................................................................................................................................................................................. 21 The Church of the Wilderness...................................................................................................................................... 22 Ulfildas ................................................................................................................................................................................... 22 Edicts ...................................................................................................................................................................................... 22 The Waldensians & Different Translations ............................................................................................................ 25 Review of Societies....................................................................................................................................................... 25 Sacral Society ............................................................................................................................................................. 25 Composite Society .................................................................................................................................................... 25 Different Periods ........................................................................................................................................................... 25 2nd Century .................................................................................................................................................................. 25 Foundational leadership Period ......................................................................................................................... 26 Justin Martyr & Others................................................................................................................................................ 28 Jerome ............................................................................................................................................................................... 28 Vigilantius ........................................................................................................................................................................ 28 Times.................................................................................................................................................................................. 29 Bible Translations......................................................................................................................................................... 29 The Waldensians ........................................................................................................................................................... 30 Origin ............................................................................................................................................................................. 30 Apostolic Origin......................................................................................................................................................... 31 The Waldensians and the Reformation ............................................................................................................... 34 Reformation and the Waldensians ........................................................................................................................ 34 Rome's Assumption of Spiritual and Temporal Power ..................................................................................... 37 Tithe ................................................................................................................................................................................... 39 John Wycliffe, Tithe, & Church Authority ................................................................................................................ 41 Authority .......................................................................................................................................................................... 43 Derived ......................................................................................................................................................................... 43 Earned ........................................................................................................................................................................... 43 John Wycliffe ................................................................................................................................................................... 43 Huss & Jerome .................................................................................................................................................................... 45


ii

John Huss.......................................................................................................................................................................... 45 The Inquisition ................................................................................................................................................................... 47 The lead up to the Inquisition.................................................................................................................................. 50 Considerations of heresy ........................................................................................................................................... 52 How about justice? ....................................................................................................................................................... 52 Martin Luther...................................................................................................................................................................... 53 Erasmus & Luther ......................................................................................................................................................... 54 The Diet of Worms ....................................................................................................................................................... 56 Luther's perspective concerning conflict….................................................................................................... 59 The Diet of Spire 1529 ................................................................................................................................................ 61 Toleration .................................................................................................................................................................... 61 Religious Liberty ....................................................................................................................................................... 61 History of the Cannon of Scriptures .......................................................................................................................... 62 Formation of the Canon (Background) ................................................................................................................ 62 Scriptures ......................................................................................................................................................................... 63 Claims of Catholicism .................................................................................................................................................. 66 History of the Bible in Connection with the Reformation ................................................................................ 67 Erasmus ............................................................................................................................................................................ 68 William Tyndale ............................................................................................................................................................ 68 Jesuits................................................................................................................................................................................. 69 King James Version ...................................................................................................................................................... 70 The Sabbath in History ................................................................................................................................................... 73 Fathers 2-4th Century .................................................................................................................................................. 73 5-7th Century ................................................................................................................................................................... 73 Time of the Reformation & Dark Ages ................................................................................................................. 74 Reviews of the Reformers Concerning the Seventh-day Sabbath ................................................................. 76 The Anabaptists ............................................................................................................................................................. 77 Anabaptists & Reformers .......................................................................................................................................... 78 The Church, What Is It? Catholic View and Protestant View........................................................................... 80 Roman Catholic View .................................................................................................................................................. 80 Protestant View ............................................................................................................................................................. 80 Wycliffe ............................................................................................................................................................................. 80 Anglican Church View ................................................................................................................................................. 81 Seventh-day Adventist................................................................................................................................................ 81 France & the French Revolution ................................................................................................................................. 83 Netherlands & Scandinavia....................................................................................................................................... 83 Spanish Armada ........................................................................................................................................................ 84 The reasons they Rome sent the Spanish Armada ..................................................................................... 85 France ................................................................................................................................................................................ 85 French Reformation ................................................................................................................................................ 85 Calvin ................................................................................................................................................................................. 85 Dilemma in France ....................................................................................................................................................... 86 French Revolution ........................................................................................................................................................ 87 The effect on society................................................................................................................................................ 88 Story ............................................................................................................................................................................... 89 Printing Press............................................................................................................................................................. 89 The French Revolution & Its Contrast with the Reformation..................................................................... 90 England ......................................................................................................................................................................... 90 Wesley's........................................................................................................................................................................ 91 Pilgrim Fathers .......................................................................................................................................................... 92 http://breachrepairers.webs.com/

iii

The American Constitution & the Separation of Church and State .............................................................. 93 3 Quarrels of King John .............................................................................................................................................. 93 Colonies of the New World ....................................................................................................................................... 94 Declaration of Independence ................................................................................................................................... 94 Virginia Colony .............................................................................................................................................................. 94 The Baptists .................................................................................................................................................................... 95 Federal Constitution .................................................................................................................................................... 96 The Baptists in VA & Believers Baptism .................................................................................................................. 98 The Remnant Church & 1798 ....................................................................................................................................... 99 Edward Irving ................................................................................................................................................................ 99 Ezra Ben Ezra AKA Joseph Wolfe ........................................................................................................................... 99 William Miller ................................................................................................................................................................. 99 The 95 Theses ...................................................................................................................................................................... 100


iv

The Studying of History The things that happen now, have there roots in the past. It is the big picture that well draw out the way in which God has lead us in the past. Ed 173 In the annals of human history the growth of nations, the rise and fall of empires, appear as dependent on the will and prowess of man. The shaping of events seems, to a great degree, to be determined by his power, ambition, or caprice. But in the word of God the curtain is drawn aside, and we behold, behind, above, and through all the play and counterplay of human interests and power and passions, the agencies of the all-merciful One, silently, patiently working out the counsels of His own will.

You cannot change the outcome of Gods will. We are to trace the footsteps of God in history. CT 379 There is a study of history that is not to be condemned. Sacred history was one of the studies in the schools of the prophets. In the record of His dealings with the nations were traced the footsteps of Jehovah. So today we are to consider the dealings of God with the nations of the earth. We are to see in history the fulfillment of prophecy, to study the workings of Providence in the great reformatory movements, and to understand the progress of events in the marshaling of the nations for the final conflict of the great controversy.

The priorities of studying history  great reformatory movements  the progress of events  the marshaling of the nations for the final conflict of the great controversy Jesus healed a man, who could only see trees, then God touched him again and then he saw clearly. We are the second touch. The first touch is the events; we are the second touch we show it clearly.

Introduction to Church History

The Jew rejected Jesus, so God intervened by creating a new Church. During the 400 years between the last prophet and the coming of Christ there was no biblical history. But during this time Greece ruled the world. During this time what happened impacted Gods church, and this is what caused them to reject Jesus. They believed that they could take from all religions and create a supper religion. They tried to lay the foundation of a life without God, this created western life style. Every power in the past enforced their religion upon the Jews, but the Greeks, bought in more festivals and entertainment. http://breachrepairers.webs.com/

1

One of the Greek kings asked 70 rabbis to come and translate the OT into Greek this was called the Septuagint. By the time Jesus came the Jews spoke Greek. As a result one of the Jews was asked to collect the tax; he couldn’t do it by himself so he had other Jews help him and then they become rather rich and they invested the money in Judea, and as a result made this part of Israel very rich. The Jews saw this as the blessing of God. So they became to import the Greeks culture, dancing, drinking, women, parties, etc. The major thing that was bought in was the sports. A head Jew Jason, built a gym next door to the Sanctuary, and as a result the priest left their duties from the Sanctuary and they lost their purpose and their destiny. This is why they missed the coming of Jesus.

Timeline of the Christian Church 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Ephesus – 73 years (34-100) - Love Smyrna – 223 years (100-323) - Persecution Pergamos – 215 years (323-538) - Corruption Thyatira – 1260 years (538-1798) – Papal / death Sardis – 35 years (1798-1833) – Lack of zeal Philadelphia – 11 years (1833-1844) – Brotherly Love Laodicean – 165+ years (1844-second coming) – Lukewarm

What happens when God changes Churches? There are two times in history when God changed churches  New Christian church  Advent movement In both of these times there were principles that were in place. There a few key points that existed; every religion has its sacred oracles, whether it is pagan or Christian. Sacred oracles represent guidance system for the religion; it is what the divine being of the religion communicates through to the human to know what their will is. It is the respect of these sacred oracles that strengthen a church. The more respect the more strength the church has. By the time of Christ the Old Testament had become well established. When God changes a church it means that the old church is no longer the holder of the sacred oracles and the new church is the holder of the oracles. This does not change the existing sacred oracles, it’s just a transfer. There are several essential elements that must exist so that people know that God has changed churches; 1. Established under the leadership of divinely inspired men and women, who have the deeps commitment to God, and were moved by the Holy Spirit. Constantly referred to the Old Testament 2. Signal manifest witness of the Holy Sprit in miraculous power 3. Involved in deep personal and earnest study of the Word of God, people who rejected this new movement would have to reject the truth found in their own scriptures 4. There are warnings in confrontation – God does not just turn his back on a church, he sends warnings 5. Hermeneutics – Biblical interpretation 6. Expansion of the sacred oracles – New Testament and Spirit of Prophecy A church is not exclusively the church structure – the structure is a part of the church.


2

Pentecost 1. The disciples gathered together and received the Holy

Spirit because Christ was issued in as Priest.

2. Speaking in tongues (Acts 2) 3. Better understanding of the scriptures (Acts 2, 3, etc) 4. Reaction of the priests to the disciples (Acts 4 and 5)

Did Jesus go to the Most Holy First? Dan 9:24 Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

The anointing starts in the most holy place. Ex 30:26-31 [26] And thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the congregation therewith, and the ark of the testimony, [27] And the table and all his vessels, and the candlestick and his vessels, and the altar of incense, [28] And the altar of burnt offering with all his vessels, and the laver and his foot. [29] And thou shalt sanctify them, that they may be most holy: whatsoever toucheth them shall be holy. [30] And thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and consecrate them, that [they] may minister unto me in the priest's office. [31] And thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel, saying, This shall be an holy anointing oil unto me throughout your generations.

Life of Paul Paul was one of the most important people in the early church. He made a very large impact on the world stage. His writings and teachings established and organized the early church. 1. 2. 3. 4.

He was a persecutor of the church He converted And a wilderness experience Was given a mission

Most of the leaders of Gods church have a wilderness experience before they are given a mission.

The reason why Gods takes His leaders into the wilderness 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

God wants to help them unlearn the false concepts which they have already learnt. Communicate with them To humble them, remove self esteem To prepare them for the great work they are to do To keep them out of the fray (the controversy which is going on)

Paul was ordained by God, he had hands laid on him but it was God that ordained him. It’s not the man that brings the word the saves souls, but it’s the word the man brings that saves the soul. There are many ministers that have ordination from man but not from God.

The method for ordination  Fasting  Prayer


3

 Laying on of hands

The Canon Paul’s influence on the cannon was of no small impact. The term canon comes from the principle of a projectile on its target. In Alexandria which was the center for the Greeks, was the location where they used this term “canon”. It was used to refer to the authors who wrote all the Greek literature. Soon the Christians used this term to describe the catalogue of books that composed the Christian faith. Way was it so important to add books to the inspired Old Testament?  It would give the new church its own sense of mission as distinct from the Jewish church. It sets the church apart from others.  New church members of the new church needed to have a settled confidence that this was Gods church for this time.  Create an anchor which the new church could hold on to as its mission statement. The Spirit of Prophecy is the mission statement for the Seventh-day Adventist church  Provide counsel and comfort for the new church The Roman Catholicism claims that she established the canon  She can claim authority over it  She claims authority over the whole of the Christian Church  If her claim is true then she is able to say that if anyone excepts the bible as the truth then they are above truth

The New Testament  15 years after the ascension of Christ the Christian church was established, it was based on the Old Testament and the teachings of the Apostles.  They appealed to the Old Testament to support their place in history  Under the influence of the writings of Paul opened the cannon. Because of Paul’s teachings and writings his writings with considered to be inspired of God.  1st and 2nd Thessalonians were the first two books excepted into the cannon in 40 AD  Between 40 Ad and 95 Ad the rest of the NT cannon were written.  The last two books written were Revelation and John, this was written from Ephesus.  The epistles of Paul were sent all over the world very quickly.  The persecution of the church was a very important factor the helped the church to grow  The sent their writings all over the world (the written preacher) Satan then used people to write false letters and then signing them Paul, or Peter and so forth. There were a number of reasons why these false writings where not excepted;  Background – was persecution, God used this to allow intense environments that would bring people together. One of the jobs of the minister was to prepare people to be a martyr. Because of this the writings of the Apostles had a great deal of meaning to the church members. Because this method failed, Satan used compromise to bring the church down.  The power of God was so manifest in the lives of the apostles. These man publicly demonstrated their characters.  Unity of the message – God did not give the cannon all in one go. Over time, with different writers there was still unity in the content.  The focus of the message – The New Testament was for the church for their problems, for their needs, other writers were written in different styles.


4

Interest – Controversy created a lot of interest in Christianity and the books by the Apostles Carefulness – that the books were not changed Eyewitness - People had heard and seen the messages by the writers. Numbers of people protecting the scriptures Constant review – the writings it was easy to see the false books. Longevity of loyalty of the scriptures – protected with life The New Testament was translated into many different languages rather quickly Opposition to scripture – the writings of the Apostles the true generated much opposition Used by permanent bodies of people – consistent man controlled and passed down the scriptures  The long ministry of the apostle – they were well known         


5

Apostolic Church Government What is the greatest force of impact on history? The church To what is communism a reaction? Ecclesiastical abuse To what was the French revolution a reaction? Catholicism What are the two classes of mankind that embrace nearly the whole world, what are they? Those who want to be saved by their merits and those who want to be saved in sin.  Protestantism places the Bible above the authority of the Church  Catholicism places the authority of the church above the word The early church was in unity and they had humbled themselves they could see that the power shown in the church were above the church and it had to be of God. Persecution was the thing that made this church so strong and focused. Some have said that Christ didn't give specific rules about church government. We disagree. Matt 23:2 Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat…

These are church leaders that he is talking about. So he is giving instructions concerning church leadership. Matt 23:3-6 [3] All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. [4] For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. [5] But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, [6] And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues,

Jesus is placing the background of what is happening. The rulers were lording over God's people, in 1 Tim. instruction is given not to do it. Matt 23:8 But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren.

Here are the instructions that are given. “all ye are brethren” – He is saying treat each other as brethren. The apostolic church understood this. They knew that in the future some might try to rule other people, and we have seen this today. It is forbidden by Christ. Matt 23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

This is forbidden for us to do.


6

Matt 23:10-11 [10] Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. [11] But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. Acts 6:1-6 [1] And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration. [2] Then the twelve called the multitude of the disciples unto them, and said, It is not reason that we should leave the word of God, and serve tables. [3] Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men of honest report, full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom, whom we may appoint over this business. [4] But we will give ourselves continually to prayer, and to the ministry of the word. [5] And the saying pleased the whole multitude: and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and Parmenas, and Nicolas a proselyte of Antioch: [6] Whom they set before the apostles: and when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.

This is the way that the order is be. The people are the highest level of the church. Acts 2:44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common…

And all that believed were together, and had all things common; This does not mean that they put all their money into one big pile, it was the spirit of community. The Holy Spirit was the leading force behind this church. The churches were independent of each other; there was no central church of authority. Not even the Jerusalem council had authority over the churches. They were so united in bringing forward of the second coming that they were not in competition with each other. These are specific principles about church government. Church Government in the Apostolic church. There were Presbyters under the Apostles that were in church of the ministry of the work. Acts 6 the Apostles were not to do this. They couldn't preach. So they were setup to do this. There were Deacons, Deaconess, Elders, and Bishops. The highest level of authority under God is the people. The apostles would not make decisions without consulting the brethren. The bishops, deacons, Pastor, etc. is to be the one who serves God's people. The highest level is the people. Today the GC is to serve the Pastor, the Pastor serves the Elders. Then we have the Union President, and under him is the GC President. Remember 'Sacral Society' The method of resolving conflict was to have a consultation with the brethren. It was not for the president of the Jerusalem council to make a decision and hand it down. As the church became corrupt the desire to rule increased. Who would be the ruler? And in the end the supremacy of the bishop of Rome became an issue. Rome won and the bishop became the chief priest over all the believers. Rome lost the view of the priesthood of all believers. Protestantism re-established the principle of the priesthood of all believers. God wanted to preserve this. During the final years of the apostolic church progressed and new leaders emerged, there was a very important principle that was involved. Persecution was present. The people were there not for gain, but they were dedicated and committed. The early bishops knew this and prepared the people for martyrdom-to be faithful to Christ under persecution. They knew they were the special targets of persecution. Persecution eliminated the desire for worldly ambition. The church was pure for over 100 years. This changed later when Constantine became a Christian, which was more of a political maneuver, caused corruptions. But the bishops took advantage to exercise temporal authority and ecclesiastical authority. Early Church


7

AA 29 Christ's sacrifice in behalf of man was full and complete. The condition of the atonement had been fulfilled.

Many today say the atonement was complete on the cross. She is not saying this here. She says that the sacrifice was complete. What period of time does the atonement cover? From the beginning of the life of Christ, (actually from the fall of man to the restoration of all things.) More specifically from the time He was born, through the time of Him living a sinless life, died on the cross, when he began His Holy Place and Most Holy Place ministry. The atonement is finished after this process is finished and God's people are sealed. When people that the atonement was complete at the cross, they are saying that there is no reason for SDA's to exist. It supports that the idea that there is no heavenly sanctuary, there is not atonement going on now. The atonement began in AD 31 and there was no change in 1844. This does away with our message for 1844. What was the condition of the atonement? Christ's sinless sacrifice (without the shedding of blood no remission…) Evangelicals support that it was complete at the cross. Holy Spirit & Pentecost – When did the Holy Spirit fall on the disciples? After the coronation of Christ being made King of Kings and Lord of Lords was complete. Jesus went into the HP in AD 31 before His Father. Jesus went into the MHP before 1844, but it was only for the coronation (study that point). After this was complete He went in the HP to begin the daily ministry. When the coronation was complete the legal requirements were met, then the Holy Spirit could be poured out. The disciples were waiting for this event to be accomplished. Coronation = Crowing as king. When you have a king on earth there is a coronation service first. Speaking in tongues Acts 2:7-8 [7] And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? "

Who was speaking in unknown tongues? None of them. The true gift of tongues is when a language is spoken by someone who may not understand it, someone who knows the language will. It is not gibberish. AA 40 The priests and rulers were greatly enraged at this wonderful manifestation, but they dared not give way to their malice, for fear of exposing themselves to the violence of the people. They had put the Nazarene to death; but here were His servants, unlettered men of Galilee, telling in all the languages then spoken, the story of His life and ministry. The priests, determined to account for the miraculous power of the disciples in some natural way, declared that they were drunken from partaking largely of the new wine prepared for the feast. Some of the most ignorant of the people present seized upon this suggestion as the truth, but the more intelligent knew it to be false; and those who understood the different languages testified to the accuracy with which these languages were used by the disciples.

First of all the priests were angry at the manifestation of the Spirit, but through history we see this over and over. The leaders often want to control the working of the Holy Spirit. Not always, but at the end of time we will see it again. There are some faithful men, but many leaders will oppose the truth of God. There were some faithful priests during the early rain, so it will be the same with the latter rain, but you will have those who will oppose it too.


8

The Sabbath & the Apostles How the Sabbath was kept during the time of the Apostles. Quiz: Who is the highest earthly authority in the church according to apostolic principles of church government? The people What did Christ forbid us to call church leaders? Father, Master, Rabbi What were the disciples doing while they waited for Pentecost? Confessing sins, praying, making wrongs right with each other. Recalling the events teachings of Christ over the past 40 days and His acts during His life. Praising and worshipping in the temple. Who accused the apostles of being drunk? The Priests, (Pharisee's and Sadducees) We have many reasons as to believe that they kept the 7th Day Sabbath. One was that they were not accused of neglecting the Sabbath by their enemies the Jews, especially the leaders. You never see an accusation against them against breaking the Sabbath. You don't see this anywhere in scriptures. We saw others like neglecting circumcision. And if they were breaking it, it would have been brought out. Another reason: They believed that sin was the transgression of the law, and that the whole law was the standard that God and Christ would judge by. Jesus taught them to uphold the law and not one jot or tittle would be removed until all was fulfilled. It was not fulfilled at the cross. The law lives through all eternity. If you say the atonement was complete at the cross, it does away with his teachings on this subject about what the law means. The people were taught that the whole law was valid. In order to keep the whole law you must keep the Sabbath. They understood that the seventh day Sabbath was still valid. Jam 2:8-10 [8] If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, [9] Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well: …[10]For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of all.

Another reason: Christ gave instruction that they were to pray that their flight would not be on the Sabbath day. Matt 24:20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:

This was something that they would have to do after;  Death of Jesus  Rise of Jesus  Gone back to heaven  Start of the new church  After the fall of the papacy  Right down to the second coming Acts 13:14, 27 [14] But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and sat down. [27] For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their


9

rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath day, they have fulfilled [them] in condemning [him].

He explained their condemnation of Christ. Acts 13:42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.

The Gentiles came to them, not the Jews. This was primarily a gentile meeting. Acts 13:44 And the next Sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God.

Who was in this meeting? The gentiles primarily. They held this meeting on the Sabbath. If the Sabbath would have been changed by Christ, couldn't they have explained it then? Yes, why didn't they? It was a good opportunity for them to do this. They were not accommodating the Jews because it was a gentile meeting. They knew the Seventh-day was the Sabbath. This event took place 14 years after Christ was suppose to have changed the Sabbath, by now this issued would have been resolved, but they are still meeting with the gentiles. Luke's record of this event was written nearly 30 years after Christ was resurrected from the grave. This is important, because Luke could have explained it and made it clear that the Sabbath was changed, but the record isn't here. If it would have been changed, there would have been plenty of discussion on how to make the transition from one day to the next. Acts 15

Not a word of discussion was mentioned about the Sabbath. Those who were expressing concern for circumcision would have also mentioned the Sabbath if it was an issue, but there was no concern. Acts 16:12-15 [12] And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days. [13] And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither. [14] And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. [15] And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

They still considered the Sabbath an important event. There was only one Sabbath day that was understood then. They all assembled on the Sabbath. Who was present? Acts 17:1-4 [1] Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: [2] And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, [3] Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ. [4] And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.

A great multitude of greeks. In this meeting there were a lot of converted greek people. 3 Sabbaths in a row he studied with them. He didn't tell them about the change of the Sabbath.


10

1 Cor 16:1-2

This passage is used for Sunday observance. He told the Galatians to do this, now he is telling the Corinthians to do this. People say because this was on the first day it was a sacred worship and sacred day. We are talking about a collection that is being made. Is this a public collection? No, it was a personal collection. It says lay by him in store, meaning on Sunday I am to take my offering and put it aside so I don't spend it. So when the time comes to have a collection, I will have to give (study…I don't think it refers to money either, but study!) this is all it says. He is saying don't spend this money. After the Sabbath, think of God's work first and prepare for when I come. If it is not a public collection, it is not a public gathering, it is not a worship service, so it is not a sacred day. In reference to the first day, Paul, the disciples, and Christ never used the Sabbath or Lord's day in reference to this day. They used a secular reference. (Reference: History of the Sabbath J.N. Andrews and Allan Walker the Law and the Sabbath). Acts 20:6-13 [6] And we sailed away from Philippi after the days of unleavened bread, and came unto them to Troas in five days; where we abode seven days. [7] And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight. [8] And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together. [9] And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead. [10] And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him. [11] When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed. [12] And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted. [13] ¶ And we went before to ship, and sailed unto Assos, there intending to take in Paul: for so had he appointed, minding himself to go afoot.

The one who fell from the window and broke his neck. Acts 20:7 They do not use a sacred reference on this day.

He was going to depart on the first day of the week. Acts 20:8 And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered together.

"many lights" this was a meeting at night. When did this meeting take place? Saturday night. The first day begins at sunset. This was not Sunday night. Paul expresses his regard for the Sabbath. He did not travel on the Sabbath, he waited for it to be over before he departed. He waited for Sunday after the Sabbath. This is the only reference in the NT where a religious meeting was recorded. They did not meet every Sunday. He went until day break. They say that breaking bread commemorates the crucifixion. That happened on Friday. So we should keep that day sacred. This event happened 30 years after and Luke again doesn't make a reference to any change. We will discuss Ignatius and his epistles to the magnesius. John Paul II used him as a basis to keep Sunday sacred. We know the background from this.


11

Saint Ignatius & the Pope's Letter The pope issued a document in 1998 for us to keep Sunday holy. He used Saint Ignatius as a basis for this statement. St. Ignatius was martyred in the early part of the second century. He is credited with saying see packet on John Paul's comment point 23. This quotation is from a letter that was written to the Magnesians. Most historians believe that all the letters that are credited as being written by him were forgeries, especially this letter to the Magenesians. See handout of what Hal Mayer wrote in response to this letter. Second paragraph on the first page. 'he was not one of the apostles' this is important because Pope John Paul continues to say that Sunday observance comes through apostolic times. But he never quotes one of the apostles. And the basis that he uses is from St. Ignatius who was a church father, not an apostle. Killen is a famous historian. Calvin even rejected his epistles. Kitto was a famous historian from Germany. Robinson was a famous Baptist historian. He coves the last paragraph on page one to the 3 third paragraph on page 2. Popes Letter Point 1. The first sentence is a corruption of history. Sunday is never referred to as sacred in the NT. Last Para pg 2. Mayer – Latin church was not the Christian church. There was another stream of corrupted Christianity known as the Latin Church. The pope speaks of this as the only church. Even though the pope uses a lot of scripture in his letter, but if you review the passages they do not authorize a change. In his letter he often refers to it being a human change. Or a human institution. Page 3 last paragraph. PL Point 22 – He misapplies the OT references of the Sabbath and transfers it to Sunday. He does this with the NT too. He says in the writings of the fathers, not the apostles. He said that the fathers used the texts that Christ would have used to show the change. But Christ didn't do this. He had 40 days to explain the change, but He never did it. Why not? Also up to the death of John, the apostles had plenty of time to explain it to the Jews and Gentiles, why didn't they? Nothing was said about it. Not even one of the disciples. Many instructions were left for the gentiles on what was required of them, why was this not included. And by saying this comment, they are putting words in Christ's mouth. That is blasphemy. All through this he uses the fathers and apologist as the authority. Page 4 Mayer – Pope admits… Point 63 – "This is why Christians, called as they are to proclaim the liberation won by the blood of Christ, felt that they had the authority to transfer the meaning of the Sabbath to the day of the resurrection." Here the pope admits that it was a human institution. It is more than a Jewish tradition, many Christians do this today too. Point 54 – "Church's day" Here he shows it too. It was a human institution. He also shows in the letter that Sunday is a reminder of Creation. This is the opposite of what the Bible says, that the Sabbath, which is the true reminder. He tries to justify this based upon the emperor Constantine's Sunday law. Point 64 – fourth century, which was during the time of Constantine. "Civil Law" this is a key point. "Only in the fourth century…heroic" He is saying that Constantine was the one who changed it, and civil law made it possible for them to fulfill supposedly what the apostles and fathers tried to do. He


12

even blames Christ. "It would be wrong…aside" As if Constantine's civil law had a divine mandate. And the councils didn't cease either. These councils denigrated Sabbath and elevated Sunday. He is establishing the principle of a civil legislation. Mayer page 5 – To suggest…tradition. He is saying because Constantine made this law, they can't set it aside like it is a divine law. This is how he builds his logic. It began to happen, so Sunday laws came by Constantine, which validated what already happened. But because something begins to happen and even if laws support it, that doesn't mean it is the word of God. Point 27 – "Wise pastoral…languages." He says wise pastors made the change. In the next chapter we will see that Pope John Paul II in this letter brings up the subject of legislation to support in our day, that which he is trying to support in this letter. And he distorts what happened in history.


13

The Centers of Christianity & the Views of Society Give as many reasons as you can why we know that the apostolic churches kept the Seventh-day Sabbath. 1. They were never accused by the Jewish leaders of neglecting the Sabbath, 2. Jesus taught them to uphold the law and not one jot would be removed, they taught that the whole law was valid and you must keep the Sabbath to keep the whole law. 3. Christ told them to pray that their flight would not be on the Sabbath. 4. The apostles could have explained to the gentiles the change of the Sabbath. 5. Luke never explained the change. 6. They all assembled and prayed on the Sabbath Acts 16 7. Paul gave his speech Saturday night, we saw lights in the chambers. He didn't travel on the Sabbath. Where were the Christians first called Christians? In Antioch Who is credited with taking the Gospel to India? Thomas What was the center of Syriac Christianity? Antioch and Adessa What is the center of Greek Christianity? Ephesus, Corinth, Berea, etc. What is the center of Celtic Christianity? Galatia What was the center of Latin Christianity? Rome What was the center of Gnostic Christianity? Alexandria and Egypt

Centers of Christianity The center of Syrian Christianity was in Antioch and Adessa. From there it went to Persia, India, Parthia, and China The center of Celtic Christianity was Galatia. From there it went to Gaul. Today that is France. And from there it went to Ireland and the British Isles. The Galatians were related to the people in Gaul. The culture, climate, and census in Gaul was over populated, so there was a large migration to Galatia, and the British Isles, including Scotland. The people group began in Gaul. When Christianity developed in Asia Minor it started with the Galatians among the Celts. And because they had relatives in Gaul it moved there and from there to Ireland. God used migration to spread Christianity far and wide. It from Galatia all the way north to the British Isles. The center of Greek Christianity was centered in Athens, Philippi, Corinth, Ephesus, Berea, and Thessalonica. From there it began to connect with Latin Christianity and it became corrupt, and eventually separated itself from Christianity. The center of Latin Christianity was in Rome. Paul established the Roman church. But because of many factors, Western Christianity became corrupt and pagan idolatry, tradition, and systems were brought in this church. In 1054 AD these two churches split. And we have the Greek and Latin churches today who are separated. The center of Gnostic Christianity was Alexandria.


14

And it was here where the corruption of the manuscripts began to develop. The Gnostics influenced the Latin church. This is important to remember. A lot of these churches today are different than back then. But the Greek and Latin churches are still separate, but we still see the same pagan corruption now, that was back then in the second and third centuries. The Roman church claims to have apostolic origin. This claim has been disputed by pre-formation protestants, and today this argument is not as widely disputed. Many don't understand that today. They do not have apostolic (*PO except with Judas) origin. Rome did not descend from the time of the apostles the beliefs, and corruption of Rome began after the apostles passed. The mystery of iniquity did already work, but the apostles didn't give us Roman or Latin Christianity. (the corrupt church of Rome). Just because it came from the apostolic times, it doesn't mean that it came from the apostles themselves. Paganism came from their days, and idolatry, we must analyze what is being said. Rome claims apostolic origins. Rome departed from the faith of Peter and the other apostles. So how can their origin begin with Peter? How can they be the apostolic church when she has adopted many things from apostolic times, but has left the most important aspect, which are the apostolic teachings. Faithful Christians looked upon Rome with shame and sadness and said they have departed from the faith. They realized they were teaching the apostolic doctrines and practices, but they were being persecuted for this. So who is the real apostolic church? Those who have the apostolic teachings and practices. Where does this leave SDA's? They are apostolic, why? Because they teach what the apostoles were teaching. The Waldenses are apostolic because they taught exactly what they did. when did they begin? The 2nd Century. Peter Waldo was not the founder. The Jesuits used the date of 1200's to show their beginnings. Those who have left the teachings of the apostles are no longer a part of the apostolic church. Rome left the teachings of the apostle Paul. Those churches that remained faithful sought for unity. Those who went to paganism had to have councils to bring the error together. God wants to develop people who have true principles. Meekness, humility of spirit, etc. he wants to establish them to himself, not for people to be to themselves. Pride must be banished. In order to do this, persecution had to crush the church. True Christians will always face persecution. GC 45 If unity could be secured only by the compromise of truth and righteousness, then let there be difference, and even war.

After persecution didn't work, Satan began to compromise. And then these brothers began to persecute their brothers. The real schematics were the church of Rome. Phil 2:3-4 [3] Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. [4] Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Vain glory is pride. Strife is conflict. None should try to rise above another or be over each other.

Views of Society In relation to religious liberty there are two views: 1.) Sacral view 2.) Composite view

Sacral view A society in which all members worship at the same shrine. They all have the same religion. Ex. In the pagan system of Roman religion they all worshipped the same gods. The pantheon of gods. And those who didn't agree would be persecuted. The Babylonian society was the same. They had a


15

cultic god that centered itself in the ruler. Everyone worshipped these gods. If not persecution came. Ex. 3 Hebrew boys. They were seen as a menace to society. They were a disruptive element that would undermine and subvert the security of society as it stood. This is why they were thrown in the fire. Then we have the Roman Empire that was the same type of society. You could worship any god as long as you were not exclusive. You had to be a part of the understanding of the societal understanding of the gods. You must participate in the pagan roman rites. When Christianity came and Christ was considered a God. The emperor was happy at first, but because the Christians said He is the ONLY GOD! This separated Christianity from the rest of society, and the pagans realized that they were not one of them. And the persecution came because they were a menace to society. They undermined the stability of society, and the security of society by being separate in worship principles.

Composite view (on test) You can worship any god that you please and we can all still leave together as a human society peacefully. We don't need to worship at the same shrine to live peacefully together. Society is a composite of a variety of gods, or no god at all. You can worship as you please. Religious liberty is alive in this society. But it is suppressed in a sacral society. Remember this! The Roman church by accepting paganism adopted the sacral view of society. Summary: Sacral view: The same shrine is worshipped by society. Composite view: there is no need of religion to be the basis of a society. It is not anti-religious like communism.


16

Patrick & the Church in the Wilderness in Ireland Revelation 12 gives us an outline of the church in the wilderness and then it comes down to us. But the same hand that sustained them will sustain us. Even through the Papal power had dominion over the entire world, they did not have supreme authority over the church in the wilderness. (HSM: When studying the history of the church, you must find the books that give you the perspectives, not just the facts. In most books you will not find an accurate sketch of what happened to the church in the wilderness. Some on Waldenses, very little on the Hugenots. Etc. But less than that on the rest, hardly none. Ex Albagensis were destroyed by the papacy, and their writings were destroyed with them. We have their history for their enemies.) TT 71 Analytical reading will be practiced. (Indented paragraph) Let's draw conclusions about his beliefs and practices. (belief system of Patrick) He acknowledged that he was a sinner. So this shows us that this was written after conversion. He came down from a line of religious leaders. He felt the reason why he was taken to Ireland was because he walked away from God, and God used this to convict his heart.. This shows us that he is writing about his conversion experience. He was contented by great numbers. This means that there was a multitude against him. He was a believer in the ten commandments. So this means he kept the Sabbath. His grandfather was a presbyter, like the bishop (*PO this is where the Pope's came from). What do we see underneath all of that? He was married and had a child who was Patrick's father. So the Celtic church didn't believe in a celibate priesthood. (*PO In order for his grandfather who was a bishop to have a son, he had to get married and have a child. That child was Patrick's Father, who in turn got married and had him.)

His History His farm was near the ocean, and the freebooters came and enraged the people of Scotland. They rampaged the village and made the people slaves. He came back to Ireland as a free man converted the family and left to rise up churches and schools in Ireland. The schools were very effective. The size of the schools were large especially one. They used the Bible as their textbook. What Bible did they have? The Itala Bible. It was used by the faithful Christians of this time. This bible came from the Syrian sources, the eastern sources. These manuscripts were not corrupt. There were 3 principles involved in doing this work in Ireland. One: He was an intenerate preacher. (Intenerate means he went from place to place to preach.) He would go and establish churches from place to place. He saw himself as a servant of Christ. And he had the commission and instruction to preach the gospel. He got this instruction from the Word of God. Not the pope. He believed that the Bible was the sole authority in the church. Two: Publishing – there was no printing press. He had had written manuscripts. He wrote the bible. He transcribed and copied the scriptures and he left them everywhere were he rose up churches. These were the illuminated manuscripts. Meaning they were illustrated with designs interwoven. A fancy S at the beginning of a paragraph. In the borders you see designs. But he founded his churches on the Bible and the Bible alone. Three: Educational work - It is essential to true revival. Throughout history every religious revival


17

used these three elements. (TEST! REMEMBER THIS). Health was used in some groups as well.

Loyalty of Patrick to the Bible Difference between those who teach Bible and Bible only; And Bible and tradition. The church in the wilderness used the bible and the Bible only. It was a feature of the pure churches. Those who used bible and tradition…this was a feature of the corrupt churches. In the pure church the bible is superior to tradition. In the corrupt churches, tradition becomes superior to the Bible. In the pure churches, the church members were free to follow the unction of the Holy Spirit. They were free of human control. The Holy Spirit never allows man to bind His fellow man. But when the corrupt churches control the members. You can't preach without a license. You can't do mission work without an invitation. They are subject to human control in the corrupt church. The greek church, protestants and the Latin church. Many people today are coming under the control of human. EGW's prophecy is being fulfilled. Satan is seeking to bind men in bunches, so they can't be free to move by the Holy Spirit. So the pure church seeks the Bible for guidance. In the corrupt church, they go to councils, and they follow creeds to resolve differences. In the pure church there is a belief in the priesthood of all believes. In the corrupt churches the belief is in the priesthood of the clergy. The concept of church in the pure church is that the church is centered within the believers. But in the corrupt church, it is centered in the clergy, and the members obey as they are told. Many youth left from his institution to do work on the continent of Europe and through the British Isles.

His Doctrines and Beliefs: Sabbath – He was a Sabbath keeper The law of God as binding on God’s people in these days He believed in the second coming of Christ - He was an Adventist (he was a SDA in principle) Bible and Bible Only (Pure Church) In the true church/the church in the wilderness there was a loyalty to the Bible and the Bible only – a feature of the pure churches The Bible is superior to tradition Church members were free to follow the unction of the Holy Spirit and free of human control Seek the Bible for guidance Believe in priesthood of all believers – the church is centered in the believers

Bible and Tradition (Corrupt Church) Corrupt churches had the Bible and tradition Tradition becomes superior to the Bible Control becomes the issue – subject to human control They go to counsels and follow creeds in order to resolve differences of opinion or other matters rather than consulting the Bible Only in the priesthood of the clergy – the church is centered in the clergy and in the superstructure and the believers merely obey as they are told

He lived prior to the church in the wilderness. Many changes took place in the world during the time before. When Rome sent the Monks to Ireland they found that Christian churches and schools were already present. And they didn't follow the principles of Rome. You didn't see image worship, and penance, etc. The followers of Patrick were committed to these principles. The Monks had to return to Rome, Augustine was among them. They were defeated. Eventually Rome chose to http://breachrepairers.webs.com/

18

overcome them by artifice, instead of open persuasion. They could not because Rome was built on fables and tradition. They could not persuade by the Scriptures. She resorted to cultivating a warlike behavior among the Danes in Scandinavia. They came to persecute the people. This broke down the Irish over time. But the greatest challenge to the Irish church was what they did to their history. They said that a certain man named Palateus was sent to the Irish nation as a missionary from Rome under Pope Celesty, and he was the founder of the Irish church. They said he was also known as Patrick. They said that the Irish people had their religious foundation under him. After a few centuries the Irish accepted this view, and they shifted their loyalty from Patrick to Rome. Instead of persuading them, they distorted the history. And she then adopted Patrick as one of their saints. So now we have Saint Patrick's day. And most protestants don't observe this day. Why do we wear green on St. Patrick's day. The Emerald Isle is the Island of Ireland. The green represents the origin of the Roman church under this false Patrick in Ireland. So they accepted the idea eventually that they were apart of the Catholic church. They lost their Christian heritage, their Celtic foundation. And they became Roman Catholic until the reformation.


19

Columba and the Church of Scotland Homework: Truth Triumphant 10

Columba He went to Patrick's school. They studied 18 years before going out into the field. He wanted to convert Scotland to the gospel. They received land off the west coast of Scotland. They influenced a relative of his to get this land. This land is called "IONA" it was originally the island of "HY". The Bible was the chief book of study, and they also studied astronomy. In a seven-year period he raised 300 churches. In every week to 10 days he raised a church. The people were ready for something that would give them an experience. While he traveled he wrote the NT and he left them at the churches and schools where he traveled. He had to leave it with them for them to grow. He taught his students how to transcribe. You had preaching, publishing, and raising schools. In the seventh century when the monks came to Scotland, they didn't find a roman religion. They found Christianity that was founded on the Bible and the Bible only. They expected to find pagans, but they found Christians. The bible was their final authority. They didn't believe in pilgrimages, and images in order to receive salvation. The Scottish church was observing the Sabbath Day. When Columba died he said today was the Sabbath and he would rest from his labors. The Scottish church retained the Sabbath of the Irish church. The Irish church was keeping the SD Sabbath. They were loyal to the SD Sabbath. Despite the influence of Rome they still were loyal to the Sabbath and the Ten Commandments.

Organization This church was established according to apostolic principles. This church didn't have a hierarchy of religious leaders. With Presbyters and Deacons. They had a brotherhood of pastors and deacons. They looked to them. They did not try to control each other. They counseled each other so the church could move forward with no controlling. When Margaret became Queen of Scotland, she was a Hungarian. Her Catholic moorings were imposed on the Scotland church. How did it happen? They passed Sunday laws, and they required the Scottish people to follow Catholic rites including Sunday observance. 105 "Let us venerate the Lord's day…." We don't realize how much the Sunday legislation had an impact on the free people who followed the bible in history. The way that Rome established control was by establishing Sunday as the Sabbath. As the church was pushed further in the wilderness, the religious principles of Rome were opposed on the churches because of these councils that kept going on. Today even those who claim the church in the wilderness as their heritage, they refuse to adopt the Sabbath and all of its principles. The church in the wilderness always remained loyal to the law of God. Sunday laws always lead to persecution.


20

Law If you are going to have one, what do you do if people break it? You punish them. There must be some type of penalty for breaking the law. The nature of law is that there is a penalty for breaking it. Ex. Same with the Law of God. But when man establishes a law we have the same principle. So if you establish a Sunday law, there must be a penalty for those who break it. What is wrong with a law concerning religious practices? Is it wrong to have law in the church? No, there must be ecclesiastical law based on the Bible. But Rome developed ecclesiastical law that was not based upon the Bible it was based upon tradition. And their law became connected with the civil law. So if you broke ecclesiastical law you are also breaking civil law. Why? Because Rome worked with a sacral society, meaning if any member of society didn't follow the religious practices of society, they were undermining the society and they were outcasts. Even religious law must be established upon the principles of the Bible. Anyone can't teach what they want in the church. This is what Rome did. They were in line with their pagan roots. All pre-Christian societies were sacral. What is wrong with civil law being religious in nature? A religious law enforced by the civil government (or the state) becomes a restrictive factor upon the religious liberty of the people. What does it do to the people? If you have a civil law that restricts religion. It restricts the freedom of the mind to follow the dictates of the conscience. And this also prevents the development of the mind because it becomes subject to human authority. If you place the Bible in contact with civil government, man then becomes the interpreter of the Bible for the soul. And by enforcing civil religious law, it prevents people from following their consciences. It makes them follow church leaders. And as a result the development of the mind is restricted. During the dark ages, intellectual development decreased until the reformation. When the Word of God was put forth, intellectual development increased. Technology advanced. Information increased. It is called the dark ages because the intellect became darkened. And as the inquisition came along, every new idea was suppressed. So what began as passing the Sunday law by Queen Margaret and other leaders lead to suppression in knowledge and development in growth and society that stagnated society and left them with superstitions about God. As civil law got stronger against the voice of dissent, people were afraid to make any statement that was out of step with the priest. This is how Rome controlled the mind. They were slaves of the Priest. That is why God is careful to develop the individual to exercise what they believe. Religion is going to be a deciding factor in society again. The civil power will be able to execute religious penalties against those who refuse to follow the religious laws of the land. We see that history will repeat. In a sense we will have to go into the wilderness again. But God will intervene this time. (*PO in the seals especially the 5th we see the souls crying under the altar, and now instead of history being repeated in the remnant church God will intervene to deliver His people by coming the second time. It shows how God will respond to the events that are taking place in the church. How they are warning against this apostate power the man of sin.) The Columban church and the Patrician church represent what we must be in these last days. They trained missionaries, establish evangelism centers, schools, and publishing work to spread the gospel to the world. (They gave the blue print of what we must do). God is using the same principles in these last days to re-establish the supremacy of the Bible in opposition to the power of Rome.


21

The Church of the Wilderness Sermon: "Final Events" Point: Before we get to Rev 15 and 16, there will be a final act in world events that will cause probation to close. Then explain these events and how Rome is positioning herself to use the arm of the state to enforce her decree's. The first edict that was passed by Justinian was an economical sanction preventing them to buy or sell. This will come again. Quiz: Name the great missionary of Ireland: Patrick Name the great missionary of Scotland: Columba List the 3 key elements in the work of every religious revival: Itinerate preacher, Publishing, Education, and health What is the name of the Island that was given to Columba? Iona or Hy Name the king of the Franks, who supported Rome in their ambition for power. Clovis Name his catholic wife: Clotilda What is a sacral society? One god, and one society where all worshipped. And if they don't they are a threat. What is a composite society? Many gods were you can worship how you want and it will not affect everyone living together.

Ulfildas Rome was responsible and successful in driving the true church in the wilderness. Ulfildas was the great missionary to the Goths. Ostrogoths and Visigoths. He converted many to true Christianity. When the 10 tribes who were the 10 tutonic nations were successful in overthrowing western Rome who was on the decline in power and strength. They set themselves up in various regions. Saxons in the British Isles. Alemmanni, which is today called Germans. Visigoths, Southern Frace, Franks, Northern Frace. Vandals, North Africa. Ostrogoths were in Rome. They besieged Rome in the capital of the empire. The emperor moved to Constantinople. The bishops of Rome were upset about the Ostrogoths, and they stirred up the people against the Goths, until they were kicked out of Rome. When the Ostrogoths came to Rome they were surprised to see evidence of Christianity. Churches, and other edifices. They were moral people. they didn't overthrow their Christianity, but they found out that Rome considered them Arians (this was used against heretics, even if they didn't believe Aranism.) heretics, they were not fellow believers. Rome wanted power.

Edicts Constantine II allowed more tolerance for other viewpoints of doctrines. There was a change that took place in the political structure as time went on. They were warlike and they would fight among


22

each other. One man stood out who gave Rome and the Roman bishops the temporal power and spiritual power of the empire. Clovis who was the king of the franks. He had a powerful army. Clovis defeated the Alemanni. Clovis was warring with the Visigoths, they were in Southern France. Clovis noticed that those who were connected with the bishops of Rome were influential with the common people. He knew if he would link up with them, he could gain their help to sustain his cause and developing his power in the empire. So he became a Christian, he converted to Catholicism. And because the franks were a sacral society meaning all worshipped at the same shrine, so because he became Catholic, the whole nation became Catholic. Why did he link up with the Bishops? His wife was a very zealous Roman Catholic, she influenced him to do this. She shared the advantages of becoming Catholic. The bishops realized a benefit by linking up with Clovis. After this happened Clovis' focused changed. He battled with the Visigoths until 507 AD when he was able to route the Visigoths, and in 508 AD he became the undisputed ruler of France. The emperor was interested in what was going on there too. He was already committed to Roman Catholicism. Justinian. When he gained in power he advanced the interest in the Roman church. He was interested in Gaul (which was France). If Clovis lost the Alemanni would have moved in and the attention of the world would go to Alemanni, and certain loyalties would change to them. But if he was successful then the power would be centralized with a Roman Catholic. So the emperor wanted to see this happen. And if Clovis could defeat them, the Ostogoths would be weak and they could be overcome. And later the Ostrogoths were routed out brutally. When these two were defeated then the fulfillment of prophecy was complete. What happened here had implications for over 1260 years. Once Clovis overcame the Visigoths and Justinian overcame the Ostrogoths. At this time he issued an edict: TT 141 "he issued…unite all men….military…personal" they had economic sanctions placed on them. If you have to employ force to sustain your position, how will this win the people? It will not. In heart they would not believe. Justinian used force to convince the people to be catholic. This process of uniting church and state, has never afterwards ceased to be part of the Catholic agenda (*PO this connects with Rev 13) in the last days, rome is positioning herself again to use the arm of the state to enforce her decrees. (Sermon point for Final Events) The pope's letter urges Sunday legislation. During the sixth century their temporal power was established. The greatest power in the roman church in terms of its political (or temporal power) is within the confessional. They get all of its information from here, and they get paid for it. In 532 AD this edict forced people, languages, and tongues to come under the yoke of the roman church. If not they did not, they would not be able to get a job or maintain their livelihood. In 533 AD another Edict supported Rome. He wrote a letter to the pope, stating that he was the head of all the holy churches. By doing this, he placed the bishop of Rome in the most powerful position in the empire, right next to the emperor. And eventually in time, all were under his power. The kings and the nobility of Europe were subject to him. But this was the foundation for it in 533 AD. In 534 AD the Vandals were uprooted out of Africa by Justinian. (study: ATJ says Hureli, 2nd Vandals, http://breachrepairers.webs.com/

23

and 3rd Ostrogoths) TT 1st Visigoths, 2nd Vandals, 3rd Ostrogoths. In 538 AD the way was clear for the bishops of Rome to gain supremacy. In this year the Ostrogoths were routed from Rome. And this began the 1260-year prophecy. Once Rome gained this power, the faithful churches knew they were in trouble. They could see how they would be persecuted if they went against the dogmas of Rome. They fled as a result. The Waldenses especially were affected. They were in the plains of Milan (today Millano) and they withdrew to the mountains. This also happened with the Albegenses. There were many groups. They were accused of being heretics and of other crimes civil and religious. They were proscribed. No one could do business with them without some penalty. If you were to do any kind of business with a heretic, you were excommunicated from the church, and you had to do penance to absolve yourself. All through history when civil and religious power join together to enforce the decrees of the church, there have always been penalties that are especially economic. This is how Rome has forced herself on the nations. (talk on national sovereignty. watch again) What does the term Christendom mean? A Christian kingdom. An earthly kingdom of Christ. It is sacral because all of society must worship at the same shrine to survive. All nations will drink the wine of her fornication. A union of church and state. Christendom means all the nations that are united with Rome. We are discussing more what is happening with Rome on the civil side. But the churches are also uniting under the leadership of Rome, and as the ecumenical movement gains force and power, these two movements, uniting church and state and uniting the churches, these two movements will create a global set of circumstances, in which all will have to fit the mold, otherwise they will be excluded and no man can buy and sell. Economic sanctions. The only movement that has spiritual validity is the 3 angels messages. The only way the people will find out is the everlasting gospel. Which shows that Babylon is fallen. This shows us how the image and mark of the beast will be formed globally. Revelation 14:6 - when God says Babylon is fallen what does He mean?Hour of His judgment – the investigative judgment. This is our time frame not the 1260. the issue will be the Sabbath at the end of time. Rev 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

She made, they were forced through economic sanctions that she imposed. In Rev 13:15. It links the spiritual and physical you will have physical sanctions if you don't accept the spiritual apostasy. Rome and her daughters have fallen, we are to leave them. You can have either the wrath of man or God. The church went in the wilderness. Rev 12:13 the woman was persecuted. This is what we are talking about in this chapter the beginning of this persecution. This is a very important era. Time, times, and ½ gives the 1260. The sixth century was very significant. By the middle of this century Rome had the foundation to become the autocrat of the world! What does Rome say the church in the wilderness was? They don't say. We don't want Christendom it will destroy the truth. It is designed to be an alliance against the truth. A sacral society will never yield religious freedom, it will not give you freedom of choice. That is why the founders of our nation founded it with a separation between the church and state.


24

The Waldensians & Different Translations Quiz: Who was the founder and leader of the Waldenses? Vigilantius (Other founders and leaders for extra credit) Helvidius, and Jovinian Name the Bible that was used by the Waldenses? Itala (based off of the received text) Who translated the Latin Vulgate (from the western corrupt text)? Jerome

Review of Societies Sacral Society A society in which everyone worships at the same shrine. This means the same religion, not necessarily the same god. There could be many gods. Pagan religions were polytheistic. But it was a religious system that everyone had to participate in. Is Roman Catholicism mono or polytheistic? They claim it is mono, but it poly. They pray to Mary and the saints.

Composite Society A society that views religion as distinct and separate from civil law. And you can do whatever you want with your religion as long as you don't break civil law. Ex. Human sacrifices, they can't be done in this society. The victim has rights. It allows religion to be conducted in whatever the way the individual believes they should according to their conscience. This promotes religious liberty.

Different Periods First we had the apostolic period. Then there was the foundational leadership period. Then the great missionary period. This was during the 400's to 500's. Patrick, Columba, etc.

2nd Century At the time of Christ there was a mass movement of people, a lot near Gulls (France) they moved north Britain’s and east – Asia Minor. Because of the family connection between these two locations, when the people in Asia minor accepted Christ the message traveled to Britain via family. The people in Asia Minor became the Waldensians they spoke Itala ( a mixture of all the different languages of the time). The bible was being spread throughout all Asia. Gnostics – thought they knew better then Paul, so they began to correct his writing, this was the first signs of the apostasy of the church. This is way John wrote John 1:1-4 the way he did. Gnostics were pagans that came from Alexandra. The teachers when like so; Justin > Tatian > Clement > Origin > Eurebius (4C) He was the friends of Constatine - These are the ones that corrupted the scriptures, and this was known as the western text. Lucian was the man who helped keep the eastern text pure and he was from Edessa.


25

Foundational leadership Period This means the era in which the major church that was driven in the wilderness received their primary organization and leadership. The first of these great leaders was Helvitius. He lived around 250 to 420 (not the whole time, just during this era). It was in this era that the heathen practices came in the church. And he protested against the things that were coming in the church. After him was Jovinian. He also protested the superstitions that Rome enforced upon the churches. What did they oppose? During this time there was a great Ascetic movement (one who is like a hermit. They go and meditate and write and follower mystical pursuits). This movement arose out of Egypt. Thousands of monks spread themselves across Palestine and elsewhere. They were centered in Egypt where the Gnostics arose. The ascetics were associated with the monastics. The ascetics live by themselves. The monastics live with others who practice what they do. After the years of the apostles there arose many of these ascetics or mystics that we should keep up with. One was Justin Martyr he was one. He is looked upon as being a father of the church. Another one is Tertulian and Cyprian, Origen and Clement. All considered to be fathers of the church. They are also quoted as being the basis for Sunday worship. In history and today. When you study their works, they said different things. One thing one day and another one day. (Study on the Sabbath. J.N. Andrews covers this good).

King Clovis One man stands out in particular as in the key elements in giving Rome the temporal power – king Clovis (King of the Franks) In 538 He was a powerful king and had powerful armies. The Alamani tried to overcome Clovis – and that ended when he defeated them. He was also at war with the Visigoths (now today south of France). This time Clovis saw an advantage – the bishops were very active and very influential. So he began to realize that if he would link up with the Roman bishops, his power would increase. So he decided to become a Christian. Because the Franks were a Sacral society –once the king becomes a Catholic, then all the rest of his nation becomes Roman Catholic. Why was Clovis so interested in linking up with the bishops? His wife was a Roman Catholic. She influenced him to become a Roman Catholic. Her name was Clotilda. When this happened, his fortunes changed. His wars with the Visigoths went back and forth until 507 AD and then in 508 AD he finished them off. The Title given to Clovis by – Counsel – “Councilor.” The Title given to Clovis by – the church – “Elders Son of the Church.” Meanwhile, the emperor Justinian in Constantinople was very interested in what was going on in France – he was already a Catholic. If Clovis was defeated by the Visigoth’s, then the Alamani would then move in on him. And if the Alamani would move in, then the attention would move from the Franks to the Alamani. But if Clovis was successful in defeating the Visigoth’s, then the power would be centralized in the hands of a Roman Catholic (agenda of the Bishops, the Franks and the emperor). However, he knew that if it was possible that Clovis would win, then the Ostrogoths would become weak because they were basically the same tribes. Then the Ostrogoths were routed out from Rome

Important Dates 



508 – The defeat of Visigoths by King Clovis o Justinian was watching – control of the Alamani o Church was watching – centralizing of power o Alamani was watching – to expand their region o Angels of God were watching – This was the essences of Prophecy 532 – Justinian makes his edict o This crushed legally truth from being used against Rome. All man are to unite in one faith.


26

It covered the whole empire Forcing people to come under the yoke of the Roman Church  If not they would not be able to get a job (civil or military) and this lose their life.  Many fled to other parts of the world. o This set the stage for 1260 years o This was the first legal law to force on religion o Reduced the citizen to became Catholics 533 – Another edict o Elevated the Papacy to be head over the whole empire o “Head of all the whole churches” – Statement made by Justinian o It was not until 538 that this edict could come into force because the Ostrogths were still in Rome and still were an hindrance to the Papacy 534 – The defeat of the Vandals (Horn #2) by Justinian’s army 538 – The defeat of the Ostrogoths (Horn #3) o The edict from 533 took hold o This began the 1260 year period of prophecy o This was giving Rome temporal authority. o The beginning of Christendom o o



 

Justinian Justinian used force to convince the people to become Roman Catholic  He made his edict in 532 AD  Forcing people to come under the yoke of the Roman Church o If not they would not be able to get a job and this lose their life o Many fled to other parts of the world  533 AD – he made another move that supported Rome o He wrote to the pope a letter which stated that the pope was the head of all the holy churches o By doing so, he placed the Bishop of Rome in the most powerful position in the empire  Then the Vandals were crushed in 534 AD  538 AD – the way was cleared for the bishops of Rome to gain supremacy o The Ostrogoths were rooted from Rome o This began the 1260 year period of prophecy o This was giving Rome temporal authority.  The faithful churches could see now they had a very serious problem o They could see that if they disagreed with Rome, that they would be hunted and killed o The Waldenses realized that their days were numbered as a free people o They were centered around Milan o The Albigenses also withdrew o Many were accused of being heretics – both civil and religious  Those that bought or sold with them were ostracized and had to repent and pay penance  This is one of the agendas to bring about a global unity/control


27

Justin Martyr & Others Justin Martyr developed enthusiasm for his belief and he gathered students and trained them to be the same thing that he was. One was Tatian. He also had students. One was Clement. Clement also had students. One was Origen. Origen is a name to remember (TEST) He had a very important role in the development of the corrupt manuscripts and the Gnostic versions of scripture and theology. He established some of the Gnostic errors. Origin had a student named Eusebius (TEST). He was a contemporary with Constantine. He was a bishop and he became good friends with him. He wrote a biography of Constantine that was very flattering. Some of the Gnostics were involved in originating the doctrines that are in the Church of Rome. Origen helped to promote celibacy. He was very influential in this movement within the church. This is why the clergy starting practicing this. Image worships, and pilgrimages came, and the development of the corrupted manuscripts. A lot of the scribes that worked with these mystics, transcribed the bible according to their ideas. Along with these doctrines there were other innovations coming into the Bible. Gnostic corruptions came in. And this was done through Origen and Eusebius who brought to the empire what is known as the Eusesibio Origen texts. And this was a Gnostic version of scripture. The Eusi-bio texts were one stream of texts that came down to the people. Another line of text that came down to the people that were kept pure. This was from the apostles that were carefully preserved in the faithful churches. This is what is called the manuscripts of the eastern churches, known as the received texts. It was translated into the language of the empire, which was Itala. And it was used by the scots, irish, galic Christians (ones in Gaul), and the Waldenses. The corrupt bible competed for the attention of the people away from the pure bible. The corrupt Bible was endorsed by Constantine. He ordered 50 copies for his palace. (The Sinaticus is one of the corrupt Bibles of Constantine) Another man who was a mystic and polemic. (one who causes problems) was

Jerome He felt like everyone's ideas were wrong except for his. He sent anathemas around Europe about people who didn't agree with him. He established the idea that those who disagree with the authority of Rome were to be excommunicated and called a heretic. He especially didn't like Jovinian. This man opposed that the clergy should be celibate. Jovinian made the comment TT 62 that those who were married was fully acceptable as anything else. He was saying that what Jerome was doing by depriving himself of human needs and comforts were of no greater value in the sight of God as anyone else. This made Jerome mad. He also translated the corrupt manuscripts into the Latin Vulgate, which became the bible of choice for the Roman church. His bible became the bible of choice, almost by force because everyone was afraid of him. Once the translation came they felt like they had to have it. He was also upset with Helvitius, because he said that Jerome had the corrupt manuscripts and that he used corrupt sources for his bible. So he sent letters saying Helvitius was an enemy against Rome.

Vigilantius His father had a resting place for people to stay as they traveled for different meetings. In the south of France in the purinee mountains between france and spain. Vigilantius became acquainted with the travelers and the events of the days. He eventually came in contact with Supicious Severs (TT Ch. 6) When the ascetic movement began this man became a fanatic. He felt like he should be one and he left all to join the movement. While Vigi traveled with a letter to Polinus, he latter took a


28

letter from Polinus to Jerome (396 AD). Soon Vigi realized that Jerome could not be trusted. He spoke strongly against Polinus in front of Vigi. He then went to Jerusalem to meet another mystic, Ruthinus, and this man explained to Vigi that Jerome was not a Christian. Vigi realized he could not find Christianity there. He went back to Northern Italy and he connected with the Waldenses. His experience with the other mystics convinced him that that was not the Christian way. He knew the Latin Vulgate was the wrong bible. And he was set to fight against what he saw. Jerome sent letters against Vigi. But he setup himself with the Waldenses, and he organized the Waldenses. They gave him responsibility that produced much fruit with these people. He is responsible for organizing the Waldensian church. It took some time for God to alienate him from the sentiments of the day. But he put him in contact with what Christianity was not, so he could recognize what was true Christianity. He organized the Waldenses churches, schools, libraries, their missionary labors. And for 1000 years the Waldenses carried on the work that Vigilantius started.

Times These times created impressions that were not easy to erase. Depending on the point of view they accepted the people would accept it and go all the way. Those who became Waldenses would go full force against Rome. And vice versa. This happened until Europe was divided between an established majority church, and a forbidden and heretical, minority church. In the end God's church is always the minority.

Bible Translations Streams of Texts and how they came down: Apostles (manuscripts that were collected in the early churches and given to us) – It is called the Texus Receptus and we have the NT as a result. It was then translated into the Itala and the Gothic languages. The Goths had bibles from the same manuscript origins. These bibles were used by the Syric, Waldensian, Galics (or Gauls) in southern france, Celts of Scotland and Ireland, and for a while Greek Catholic churches. These manuscripts were suppressed. And during the 1260-year period they had to be spread by the Waldensian missionaries and others. At the time of the reformation they were brought to light by Erasmus. And from his Greek compilation, he pulled the best manuscripts together that he could find of all sources, and he put them in a single volume of what is called the Erasmus NT. A greek compilation, and from this, all the reformation bibles were translated into the common languages. He used texus receptus bibles to pull together his bible. And from there we have the Luther, Tyndale, and KJV in English. On the corrupt side we have… Justin Martyr and then to Tatian, Clement, Origen, who was the one who translated a lot of the Gnostic text, Eusebius who edited Gnostic text, he was the editor of Origen's Bible. That is why it is the Eusibio Origen text. This is the bible that Constantine chose for the Roman Empire. Jerome took this bible and translated into the Latin Vulgate Bible. And it went all the way down to the reformation period as the corrupt manuscripts. When the reformation bibles came on the scene. The Catholic Church had a counter bible, which was the Jesuit 1582 Bible. After reformation times, 350 years later the KJV in English maintained its supremacy among protestant churches. The catholic bibles went through a lot of revisions after that. Ex. The Duay Bible, etc. after this we come down to the modern versions that are all translated from the corrupt manuscripts.


29

The Waldensians There origin is during the second century according to Ellen White. Who founded them? Most Waldensenians accept that Peter Waldo was the founder. He was a very wealthy merchant in southern France. His friend suddenly died, and he wondered if he went to heaven or hell. The prevailing teaching was that he went to one. He wanted to know where. Then he wanted to know where he would go if he died. And in the end he decided to get some counsel. He asked a priest and friends. Someone told him about the rich young ruler. So Peter wanted to follow Jesus, so he did what the rich young ruler was instructed to do. Then he began to preach, he preached to the heart, and he went around bear footed or in course garments. He had a large gathering. He was preaching without a license and the bishops excommunicated him. He was persecuted and he fled north to Bohemia. Here the story changes. Possibly Jesuits try to change the history. Some say when he left France, some say he went to the mountains of Italy, and other to bohemia, but most of his followers ended up in the mountains were the Waldenses were. But he was not the founder of the Waldenses. In Bohemia the united brethren were friends of the Waldenses. And Peter Waldo met some of them, and he wrote back to Lione and said don't flee to the mountains, go to where the Waldenses are. Peter Waldo began in 1150-1170, but we know that Vigilantius was the one who established them. Today even the senior scholars of the Waldenses believe the papal lie that they came later. Why is this important? Both the Roman Catholic Church and the Waldenses claim apostolic origin. And naturally the larger more predominant church could show this fact, but there is another deeper issue. The Roman Catholic Church teaches that all churches came out from her. So therefore all churches must come back. So the fact that the Waldenses maintained their independence from Rome, is a testimony against Rome claiming their apostolic origin. But if they date them as coming up later, this will convince everyone that they came out of her, and they are of her, and they just need to be brought back. But as time went on, the Waldenses lost their perspective because they accepted the false origin or their beginning.

Origin Here is how we know they existed before Peter Waldo: None of their literature ever mentions Peter Waldo. Whether confession, poem, or Noble Lesson (document that declares the 10 commandments to be still binding including the Sabbath), none mention Peter Waldo. The petwha (French for the mix and idioms of the common language) the petwha of the Waldenses predates the Italian, French, and Romaunce. By Peter Waldo the language had already developed. The Romaunce. "Lionists" from lion, this term is used to say they were connected to Waldo, because he was from here. But Vigilantius was also known as a Lionists. This is no basis to say they are from Waldo. Vigilantius was from there. Renerius Satchel – He was an inquisitor during persecution. He wrote against the Waldenses, and he said that they were dated to the time of Pope Sylvester. He lived during the 4th century. He received the donation of Constantine. This was way before the 12th century. Waldenses – the name means the people from the valleys. It does not refer to Waldo, it refers to where they were located. This is the English name. And the Italian and French names all mean


30

dwellers of the valleys. Italian Vallenses… Cloud of Turian – Cloudius, he was the bishop of Turian. And in the end he was opposed to Rome, their teachings and superstitions. In his confrontation with Rome (they considered him as a heretic), he was accused of teaching the heresies of Vigilantius, which was five centuries before his time. So this region that he was in were infected with Waldensian heresy. Pilch Dorphius – He said they were from the time of Pope Sylvester. Pope Urban II – Upset with the French in the Alps for their heresies. He issued a bull in 1096 against the people in these valleys. Peter Debry, Arnold of Breshia – Preceded Peter Waldo, they were condemned as having waldensian hersy. 1100 Poem – Noble Lesson – it mentions the people of Waldenses.

Apostolic Origin What is apostolic origin? It has to do with teachings. Those who are apostolic teach the doctrines of the Apostles. Are SDA's? Yes, Is Rome? No, they claim power and authority, but they do not teach the doctrines of the apostles, therefore they are disqualified from having apostolic origins. The early Christians clearly understood biblical prophecy. They recognized them as the whore of prophecy, and the great beast. Some Waldenses kept the Seventh day Sabbath. They believed in the non-immortality of the Soul, and that Pope was the whore of Revelation and Satan’s impersonator. And they believed in the near end of the world and that Christ would return. (*PO Point for Rev 12, showing our connections through our doctrines) Didn't fully understand 2300-day prophecy.

Sabbath Many of them kept the Sabbath. Their records were destroyed by Rome. Books, leaders, and people were all destroyed in the crusades. So we don't know directly from their own teachers what they believed and taught, but we know from what their enemies said about them. Note: There were many Sabbath keeping groups in the early stages of the church in the wilderness. Even the pope in his letter said people have always kept both, but Mayer says they only kept Sabbath. The readings pointed it out. Rome's councils had to do something about it. They conspired against them with the festivals, etc. Many of these people were Waldenses or groups related to them. The book pointed this out. They were called InSabbati. Historians says that in researching the origin of this word has to do with them observing the Jewish Sabbath. All historians say this (Jewish Sabbath), but they were doing what the apostles did. Some were in Bulgaria. The pope was upset with them for this. There are some there today. Hungary and other places also have Sabbath keepers.

Civil law The Waldenses fled more into the wilderness as they saw Rome gain in civil power. They knew they would persecute those who didn't agree. By mixing civil and ecc law, it created an environment of civil punishment for breaking religious law. And when this happens religious liberty is done away with. The Waldenses didn't believe in the Romans idea of a sacral society. They believed in a composite society. They believed in religious liberty.

Missionaries & The schools of the Barbers http://breachrepairers.webs.com/

31

They learned in their schools how to memorize scripture. The schools of the barber were an important feature. We see a pattern with them. They had an educational system. They were sent out to preach and go from door to door. We have the principle of itinerate preaching. And they were taught how to transcribe the scriptures. This is publishing. We see the three great principles of every religious movement in history. Ex. They would learn the scriptures. Students were setup you have chapter one this week, and they rotated until the book was complete, they recited it and rotated. Those who graduated from their schools memorized large portions of the scriptures. They were also taught simple remedial treatments. They had a health message. At the end of time we will see this again in the final movement. God intends to use this in every age. We must learn how to couple them all together. They learned discretion in the schools of the barbers also. They concealed the words of God. They were taught to go to the south of Italy and buy materials such as silk and gems and go to another part where the people couldn't buy it, and they would go door to door to sell it like merchants. The men also learned how to sew. So they could insert literature for the people. They carried scripture in their clothing. Discretion has to do with timing and knowing when and when not to say something. Their mouth was closed to religious things, but they listened for pain, and those who were in pain from Rome. They listened for physical pain. Is all well? And when they won their way into the peoples hearts, they would open up. We are to have a spiritual agenda. This laid fruit for the work of Luther. In two weeks after Luther put the thesis on the door all of Europe of knew. They had a network of people who were communicating all over Europe. This was developed over the centuries and when the reformation came it spread like wildfire. They would go out two by two. And they were young. They were required to do 3 missionary years of service. The young men could not get married, build a farm or be district pastors. They went place to place after 3 years, and 50% never came home. So if they married young, sometimes they would not come back. Note: For my school we are going to learn books… Note: 50% of the missionaries that went out never came home. They knew this would happen so the said no marriage until you served 3years of mission service. After that then you can get married. You couldn’t just be a pastor because there was no churches. They were not allowed to own property until after they came back after mission service. 1) No marriage 2) No Churches 3) No property Their method of deployment was two by two, a young with an older, parents trained and placed in the mind of the child was the skill of “listening” paying attention, listing for pain, how they could help, so they could reach the needs, which would in turn open up the heart. Our vision should be “how to listen for pain”

Why Rome changes history? Peter Waldo was a Frenchman who lived like a heathen. A friend of his died, and he began to wonder what happened to him? Did he go to heaven or to hell? So he started to think what will happen to him? He went to a priest, and he told them that he was going to hell. So he sold all that he had and began to preach in the streets. You are allowed to preach with out the permission of the church. He began his ministry around 1160 and 1180. He began to expose the sins of the people and


32

of the church, this made the priest upset. The church was after him, he fled and went to a place called Lyons. He had a lot of followers, they sold all that had and moved from town to town preaching. This made Rome more and more upset. People began to want to move to live at Lyons (In the former Ceck), but he wrote to them and told to stay in France, which is where the Waldense, he old them you have friends there called the French Voudois. One of the reasons that Rome says that Peter was the founder is because there was found the same language as he used was there. The Waldenses existed much more before the time of Peter Waldo. Helvidius, and Jovinian were the founders of the Waldenses. There were those (possibly the Jesuits) that tried to reconstruct his history from that point on. Nevertheless, many of his followers ended up in the mountains where the Waldenses lived.


33

The Waldensians and the Reformation This chapter shows why the Waldenses were not a part of the reformation and why they were classified in Sardis as having a name to live where dead. Sermon: "" describing what happened to the church in the wilderness in conjunction with Thyatira and Sardis. They had a name to live, but lost it. Points: Chapters 9 – 10 give a background for Revelation 12 but also for what happened during the church of Thyatira and the church of Sardis. They had a name to live but where dead. Why? This shows the decision that the Waldenses had to make. Quiz: Who helped the emperor Constantine to choose the Bible for the empire? Eusibeus List as many reasons as you can why Peter Waldo is not the founder of the Waldenses: The poem that was written in 1100 Noble Lesson mentions people of the Waldenses, none of their literature mentioned Peter Waldo, Renerius Satual said they were dated from Pope Sylvester, their name means people of the valley not Peter Waldo, Pope Urban II issued a bull in 1096 against them for their heresies, Philth Dorphius said they were from the time of Pope Sylvester too. Waldensians continued… They were terribly persecuted by Rome. They did not agree with the heresies that came in the church. The Albigenses were also persecuted with others. But the Waldensians were very inaccessible. They were good at defending themselves. The practiced the bow and arrows to defend themselves against Rome. They were taught not to kill except for food. The animals, deers, etc. they didn't do it for pleasure. They would not take human life unnecessarily. Sometimes they would wound a Roman soldier, and then help them so they could go back to their family. They did what the Bible said. This hurt them in the end. One time they trusted the soldiers that came in their valley. In 1655 the soldiers said we will protect you from your enemies. They took them in their homes, and late at night they rose up from their beds and killed them. The papal church justified lying to achieve their purposes. The term the ends justifies the means came to play in the Roman Church. They accepted this philosophy from the pagan church. In the name of god, you could kill as long as it brought the right result. They continued to send their young people out anyway. They were fortified with scriptures. In 1655 there was a great massacre of the Waldensians. The papal armies came into 5 of their strong hold and the Waldensians eventually fled to Geneva.

Reformation and the Waldensians William Ferrel was a famous Calvanist or Genevian reformer. He had Waldensian blood. When the reformation came the Waldensians found relief. Many stood up for what the Waldensians did, but not fully. The Calvins were coming out of great darkness. The Waldensians were way ahead of them. They believed in the second coming. They had a composite view of society in which people can live together at any society without having to worship at the same shrine and they can live in peace. They believed in Bible literalism. (like the second coming, etc) The Wal believed this but the Calvinists didn't. This caused problems later. If other reformers did not agree, the Calvinist would


34

try and force. The Waldensians had a decision to make. They felt like their work was baring fruit and now Rome could be overthrown. They had to decide if they would join the reformation or stay separate. Their views were not altogether the same. And for this reason the Calvinists made some recommendations to the Waldensians. They said if you want to join the reformation (as if they were a lower class of Christians, THEY WERE THE REFORMATION!) the following must be done. 1.) Give up your Biblical literalism (take things more spiritually, in the end the French effectively spiritualized away basic truths from scripture.) 2.) Give up your itinerate preachers (give up your missionary work, they were offensive about them coming in their territory, they wanted them to stay home.) 3.) No longer cling to your idea of a separation between church & state. (*PO today we see the same thing, if you want to help the world gain peace by preaching our gospel of ecumenicalism, the 3 angels message is a message of peace. If you want to help us unify, give up some of your beliefs. 1. No literal second coming, we have the rapture. 2. They asked us not to proselytize converts from other denominations. 3. support church and state.) The Waldensians had a council at Chonsulron in their hometown with the reformers here. It was open for anyone to come and give their input. About 1,000 people came. Here they conversed several days to decide if they would join the Genevian reformers. The pressure was immense (*PO this explains why there was not much activity from the Waldensians during the reformation. They stopped doing missionary activity.) to join, and the ultimately the majority agreed to join the reformers. William Ferrell was in attendance. The pressure was great because when you have been persecuted for so long, and when you seem like the minority and a large movement rises, you want to be a part of it. eventually the agreed to join, but a minority held out and asked for time to study to make sure they were doing the right thing. Then it was agreed that two waldensian pastors would be sent to Bohemia (Czech Republic today). To counsel with the United Brethren (Unit descrapam), and here they would consult with those who they knew to be faithful for centuries to the word of God. They gave wise counsel.1. They said don't go in for novelties. If it is a novelty you will pass off and you will be worse off in the end. 2. don't give up your itinerate preachers it is important to your work. 3. On biblical literalism stay faithful They went back and they had another meeting, but that was two years later, and events progressed rapidly and they were engaged too much with the Genevian reformers to be a distinct body of believers. They were absorbed into the reformation at this point in terms of practice and theology. When the massacre came in 1655 they fled to Geneva because they were so connected. They were accepted warmly at first, but after time they realized this was not their home in Geneva. Their religion was more mystical, and they were not simple. So they wanted to send an expedition to go back to their valleys and reestablish their homes and be a distinct class of people. A man named Henri Arnaud led the expedition. There had been an earlier attempt that was made to do the same thing, but they could not. There were a lot of legal entanglements to prevent them for going where they wanted to, and living how they wanted to. Other places were still under control of Romanism. When the reformation broke out in Europe. The northern part of Europe was sacral protestant, and the southern part was sacral catholic. So they were not to go down and proselytize. They were to stay up north. It was forbidden to go from Geneva in the north to Italy in the south because it was under papal control. So the expedition was very difficult. So Henri Arnaud and his 900 warriors secretly left Geneva to go south. They stopped in one village take a hostage and say if you let us pass through we will not harm the hostage. And in the next village they would say we have a hostage from the last village and we will attack you if you don't give us one. They gave one and sent one back. And they did this all the way down.


35

Eventually they reached the Waldensian valleys from the west. By this time the papacy realized that they were coming back, and they sent armies from the French (north) and Italians (east), and they closed up on them high in the mountains of Balsiglia. And while they were there the French armies blocked them in. the Italian armies went beneath to the lower valley while the French were above them. (Trip: Can go to Balsiglia and see the layout) Some of his warriors died from winter. And the remainders knew they were in trouble. They knew they would die if they didn't do something. That night they prayed to God to save them from their enemies. That night a fog settled upon the mountain. They could no longer see the lights from the other armies. They knew the mountains, and they began to climb single file and cross one side of the mountain and up another ridge over the French armies. In the middle of the night one of the soldiers dropped a tin can. And the French armies knew they were escaping, but they did not do anything because left or right they could fall. So they came back around and fought both armies and they fought and re-conquered their valleys. At this point they had a great opportunity to re-establish the distinctive beliefs and practices of the Waldensians. But they did not because they were afraid that they would not have pastors. Because most of their pastors were old or had been killed in the massacres and they would have to rise up more pastors. So instead they invited the genevians to send pastors to them. This was a mistake. Today they have no distinctive faith. They have merged with the Methodists. They are called Waldensian Methodist church. All they have left is their history. They chose to go backward theologically. They decided to digress from what they knew to join with the Calvanists. They have not moved on. The Methodist, Luthren, and calvanists refused to advance. God had to raise up new movements every so often to keep the process of truth advancing. The Lutherans are were Luther left them. The Methodists are were John Wesley left them. Etc. When light is given you have people who accept and reject. When you accept it, you advance. WORK ON THIS SERMON…IT COULD SHAKE PROTESTANTISM TO JOIN US. TO LOOK AT THE HISTORY OF WHERE THEY SHOULD HAVE GONE BY ACCEPTING THE DOCTRINES OF THE WALDENSIANS AND ADVANCE. Point: The thing that pulls Protestants to a sacral society is moral decay. Catholics are not as concerned. They (PROT) are more concerned. This makes protestant vulnerable to sacral thinking. Why do we have moral decay today? Because many preach we don’t have to keep the law of God and in place of this we preach legislation of human law. And this oppresses those who do not agree. And the emphasis is around Sunday observance, and this is why we have Sunday law to bring back moral uprightness in society. America will become a sacral society. We will develop into a sacral society from a composite society is because of moral decay. They chose to continue with the reformation instead of continuing with having a separate distinction from everyone else. And as a result they lost their spiritual footing, not the historical footing that came later with the Jesuits. But they first lost their theological footing. Today we cannot loose our spiritual footing. We cannot go back to Calvanism. The Ecumenicalism movement will cause us to loose our footing and why we are SDA's. By joining with them we loose the basis as to why we are SDA's. Joining with them will undermine our pillars. The Waldensians today are ecumenical in the sense that they are happy to have dialogue with all faiths and religion. But they don’t want to join Rome. Testimony of Hal Mayer of being in Italy and asking a moderator (one who starts discussions) he asked him the attitude of the Waldensians towards Rome and the Pope and the ecumenical movement. Vatican II states the purpose of the ecumenicalism is to bring them back to the Church of Rome. http://breachrepairers.webs.com/

36

Rome's Assumption of Spiritual and Temporal Power Rev 13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.

All the world wondered. The woman that was driven in the wilderness did not include the whole world. She was controlled for a time. Rome tried to destroy the scriptures because they saw an advantage in keeping the people in ignorance. They were kept from the common people. it became a capital offense to posses a portion of the scriptures. One had to be ordained as a priest to understand the scriptures. This concept of one having to be ordained rose from a fundamental principle. This is the principle of the church. What is the church? The advantage in this case was temporal and financial. The object was to keep the people in superstition to manipulate their minds to obtain money. And they gained power over their bodies and pocket books. Coercion was used. If you don't obey you will burn in purgatory. You must pay for your sins. One assumption that led to temporal power was the idea that the church was limited to the priests and the organized structure of whom they approved. The priests began to develop the idea that the church was made up of the structure. The doctrines of the church, the institutions. Etc. they lost the idea that the apostle taught. That the church was made up of the people. The people constituted the church, they supplanted this with an earthly hierarchy that placed man at the head instead of God, and the result was that the whole religion kept the people in submission to human authority. Matt 23:2-3 [2] Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: [3] All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.

This applies to the roman priest. A legalistic religion will always lead to inconsistency in the life. Asking something that is required from other, but they do not do it. Matt 23:4-5 [4] For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. [5] But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,

The great struggle in the church was a struggle for power and visibility and authority. Matt 23:10, 12 [10] Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. [12] And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

No matter how much were exalted they were debased. The people believed unless they supported the scriptures they would be debased. This view of the church led to every form of vice and corruption in the church. People cannot rise any higher than their leaders in principle. The closer you got to Rome the more vice you saw. If the priests could do it, so can the people. As people lost sight of the scriptures their eyes were darkened. Once the people accepted images, purgatory, ect. Then they could buy credit for sins. This indulgence has lead to the fall of Rome.


37

People who wanted to be pure went to monasteries or convents, but when it is corrupt, they left being labeled as heretics. ED 17 …Every human being…think and to do…

You can plan evaluate and execute. You can reason to cause and effect, you can invent and carry out that invention. Those who have this are leaders in enterprises. They bare responsibility and influence character Rome's assumption to spiritual power lead to the loss of personal individuality and freedom. This lead to the loss of the freedom of conscience. You could not live according to your convictions, you must live according to the established principles that were defined by the church. Man was cut down by the church, and man is the church. Gallio came up with the idea that the earth revolved around the sun, and this was against the established order of things in the church. So because he presented this he was persecuted. He was arraigned before the inquisition. They put so much pressure on him until he said the sun revolves around the earth. When coercion gains control, people loose the right to think. Under the inquisition new inventions were stifled. What does God say about control in God's church? TM 342 As a people we should study God's plans for conducting His work. Wherever He has given directions in regard to any point, we should carefully consider how to regard His expressed will. This work should have special attention. It is not wise to choose one man as president of the General Conference. The work of the General Conference has extended, and some things have been made unnecessarily complicated. A want of discernment has been shown. There should be a division of the field, or some other plan should be devised to change the present order of things.

Rome assumed control of the church, and the pope became the supreme ruler from which all authority would come. TM 477 A strange thing has come into our churches. Men who are placed in positions of responsibility that they may be wise helpers to their fellow workers have come to suppose that they were set as kings and rulers in the churches, to say to one brother, Do this; to another, Do that; and to another, Be sure to labor in such and such a way. There have been places where the workers have been told that if they did not follow the instruction of these men of responsibility, their pay from the conference would be withheld. It is right for the workers to counsel together as brethren; but that man who endeavors to lead his fellow workers to seek his individual counsel and advice regarding the details of their work, and to learn their duty from him, is in a dangerous position and needs to learn what responsibilities are really comprehended in his office. God has appointed no man to be conscience for his fellowman. It is not wise to lay so much responsibility upon an officer that he will feel that he is forced to become a dictator. For years there has been a growing tendency for men placed in positions of responsibility to lord it over God's heritage, thus removing from church members their keen sense of the need of divine instruction and an appreciation of the privilege to counsel with God regarding their duty." TM 484 God does not confine Himself to one place or person. He looks down from heaven upon the children of men; He sees their perplexities, and is acquainted with the circumstances of every experience of life. He understands His own work upon the human heart, and needs not that any man should direct the workings of His Spirit.


38

TM 492 While respecting authority and laboring in accordance with wisely laid plans, every worker is amenable to the Great Teacher for the proper exercise of his God-given judgment and of his right to look to the God of heaven for wisdom and guidance. Laborers who are striving to work in harmony with this instruction are under the leadership and guidance of the Holy Spirit, and need not always, before they make any advance move, first ask permission of someone else. No precise lines are to be laid down. Let the Holy Spirit direct the workers. As they keep looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of their faith, the gifts of grace will increase by wise use. TM 493 All the works of men are under the Lord's jurisdiction. It will be altogether safe for men to consider that there is knowledge with the Most High. Those who trust in God and His wisdom, and not in their own, are walking in safe paths. They will never feel that they are authorized to muzzle even the ox that treads out the grain; and how offensive it is for men to control the human agent who is in partnership with God, and whom the Lord Jesus has invited: 'Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest."

No matter what work God has given us we must have balance. God gives a different work to everyone. Some to tare down and build up. We cannot control other human minds. TM 494 No man is a proper judge of another man's duty. Man is responsible to God; and as finite, erring men take into their hands the jurisdiction of their fellowmen, as if the Lord commissioned them to lift up and cast down, all heaven is filled with indignation. There are strange principles being established in regard to the control of the minds and works of men, by human judges, as though these finite men were gods. Organizations, institutions, unless kept by the power of God, will work under Satan's dictation to bring men under the control of men; and fraud and guile will bear the semblance of zeal for truth, and for the advancement of the kingdom of God. . . ."

When Rome assumed authority that was not theirs, they place themselves in the place of God. They oppressed their fellow man. the more centralized her power, the more she tried to rule the world. They would use one king against another king to bring them into her authority. The whole empire submitted to her authority. Through connections with NATO, UN, etc, we are loosing our American sovereignty and unconstitional treaties. Loss of freedoms is a lost of individuality.

Tithe 1 Cor 9:9 For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?

Paul is speaking of tithe here. Don't stifle the worker, let him eat, let him have what is his. 1 Cor 9:11 For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?

We give you spiritual food, so we need to be sustained by physical food. Rome used this to get money for the structure. 1 Cor 9:12 For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?

I did not accept tithe from you Corinthians because there was a problem. Paul was with the greeks, they were thinkers not workers, he came to show the dignity of work. His religion was for the slave


39

and the free man. if he lived by the ties of the Corinthians the people should say it was a free mans' religion. It was for both. 1 Cor 9:14 For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? 2 Cor 11:8-9 [8] I robbed other churches, taking wages of them, to do you service. [9] And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all things I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and so will I keep myself.

Paul said I accepted wages form the Macedonians, the Philippians. While I was ministering to you Corinth I was receiving tithe from Phillip Luke 10:7 Laborer is worthy of his hire… 1 Tim 5:17-18 [17] Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine. [18] For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer [is] worthy of his reward.

He is saying the elders should also be paid by tithes. Heb 7:5 And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law..

If the tithe came to the Levites they were to take it and use it in the service of God. Summary: Once Rome began to accept tithe she also began to claim the right to control the conscience it all happened at the same time.


40

John Wycliffe, Tithe, & Church Authority Tithe: continuation… Rome began to claim that she had authority in all matters religious and secular. And this caused them to restrict the conscience of the people. The result of this practice led to crime and vice among the people and priests. When they claimed authority over the temporal matters they persecuted those who didn't agree with the established teachings. She began by enforcing what was not required by scripture and ended by forbidding that which was required by the scriptures and this will happen again. 1 Cor 9:9 For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen?

Paul is talking about support for the ministry. while he works let him eat, let him be sustained by what he eats. Paul uses Moses instruction to apply it to the tithe. 1 Cor 9:13 Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar?

Who ministered holy things? The Priests and Levi's. they were supported by tithes, offerings, and sacrifices. Heb 7:5 And verily they that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:

Paul makes it clear that they were required to take tithe. They were commanded. It was not optional. When we look back at Corinthians we see that the minister is entitled to the tithe. 1 Cor 9:13-14 [13] Do ye not know that they which minister about holy things live of the things of the temple? and they which wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? [14] Even so hath the Lord ordained that they which preach the gospel should live of the gospel.

The gospel work was to be supported by tithe. Paul was a self-supporting missionary. He was not a denominational missionary. He left the Jewish church to build up the new church. The Jerusalem council did not control the workers they just gave advice. Paul was a self-supporting worker in two ways: His instructions were given by God not the leaders in Jerusalem. They didn't tell him what to do. He also worked for himself when he wasn’t receiving money from the believers. Question: What is a tithe worthy ministry? Can be seen in Bible and SOP. Ex. Some areas are more grey. Some statements say it can be used for certain aspects in the publishing ministry. So for LG which is a magazine designed solely to win souls. But tithe should not be used for Colporteurs, building new churches, only to spread the gospel. Questions: do you tithe general donations? No, the Levites didn't tithe their collective resources for the support of the temple. Only their income. No where in the Bible or SOP do you see gospel


41

institutions tithing the tithe or donations. 1 Cor 9:15 But I have used none of these things: neither have I written these things, that it should be so done unto me: for it were better for me to die, than that any man should make my glorying void. 1 Cor 9:12 If others be partakers of this power over you, are not we rather? Nevertheless we have not used this power; but suffer all things, lest we should hinder the gospel of Christ.

Power of accepting resources to support the gospel. Paul is saying we are not accepting tithe in Corinth. There was a problem there. They had free men and slaves. The free men didn't do work. If Paul would have just preached and accepted tithe, the slaves would have said this is a free man's religion. But he worked with the slaves doing tent making so he could bond with them. 2 Cor 11:8 …I robbed other churches, taking wages [of them], to do you service.

I didn't do this to get selfish means for myself. I was supported by other churches while working for you. you should be the ones giving money for your own church. 2 Cor 11:9 And when I was present with you, and wanted, I was chargeable to no man: for that which was lacking to me the brethren which came from Macedonia supplied: and in all [things] I have kept myself from being burdensome unto you, and [so] will I keep [myself].

I was only responsible to myself. This refers to the people of Philippi. They brought him the tithe from Philippi. As a self-supporting minister, he didn't use it in Corinth because of the local problem. But while he was there he received it form the Philippians and he used to support himself along with his tent making. People use this statement to say we shouldn't receive it because we don't want to cause division, but this is not what he was saying. 1 Tim 5:17 Let the elders that rule well be counted worthy of double honour, especially they who labour in the word and doctrine.

Honor the elders, those who are working doctrine and the word. 1 Tim 5:18 For the scripture saith, Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out the corn. And, The labourer [is] worthy of his reward.

Paul is using the same quotation from Moses that he used in Corinth when he referred to receiving tithe. So he is saying that the elders who are laboring in word and doctrine can also be paid from the tithe. Note: Most elders don't do this today. They were to go out and win souls locally. He was the bible worker within the local church. Paul was the itenerate preacher who would evangelize abroad. The Elders evangelized locally to build up the church, and they took care of the affairs of the church. These men were to be supported by the tithe. He also quotes what Jesus said in Luke 10 Jesus says take no purse, script or shoes, don't take money just preach and you eat what they give you. You get supported by the people to whom you minister. Those who labor in the gospel are to be supported in the gospel. Point: Jesus Himself it seems like accepted tithe


42

This is how Paul explains tithe in the NT. Of course it can go to the GC. But what about selfsupporting missionaries? The Waldensians and others refused to send their tithe to Rome because they were not teaching the gospel or living it. Tithe is an act of confidence not authority. People will place their tithe were they feel confident, not coerced.

Authority There are two kinds:

Derived It is inherent in one's office. Ex. The president has authority to do certain things in that position. After he is no longer president, he cannot do it anymore. Ex. Elder, he has certain privileges. But these offices have limitations. The president is suppose to stay in the bounds of the constitution.

Earned You earn it by your reputation. By the things you do and don't do. You earn authority based upon your relationship with other people. Ex. As Dean of the college you have certain responsibilities. It also has limits. If you misuse that derived authority and say no matter what you say you are going to do what I tell you (Many Father's do this to their children). If you do that people will not trust you. in any office you should use earned authority. I help you, you help me. When you use earned authority you help the work of God to be spread. If you abuse derived authority people will not listen. But if you use earned authority in a state of emergency people will respond quickly. Ex. In Sunday churches they use derived authority. No one will preach from my pulpit. Etc. he will not win their hearts. He has not gained their respect. God wants mutual respect in His church. Question: The pastor should not teach the members to rely on the pastor to say what is wrong and what is right. The pastor is to teach the people to study the Word not to depend on him. As a result they will rely on him. When error comes in, they can't discern and they say it sounds good. But the Pastor is to educate them.

John Wycliffe After centuries of darkness God was going to work. He preserved His truth through the bible through the Waldensians and others. Now the people needed to have the word of God. So God raised up this man. He studied the Word of God and began to love it. It was not available to the people. It was written in a tongue for the educated. You had to be a learned person in languages to understand and read it. He studied the word and became to be very influential. The force of his reason recommended him to his peers. When he began he didn't know he would oppose Rome. He was asked to be chaplain next to the king. In this responsibility he became to speak plainly against the pope and the tribute that the pope receive. He said the bible did not require them to financially support the pope. He also said that the pope should not have temporal authority. They belonged to the king only. He also spoke against the mendican friar. They were monks that traveled around and begged from the people. mendican means he is a beggar. They pretended to be beggars, but they were living in luxury. They wore rags and demanded collections from the people. They were also skilled at getting


43

young people to go into the monastery. The parents were deprived of their children. They were told no matter what they did you must come to Christ. So the parents didn't send their children to the universities. Ignorance prevailed. The monks had authority to forgive sins from the pope. Great crime and vice came because of indulgences. They made a mistake. They said in their work they were only following the master. So the people wanted to know what Jesus did. It created a great desire for the word. The leaders would study it and they found Christ wasn't like that. He wrote tracts and became in diplomacy and in parliament. He was appointed to the chapel in Lutterworth. He would preach there and 3 bulls were dispatched to silence him. But nothing happened. The bishops tried to arraign him. The people rushed in and they let him go. While the popes had a schism he taught the people. On his death bed four religions orders came to him. And he said he would live to preach again. He did and he began to do his work again. He was an itinerate preacher, all the publishing had to be done by hand. He also educated at Oxford, and in (here we have all the 3 elements that are necessary for a great revival.) Lutterworth. Nearly have of the people in England were converted. His bibles were spread all over Europe. His bible was translated from the Vulgate the corrupted Western Text. God could use imperfect things, the people were in such great darkness that the corrupted text even brought great light to them. God can still use the NIV. But this should not be our bible of choice for doctrines and studies. The people now had the Bible, but now they can’t read. So he set up school. The pattern;   

Teaching / Preaching Publication School – The Lollards – These were colporteurs o The learnt how to copy of the Bible and then take it out and sell it to anyone who wanted it. o They were taught how to teach – so they would teach how to read the Bible. You can give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man how to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life.

He went to parliament and accused the accusers for heresy. And he left and none tried to prevent him. He was called to Rome, but while he was given communion he was stricken with palsy and he died. The Pope never had a chance to take his life. He inaugurated the great movement for the liberty of conscience. He started the ball rolling. The bible was given to the English people. The Latin Vulgate was never printed until the early 19th century in its complete form. It was never printed because when the reformation came in full strength, the later reformers knew they couldn't use the Vulgate as the basis for inspired and holy writ. That is why it was never taken up and printed. They knew they had to use the eastern texts. They had no use for it after they had the Tyndale bible and other bibles that were printed and on the market. England was a protestant nation and they had no use for that bible. But God used this bible to carry the light and bring the people out of darkness.


44

Huss & Jerome Quiz: Name the morning star of the reformation? John Wycliffe What was his most important accomplishment? Translating the Bible into English (The Latin Vulgate.) What errors did he oppose? Finances to the pope, Pope's temporal power, Friars claim to forgive sins. There are two definitions of the individual's relationship to the church: Protestant: makes the relation of the individual to the church dependent on his relationship to Christ Catholic: makes the relation of the individual to Christ dependent on the relation to the church. If we are dependent on the church for salvation, we end up focusing on the rules and decrees of men. If we depend on Christ we depend on Him to tell us what to believe and how to do our work. Catholicism places man's responsibility to the church. The church is supreme. In Protestantism, Christ is supreme. Catholicism places tradition above the bible. Protest places the Bible above tradition. This is the essential difference between them both. Today this is the difference between true Adventism and Protestantism and Catholicism. Because protestants have yielded to tradition. So who is a true protestant? Those who follow the bible and the bible only as their rule of faith. What about a prophet? We must discern the prophets. The bible says there will be prophets at the end of time. We are to test the spirits. To the law and testimony…no light in them. When we test the prophets, we must also test EGW. We test her with every other prophet.

John Huss Bohemia (Czech Republic) they had more light then. God blessed them. They had their own worship in the common language. The bible was read by the educated. The Waldensians and Albigenses brought light there too. The missionaries worked there. Their work exposed the works of Rome. Jerome came (not in the fourth century) he went to England and found Wycliffe's writings, he brought these writing's to Bohemia. The Queen of England was a Bohemian. She was converted to Wycliffe's writings and she circulated his writing in Bohemia. He went through school. He believed the pope was infallible. He was attached to the kings courts. He became a professor and director at his alma mater. But while he was there because of the circulation of the writings, he read them with great interest. He appreciated the reforms and saw them as valid. Two men came from England and preached against Rome in Prag. They were silenced


45

quickly by the bishops. They found a large hall with large walls on the side. They painted Christ and the pope on the walls. It caused a stir. And it impressed John Huss. He went and studied the writings of Wycliffe. He studied the bible too. He realized that all needed to be reformed. The bible changed your mind and heart. This happens today. The bible has always been at the center of controversy between protestants and Rome. The Protestants have always said the bible and the bible alone. The Catholics always said tradition over the bible. "interdict" = when a city was placed under this. It was because of their rebellion to his authority. It meant that the dead could not enter into heave. Marriage couldn't be done in the church, therefore it was not blessed. Huss and Jerome ended up at the council. Sigismand offered safe conduct. This means he could travel safely there and he would be protected by him, so he would not be killed. He thought he would be taken care of. But the bishops and cardinals withdrew it and the was thrown into prison. Huss was burned by the stake. Later during the trial Jerome came impulsively to the counsel. It was in Constance which was located in the south of German in the border of Switzerland. He went to prison and was burned at the stake too after he recanted his recantation. After this because of the withdrawal of the safe conduct, the Bohemians rose up in indignation. They were angered at Sigismand. But now John Huss' doctrine attracted even more attention then before. Because of what happened to Jerome. God even uses things that are unfair to draw attention to His work. Opposition rose up against Rome and the pope wanted to bring it to an end. So he sent his armies to bohemia to crush the heresy. A general named Gisca for the Bohemians shortly after the war began became blind, and he lead them into battle against them. And they were greatly defeated. The papacy never won a single battle. They lost supplies and military equipment. God used a blind man to lead His army. No one could claim this victory. It was God who was the victor. The papacy had to use other means of diplomacy to get them. They negotiated. The papacy yielded some to the bohemians. They could have free preaching of the Bible. They had both the bread and wine for the communion. The mother tongue was used in worship. The clergy could not have civil office. And for crime they had to go to court. Rome has always wanted to put church leaders or officers into positions of civil authority and they would enforce rule against Rome. They kept the right to explain these four points. By accepting this, they realized it created compromise. There was bloodshed among themselves. Persecution came up again, and they had to wait another century before truth prevailed again. Eyewitness account of John Huss' trial: Book called Huss the Heretic. Pockius summoned Huss to come to the trial. It happened in 1414. A papist wrote this. Get it! while in prison his teeth fell out. His clothes rotted off of his body, and his finger nails grew so long that he couldn't eat properly and he could not eat the crusty bread because he had not teeth.


46

The Inquisition Quiz: In what city was John Huss tried and burned? Constance Who was the emperor at the time? Sigismaud What did the emperor to do upset the people and cause greater interest in his writings? He removed safe conduct. How did the writings of John Wycliffe get to Bohemia? Jerome and the queen of England It began around the 13th century. This was during the time of Peter Waldo and shortly before John Wycliffe. Innocent III was the pope. He gave the Dominican fryers special offices that they could fulfill. He bestowed upon them the ability to forgive sins and he authorized them to extirpate heresy. The priests were subject to the Dominican fryers. The priests could be arraigned before the inquisition. The king in Spain at this time was Ferdinan. The inquisition was strongest in Spain, although it was all around Europe. It was a logical result of the theology that the church and its leaders and representatives and vice generants of god on earth. If the priest was god to the people than he could judge in spiritual matters. So he assumed the authority to judge. The INQ was not an invention of Catholicism. It was borrowed by the church from the Muslims and other sacral societies. It was used by the Muslims against the Catholics, and vice versa. It was employed by secular societies as well. The kings and other nobles used it too. It didn't gain its notoriety until the church used it for spiritual matters. The need arose from the corruption of the clergy. The clergy was so corrupt, that many people lost confidence in them and the church they represent. Many wanted to know what true Christianity was. The Waldensians exposed their corruption. This gave rise to other ideas of what Christianity was. It posed a threat to the hold that was on the people. Christendom practical def. Christ's kingdom on earth ruled by men. It was not voluntary. If a person was born in that area they were a Christian, and if they were a heretic, and then tried if they went against the church. When the society is viewed as sacral then the church becomes Christ's protector. A sacral view led those to believe that Rome was the Holy Roman Empire. This happened once Justinian gave the bishop of Rome authority over secular matters. As a basis of the INQ, the scriptures were used for biblical reasoning. The idea was when Adam and Eve sinned they were brought to trial by God and there were no jury or witnesses only God Himself. So God held the first INQ. And this was the model for the church to follow. Augustine used this model to follow by building a concept that those who were separated by the church should be compelled to come in according to the bible. In the Bible it means to plead and urge, not force. But Augustine said it meant to use secular force and make them come in. It was built on the principle of suspicion. It was to address or deal with thought crime. The sanctity of one's mind was open for investigation. If you have idea's different from the established order in Rome, you were considered a heretic. It was assumed by the INQ that everyone had some tendency


47

towards heresy that would lead him astray. Therefore not every thought that was thought would be orthodox. So it was left up to them to decide. All people have some form of heresy, all are guilty. Unless you are repentant and do what you need to to come back to Rome, you would have to come before the INQ. They also assumed that everyone has questioned the church or god. So all were assumed guilty and they needed to find out to what extent. He was assumed guilty until proven innocent. They were not told what the accusation was. Because there could be more to go with. By investigation they would probe to see what you were guilty of. And they would want to bring out others who could be guilty of such crimes whether in thought or deed. The person could not know who his accuser was. He could have a lawyer, but any defense of one assumed guilty was considered sympathy with the guilty and also punishable, so they could not help them. (P.Berry: Our constitution was built to avoid these very things.) all those who voluntarily betrayed their fellows were forgiven their sins and their livelihood was sustained at the expense of kings and nobles. They were given 1/3 of the confiscated good. The 2/3 went to the judge and the 3/3 went to the church. What constituted a crime? Doing business with a heretic. If you stepped into a heretics home not knowingly you could be arraigned and excommunicated and you would have to do penance to come back. Reading the Bible or knowing too much scripture was heresy or it raised suspicion. Reading the bible was a capital crime for a time. Questioning the authority of the clergy, pope, or justice of the inquisitor. Questioning the teachings of the church. Teaching anything outside of the defined order of things. Ex.Gallio (earth went around the Sun, not Sun around the earth. He went before it) not attending church enough, not doing penance as instructed by a priest. A ruler like a noble or king who didn't get rid of heresy was guilty. Failure to swear to betray heresy. Possession of charms. Being guilty of sorcery and magic. Eating food sold by heretic, even if done unknowingly. Giving alms to a heretical beggar, they were all considered heresy. Justice? After a long series of investigations probing all areas of life. They were not asked what they believed. They were only asked about what they believed was wrong. They were never given opportunity to prove their loyalty. Even if they were supportive up until this time. Even if they were an orthodox catholic one word of heresy was proof enough. Justice required that two witnesses to the act would convict this person. And if two were not available than a single act would be acceptable. Or two single witnesses to two single acts. If a witness retracts their testimony, it was accepted if it was in favor of the INQ. And it was rejected if in favor of the heretic. The character of the witness didn't count. Even if he were a criminal or liar his testimony would be enough. Wives, servants, and children could not give favorable testimony for the accused. But they could give a perverse testimony that was against them The only way out for the accused was to prove that the accuser against him had malice or an agenda to denounce them. But this was impossible because the accused was not allowed to know who accused him. So they had to guess, and if they guessed wrong it went against them because they were under oath, and they were considered to give a false testimony. Ex. Man accused by his wife, he guessed it was her and got off. Every thing in society was under their eye. Every book published must be approved and reviewed http://breachrepairers.webs.com/

48

by them in advance by the INQ. All trade and commerce were subject to search and seizure. Education and the development of literature was stifled. Parents could denounce their children and vice versa. Husbands their wives and vice versa. Families were afraid of each other. Society was fearful. They believed that someone who they were having business with would lead to destruction of property or their life. Spain went backward and lagged behind every nation because of it. It was everywhere but they were the worse. (Find book: Censorship of the Inquisition: Written by Henry Charles Lee) Destroyed thought. Spain was stagnant. New inventions were excluded. It stunted literature. Prevented progress of arts and sciences. Burdens on trade and commerce. Because of this they were not ready for the reformation. And Spain is still predominately catholic. The inquisition was enforced until the middle of the last century. It lead to the destruction of everything in society. Became professional liars. Deny what you believe and say you believe something you don't. Destroyed moral obligations. If a wife got upset with her husband, she could denounce him, and the marriage relation was in subject to the INQ. Note: the INQ never shed blood, it was forbidden for them to shed blood. So when it came time to punish the would had them over to the state and they would carry out the punishment to keep the blood off of the hands of the church. The secular arm was subject to the authority of the church. It was not permitted to torture them more than once. Why did it go on day after day? They could take a recess and come back and have a continuance, but it is considered once. If the accused were unrepentant, they would be turned over to the state, meaning the protection of the church would be withdrawn, like they protected them. Then the vengeance of the state would be given. When the reformation came there was a distinct change in society. There was a reduction in persecution of heresy. Luther believed that certain people should be persecuted. Ex. The Antibaptist. And Calvin participated in making sure made sure they were persecuted in the Swiss canton. Changing religion didn't mean changing behavior. As time went on God in His providence saw that a new principle would arise. And satan also was working on a new principle. Satan wanted to more greatly oppress them. In due time at the end of the 18th century we see (*PO this is why we see Revelation 11 come in to play right before the advent movement. STUDY!) the French Revolution (or Reformation make sure). It was a direct result of the abuses of the church, especially through the INQ. And there were other reasons too. Humans became so fed up with the church that there was a revolt. Satan created a reaction, he creates a series of abuses and then uses the reaction to his advantage. Hundreds of thousands died in the French Revolution of 1798. Another form of government arose around the same time. Shortly before the French revolution of 1798 around 1776 the American colonies rebelled against English rule, and the process in which they went through to establish a constitution, lead to a constitutional republic or government that was a response to the INQ. Ex. Under the inquisition the victim was assumed guilty. Under the constitution of the USA the accused is innocent until he is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Then you have a due http://breachrepairers.webs.com/

49

process. You are not assumed guilty, you are assumed innocent. And the due process can eventually convict of a crime, but it cannot be assumed that he is guilty. Under the INQ. The onus was on the victim to prove his innocence. Under the USACON the prosecutor must prove guilt. INQ: the accused could not know their accuser. Under the USACON (Note: America is not the only one that has a constitution of this type.) the accused is allowed to face their accuser. INQ: The crimes that you are being tried for are hid from you. Under the USACON: If you are accused you can know what the accusation are so you can refute them. INQ. They could have a lawyer, but none would represent. CON: you are allowed a lawyer or counsel and they do not come under suspicion for representing you. INQ: Profit in denouncing someone. CON: There is no gain. You can sue, but it is different from criminal court. CON: Freedom of press, assembly (you can assemble wherever you want as a group of people meeting together), speech. All of these were forbidden under the INQ. These three elements are important to a stable government relatively free from corruption. It had its beginning around the beginning of the 13th Century – about the time of Peter Waldo and John Wycliffe. The pope at the time was Pope Innocent III. He gave the friars special offices and privileges that they could fulfill. He bestowed upon them not only the ability to forgive sins, but also authorized their office to extrapate heresy. Even the priests were subject to the Dominican friars – meaning that the priests could also be arraigned before the inquisition. The king in Spain at that time was King Fernand – this was the place where the inquisition was the strongest. The inquisition was a logical result of the theology of the church and leaders, it is meant to be the representative of vicegerents of God on earth. If the priest was the God of the people, then he could judge in spiritual matters. Adam and Eve when they sinned God inquired of them – this was the bases of the Inquisition The inquisition was borrowed from other Muslim religions and other religions in sacral societies. It was freely employed by secular societies as well, but it never gained its notoriety until such a time that the church assumed the responsibility to use it in spiritual matters. It arose from the very corruption of the clergy – they were so corrupt that many people lost confidence in the clergy and the church they represented. Many wondered what true Christianity was. Plus, there were heretics around (Waldensians) which opposed the church. This became a threat to the superstitious hold that they had on the people.

The lead up to the Inquisition Corruption in the clergy ↓ Loss of confidence in the clergy and the church ↓ Increase in other ideas about religion


50

↓ Threatened the church leaders ↓ Lead to the need for tightening the noose of control in the inquisition The inquisition may have started in some ways with good motives – it was for the salvation of the soul or the preservation of the church or the maintenance of the sacral society. But just because the person is sincere and has good motives, it doesn’t necessarily mean that it is right. When the society becomes sacral, the church becomes the protector of the kingdom. Once Justinian handed the authority over to the bishops of Rome, then it became the Holy Roman Empire. The basis of the inquisition, there was much scripture used to support it: 1. Sinning of Adam – the first inquisition Augustine built a concept around the idea that those who were separated form the church needed to be brought/compelled to come in. In the Biblical sense, compel means to urge or pleas with, but not to force them. Augustine interpreted this as using secular/physical force to enforce the decree of Christ. Many were lead to believe that the inquisition was legitimate. The inquisition was built on suspicion and gave itself much power. It was to address thought crime. The sanctity of one owns mind was open. If you were inconsistent with what Rome thought, then you were considered to be a heretic. It was assumed by the inquisition that everyone had some tendency towards heresy that would lead him astray. Therefore, not every thought that is thought is going to be orthodox. And it only remained with the inquisition to the extent of the heresy in your mind – everybody was thought to have some form of heresy, therefore all are guilty. Unless you were repentant, sooner or later you would be arraigned before the inquisition. He who is denounced before the inquisition, he was assumed guilty. However, he was not to know the accusation that was placed against him. By discovery, the inquisitors would probe to find out what you might be guilty of. In addition to that, they would want to bring out others that would be guilty of such crimes. The person that was brought before the inquisition was not allowed to know who the accuser was. He was permitted a lawyer, but any defense of the assumed guilty would also mean that you would be considered a heretic as well by showing sympathy. All those that voluntarily betrayed their fellows were forgiven their sins and were given 1/3 of all confiscated goods. 1/3 went to the judge and 1/3 to the church. So there were many incentives to denounce others in the inquisition. They would also get lifetime social security.      

He was assumed guilty He was not to know the accusation He was permitted a lawyer Voluntarily betrayed Forgiven their sins Lifetime social security

Reading the Bible or knowing too much scripture was considered heresy or raised suspicion of heresy – it was a capital crime for some time.


51

Considerations of heresy        

Questioning the inquisitor, pope or the teachings of the church Teaching outside the defined order of things Not attending church often enough Not going penance as ordered by a priest Failure to swear to betray heresy Possession of charms and witchcraft or magic Eating food sold by a heretic even if done unknowingly (doing business) Giving alms to a heretical beggar

How about justice? After a long series of interrogations, probing every area of life, the subject of the inquisition must have been totally humiliated. Rarely were questions were given to the accused of what he believed. The issue at stake was what he did or believed was wrong. So the accused was never given opportunity to prove his loyalty. The inquisition never shed blood – it was forbidden. Instead of the inquisition punishing, the person was handed over to the state to be punished. This resulted in a false veneer of sanctity. The secular arm was subject to the authority of the church. The inquisition was not permitted to torture the victim more than once. However they would just call a recess and then continue again. There by torturing only once. If the accused was unrepentant he would be turned over to the secular powers for punishment – the protection of the church would be withdrawn, as if the church was some loving mother who protected her children. It made the state look like an adversary to the people. When the Reformation came, there was a distinct change of society – a reduction of persecution of heresy. Luther believed that the Anabaptists should be persecuted. Calvin made sure that the Anabaptists were persecuted. Changing religion didn’t necessarily mean a change of behavior but it was modified greatly in the Reformation.


52

Martin Luther Sermon: "Pale Horse & Souls that are Crying" (4th & 5th Seal) Remember our people don't know this, and they need to be taught the history. So present Luther's story along with the corrupt manuscripts of the Latin Vulgate that were used by Wycliffe and Luther, and then the ideas of the reformation under Erasmus and Luther. He believed that works would save him. And he was taught this from the church. The church is works oriented and the same is today. As he was in the convent he found the Latin Vulgate Bible chained to the wall. God used the corrupt texts to bring light. The Holy Spirit impressed truth on His mind. But this does not mean we should use it today. He studied this Bible and became more impressed with his own condition. He knew he was sinful. All through history, the bible has always revealed sin and our savior. If you don't know about sin, you will not understand the Savior. God had to allow him to experience this guilt. He allows this to happen to us too. He increased his efforts to rid himself of sin. One day he was sharing his sins with Staupitz, and this man told him to look away from himself and look to the sin pardoning savior. He planted a seed that was not ready to germinate. It came to the front later and made an impression on Luther and the whole empire. Our words can change the lives of people. Them and their families. If we are under the HS He can direct our words. He went to Wittenberg and studied the original tongues. Greek and Hebrew. He studied the bible in the original tongue and not just the Latin vulgate the university had copies of the manuscripts. He became a good lecturer and he expounded the scriptures. He drew many. He was urged to preach and eventually he did. Even though he could expound the scriptures he felt unworthy. We must all feel this way. The fact that he felt unworthy gave him more power to work with the students. He could speak to the heart. He went to visit Rome hoping to gain freedom from guilt. The further south he went the more luxurious were the monasteries. This concerned him his monastery was poor. And the corruption was horrible. And while here he heard about Pilate's staircase. Was this Pilate's staircase? No, Pilate was in Jerusalem. He was the proconsul of Judea. The superstitions were enormous. Their mythology is immense. While he was climbing a passage of scripture illuminated his mind. He realized all of these works were useless and pointless. When he left Rome he turned away from it in heart. God allowed him to go through this experience so he could alienate us from Rome. God will allow us to go through some experiences to realize what fools we have been. Then we can place our affections on Him. When he went back to Wittenberg he preached with a new agenda. He taught we should accept what can be supported from scripture not the teachings of men. If Bible is the foundation of what you believe it strikes at the foundation of popery. At first many were happy, but some switched because they realized that the further he went with his teachings, they knew it would strike against Rome and their supremacy. The reason why the


53

daughters of Babylon have fallen today is because they have accepted the traditions of men. One example is Sunday Sacredness! SDA's are one group that have stayed faithful to the creation Sabbath. The worse abuse came, a new decree was that you could buy forgiveness for past, present, and future sins. Tetzel came there to sell indulgences. He said they could buy forgiveness fro the souls in purgatory. Luther would not absolve the people's sin. He was still a priest, he wanted to reform the church, but later he had to separate from the church. He went against Tetzel and nailed the 95 thesis to the door of the Wittenberg chapel. It spread from there and went everywhere. The people read them with happiness, but the bishops didn't like it. GC 130 The Reformer had bitter accusers to meet. Some charged him with acting hastily and from impulse. Others accused him of presumption, declaring that he was not directed of God, but was acting from pride and forwardness. "Who does not know," he responded, "that a man rarely puts forth any new idea without having some appearance of pride, and without being accused of exciting quarrels? . . . Why were Christ and all the martyrs put to death? Because they seemed to be proud contemners of the wisdom of the time, and because they advanced novelties without having first humbly taken counsel of the oracles of the ancient opinions. Again he declared: "Whatever I do will be done, not by the prudence of men, but by the counsel of God.

This is what happens when you preach the truth. He was dealing with a hierarchy that was established on wrong premises. Hierarchical system of church governance is a wrong principle. You cannot have a pure church built upon wrong principles. Luther realized this, but Erasmus did not. If you have correct form of church governance, then you have a likely possibility of having a pure church. But you can have a good organization and wrong people. It could go both ways. The message we have to preach is going to meet bitter opposition. If you preach the truth they will say you are proud. They confuse pride with conviction. One can be humble and express conviction in a convincing way. Satan is strategic. He brings in error subtly. Then someone recognizes it and says it is error. Then he turns on them and says you are causing division and schism. And the person quiets down. You don't see the error until someone protests. When there is a conflict get in and study it. This is how error has come in to the church today. NT no sanctuary, you can't overcome sin. This is evangelical Protestantism that has come in. those who have protested have been isolated from mainstream Adventism.

Erasmus & Luther There was a struggle going on between Erasmus and Luther. Erasmus compiled the New Testament in Greek from uncorrupted manuscripts during the time of the reformation. Both of them recognized that there was need for reform in the church. And Luther had a different view as to how the reformation would take place. Erasmus was a scholar. He said the way to reform the church is to present the hierarchy with the truth they will accept it and let in trickle down to the rest of the people. Luther said there is too much money, power and different interests of the people involved. They will ignore our suggestions. And they became upset with each other, they also became enemies over it. But Erasmus set out to convince the hierarchy of the need of reform. He compiled the scriptures to the NT from the uncorrupt MS. They both recognized that the only way to have a pure church is to have a pure bible. So he took the Greek and brought all the NT texts that he could, he took the best ones and put them together in a compilation of the NT of uncorrupt MS. Which became the Received Texts.


54

The hierarchy ignored it. They didn't reject them because he was not a heretic, he was a great scholar, but they ignored them. Nothing changed. And when it came time for Luther to work he realized that Erasmus had did a great work for the reformation. Luther and the others took those MS and translated them into the language of the people. During this time the printing press was invented. This invention has impacted history greatly. It placed the Scriptures in the hands of the people. Luther's History con..: Luther was troubled by many things, and the pope issued a summon for him to be tried in Rome. His friends said have the trial in Germany. They obtained their object. He was summoned before the legate in Oxford. He refused to visit with them until he had a 'safe conduct' issued him. He got it and he attended the meeting. GC 136 The Reformer showed that his position was sustained by the Scriptures and firmly declared that he could not renounce the truth. The legate, unable to reply to Luther's arguments, overwhelmed him with a storm of reproaches, gibes, and flattery, interspersed with quotations from tradition and the sayings of the Fathers, granting the Reformer no opportunity to speak. Luther presented a clear, concise, and forcible exposition of his views, fully supported by many quotations from Scripture. This paper, after reading aloud, he handed to the cardinal, who, however, cast it contemptuously aside, declaring it to be a mass of idle words and irrelevant quotations.

The legate gave idle gibberish tales to Luther, but then they accused him of the very same things that they were guilty of. When he presented scripture they said this about him. Often the thing that you are accused of is what they are guilty of. Luther was excommunicated. After he was excommunicated he felt greater liberty in his heart.


55

The Diet of Worms Catholicism: Salvation of individual is according to his relationship to the church Protestant: Primary relationship to the Word not the church. GC 146 If I cannot go to Worms in good health, I will be carried there, sick as I am. For if the emperor calls me, I cannot doubt that it is the call of God Himself. If they desire to use violence against me, and that is very probable (for it is not for their instruction that they order me to appear), I place the matter in the Lord's hands. He still lives and reigns who preserved the three young men in the burning fiery furnace. If He will not save me, my life is of little consequence. Let us only prevent the gospel from being exposed to the scorn of the wicked, and let us shed our blood for it, for fear they should triumph. It is not for me to decide whether my life or my death will contribute most to the salvation of all. . . . You may expect everything from me. . . except flight and recantation. Fly I cannot, and still less retract."--Ibid., b. 7, ch. 1.

Aleander knew that if Luther came to the counsel of Worms he would convince many that were there to his doctrines. So he pursued Charles V to condemn him in his absence. Truth has an advantage in a fair hearing. We cannot compromise under pressure. This is the time to be firm. It was not for him to determine if his life or death would serve the cause of God. GC 147 Not content with this victory, Aleander labored with all the power and cunning at his command to secure Luther's condemnation. With a persistence worthy of a better cause, he urged the matter upon the attention of princes, prelates, and other members of the assembly, accusing the Reformer of "sedition, rebellion, impiety, and blasphemy." But the vehemence and passion manifested by the legate revealed too plainly the spirit by which he was actuated. "He is moved by hatred and vengeance," was the general remark, "much more than by zeal and piety." The majority of the Diet were more than ever inclined to regard Luther's cause with favor.

He went too far. It raised questions in the minds of the other people in the diet. They knew he was motivated by a personal agenda. If you are fighting the cause of God, He will use your fighting to promote the cause. He will create an interest based off of the opposition. When you see opposition, persecution, or whatever, it is a way of God bringing attention to His cause. It is also a way of destroying pride in those who are supporting the cause. The things of the world are the opposite of the things of God. The purpose of the gospel is to make man of no reputation so God can get the glory. GC 147 With redoubled zeal Aleander urged upon the emperor the duty of executing the papal edicts. But under the laws of Germany this could not be done without the concurrence of the princes; and, overcome at last by the legate's importunity, Charles bade him present his case to the Diet.

Aleander knew that if Luther was tried after his writing were condemned, the emperors and kings would say the pope's authority is subject to the diet, but if he didn't appear, the pope's authority would stand. The church and the state were united in the body of politic. So when there was a secular gathering with the state officials, the ecclesiastical officials were there too. Aleander was trying to support the pope's power in accusing Luther. The secular state had an amount of power. Without the support of the other princes it could not stand. Even though the papal legate was pressuring Charles to execute the papal demand, but he could not do it unless the princes were in agreement. He told them to present their case to the princes, and if they supported it, then we can go forward. He was a young man. He was not established in his own mind, so they persuaded him. (Books: Charles V by Robinson)


56

GC 147 "It was a proud day for the nuncio. The assembly was a great one: the cause was even greater. Aleander was to plead for Rome, . . . the mother and mistress of all churches." He was to vindicate the princedom of Peter before the assembled principalities of Christendom. "He had the gift of eloquence, and he rose to the greatness of the occasion. Providence ordered it that Rome should appear and plead by the ablest of her orators in the presence of the most august of tribunals, before she was condemned."" "Princedom" refers to the secular domain on earth. Christendom refers to the spiritual domain on earth. And the two were united. "Princedom of Peter" this is in reference to the secular and temporal authority of the pope. Alenader was going to defend the temporal rule of the pope. God gives error a chance to defend itself. GC 148 In conclusion he endeavored to cast contempt upon the adherents of the reformed faith: "What are all these Lutherans? A crew of insolent pedagogues, corrupt priests, dissolute monks, ignorant lawyers, and degraded nobles, with the common people whom they have misled and perverted. How far superior to them is the Catholic party in number, ability, and power! A unanimous decree from this illustrious assembly will enlighten the simple, warn the imprudent, decide the waverers, and give strength to the weak." --D'Aubigne, b. 7, ch. 3.

He is showing that human power is more important to him than the power of God. GC 148 With such weapons the advocates of truth in every age have been attacked. The same arguments are still urged against all who dare to present, in opposition to established errors, the plain and direct teachings of God's word. "Who are these preachers of new doctrines?" exclaim those who desire a popular religion. "They are unlearned, few in numbers, and of the poorer class. Yet they claim to have the truth, and to be the chosen people of God. They are ignorant and deceived. How greatly superior in numbers and influence is our church! How many great and learned men are among us! How much more power is on our side!" These are the arguments that have a telling influence upon the world; but they are no more conclusive now than in the days of the Reformer."

This is prosperity religion. God wants you to be wealthy. If you are in prosperity you are accepted of God. Neither prosperity or adversity are an indication of God's favor. God could bring adversity to keep us humble and strengthen our faith. Adversity could be a result of tests or consequence. You must pray and search the Word of God to find out. GC 148 The Reformation did not, as many suppose, end with Luther. It is to be continued to the close of this world's history. Luther had a great work to do in reflecting to others the light which God had permitted to shine upon him; yet he did not receive all the light which was to be given to the world. From that time to this, new light has been continually shining upon the Scriptures, and new truths have been constantly unfolding. The legate's address made a deep impression upon the Diet. There was no Luther present, with the clear and convincing truths of God's word, to vanquish the papal champion. No attempt was made to defend the Reformer. There was manifest a general disposition not only to condemn him and the doctrines which he taught, but if possible to uproot the heresy.

We are a continuation of Luther's work. But the rest of the protestants did not progress. They have lost their barring, they are now part of the ecumenical movement. Even though he didn't have a defender, God raised up one who was opposed by Luther. GC 149 Duke George of Saxony stood up in that princely assembly and specified with terrible


57

exactness the deceptions and abominations of popery, and their dire results. In closing he said: These are some of the abuses that cry out against Rome. All shame has been put aside, and their only object is . . . money, money, money, . . . so that the preachers who should teach the truth, utter nothing but falsehoods, and are not only tolerated, but rewarded, because the greater their lies, the greater their gain. It is from this foul spring that such tainted waters flow. Debauchery stretches out the hand to avarice. . . . Alas, it is the scandal caused by the clergy that hurls so many poor souls into eternal condemnation. A general reform must be effected."--Ibid., b. 7, ch. 4.

He was against Luther, but he said the church needs reform. This wiped out Aleander's appeal. GC 150 A more able and forcible denunciation of the papal abuses could not have been presented by Luther himself; and the fact that the speaker was a determined enemy of the Reformer's gave greater influence to his words.

Had the eyes of the assembly been opened, they would have beheld angels of God in the midst of them, shedding beams of light athwart the darkness of error and opening minds and hearts to the reception of truth. It was the power of the God of truth and wisdom that controlled even the adversaries of the reformation, and thus prepared the way for the great work about to be accomplished. Martin Luther was not present; but the voice of One greater than Luther had been heard in that assembly. " (*PO This shows the work of the horses of Zech, white, black, etc. that were doing a work within the secular powers to advance the work of God. This is happening under the 4th seal. Corresponding with the 4th horse. 5th seal opens showing God's work in heaven, how He is responding to the secular powers….Study!!) Then and Edict was summoned to get Luther. And Charles would not revoke the safe-conduct. GC 152 Luther made no reference to his own perilous position. He did not seek to make himself the object of thought or sympathy. In the contemplation of Christ he had lost sight of self. He hid behind the Man of Calvary, seeking only to present Jesus as the sinner's Redeemer.

Do not seek a few sympathetic ears to sustain your position, uplift Christ. Luther was called there over the protest of the princes. If Luther would be arraigned there, it would be a slap in the face for the pope. And the authority of the pope would be undermined. Many questions were raised. The authority of the Word vs. the authority of the church. Protestants believe the bible is authoritative over the church and the pope himself. In the pope's letter he appeals to tradition. He uses texts, but he distorts how they are applied. GC 155 This appearance was of itself a signal victory over the papacy. The pope had condemned the man, and he was now standing before a tribunal which, by this very act, set itself above the pope.

The emperor was pressured to remove the safe-conduct, but he did not. The people had to decide either for the pope or the word. God directed that the Word be heard. GC 156 Such calmness and self-command, unexpected in one who had shown himself bold and uncompromising, added to his power, and enabled him afterward to answer with a prudence, decision, wisdom, and dignity that surprised and disappointed his adversaries, and rebuked their insolence and pride.

We must know when to be bold, and when to work softly and appeal to the conscience. Luther used http://breachrepairers.webs.com/

58

it very effectively. GC 156 The next day he was to appear to render his final answer. For a time his heart sank within him as he contemplated the forces that were combined against the truth. His faith faltered; fearfulness and trembling came upon him, and horror overwhelmed him. Dangers multiplied before him; his enemies seemed about to triumph, and the powers of darkness to prevail. Clouds gathered about him and seemed to separate him from God. He longed for the assurance that the Lord of hosts would be with him. In anguish of spirit he threw himself with his face upon the earth and poured out those broken, heart-rending cries, which none but God can fully understand. GC 157 An all-wise Providence had permitted Luther to realize his peril, that he might not trust to his own strength and rush presumptuously into danger. Yet it was not the fear of personal suffering, a dread of torture or death, which seemed immediately impending, that overwhelmed him with its terror. He had come to the crisis, and he felt his insufficiency to meet it. Through his weakness the cause of truth might suffer loss. Not for his own safety, but for the triumph of the gospel did he wrestle with God.

All of us are going to have a Jacob's Time of Trouble. We must take hold of God's strength. God is at the head of the work, not us!

Luther's perspective concerning conflict… God's people are always accused of being schismatic. What is the real cause? GC 159 I rejoice to see that the gospel is now, as in former times, a cause of trouble and dissension. This is the character, this is the destiny, of the word of God."

He knew that truth was overturning error. Light broke through the darkness. Satan always seeks to repress the Word of God. Luther first spoke in German at the diet, and then he was directed to speak in Latin. This was strategic. The men were well learned. GC 159 Luther had spoken in German; he was now requested to repeat the same words in Latin. Though exhausted by the previous effort, he complied, and again delivered his speech, with the same clearness and energy as at the first. God's providence directed in this matter. The minds of many of the princes were so blinded by error and superstition that at the first delivery they did not see the force of Luther's reasoning; but the repetition enabled them to perceive clearly the points presented. " GC 160 The Reformer answered: "Since your most serene majesty and your high mightinesses require from me a clear, simple, and precise answer, I will give you one, and it is this: I cannot submit my faith either to the pope or to the councils, because it is clear as the day that they have frequently erred and contradicted each other. Unless therefore I am convinced by the testimony of Scripture or by the clearest reasoning, unless I am persuaded by means of the passages I have quoted, and unless they thus render my conscience bound by the word of God, I cannot and I will not retract, for it is unsafe for a Christian to speak against his conscience. Here I stand, I can do no other; may God help me. Amen GC 168 Upon his homeward journey he was seized, separated from his attendants, and hurriedly conveyed through the forest to the castle of Wartburg, an isolated mountain fortress. Both his seizure and his concealment were so involved in mystery that even Frederick himself for a long time knew not whither he had been conducted. This ignorance was not without design; so long as the elector


59

knew nothing of Luther's whereabouts, he could reveal nothing. He satisfied himself that the Reformer was safe, and with this knowledge he was content.

On his way home Luther was taken to Wartburg by his friends. God knew that Luther needed to be humbled and not have a lot of accolades. He took him off of the scene of action. Luther had a work to do at Wartburg that couldn't be done anywhere else.

Fanaticism GC 189

Thomas Munzer led this movement. They claimed to have new light. A crisis was developed that undermined the authority of the Word. If Satan can't get one, he gets the other. They were saying you don't have to pay attention to the Word, listen to the Spirit. But the Spirit reveals itself through the Word. Reality is that you need both. Many students left school. They didn't feel like they needed that training because of the influence of the fanatics. They used scripture to justify their position. But the bottom line of what they taught was this. (cut through the emotions and find out what they are teaching. If it is contrary to the Word, they are on the wrong tract.) He decided to go to Wittenberg at the peril of his own life. He recognized that another crisis came to the reformation. He dealt with it. He told the people to go to the Word. It is the final authority of all faith and practice.


60

The Diet of Spire 1529 Quiz: Where was Luther's friendly imprisonment? Wartburg Castle What most important work did he accomplish in this place? Translating the NT scriptures into the language of the people, German. Who was the first Swiss reformer? Zwingli Who was the boastful opponent of this reformer at the debate in Boten? Doctor Eck What was the affect of the debate upon the people? It gave more publicity to the reformation and raised interest. Bosel and Burn declared their cities to be a part of the reformation. Rome believes that you cannot have freedom of conscience. The princes realized that this was not right. There is something in the human heart that wants to accept that religious authority must be accepted without question. We see this today. In some cultures it is very strong. The protestant principle liberated the mind to find truth for themselves. Priesthood of all believers comes from the principles of Protestantism. We do not have to go through a medium; we all have a connection with God for our self. Toleration arose in Germany, so Luther's ideas could spread.

Toleration It is a privilege that can be granted by the state or civil authority to practice your belief system or religious beliefs. But it can be withdrawn at any time. (FINAL)

Religious Liberty Recognizes the unalienable (you cannot separate it) right given by God. And it is that the individual has a responsibility to follows one's own conscience. Recap: When you have a true composite society you have religious liberty. Toleration is a privilege to practice certain beliefs. Not necessarily all. You can practice certain beliefs or all beliefs, and it is granted by the civil authorities. This diet brought toleration to Germany. It was welcome. It gave the reform an opportunity to develop. It did not bring full religious liberty. That didn't come until the end of the 18th century in the founding of the American constitution.


61

History of the Cannon of Scriptures Quiz: How did Protestants get their name? Protests of the princes; At the Diet of Spires Who was the man who compiled the Greek uncorrupted NT during the time of the reformation? Erasmus Who was the first protestant to translate the Bible to English from the Greek uncorrupted compilation? William Tyndale Canon comes from the word that means a piece of artillery. A piece of artillery gives it its direction and projectory. The canon of scripture is the directing principle in the Christians life. The bible makes rules. The canon puts it in certain boundaries for the ball to be released. Same is true for the Bible. It is the rule that guides your life, so it is a canon. In Alexandria the term was used to designate modern authors, especially those who made the rules of literature such as grammar. Christian writers used it to mean Christian doctrine. It was used finally to determine the collections of book composing the Christian faith. The Old Testament and New Testament. This became the exclusive definition. The books that are the valid books of inspiration.

Formation of the Canon (Background) During the first 15 years after Christ went to heaven, the formation of the church occurred from the oral preaching of the truth. The apostles were doing itinerate preaching. Others realized that they would die off, and then who would take their place? So they begin to write letters. They knew the written word was needed or written preaching. During the times they were giving oral preaching, there were signs and wonders that manifested that the spirit of God was motivating them. Ex. The dead were raised, people healed. Ananias and Sapphira. God showed that they were inspired by a power outside of themselves. (1) This confirmed their apostolic authority. This is important because it opened the foundation to accept their letters. This is how the churches came to accept the principle of written preaching. (2) They also appealed to the OT in their preaching and teaching. This is important because this gave a link between the OT and NT. This was the final link between the OT and NT. It would have been easy for them to say lets throw out the Old Testament and just stick with the New Testament because that is all that they gave us. But because they consistently used the OT, it was used to compose the canon of both the OT and the NT. Because of Paul's letters to the church and him urging them to read this to the other churches, he strongly influenced these new churches. (3) Because of this the churches were willing to add new books to the OT cannon. The Christian churches kept these letters for instruction. They did not revere Paul as divine, but they saw that the Holy Spirit inspired him. So they revered his writings and treated them as oracles of God.


62

Scriptures 1 Thes 5:27 I charge you by the Lord that this epistle be read unto all the holy brethren.

1:5 "For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance; as ye know what manner of men we were among you for your sake." These were the first two books received into the canon. They were preserved and copied. Between 48 AD and the death of Paul AD 65 almost all of the NT writings were produced. At least 20. The last two were done by the end of the first century. (John's Gospel and the book of Revelation) They were spread around the world very quickly. There was a lot of commerce going on. It also aided the spread of Christianity in the different providences. The people would be encouraged and a church would be spread. The Canon was developed little by little. It happened over time. Paul and the apostles couldn't be everywhere at once. So they needed the writings so the churches could review on a weekly basis. And also this way the teachings could be preserved from age to age more safely. Ex. During the time of the Patriarchs things were preserved orally until Moses. The people had good memory so it could be passed on. But now it was needed. Preservation & why uninspired books or counterfeits were not accepted: There were many reasons why non-canonical books, uninspired and counterfeit books were separated from the canonical books. Objection: Were these established before the counsels of the Roman church? Yes, the counsels were much later. Rome claims that the canon of scripture was established by the Church of Rome. We see from this that the cannon was established well before the first council. In 65 AD already 20 books were accepted by the church, and it had nothing to do with Rome. At the end of the first century all 27 were complete. Background: (4) Persecution preserved the canon. (1) Cohesiveness because of persecution: Under persecution from the pagans, the people and the church were under pressure. God permitted this so that the environment was intense, meaning it was charged with emotional gravity, it was important to preserve the oracles. And the cohesiveness was in tact. When under persecution people bind together for safety. They were one. They were close in fellowship in mutual suffering. The bishops primary reason was to prepare the people to die for their faith. So the letters of Paul and the other apostles meant a great deal more to those churches. The letters were their life. It was essential to their religion. These letters brought them the truth. That is why they were being persecuted. Because of those teachings and doctrines. They read them and this helped establish the church. They copied them and shared them with the other people. When they were scattered, the people established new churches. (2) The power of God: The character of the apostles helped to establish the authenticity of the canon. The power of the gospel was so great by the thousands who accepted it, it was seen as the power of God. So there was no question about the inspired books that were preserved from the apostles.


63

The public credibility of the character of the apostles who wrote these books was strong. So there was no question about their authorship. So a huge distinction existed between the divinely inspirited books in contrast to the uninspired books. Ex. Apocrypha. There is a lot of non-sense in there. Maccabee's, etc. There is foolishness and history that is inaccurate. (3) Unity of Message: Even though they were men from different backgrounds, circumstances, and personalities, etc. There was a unity within their writings. (4) Focus of the books of the canon: Other ancient works were directed more to individuals by isolated persons. The secular, or uninspired writings were written from one person to another individual. Or the general public at large. But the NT was written by the apostles to the churches of their day. By the great men of God, to the great associations of God. To the people who knew and respected them. The canon was established while the apostles were still alive. The canon was not established at a counsel later on. Other counsels recognized the canon of scripture but did not accept it. Note: Even the individual letters to a person (within the canon) had an affect on the church at large. (5) Ancient books lost their interest: The inspired books have living interests that have come down to our own day. But the uninspired books came to light and died out. (6) Carefulness of the early Christians: They wanted to be certain. They checked carefully. They were willing to give their life for their faith. So they wanted to make sure they were dying for what was authentic. So the authenticity was preserved. (7) Eyewitnesses: The authors of the other books were not eyewitnesses of the things that were reported. But the things written by the authors of the canon were eyewitnesses. The things reported were seen and heard by the entire churches. And when this was not the case, they had the testimony of those that certified their authenticity. And this happened before the end of the first century. They quoted living people, actual authors, and ministers known by the people. All this made it certain that it could be trusted. These letters arose out of their experience and as a result of their faith. The uninspired books did not have this factor. They wrote something they thought they heard about. (8) Numbers of people protecting the canon: http://breachrepairers.webs.com/

64

Ancient literature was published under the authority of one man. And there was no security for accurate transmission. It was sent and no one knew who he was. But with the canon, it was published and circulated by the body of the apostles and preserved by the bishops of the church. And because of this they protected the canon and it was impossible for spurious writings to come in. and when they did, they were discovered and eliminated. (9) The ancient secular writings were read and then neglected: The canon was constantly studied, and reread, and reread. (10) Loyalty to the scriptures: Ancient writings were lost and never to be recovered. A lot of their works disappeared. If they were so important they would have protected them. But with the canon, they were preserved on the pain of death. (11) Ancient literature was translated long after: Some ancient piece was later translated from that language to another after one thought it was good. This happened long after The NT was translated into all the languages of the east by the end of the first century. Syriac, Arabic, Coptic, Armenia, Persian, Ethopian. And the languages of the west after the Teutonic or 10 tribes invasion. Latin, gothic, scholvonic, Anglo-Saxon Pisshita bible – done about the beginning of the second century Itala – translated by the end of the first century, used way before the 4th century when Jerome came. Tertullian quoted it in the end of the second century 100 years before Jerome. (12) Opposition to the scriptures: Ancient writings caused no profound controversies from the beginning like the scriptures. It has reached us today. Many people attacked the authenticity. This gives proof to the authorship because they oppose it. The opponents of the NT didn’t argue that it was not written by them, but they argued against the teachings, they did not say they were spurious, just erroneous. They did not argue the authenticity. (13) Usage by collective bodies: Ancient readings were read by a person here and there. Canon read by collective and permanent societies such as churches. And they are still read today in every living church. This will happen until the second coming. (14) Succession of men controlling the NT canon: http://breachrepairers.webs.com/

65

Ancient literature did not have a succession of men to protect and control these writings. Canon: bishops were careful to protect. They excluded any books that did not have their authenticity. (15) Long ministry of the apostles: Except James who died 10 years after the ascension of Jesus, the apostles had a relatively long ministry. Some 30, 50, 60, 70. This means they were in close contact with the churches for a while so these churches could be established by these men. This is why it was important that Christ did His work with them while He was there. He was laying groundwork that would establish His church for millennia. Even during his last year while he was in Ephesus, John was allowed to communicate with all of the churches because of the oriental and occidental churches meet, this allowed him to do so. (16) Number of churches: There were so many churches, that these numbers prevented broad acceptance of spurious books until much later. The fourth century when other things came in. (17) Today ancient literature is not quoted as much: Some quotes from Plato or Socrates here, but it is not on a wide scale in comparison with the scriptures. Cited, explained, taught, etc. We can never loose them.

Claims of Catholicism They say they decided what was canon and what was not. The implications are dangerous. If this is true, then they become the ones to determine what is true and what is not. The canon determines divine revelation. If man can chose it, then man can interpret it. But God established it. And because of the circumstances and principles involved, the canon was considered authentic by the church. This was not determined in a counsel. If they determine it, then all the churches would have to look to her to be authoritative in all matters of doctrine and faith. This is why the council of Trent was so important for the Catholic Church to authenticate the apocrypha. Protestants said no it is not canonical! Because the ecumenical movement which is the outworking today is suppose to bring all churches back to Rome.


66

History of the Bible in Connection with the Reformation This chapter covers how Rome got authority of the monarchs. What caused the greatest impact in Luther's ministry? 1. It exposed the errors of Rome. (He swept away many of the galling and prevailing errors.) 2. His fidelity to the Bible presented as sole authority. 3. His character (Holy boldness, perseverance, humility, meekness, serenity under pressure, piety, zeal, true conversion) 4. Translation of Bible to German. (Putting the Bible before the people) 5. Prior reformers – the work of the Waldensians laid the spiritual climax for the reformation. Huss, Wycliffe. 6. True Christians were anxious for reform. 7. The corruption of the clergy. 8. He met the people were they were. (Their broad spiritual needs) Spiritual hunger and ignorance created a climax for Luther to bridge the gap. 9. Support of the princes. God used the civil structure to create an environment that would protect His message through Luther. 3 reasons why uninspired writings did not get into the canon? Character of the apostles Succession of men protected them Interest of the writings lasted until our time Opposition to the Word of God Writings dealt with the whole church and not just to an individual Why does Rome want to claim that she established the canon? Because if she established it all churches would have to look to her as authoritative in all matters of doctrine and faith. From what source did the reformers of the 16th century get their manuscripts for the translation of their Bible? Erasmus' compilation There has always been in the heart of man a hunger to know about God. God made man a spiritual being. The Bible brings spiritual life, it brings us in touch with God. We understand Him by reading the Bible. Without it how can we know about God? The priest and Sadducee's misrepresented the character of God. People were in darkness, so Jesus came to shed light. God wanted to demonstrate what He is really like through Jesus. The Life of Christ and the Word has a lot to do with society. If they don't have this, the will go elsewhere to satisfy this longing. Rome had all these sacraments, but it could not satisfy the longing. The Waldensians, Patrick, Columba and other men realized the necessity of the Bible. But Rome would not allow them to have it. They were too sinful and too fallen. The holy priest who were holy could understand it. They were not sanctified to understand it. While the people could not have the bible, it was still being given out. When the reformation came God brought out the Bible into the language of the people. Wycliffe during the time of the reformation brought out the Bible in English


67

for the common people. It spread to the Bohemia.

Erasmus When he came he realized the importance of the scriptures. The reformers realized this. No matter who they were they all recognized the importance of the people studying the word for themselves and having a direct relationship with God instead of the priest. The priest created a barrier between God and the people. The reformation changed this; it bypassed the pope and priests and put the people in contact with God by skipping over them through the scriptures. Without them giving people the bible, the reformation could not establish roots in the ground so to speak. Germany and England were the primary countries were the reformation was the strongest and had the greatest impact on the world. England was a monarchial kingdom. Meaning they had a king, a monarch. It was not an elected ruler; it was a succession of rulers based upon the familio succession of rulers. They were autocratic; they could do what they wanted without having to ask anyone. Rome wanted to rule over them and the whole world. They needed to place the kings in subjection. So a principle arose of the divine right of kings. Meaning they were divinely raised up to sit on the throne. The pope came up with this. They were upset with this idea, and eventually brought into subjection to Rome, but it could not last because they did not accept the divine right of kings. Rome used the text in Romans that says the civil law rulers are set up to bring righteousness and judgment in the land. Rome twisted this to say, that because she was the vice generant of Christ on earth, she had the right to setup the kings on earth. Rome presumed to be God for these kings. Once she controlled the kings and monarchs of the earth, she could control the people. But the bible changed all of this. The bible placed a new light on the monarchy and the papacy. And this led to a change in England. It went from a monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. Magna Carta this was a document that changed the way the king of England related to his people. Without the bible coming into England at the time of the reformation in the tongue of the people they would not have been able to change their attitude about authority and they could not have changed their minds about the king. The king could only rule the people as they gave consent. The people said you can rule over us with these conditions and they gave a list and it was the Magna Carta. And during this time Charles the V. didn’t have complete control over the princes. There was a change in how people related to authority. Rome tried to prevent liberty from arising. This is why Rome tried to do away with the bible. The bible brings liberty. It takes away sin. It brings knowledge of how to have peace with God. The reformation principle was to place the bible over the people not the throne of Rome.

William Tyndale Tyndale and others started to translate their bibles and give them to the people. He was a preacher, and he was a Roman Catholic. He would go place to place and preach. And he noticed that the monks would come behind him and preach and undo what he had done. The people would listen to both and agree, they did not know how to discern from the error. They did not have truth. Today we have the same thing. They say Amen to error and truth because they don't know. They are not studying the bible.


68

As he saw this he knew he needed to do something to help the people. He fled England and went to the Netherlands (Belgium) because a warrant was out for his arrest; they didn’t want him to preach those things. While here he preached by his pen, he translated the bible from Erasmus' compilation into English, and while he did it, he published it in little pieces, and he smuggled it back to Britain in wheat bags to his friends. After a while his bible became a powerful influence in Britain. They could read it for themselves and know God for themselves. The bishops wanted to burn the Tyndale bibles. The first edition of Tyndale's bible is in the british museum. (go there if you have a chance to go to Britain. There are only 2 in the world.) It was published and brought into England and a friend of the bishop of Durum asked him how to get rid of them, and he said buy them all and burn them. And he arranged for him to buy all the bibles and burned them. He had a huge bond fire. So now Tyndale had a lot of money and he made better editions. And he sent them across in ships in the wheat bag. The archbishop of Canterbury head of the church of England asked who was responsible for the bible's being spread, and he said the Bishop of Duram.

Jesuits They began to work; they had already gotten into the colleges. The purpose of the Jesuits was to destroy the reformation and undo all that Protestantism had done. The Catholics decided to join them because they couldn't beat them. They commissioned the Jesuits in Reams France to publish a bible in the English language. It was translated from the Vulgate and the western manuscripts. All the bibles had wide margins with notes. And the NT was published and released in 1582. These bible came into England from France, but by this time the Tyndale bible had made such an impact on the bible, that the people were astonished, they made claims that were crazy in the Jesuit bible. It was way out there. The English protestants laughed it to scorn. They said it was not consistent with its own teachings. They knew it was from the western corrupt manuscripts and was essentially a Roman Catholic bible. It was so bad that they had to withdraw it from circulation and redo it. They had to retranslate it, so it was more close to the Tyndale English, they had to get doing it over and over, so it would be accepted by the protestants. Then there was the Reams Duoy, the Duoy, and the duoy we have today is not the same as the one back then. The first edition is a lot different. We are going to talk about the importance of the King James Version and how it was translated from the Tyndale Bible. We will talk about the effect of the King James Version bible on the language. The Language is very, very important! The Tyndale Bible and the Luther Bible these bibles developed the language of the people. The people in the early church would learn to read just so they could read the bible and the letter of the apostles. Same in the reformation. Older people went to school to learn to read so they could understand the language. This helped the people develop their own language. It matured the French and English language. Wherever the protestant bible found entrance it developed the language. The people's language was not vulgar. Tyndale was right before the time of Shakespeare. The English language was at a pinnacle when he began. It was simple and direct, straightforward. This came as a result of the bible. It also had an impact on the intellect of the people. This happened in Germany, England, and France,


69

wherever the power of Rome was cut, the powers of the mind developed.

King James Version After Tyndale there were many English versions of the bible that were published. Geneva, Basil, etc. Reams Duoy was the competition to the Tyndale Bible. In England many bibles were developed too. Ex. Miles Coverdale, and other bishops. There was a development of a need for the people to have an English protestant bible that could be available for the people to read in the churches. In the churches on the table you could read it. 1602 Bishop's Bible, it was an edited Tyndale Bible. They were very well received by the protestant people. This bible was the immediate predecessor to the 1611 King James Version Bible. It came about because of the puritan's. They wanted a bible that would not have marginal notes. They wanted the Holy Spirit to teach them the Word. They wanted the pure Word of God. The KJV was translated from the original languages and using as its model the 1602 edition of the Bishop's bible. They took the work that had been done by the scholars and reviewed it and evaluated it carefully with the original texts and made revisions and changes so that the new text would be the very best they could do to bring it in harmony with the original MS in connection with the English language. This was done very systematically. 46 Translators were appointed to go about the process of translation. But they were not just given individual passages to translate. They were divided into groups, and when a portion was finished they would check and cross check each other, and it would be passed for review and subsequent editorial work. This process was open to the public for discussion and comment with other scholars who were not of the 46. It was not a secret project. The translation of the KJV, each text of scripture was reviewed at least 14 times by different individuals. They wanted to make sure that they had the most scholarly protestant review of the texts that were adopted as the KJV bible. They worked on this for many years. Shortly after 1602 they began. It came out in 1611 and was anticipated greatly. The result was that they had a bible that was purely and systematically developed from the eastern uncorrupt MS. Known as the Received Text. And this bible greatly influenced the English language like the Tyndale Bible, but it took it a step further. Language POWERFUL: The predominance of words are monosyllabic (having one syllable). The words are simple and straightforward. Now today are words have multi-syllable. In the new translations there is a large number of more complicated words. Some say the new translations are easier to read like the NIV. Are they? They really are not. You will see a fog index in the writings of the new translations. *fog index = when people write with complicated words, it is called in linguistics fogging. It makes what you are trying to say more obscure. Many times they will apply the fog index to a text. Ex Newspaper, textbook, or bible. And they will evaluate the number of syllables in each word, and


70

they will take an average. And the average will give them some basic idea of the grade level of the reading material. Most newspapers are on the sixth grade level. Same with the popular magazines. But even in TIME there are words that are unknown. But the language that was used in the KJV was simple monosyllabic and direct. The reading level of the KJV is fifth grade. This doesn't make it simplistic, it is profound, but even a child can understand it. Once you know what thee, thou, and sayest means, it is not hard to understand. Remember when comparing the KJV with Modern Translations, there are alterations in these passages that create problems. Illustration of reading with Different translations: Matthew 18:11 For the Son of man is come to save that which was lost. KJV - Given NIV – Missing NRSV – Missing RV – In the footnote it says most ancient MS omit this verse. Amplified Bible Erasmus and the other reformers recognized that the Western Manuscripts did not have complete texts of scripture. They had been corrupted, and many things were left off. Some modern versions include this text, and say they are not in the ancient MS. They are really saying it is not in the vulgate or in the MS in which the vulgate came. The Sanaticus, Alexandrianus, and Vaticanicus, and one more. What happened to the MS from the east? They have been destroyed. The most ancient ones have been destroyed over time. The reformers understood this. We see it amplified today. Burnside did a study on how many verses have been dropped out completely or significantly altered so we can see what happened to the modern bibles based off of the corrupt MS. The reformers could not use those MS to get a bible for the protestant faith. So they went and got Erasmus' compilation because he was careful to bring these complete MS from the eastern source. When you look at the other texts that were changed they specifically attack the divinity of Christ, which was a key issue. We even have a gender neutral bible, that makes God neither male or female. Side note: 1 John 5:7 Study has been done by Manard. He showed that it was not an addition of scripture that was added later on. The people who say that don't believe in the Godhead. This is a better term for us to use. EGW doesn't use Trinity. To catholic it means something totally different.


71

Remember this: People say I can get Adventism out of the new translation and the NIV. We can support all of the doctrines out of this bible. Yes you can get certain things from the NIV, but it was designed to be a bible that all churches can read, and they will read the same passage and get something out of it that is totally different that what we believe. They will read something else into what we use to prove the Sabbath. The New Trans. Are post Adventism, except the RV. They were developed since Adventism began. Even though the NKJV was translated from the eastern MS, the textus receptus, yet is has translational bias in them. They have no burden to support the Adventist message. Adventist has developed their theology and doctrines from the KJV. It is a very important reason for that. It is because this bible preceded them by 300 years. And it was the standard English bible for centuries against Roman theology, doctrine and practice, and it was the basis upon which God raised His church. When we use the Modern Translations we loose our certainty in the Adventist message Example: Exodus 20:10 KJV – " But the seventh day [is] the sabbath of the LORD thy God:" when we say 'the' we are referring to a specific Sabbath. NIV – "Seventh day is a Sabbath day" there is a difference between 'a' Sabbath and 'the' Sabbath. You become less focused on the Sabbath, and you can pick any day, at least one. You loose the certainty and the simple clear connection in the Greek. The Greek does not support 'a' Sabbath it is a traditional bias. The Jews had many Sabbaths, so this does away on the cross the Sabbath of creation. It makes it seem like it was one of the ceremonial Sabbaths. Question: How do you explain Ellen using the RV? She would not have been opposed to using a different translation for clarity sake; even in the NIV some things are clearer. But when you use it for a doctrinal foundation that is different. Answer: it constituted only 5% of her writings, and it does not pertain to doctrine. There are mistakes in the KJV. But they are not mistakes with an agenda, they were mistakes with the scribing.


72

The Sabbath in History Fathers 2-4th Century After the death of the apostles a slew of apostasies came in the church. But many people appeal to the authority of the fathers as to why they keep Sunday observance. The church fathers some time supported Sabbath or Sunday. They began to divert from the plain teaching. Some things the fathers have said..(Can read in the antinicean fathers..ask) Tertulian – Christ Himself maintained the Sabbath as His own institution. Origen – (corrupter of the western manuscripts, he opposed Sabbath, but said this) rest of God followed the completion of creation. They spoke of the seventh-day as something being valid. They were mostly bishops.

5-7th Century Historians identify that there were seventh-day Sabbath keepers during this time. Morer (Dialogues on the Lord day, he was not a sabbatarian) the people spent the day in devotions and service, and they derived this teaching from the apostles themselves. He says that as time went on people kept both Sabbath and Sunday. This was not wrong. Hypsisdary – one group of people that are Sabbatarians William Twiste - Sunday and Sabbath were both kept sacred. Glesiere – Gentiles observed the Sabbath and Passover. Coleman (Ancient Christianity exemplified) – last day of the week was kept with the first day of the week. Well into 5th century it was kept, and after time it was done away with. Converts to Christianity kept this day. No law was given from Christ to change the seventh day to Sunday. Neither from Christ or the Apostles. Note: it was not until Sunday arose in solemnity with Sabbath was it then replaced, before that Sabbath was kept. It was denounced as heretical. Gibbon (Decline and Fall of Rome) – Jewish converts (called Nazarenes)who laid the foundations of the church were overwhelmed by those who came in. Note: these Jewish Christians were for a long while were part of those who kept the Seventh-day Adventist Joseph Bigim – Hypsistherians. They observer their Sabbaths and ate clean foods. Cox (Sabbath Laws and Sabbath Duties) – Sabbatarians during the third and fourth century the Sabbath was observed 300 years after Christ. They had the apostle's doctrines and example to instruct them. They would have restrained if need be. Bishop Taylor (during the time Constantine made the first Sunday Law) – the primitive Christians did work on Sunday, when Constantine made an edict not to work on Sunday, they continued to


73

work on Sunday. William Donville – Centuries passed before Sunday was observed as the Sabbath. History doesn't show that before Constantine's law there was any significance to the day. For centuries Sabbath was kept.

Time of the Reformation & Dark Ages Peter Halen or Haley (Presbyterian Historian: Book History of the Sabbath): Saturday is called among them the Sabbath. Note: Many early writers for centuries always referred Sabbatumdum to the Sabbath. The fifth and sixth centuries were gone until it was brought to prominence. Alvin Butler (Lives of the saints) 6th century on Columba. On Saturday columba said this day is called the day of rest. Columba was a Sabbath keeper. William Jones – Waldensians, they were falsely supposed to neglect the Sabbath. Called inSabbatati. David Benedict (History of the Baptist denomination) – the Waldensians were called insabbados, regardless of Sabbaths. Mr. Milner – name given because they rested from occupations on Sunday. They did not regard the first day as Sabbath. Throughout history the Lord's day applied to the Seventh-day as the Sabbath. Rome called the Ten Commandments the law of Moses and not the law of God. They do this to call those who kept the Sabbath holy Judiazers. Point: When the people were called heretics for keeping the Sabbath, they would always falsely accuse them of doing other things that they were not doing because they kept the Sabbath. So when we are accused for keeping the Sabbath, we will also be accused of keeping something else that is considered heretical. Benedict (Baptist historian) Pasagenians: people who lived in the mountain passages. They were called Jews because they kept the Seventh-day. Same as Sabbatarians are called today. Francis White: Anabaptists were also keeping the seventh-day Sabbath. Anabaptist means rebaptizer. They believe that if you were baptized as an infant once you accept Christ as your savior you need to be re-baptized. They would take a huge bucket and pour it on the person's head. Michal Gayes (history of the church of Ethiopia. EGW used this in writing the GC.) – Abisenians (Ethiopians) observed the Sabbath. Yates (East Indian church history) - Armenians of India. Jewish wickedness was keeping the seventh day Sabbath. Refer to the handout on the Sabbath. Constantinople "The people of Constantinople, and almost everywhere, assemble together on the Sabbath, as well as on the first day of the week, which custom is never observed at Rome or at Alexandria." Socrates, "Ecclesiastical History," Book 7, chap.19.


74

The World - Augustine, Bishop Of Hippo (North Africa) Augustine shows here that the Sabbath was observed in his day "in the greater part of the Christian world," and his testimony in this respect is all the more valuable because he himself was an earnest and consistent Sunday-keeper. See "Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers," 1st Series, Vol.1, pp. 353, 354. Pope Innocent (402-417) Pope Sylvester (314-335) was the first to order the churches to fast on Saturday, and Pope Innocent (402-417) made it a binding law in the churches that obeyed him, (In order to bring the Sabbath into disfavour.) "Innocentius did ordain the Saturday or Sabbath to be always fasted." Dr. Peter Heylyn, "History of the Sabbath, Part 2, p. 44. Waldensians "Among the documents. we have by the same peoples, an explanation of the Ten Commandments dated by Boyer 1120. Observance of the Sabbath by ceasing from worldly labours, is enjoined." Blair, History of the Waldensians, Vol.1, p. 220 "Robinson gives an account of some of the Waldensians of the Alps, who were called Sabbati, Sabbatati, Insabbatati, but more frequently Inzabbatati. "One says they were so named from the Hebrew word Sabbath, because they kept the Saturday for the Lord's day.'" General History of the Baptist Denomination, Vol.II, P. 413 "It cannot be shown that Sunday has taken the place of the Sabbath (P.366). the Lord God has sanctified the last day of the week. Antichrist, on the other hand, has appointed the first day of the week." Ki Auszug aus Tennhardt's "Schriften," P.49 (printed 1712) America – But before Zinzendorf and the Moravians at Bethlehem thus began the observance of the Sabbath and prospered, there was a small body of German Sabbath-keepers in Pennsylvania. See Rupp's "History of Religious Denominations in the United States," pp.109- 123


75

Reviews of the Reformers Concerning the Seventh-day Sabbath Resource Leonard Verduin (Reformers and their stepchildren. About Anabaptists) The Roman church had darkened the minds of the people with image worship, false teaching, festival, etc. to the point that it would be more for them [the reformers] to bare to go back to Sabbath keeping during time. The primary leaders of the reformation did not adopt Sabbath keeping even though they proclaimed the bible and the bible only. God led them step by step as they could bare the light. They did so much to bring them out of darkness and we see how it could be too much. But many of them had a clear understanding that keeping Sunday was not authorized by scripture. The reformers knew it was not based on the bible. Swiss confession "church may alter the day at pleasure" Cox's laws and Sabbath duties. Zwingli said it was lawful on the Lord's day (Sunday) to pursue labors after the worship service. Sunday had no sacredness according to the reformers. Note: if they treated Sunday as Sabbath, it would be works and not of faith. Basa - no cessation of work on the Lord's day is required of Christian. He did not observe Sunday as an ordinance. Booker – an apostasy of Christ to think working on Sunday is sinful. These men rejected the idea that Sunday was sacred. Kramer – the magistrates (civil rulers) said it was convenient to worship on that day. John Calvin – he does not assign Sunday establishment to Christ or the disciples. He describes the change to the ancients. He doesn't say the day that John call's the Lord's day, it is the day that 'we' or they called the Lord's day. False prophets in past ages have infected the people with a Jewish notion affirming that nothing but the ceremonial part of the commandment the 4th day has been changed. Note: He is saying that if anyone says Sunday should be kept like the Sabbath was is just changing the day, but they are clinging to the teachings of false prophets. He did not think it should be kept in a sabbatical manner. Troas he says Paul gathered the people together on Saturday not Sunday. He believed in the day for meeting was Saturday not Sunday. John Knox – To have one God and reverence His name, etc. are the works of the first table. He is saying certain principles apply to the first half of the commandments. And one is not observance of the seventh-day Sabbath. He believed the seventh-day Sabbath was done away. The Presbyterian church was inconsistent. They rejected mass and other things, but not Sunday observance. Point: Rome claims authority to change the Sabbath to Sunday. And upon this change they establish their authority. Protestants who follow do so inconsistently. They establish the mass and other superstitions, but they obtain Sunday observance the mark of Rome's authority. John Calvin believed that Sabbath could be any day and it was up to the church to change it. And Luther said you must keep it uniformly. They didn't agree on that. Luther put it more in context of a holy day than Zwingli, Calvin, and other Swiss reformers. Over time there was an estrangement between the Swiss reformers and the Luthern reformers. (Cox's Sabbath Laws and Sabbath duties)


76

England – 16th century Sabbath keepers were there. There were many 7th day Baptists. Francis White – Book: Treatise on the Sabbath Day

The Anabaptists Who was the Sabatarian that was a close colleague of Luther? Karlstot Who was the leader of the Sabatarian's in Transylvania? Divitis Where did the donovist live and what was their main argument with the Catholic church? North Africa & Intermingling the sword of the church with the sword of the state. They did not want the church to mingle with the state. They wanted the separation of church and state. What was the main argument of the stepchildren of the reformation against the reformers? Separate church and state. Get away from the sacral mentality. Lecture: Donotist = North Africa They were considered the radicals of the reformation. Today's their views would be considered normal, but back then they seemed to be extreme. But they were farther along than the reformers in terms of their understanding of the NT concept of society. At that time Anabaptists did not refer to a group of people, they were more scattered. They were excited about the reformation and they endorsed sola scriptura. As time went on they realized that Luther, Calvin and the rest of the Swiss reformers did not follow their own council. They were not willing to go all the way with the scriptures. They only went as far as they felt they could. Background: All pagan societies were sacral. In the pagan view the success of the nation is dependent upon pleasing the gods. But they are fical and vindictive, so unless all the members of society were faithful to this the gods could retaliate upon the state. So a deviation from this sacral worship, was considered treason, and they were worthy of punishment. The purpose was to keep society stable. If there was a famine or something, this was a result of someone not being faithful to the sacral community. They would look for blame if this happened. Christianity is not sacral. To be a Christian you had to believe certain things, and it is usually against what is considered normal to society. This puts the Christian at odds with the society. So because of this all of society could not be Christian. Only those who accept these doctrines could actually be Christians. When Constantine became Christian, the empire became Christian too. But it was sacral. His Christianity was contrary to what Christ said Render unto Caesar, my kingdom is not of this world. Etc. Jesus separated the gospel from society. When Peter took the sword, he was trying to defend the gospel. The gospel is not to be protected by a sword of steel. Constantine united state and church. It was not long until religious laws became oppressive. He replaced sacral paganism, with sacral Christianity (which is not true Christianity)


77

The donovists did not agree. They thought there should be a separation that was based off of the bible between church and state. The believed that state should keep peace in the market place in society but not with religion. Ecumenism is seen in a sacral society. It is tolerable as long as there is no exclusiveness. In a society you can believe what you want as long as we have a basic view that is similar. But if one steps outside of this and believe something exclusive aside from everyone else then you have now offended the sacral society and you can be punished. The ecumenical view brings all views together, which is what Constantine did by intermingling the church and state and forcing it through legislation, which is not right. The donovists saw themselves as a small group in society who were true to its claim; same with the Anabaptists, and those who are true SDA's will be the same. All pagan societies are pre-Christian societies, including, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Rome, and native Americans today. Aborigines too, they are sacral because they unite with the civil government. The donotists suffered for their views and were annihilated by papal conquests. But they believed that only the true believers could make up the true church, and this was the church that was driven in the wilderness, it was a result of a sacral view of society. When the Church of Rome used the arm of the state to enforce their religion, this drove them in the wilderness. All who could not support the sacral view of Constantine and their activity caused them to go underground. Communists are sacral in their view. The faithful went underground, and someday in this country and other free lands, they remnant will have to go underground because of a sacral view of society. Note: Adventism in principle is against a sacral society, but there are those in our church that have sacral views. The New Theology is supportive of all views so long as there are no exclusive views. If one says you are wrong and you will not be saved if you continue to believe this, then you step across the line, and the net result is that people are put out of communication with others. As the dark ages went on their views did not go out. They were carried through by the Waldensians and other reformers. There were many groups that spread these views. This was composite work. They were establishing the view of the gospel aside from the roman church. The Anabaptists upheld that everyone should be able to believe according to their conscience, and no state should force that all citizens should accept their established views. The inquisition was made to punish even the thought to go against this view. They were not cohesive in all that they believed, except in the view of church and state. The munster situation was one exception that led to an uprising that discredited the Anabaptists movement. In munster some Anabaptists tried to take matters into their own hand and get the civil authorities to accept their view on separation between church and state. They wanted the local government to accept a composite society. When they would not, there was an uprising that was squashed by the civil government. They were trying to force the state to uphold this view. This did not happen until USA came in.

Anabaptists & Reformers The reformers rejected the idea of the Anabaptists of having a composite society. They felt like it would undermine society, they were sacral in their view. They accused them of being NeoDonovists, although others believed this too. But this gave support to the papacy of accusing the reformers of their movement bringing chaos. The reformers taught that the church was made up of believes, but they upheld a sacral society where all people were a part of the established church. The reformers were trying to reform the church and not the society. They saw the church and the clergy as the problem, not the whole


78

concept of a sacral society. They didn’t see that the clergy was the way they were because of a sacral society; they were coming out of centuries of a sacral view of society, thus God used them to bring God's church out of darkness, but His people were not ready to go all the way into a composite society. This is the upside and downside of the reformation. Luther could not have done this even if he believed it, because they needed support of the secular government to support the reformation at this state. They needed the protection of the secular state behind them. God knew He had to bring it step by step. So the Anabaptists that were way ahead who laid the foundation had to suffer. They laid the foundation to go the next step. Mennites, Omish, etc. come from Anabaptists roots. God needed more time. The protestant loyalty to the scriptures who lead the people to wanting a composite society, it eventually led them to decide between the two societies. The Anabaptists were as salt to develop or influence society. A composite society allows this persuasion to take place by the Christian (or us today as SDA). They came to the conclusion that Christendom was myth in their more developed ideas. You can't force people to believe, it is a matter of the heart. This was their underline principle. You can't be born and baptized and be a true Christian. They had to be re-baptized and if not they said they could not be true Christians. They were champions of the idea that the gospel was not an outward form, but an inward experience. SDA's must be rooted historically in the Anabaptists. We are the champions of the Donovists and Anabaptists idea of having a separation of church and state. Until the end of time we will fight this issue.


79

The Church, What Is It? Catholic View and Protestant View Quiz: Why were the Anabaptists called Donovists by the reformers? Because they believe in the separation of church and state like the Donovists did. What is the meaning of Anabaptist? Re-baptizes. List as many of the causes of the French Revolution as you can

Roman Catholic View Visible Church = Organized hierarchy of the church. Because of a sacral view they came to this view. They viewed it exclusively as the structure of the religious system. You could not be a part of the church or saved unless you were connected with the church. Membership = Dependent upon your relationship to the hierarchy. Invisible Church = What is seen in heaven. Unseen realities, you cannot be a part of it unless you are a part of their church on earth. "bond on earth, loose in heaven" Catholics applied this to their leadership. They said the pope and hierarchy, have the keys to the earth, they determine who is saved and who is lost. Their concept of the church replaces the ministry of Christ to a human ministry. This is a result of a sacral society. Roman Catholicism retorts the relationship between God and man.

Protestant View Visible Church = A body of believers with Christ as the Soul (they were using the immortality of the soul as an illustration. Soul can't be seen, Body can, this is erroneous, but what they believed). Also a company of Christ like people in whom the Holy Spirit has called, enlightened, and sanctified through the preaching of the Word, which changes the mind, and sanctifies the heart through the power of the Holy Spirit. The members must have a relationship with Christ, and the collective body must have a relationship too. And this church will be seen wherever faith is worked out. This is the visible church. Invisible Church = Secret hidden fellowship with Christ. You are drawing light from the unseen. But this life has an outward manifestation of fruit. It includes witnessing. The Catholic Church was only an outward relationship. You can't be a true member of the church and not have a relationship as well. Even though they said this, they still said we must all be sacral. So as a result all the people did not have this. This was the problem with the reformers, and the Anabaptists tried to show them this. They knew there was an invisible physical church; in heaven we will be direct communion with the visible church. But you could only be a part if you had an invisible connection with Christ. Two aspects of the invisible church: Invisible relationship and Invisible unseen realities. The invisible was a part of both the visible and invisible church in the universe.

Wycliffe "Morning Star" but not the Sun, he was the beginning of light that sprang forth on the people. View: The church is the communion of the elect. Calvin developed the idea of the elect and he came to the view of predestination. Some chosen to be lost or saved. It is Christ body or His bride. To be part of the invisible you must be in communion with Him. If you will be a member of the elect (the visible),


80

you also had to be in communion with Christ. You must be called by God to be a part of the church. God only knows who is called. Includes all who are the elect of God. It is narrower because it excludes hypocrites, half-hearted, even if you are clergy. It is broader because it accepted more than just Catholics.

Anglican Church View Church = Visible church of Christ is a congregation of faithful men in which the pure Word of God is preached, and the sacraments delivered. Note: John Wesley didn't believe this. He did not see it as a body in which the pure word of God was preached and the sacraments given. How come there can't be faithful souls wherever they are, they have a relationship with God even if in error. Anglican went beyond Wesley's view and other reformers. You can be faithful to God even if you never entered a church or had communion. Adventism: We have the Wesley concept. It is in harmony with the bible. John 9 blind man, Christ accepted the outcasts. This man was cast out of the church. Christ found him and it says the man worshipped Jesus, even though he was cast out of the church. He even had false concepts of God. As long as they followed Him, they were a part. We also believe there are many who are not of this fold, they are sincere in wherever they are. Church: No matter what the number is small or great, they are a part of the church. It is not the building where people gather. It is the assembly of the people that gather together. Wherever God's people are together. Those who have been called out of the world who have one body, one faith, one baptism, etc. Those who fellowship with Christ.

Seventh-day Adventist Visible Church = ST "God's presence is not confined to the splendid edifice…cotton tent..repulsive in the sight of God." Wherever God is, there is where His church is…"God has a church…various denominations…keep his commandments." She is not saying that it is a denomination in this statement. Note: There are other statements where she talks about the visible SDA church being the church of God. The structure or visible SDA church on earth. She speaks of the church in many ways. She doesn't limit it to one definition. In this statement she refers to both the visible and invisible. "Where Christ is even among the humble view...this is Christ's church." The presence of God constitutes the church. Where Christ is this is where His church is. (one definition) MR "two or three are gathered together…professing Christian who is not one in practice is not in this promise….voice of Christ…fullness."

This is speaking of the voice of the church AA 11 The church is God's fortress. His city of refuge, which He holds in a revolted world. Any betrayal of the church is treachery to Him who has bought mankind with the blood of His onlybegotten Son. From the beginning, faithful souls have constituted the church on earth.

She is speaking of the visible church that which people can see. She then describes how the faithful church has always been. The unfaithful are not part of the visible church *PO Rev 12:1 – this also shows that this woman represents all those who have ever been faithful to God. It also shows that these people were brought into a covenant relationship with God. Then it shows how the church has been passed from generation to generation. She has a concept of both the visible church and the invisible. The faithful visible members are http://breachrepairers.webs.com/

81

united with the invisible members in heaven. Contrasts: Catholic = You are united with the church in heaven through the hierarchy. Adventist = you are united with the church in heaven when you are united in a covenant relationship with Christ. AA 12 During ages of spiritual darkness the church of God has been as a city set on a hill. From age to age, through successive generations, the pure doctrines of heaven have been unfolding within its borders. Enfeebled and defective as it may appear, the church is the one object upon which God bestows in a special sense His supreme regard. It is the theater of His grace, in which He delights to reveal His power to transform hearts.

Whatever borders this may be. Ex. Waldensians or others, God unfolded it in the process. Be careful with this statement. It does not say that the church structure is the supreme object of God's regard, she said previously that faithful souls constitute the church. These faithful souls are the object of God's supreme regard. This doesn't mean that the structure is not a part of it, but there is a bigger picture behind this all. Note: There are times when EGW makes comments concerning the Adventist church being God's church. She refers to it as being God's remnant church. When does the GC has authority as the voice of God, and when does it not? GC as the voice of God. 1901 – The GC is the voice of God, when the GC's decisions are in harmony with the Word of God. If it is out of step with the Word of God, they are no longer the voice of God.


82

France & the French Revolution Sermon: (For objection to strong anti-papal movements) 1.) "Dilemma in France" Start in Rev 12 church fled into the Wilderness, then go to Rev 11 explaining why we should be careful in how we approach teaching against Rome. Support: GC French Reformation 2.) "Daniel 11 King of the South"

Netherlands & Scandinavia This was the home of Meno Simons. He was the founder of the Mennonites. These were Anabaptists. He recognized that among the AB there were many sound ideas and views. He supported the views, but not the fanaticism. He was concerned about the uprising in munster. He knew it would bring reproach on the cause of the AB. He kept confirming the people and teaching them in the Netherlands. They stood for the separation of church and state, but they were ahead of their time. The time had not yet come; He had to bring others out of darkness. When God brought these views into place within nations, they were based in the new world, not in the old world. The old world was deeply established in their way of thinking. And it was hard for them to adopt new ideas and change what they have thought for thousands of years. It would have been very difficult for God to establish the separation of church and state principle in Europe. That is why in Rev 13 we have a lamb-like beast, a new young lamb, and they established these principles and became the pattern for others such as Australia. And eventually the old world was influenced by it. God raised the new world up to help bring the old world out of darkness. In Scandinavia Tausen from Denmark who was a devoted monk, brought the reform faith there. He could choose any university in Europe except for Wittenberg. So he went to Colonse. He went there for a while and went to Wittenberg later. It is human nature to tell someone not to do something and they do it. We are curious. God allows opposition to come to the work so it will be more powerful. This is one of God's methods of making His work effective, and this separates the sheep from the goat. Those who are faithful will follow the work. There were two people named Olave Petry and Laurentias Petey. They went and studied at Witternberg under Luther, and they came back to Sweden in Scandinavia, and with the support of the king they went and began preaching. They were in Orebro. King Goosetoff was wise. He did not rise up opposition to Rome through politics. He was open to the reformation. He protected the truth, so it could be presented. He eventually realized that the Roman bishops had taken away all their wealth and monarchal rights. They had subjected their throne to Rome. So the kings helped Goosetoff recover some wealth and authority as civil rulers from the bishops. Then the bishops were not happy. When the reform doctrines were preached all over Sweden, the prelates were quite concerned, so they worked on Goosetoff to keep him from allowing it to happen. They complained, but he saw the problem was with the Monks, they were selling sins, and this caused their money to go to Rome. Most of their money went to Rome. He was determined to do what he could to stop it. In order to deal with this problem, it was necessary to translate the bible into the language of the people. So the king supported Oreoff in translating the NT. Which Bible did he translate? Luther's Bible. It was translated into the Swedish language. Luther's Bible came from the uncorrupt text. When this NT was published, the king was pleased and he ordered Oloff and his brother Laurence to publish the OT too. While they were translating it the prelates went to the king and argued that the translation that was done was not scholarly and they needed another translation, and that they


83

should stop that translation and let the bishops translate. They were referring to the corrupt texts. So the king didn't trust them. How could those who suppressed the bible bring one out? He was wise, he knew they would not finish it any time soon. Oloff and Laurence put out a bible that allowed the people to have the truth, the Word of God. The Word of God reforms the church and the nation! 100 years later. Rome made one final attempt to conquer northern Europe. It was known as the 30 year war, and Rome had a lot of success with their armies going into Germany conquering city after city. It looked like they would not be conquered, but the sons of the Swedes were willing to stand up against them because of Oloff and Laurence. They were the only nation willing to stand up. They came down under Goosetoff and they defeated the Emperor's armies. He defeated them, which drove the papal troops back south, and they were confined within their own borders. Europe is still free today because of Oloff and Laurence. Extra: One last attempt was made to take over Britain too. They tried to use the Spanish Armada. The British navy was outcome and out maneuvered, and they people began to pray that God would preserve them. God allowed the midst to come in on the ships and they could maneuver easily around the other ships and blew them to pieces. They sunk many ships, and they had to flee. Tremendous victory for the protestant cause, and a tremendous defeat for Rome.

Spanish Armada Because a lot of the Empire became Protestant they lost a lot of revenue as a result they had to try and control the people. But England, wanted to control the world. At this time Spain was the power of the world. And these were Catholic conquests. They conquer the south of the west, and that is way we have many Spanish places in South America. The English settled the north. It was a global conquest between Spain and England. Rome saw this, and knew that if England remained Protestant then the world would become Protestant. That meant that if the sun never set on the English empire then the Sun would set on the Roman Empire. She knew that she had to do something. This is the reasons why Rome sent Spain to attack England, to recapture the Protestants and make it Catholic. The Spanish Armada were massive ships which much fire power. They were waiting in the English Channel, for some more ships from the Dutch, during this time the English prayed and prepared to fight. They only had about 30 ships, the knew the channel, and they knew that only if there was some kind of bad weather would stop them. Fog came down and the ships could not see. Then the English came right up close to these ships and blasted them. God needed America to be disconnected to Rome, and this was to be down by beginning Protestant, and Republic. This could only be if there was no strong ties to Rome, and the Spanish where connected very deeply to the Roman Catholic Church. So God took these steps;  England > Colonies America


84

   

Language Geographic Political Religious

These things created the gulf, between America and Rome, however this gulf has now been bridged. England was a very important power in protecting America.

The reasons they Rome sent the Spanish Armada   

Rejected her authority The Prostates had rejected the Vulgate (her bible) o Rejected the Jesuits (1582 Bible English) Rejected her presence

France French Reformation France started out in the reform under a man named Lefevra. He linked up with the bishop of Moe. And they did a great work in France. He was a professor at the university of Paris. He gave up on Rome and became a reformer when he got the light. He taught the students, one named William Ferrell. He was a relative of the Waldensians. He was concerned about defending Rome, but he accepted the reform doctrines. He went to Geneva and met up with Calvin. He had to flee from Paris. Louie D'Berquee. He was a bold man, he was ready to do and die for God. He was a friend of Erasmus, but he was under assault from the bishops and it looked as if he would die. He was warned to flee from Paris, but he didn’t want to. Ellen called him a time-server " At all events, do not compromise me with the faculty of theology." GC 216 He was more worried about his reputation than the honor of God, and this is why he was a timeserver. Many reformers were persecuted. Burquin was not like that, he was in prison many times. GC 218 At the stake, Berquin endeavored to address a few words to the people; but the monks, fearing the result, began to shout, and the soldiers to clash their arms, and their clamor drowned the martyr's voice. Thus in 1529 the highest literary and ecclesiastical authority of cultured Paris "set the populace of 1793 the base example of stifling on the scaffold the sacred words of the dying."--Ibid., b, 13, ch. 9.

Calvin As Calvin was studying he came in contact with his cousin who was a Waldensian named Olivetan (Calvin was related to the Waldensians) he translated a bible for the Waldensians. Olivetan " "There are but two religions in the world," said Olivetan, the Protestant. "The one class of religions are those which men have invented, in all of which man saves himself by ceremonies and good works; the other is that one religion which is revealed in the Bible, and which teaches man to look for salvation solely from the free grace of God." {GC 220.1} "I will have none of your new doctrines," exclaimed Calvin; "think you that I have lived in error http://breachrepairers.webs.com/

85

all my days?" --Wylie, b. 13, ch. 7. {GC 220.2}" Many of us are at peace in our errors. We start with a reaction. God stirs us up to help us. And like Paul he became a powerful reformer. "While still engaged in these fruitless struggles, Calvin, chancing one day to visit one of the public squares, witnessed there the burning of a heretic. He was filled with wonder at the expression of peace which rested upon the martyr's countenance. Amid the tortures of that dreadful death, and under the more terrible condemnation of the church, he manifested a faith and courage which the young student painfully contrasted with his own despair and darkness, while living in strictest obedience to the church." Calvin was in darkness, this martyr didn't know it would bring Calvin, God can use a bad experience to bring others to a knowledge of truth. Calvin had to flee from persecution, he went to Geneva and met William Ferrell. And eventually this became the center for his reformation.

Dilemma in France The King of France was vacillating between the Catholics and the Protestants. The Hugenots, it was over political reasons. He switched support. Rome was anxious to keep him with Rome. But because of the power of the Hugenots with their economic success. (Artisans etc. the were the genenius of France). Some zealous reformers made a mistake. They wanted to strike a blow against Rome in France. They posted up writings against the Mass and other things. They objected certain key Roman doctrines. GC 224-225 The French Reformers, eager to see their country keeping pace with Germany and Switzerland, determined to strike a bold blow against the superstitions of Rome, that should arouse the whole nation. Accordingly placards attacking the mass were in one night posted all over France. Instead of advancing the reform, this zealous but ill-judged movement brought ruin, not only upon its propagators, but upon the friends of the reformed faith throughout France. It gave the Romanists what they had long desired--a pretext for demanding the utter destruction of the heretics as agitators dangerous to the stability of the throne and the peace of the nation. By some secret hand--whether of indiscreet friend or wily foe was never known--one of the placards was attached to the door of the king's private chamber. The monarch was filled with horror. In this paper, superstitions that had received the veneration of ages were attacked with an unsparing hand. And the unexampled boldness of obtruding these plain and startling utterances into the royal presence aroused the wrath of the king. In his amazement he stood for a little time trembling and speechless. Then his rage found utterance in the terrible words: "Let all be seized without distinction who are suspected of Lutheresy. I will exterminate them all.--Ibid., b. 4, ch. 10. The die was cast. The king had determined to throw himself fully on the side of Rome.”

This set a great lost for the reformation in France, we don’t know if it was friend or foe. Many people lost their lives, so they found someone who wanted to sell the Protestants to survive, and the result was that France rejected the reformation, not entirely, but partly because of an ill-conceived idea. Note: Billboards attacking the Pope. Magazines strongly anti-papal. All this does is set a stage for retribution later. It creates a reaction in the minds of those who may have accepted the truth if presented in the right manner. We must be careful in our missionary labors in how we approach the subject of Rome. We must watch how we speak of it to those who don’t realize it. http://breachrepairers.webs.com/

86

GC 230 When France rejected the gift of heaven, she sowed the seeds of anarchy and ruin; and the inevitable outworking of cause and effect resulted in the Revolution and the Reign of Terror.

235 – Jesuits effectively spread through Europe. Wherever they went a revival of popery followed.

French Revolution Key reason why it came about: (1) Because of the suppression of the Scriptures (2) The corruption of the Roman priests and their abuse of power. (3) Incessant persecution of the Protestants to where they fled and left France to other countries and taking their economic power with them. (4) Economic decay. a. Loss of middle class. When you just have rich and poor it is an element for revolution. (5) Immorality of the nation (6) Loss of civil rights (7) Agricultural decay (8) Intellectual dullness (9) Corruption of justice. a. No confidence between the people and the rulers. Note: Every single one of these issues is being developed in America except for persecution, and that will come. This happened over centuries. All these things, and eventually the people rose up and said we want our rights. Over 2,000 priests were killed alone. EGW: All of this was the result of the influence and oppression of Rome. The result was the overthrow of all Christian religion. The people didn't want anything to do with this, if this was Christianity. (*PO This is Daniel 11 right here STUDY!!) Atheism ruled supreme. They setup the goddess of reason, which was the worship of the mind, exalting human thought against God. Voltaire developed this philosophy. The reign of terror went on for 3 ½ years. The Bible was outlawed and any religion other than the state religion was outlawed. After 3 ½ years the country was so devastated that they had to do something to solve the problem. Revelation 11 – Two witnesses would rise up again. This chapter talks about the French Revolution. After 3 ½ years the bible was again tolerated. The Law of Toleration was installed in the French government, and the circulation of the Bible was possible. Shortly thereafter in 1804 the British Informed Bible Society circulated bibles all over the world in due time. The effect of the French Revolution is still seen today. In Paris they studied Marx, Lennon, and Stallan, and the result was atheistic communism. Which in only a few years ago was still in power. Communism may be gone in some places, but where it is Socialism in principle is still around. We


87

have communism in China, Cuba, North Korea, and other places. But God will break through this. He will develop circumstances so His Word can be proclaimed to the fullness at the end of time. The French Revolution was a direct result of the inquisition. Human beings became so fed up with the church that there was a revolt. There was another form of government that arose nearly at the same time. 1776 – the American colonies rebelled against the English rule. It lead to a Constitutional Republic that was a response to the inquisition. Inquisition The victim was assumed guilty It was up to the victim to prove his innocence The accused was not permitted to know his accuser The crimes for which you are being tried is hidden from the accused Can be tortured The accused was permitted to lawyer, but circumstances were such that it was impossible to find someone to represent you Judge is the tribunal – There on way to appeal Appeals – same judge There was pecuniary profit in denouncing someone Forbidden of freedom of speech, press and assembly

Constitution of the United States The accused is innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt The ownice is on the accuser to prove the guilty of the accused The accused has to face his accuser If you are accused, you are allowed to know what the accusations are against you so you could disprove them Cannot be tortured You are allowed to have a lawyer/council and the lawyer/council is immune from any suspicion of wrong doing just because he represents you The tribunal are peers Several levels of Appeals courts There is no pecuniary gain Freedom of speech, press and assembly

The effect on society Every book published had to be reviewed by the inquisition. Education was stifled. Families were afraid of each other. Children could denounce their parents, and vice versa. Society developed a fear that somehow somebody whom you worked with or knew would lead you to the destruction of your physical property and maybe even your physical life as well – it was very suspicious and distrustful. The inquisition was everywhere, but it was not as bad as in Spain. It destroyed all originality of thought. It leads to the destruction of everything in society that was worthwhile. Men’s life depended on how well they lied. It leads to the destruction of moral obligations. Without these key point society was not going to advance or grow, there would be fear and poverty; 1. Freedom of speech – There is not development of culture, science, politics a. This is the need for the foundation of the rest of freedoms, like property, press, education, religion, economy etc. The lead to the decline of the empire and all the good things. With out the freedom of speech society stagnates.


88

2. Freedom of the Press a. Books had to be approved by the Inquisition b. You need to be able to write what you believe which is the written version of the freedom of speech. 3. The right of public assembly a. If you cant hold a meeting then what can you do? You don’t have a venue to promote your ideas. 4. The right to worship according to ones conscience 5. Must not have an established church a. If there is an established church there is no way you can have freedom in the true sense. If people live in fear they leave their motivation to advance themselves, if its going to be taken away why bother? Just live out your life and don’t bother anyone.

Story Henry Charles – “The history of Inquisition in connection with Spain” (1890)

Printing Press Invented by Guttenberg – The Church was worried, and so the Pope tried to suppress the printing press, a bishop told him not to suppress it because they could use it, so it was not suppressed. Without the press the Protestant Reformation could not have taken off, because they needed the eastern manuscripts and a press. God was working behind the scenes to bring all these things together to create dynamite that almost blow the hat of the pope.


89

The French Revolution & Its Contrast with the Reformation Lecture: What were the reasons for the French Revolution? (1) Suppression of the Scriptures a. Persecution of Protestants, resulting in the loss of the top quality of people. The artisans (2) Abuse of power a. They usurped the power of the kings, princes, and nobles. These were the magistrates. They came under the power of the papacy. (3) Corruption of the clergy (4) Moral Decay (5) Loss of civil rights (6) Decline of the economy (7) Decline in intellectual development (8) Decline in agriculture (9) Destruction of the family a. Rome was foremost because a lot of people went to the monastery, and people became celibate. (10) Corruption of Justice These conditions brought on the French Revolution. And these were the same precise conditions that brought on the Reformation. Both of them came as a result of these conditions. The conditions created an environment for them both. What is the basic difference between these two? The bible In France the bible was not only suppressed by expelled. And the result was bloodshed and the total overthrow of the society, it became anarchy. God uses the bible to preserve people even under situations that are not the most favorable. It is used to preserve people. The Protestant revolution over threw the papacy, but not society. The French Revolution over threw both. Why? Because of the bible. The bible separated the carnal issue from the spiritual issues. The bible helps to elevate the morals. It removes corruption and corrects abuse. It elevates morals, the intellect, agriculture, the family, and corruption of justice is corrected. France replaced Catholicism with Atheism. Under atheism if you did not conform you didn't have certain advantages. The sacral society had to be overthrown with the papacy. The bible will play a central role in the last days. The people neglect to study the bible, so we have to bring them back to the law of God.

England In a sacral society the state and church are linked together. It was designed to make the state and church more pure, but it did the opposite. After a time the dissenters of the church of England, those who didn't agree with the established doctrines and principles, they were persecuted and expelled from Britain. God rose up someone to proclaim the truth during this time. During this time a lot of Anglican pastors were expelled. So a lot


90

of puritans ended up in prison or in exile. John Bunyan wrote Pilgrim's Progress. Books were written to help many people understand salvation. Ellen White tells us to read the writing of these great men. (humm..check) 3 Men rose up: Whitfield, Wesley, and Wesley Whitfield was a good preacher. These were pioneers of a second reformation. They dissented from England because the England church digressed because of their connection with Rome. The spirituality went to a low point, to the point of works. GC 253 They were persecuted from city to city and they were beaten. Someone punched John Wesley in the face. One man came to punch him and stroked his hair and say what soft hair you have.

Wesley's They were sent by the Anglican Church to America for missionary work. In the ship there were a group of German Moravan brothers. They were from Moravia (East of Czech) they had their roots in the bohemian reformation under John Huss, they were effected by the teachings 100 years later. They were calm while the water was coming in the ship. He asked them do they fear the lost of life? They said no. And he said our women and children are not afraid to die. Wesley in Britain was under the guidance of a minister and he experienced RBF, he realized the life of works was worthless. Whitfield and the Wesley's had some disagreements. These differences threatened alienation. But because of humiliation they worked together. GC 258 The differences between Whitefield and the Wesleys threatened at one time to create alienation; but as they learned meekness in the school of Christ, mutual forbearance and charity reconciled them. They had no time to dispute, while error and iniquity were teeming everywhere, and sinners were going down to ruin.

She says the flock needs Present truth now. Our Pastors to often preach pleasant truth instead of Present truth. They don’t understand it. They push Evangelical Protestantism, which contain the errors of Satan. Sin and live, law no longer valid, life after death, this is coming in Adventism steadily. Our pillars are being undermined. The pillars are the present truth. When one seeks to undermine the pillars you are not dealing with a minor issue. Ex. 144,000 is not a huge issue. When inspiration is clear on something there is not point to argue. When she says Christ life was 'unborrowed and underived' you can share this with people who say He is not divine. Our minds must be steeped in the Word of God, and then in God's time, He will bring to our attention what we need to share with the flock, those things that are the most important. The Wesley's did a great work in Great Britain. They were accused of much, and derisively they were called the Methodists. They chose the name that was used against them to mark them. The Methodist connection, which were a circle of those who supported their work, eventually evolved into the Methodist church.


91

Their work was to bring Britain out of darkness and bring them back into the light of the Bible. GC 260 Their doctrine is too strict; they make the way to heaven too narrow.' 'I may not bring down the Scripture to your taste. You must come up to it, or perish forever.' This is the real ground of that other popular cry concerning 'the uncharitableness of these men.' Uncharitable, are they? In what respect? Do they not feed the hungry and clothe the naked? 'No; that is not the thing: they are not wanting in this: but they are so uncharitable in judging! they think none can be saved but those of their own way…The spiritual declension which had been manifest in England just before the time of Wesley was in great degree the result of antinomian teaching.

Antinomianism is overthrowing the law in the life of the believer. This is the idea that the moral law was abolished and the Christian is no longer obligation to keep it. He attacked predestination, once saved always saved. Irresistible grace. The issue has always been over the law. Rome over threw it, the reformers tried to bring it back. The reformers tried to do it, and the second pioneer's the reformers tried to bring it back. Wesley also did a work of publication or tracts and he also did education. He was an itinerate preacher, education, and publisher.

Pilgrim Fathers Who were they? The puritan dissenters. They were expelled from Britain. They wanted the pure word of God, they did not agree with the Anglican Church, they didn't think they should financially support something they couldn't hold in their life or be forced to worship. They ended up in the Netherlands. The Dutch republic, they were supportive of liberty. The puritans found it difficult to live there because it was a different language, they had to make up new trades, they could not fit in to the society. So when it came time for the new world and the colonies were developed in America, the puritans saw an opportunity to come to USA and establish their colonies. They built their churches. They had not yet learn to get from under a sacral society. Conditions were coming in for a new style of government that God would establish. In the new world, God could take things a step further. All those who didn't agree with the Puritans were dissenters. Then Roger William's came along and he came to Rhode Island, the colony in Massachusetts bay. He had to flee from persecution because of the ecclesiastical and civil authority of the colony. He had to live in a hallow long and he lived off of roots. He met some Indians and they were friends and he helped them mediate with the puritans. Then he went to Rhode Island and set up a colony and they could believe what they wanted to. They could go to church if they wanted to, and if not they didn't. The colony prospered. The Quakers in Pennsylvania started their society with civil and religious principles. The colonists in Virginia created their religious civil connection. God knew that this could not last in this big land. And if a government would rise up, it would have to tolerate all of these religions. Then we have the Baptists in VA. They came from the Anabaptist line of thinking. They had no where to come, so they set up organizations and communities in the larger colonies. The main point was that the conditions were right for God to change the government concept from sacral to a composite society. The union of church and state had to come to an end. Otherwise the truth of God and the final climatic events surrounding His last proclamation to a fallen world, had to have a ground to flourish and grow. So the USA was the ideal place for Him to rise up His remnant church. This colonization of the new world was God's way of developing conditions for His remnant church to rise.


92

The American Constitution & the Separation of Church and State Book: Citizen's Rule Book (it has the rights of the constitution.); Get some photo copies of this book that he uses The documented history of the struggle for religious liberty in VA by Charles James. Story: man being beaten for his life seen by Patrick Henry King John: Encyclopedia. The 11th Edition on the Magna Charta. Photo Copy H-land library. Quiz: Who was the primary Methodist preacher? John Wesley What group of people were on board the ship when Wesley was going to the USA? The Moravians Who was the founder of religious liberty in the states? Roger Williams What colony did he establish? The Rhode Island colony

3 Quarrels of King John He was a 13th century king who was quarreling with the pope, France, his barons in the castle over money. He wanted more money from them. He was an English king. He was fighting with the pope over the bishop of Canterbury, he wanted to appoint him, but the pope wanted to too. France over who was going to possess Normandy? Under the French crown or the English crown? These quarrel's led him in to a great difficulty. He ended up establishing principles of a constitutional monarchy to keep his throne. Once the arch bishop was in place, king John tried to use him to get more money from the vassals. They came into league against him. The baron's leagued together for their rights. During that time he sent troops to France over the crown, but he lost, he came back greatly weakened. He needed to recover the lost, so he asked for a third more of money, so they marched on London. In 1215 a council was held at Runnimead. The baron's presented king john with a list of conditions for them to give their loyalty back to them. These rights guaranteed their rights as Nobel's and baron's and he agreed and signed it. This was formed into a document known as the Magna Charta. It asserted the liberties of the Nobles. Not the people. They were considered possessions, it didn't guarantee them liberty. It guaranteed certain rights for the nobility. There was a separation of powers. They took away some of the power of the monarchy and put it in their hands. 300 years passed until the reformation. During this time there was a gradual increase in independency of the nobility of England. The Magna Charta gave a legal basis for constitutional government. It laid a foundation for what was to come. It was appealed to as a model to develop other political relationships as well as legal relationships. God was developing circumstances, and resources that would come together later for the reformation and the principles for the USA. Once the MC was established, King John appealed to the pope to help establish his monarchy. So the Pope passed a Bull to do away with the MC, but the baron's would not let it happen. Overtime before the reformation began, a series of revisions and confirmations were given that lead to constitutional monarchy. The liberties were increased for the barons, and the monarchy was limited. It laid the foundation for freedom for everyone. The more freedom you have in a country


93

the more they have gained for those in the higher positions. 1215 is when the MC started, overtime it gained significance, so when the reformation came 300 years later it developed. The reformation changed the liberty of the nobles to the people. The bible brings liberty. So the principles filtered down to the common people. the MC and reformation established the foundation for liberty in Britain and other countries.

Colonies of the New World 550 years after the MC these came. There were many colonies. MASS, NY, PENN (Quakers) William Penn imprisoned for his beliefs. Penns Wood, Pennsylvania. Philadelphia which means brotherly love, it was a Quaker colony. Then we have VA. It then included WEST VA, they separated because in the civil war, WEST VA sided with the North, and VA sided with the South over slavery. Various arguments arose between the colonies and there kings. Especially Mass and VA. They didn't like being taxed by the king and not being able to say anything, they didn't have any say in the parliament. This led to the Boston Tea Party. Late one night a group of Colonists dressed like Indians boarded the ship and threw the boxes of tea over the ship in protests not having representation. All the colonies were separate, there was no form of government established as of yet.

Declaration of Independence All of them were sacral societies, and they were intolerant of dissenting views from their colonies. Whatever the colony, they were intolerant except for Rhode Island. The people worshipped as they pleased. Study Roger Williams (get a book on his history). The tension between the king and the colonies was so great until the colonies banded together to go against the king and declare themselves independent. So in 1776 we saw the declaration of independence. This resulted in war between the king of England and the colonies, he sent his troops to the colonies to re-subjugate the colonies to the throne, and the colonies raised up Militia in order to fight off the British. This was to establish the liberties of the people. This was the purpose of the revolution. The war effort was a challenge to the colonies and it was an extensive war for the colonies, but they won and defeated the British and they won and the USA became an independent nation. In the process the famous wealthy men like James Madison, Monroe, and Adams, they sacrificed their wealth to establish the nation. They died poor men.

Virginia Colony They played a pivotal role within the 13th colonies in deciding the religious liberties in this nation. This was the home of James Madison (other side of Orange). It is also the home of Thomas Jefferson (Monticello). History books are arguing saying what they believed and what they didn't Thomas Jefferson was a humanist, he believed in some sort of god, but he was strongly connected to France, he was an ambassador for a while. But he was a strong believer in individual liberty and freedom and to believe what you want. James Madison was the person who drafted the constitution of VA and the USA.


94

The Parliament in VA was a sacral society and they were concerned about religious conformity. Those who lived in Williamsburg were expected to be in church every Sunday, and if not you were fined to prison and you could end up in stocks. The government was concerned and many people who were members of the church of Scotland, which are the Presbyterians, they came to VA and they wanted more tolerance. Note: the reason why the people who preached had to have a license for themselves and the venue. The Anglican clergy were determined to maintain a hold on the religion of VA. After the revolution they became the Episcopal Church. This happened after they separated from England. It was Anglican the Church of England, but they are now the Episcopal Church. They are independent of the Church of England in America now. When the civil government broke away from England, they also had to break the church away from England. Governor Gouch said we will give you licenses as long as you apply and accept the licenses. We will tolerate it as long as you adhere to the authority of the state or colony. And he followed through and the Presbyterians established themselves in VA. They wanted more people to come to strengthen them, so they could do better financially, it strengthened the colony. So they were willing to tolerate other views.

The Baptists But when the Baptists came to Va they didn't believe in toleration but liberty. When they came governor Gouch offered them the same thing, but they said our commission to preach is from God and not from man. If we accept a license from man it also implies they could remove this license and we will not be following what God has told us to do. So they said on religions and conscientious grounds we cannot receive a license. So they established their homes, communities and practices independent of the common wealth of VA or the state. The Anglican bishops were quite upset, and so the Baptists faced persecution. Patrick Henry saw a man being beaten mercilessly, he could see the bones in his back and the blood coming out. One told him this was a Baptist minister who refused to receive a license to preach, so they persecuted him to the fullest extent of the law, the Anglicans persecuted him, he was taken away then beaten a couple of days later and he died in Culpepper. James Madison was driving through Orange. And while he was there he heard one preaching, and inside the prison one was preaching through the bars to the people. He was imprisoned for not accepting a license. He was a Baptist preacher. This affected James Madison. He was a sacral in thinking (but this influenced him), but he thought why should this man suffer in prison for his beliefs and calling, when he left the Old World to find a new life of freedom here. Why should he suffer in this New world. This stayed in his mind and when he worked on the constitution of VA he remembered this. When the war of independence came along and the declaration of independence was signed, the atmosphere changed in these colonies, they knew they would have to raise up a militia to fight the British soldiers, the kings armies. They knew the new colony would have to establish its own government its own constitution. So in the house of burgesses or parliament met. All the representative of VA came together to make the Constitution of VA. Two events were going on: Preparation for war, and establishing a new government. The Baptist knew they couldn't get religious freedom at this stage, but they got their foot in the door. They went to parliament and said they would give militia if their own chaplains could minister to them. The parliament knew that this would cause trouble. The knew after the war the Baptists would press for religious freedom, but they needed the militia, so they had to grant them. There were many


95

Anglican chaplains to minister to them, so how come we can't? We will give Baptists to give their blood to bring independence to this colony, but we must have our clergy. So they reluctantly granted it. And after the war was over, the Baptist came and said we fought in the war and gave our blood for independence, now we also want our freedom. So the new government granted it. But something else was going on simultaneously with this. As they were working on the constitution in VA. The Baptists sent 3 ministers one was John Leiland. They went to the house of burgesses and they were lobbying for religious liberty among the representatives that were putting it together. One day James Madison handed a copy of the draft to these men. And they read it and went back to James and said there is a problem the article says that all men will be able to worship as their conscience dictates as long as they don't disturb the peace. They said this is unacceptable. Who determines who disturbs the peace? And what if I go preach and someone doesn't like the preaching as says he disturbs the peace, then what? He saw this point because he remembered what happened to the man. So he went back to the committee and had the part that said disturbs the peace taken out. And it just said that all men in common wealth of VA could worship according to their conscience. This is the first common wealth that provided actual religious liberty.

Federal Constitution After the war they came together in PA for the constitutional convention to establish a federal constitution. The federalists won out against the monarchists. Patrick Henry the one who said 'give me liberty or death' was a monarchists. He and James were at odds with each other in burgesses. Va was the swing state. Out of 13 9 had to approve the constitution. 8 had approved it, and 4 did not. And VA had the last vote, which way would they go? And there was a great struggle in VA. Anglican wanted to hang on to a sacral view, but the Baptists came back and argued very strongly that it was the established church becomes the corrupt church, it oppressed other churches. So it went back and forth, until the VA constitution settled the matter. Once this happened VA could enter the PA constitution. But in order to do that they had to send delegates. The people elected and sent them. Patrick didn't want James to go. They said his word was law then. He was in the area of Richmond. John Leland competed with James Madison for the seat in PA. At this time the Baptists didn't support James because he was slow moving in religious liberty so they wanted one of their men in. James went to John Leland to talk to him about what was at stake. He said if you push religious liberty from the beginning in the constitution it would never get through. The other colonies would not accept it. He made a smart move. He went out and did a public meeting explaining this to them. He said we must wait until after the constitution was established and then come back with the amendments. 2,000 people showed up in Orange to see what would happen. James would speak then John. He got up and explained religious liberty and they said it was a boring sermon, he went for 2 hours. John got up and said friend what James has said is correct vote for him. And the people did. He went to PA and James pushed through the constitution and it became a reality. The people of VA voted for it and the net result was that it became the federal constitution of America. Then he went back with the first 10 Amendments already framed, he drafted them brought them to the floor of congress argued for them all and they were passed. Including the first amendment that gives all the right to worship as they please, and the government should not establish religion or prohibit the free exercise of it.


96

This is the story of religious freedom and how it became reality in the New World. Afterwards Australia, New Zealand and other countries adopted almost the same wording out of our Bill of Rights (the US Constitution) to establish their own constitutions. They did to prevent that Rome would ever again gain the ascendancy. Not that they are all free, but they are more tolerant. We have a lot to thank the Baptists for, but they also have lost the principle too. For when they were in the ascendancy, they become the persecutors of those who don't agree with them.


97

The Baptists in VA & Believers Baptism Quiz: Why did the Baptist preachers in VA refuse licenses? They believed their license to preach was from God. No human could give it, it was too restrictive. Who drafted the VA constitution and the federal constitution of the USA? James Madison. How did he get the US constitution come to accept religious liberty? He later wrote up the 10 amendments and presented them to the congress. Why is liberty of conscience threatened in the USA? Because they are trying to do away with the US constitution. (GC 35 read for final) Rome never changes she is trying to redevelop a sacral society PA visit liberty bell; Continental congress, the hall where they met. Why would the Baptist suffer so much at the hand of the new world colonies? Why did the Anabaptist suffer so much in Europe? The Baptist believed in personal decision, and they call it believer's baptism. Infant baptism was a part of a sacral society. Believer's baptism created for the Baptist that only professed believers could be a part of the church and that no one could be forced. As a result of believer's baptism you had to have nonbelievers living next to believers. But its very nature it created a problem for the Baptists, everyone else was saying no, you must be a part of the sacral society of which infant baptism was a sign. They had to be baptized to be part of a sacral society. It was a way of identifying a person as a legitimate member of society. But the Anabaptists and Baptist said no, it is a free choice. So society is a mix of both believers and non-believers. This is what caused hostility towards them. If you believed in a priesthood of all believers you were part of a composite society. They could not be linked with both. If you believe Be Bap you cannot believe a sacral society is valid. But when they had power the Baptists persecuted others. They are the offspring of Catholicism. So like their mother they will persecute. The carnal nature naturally when united with religious concepts gravitates toward a sacral view of society. The papacy is a development of carnal nature. Orthodoxy is the same. It is the full development of carnal nature. So in Rev the daughters of Babylon are daughters because they believe the same way she does. They persecute like her because they have the same concept. But now their belief has now degenerated not to a specific doctrine, but to a doctrine that we all accept. We have a set of doctrines that are the same, this is sacral. Note: Carnal nature distorts all institutions of God. (*PO the papacy is an example of the carnal nature and what it will naturally do with power. So if we are carnal we will persecute our brethren when given the power to. Revelation 13) Ecumenism is at root developing a sacral society by uniting the churches on beliefs they hold in common. And the rest is considered not important to salvation.


98

The Remnant Church & 1798 They are the successors the church in the wilderness. Light must continue to develop. It always travels. Truth is light, so truth will also travel, and those who go with it and develop with it mature in their experience, and if not they retrograde. Light and truth is the principle of God's work on the heart, and a true heart will follow the light. As God has revealed more light, each successive generation has been tested by that light, and in testing God separate those who will sincerely follow Him and those who will be left behind. The concept of the remnant is simply those that remain. After what? After the sifting out. God brings an advance in light, and the remnant are sifted, and those who advance continue as the remnant. Many people realized in 1798, that the time of the end had come. And because of this there would be natural movements among those He will call out dealing with the time of the end. And man by the name of Emmanuel De La Cunza. He was a Jesuit in a monastery in Chile in South America. He became a convert to the teachings of the reformers he studied the bible diligently and he became convicted of the 2300 day prophecy, and the second coming he was persecuted and driven out of Chile, and he went to Europe and proclaimed the message and was persecuted there too. But he wrote a book the coming of Christ is majesty and glory.

Edward Irving Scotch Presbyterian that was interested in prophecy. He was a leading preacher in London and he had great influence. He had overflow crowds. He especially preached on Daniel 8:14. La Cunza heard of him and he sent him his book. He was astonished. God was raising up people to preach about the coming of the Lord.

Ezra Ben Ezra AKA Joseph Wolfe He was a converted Jew who changed his name. He studied the prophecies and traveled and preached. He preached everywhere especially in the Middle East. Afghanistan, Palestine, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Georgia, Greece, Tabet, Europe, Holland, Scotland, Ireland, New York, Crimea, Bulcara. He also preached about the second coming of Christ.

William Miller He set some dates October 1843 and Oct 1844. But it made a huge impact on America. And it made the greatest impact in this country. They listened to William Miller. He was from an infidel background. And deist at one point. God created the world and then left it on its own. But he became a powerful preacher. After the great disappointment the majority of his followers left. Then those who were left studied the Word of God, and He raised them up from this group the SDA's. He shook them with the great disappointment and only left a remnant and He built upon that remnant. And before the shaking is over he will have another remnant. He will have to sort out those who are sincere and who are honest and will serve Him with a whole heart. Let us be a part of this remnant is my prayer!! Study Adventist Heritage & Mission to continue.


99

The 95 Theses by Martin Luther 1. When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said, "Repent" (Mt 4:17), he willed the entire life of

believers to be one of repentance.

2. This word cannot be understood as referring to the sacrament of penance, that is, confession and satisfaction, as administered by the clergy. 3. Yet it does not mean solely inner repentance; such inner repentance is worthless unless it produces various outward mortification of the flesh. 4. The penalty of sin remains as long as the hatred of self (that is, true inner repentance), namely till our entrance into the kingdom of heaven. 5. The pope neither desires nor is able to remit any penalties except those imposed by his own authority or that of the canons. 6. The pope cannot remit any guilt, except by declaring and showing that it has been remitted by God; or, to be sure, by remitting guilt in cases reserved to his judgment. If his right to grant remission in these cases were disregarded, the guilt would certainly remain unforgiven. 7. God remits guilt to no one unless at the same time he humbles him in all things and makes him submissive to the vicar, the priest. 8. The penitential canons are imposed only on the living, and, according to the canons themselves, nothing should be imposed on the dying. 9. Therefore the Holy Spirit through the pope is kind to us insofar as the pope in his decrees always makes exception of the article of death and of necessity. 10. Those priests act ignorantly and wickedly who, in the case of the dying, reserve canonical penalties for purgatory. 11. Those tares of changing the canonical penalty to the penalty of purgatory were evidently sown while the bishops slept (Mt 13:25). 12. In former times canonical penalties were imposed, not after, but before absolution, as tests of true contrition. 13. The dying are freed by death from all penalties, are already dead as far as the canon laws are concerned, and have a right to be released from them. 14. Imperfect piety or love on the part of the dying person necessarily brings with it great fear; and the smaller the love, the greater the fear. 15. This fear or horror is sufficient in itself, to say nothing of other things, to constitute the penalty http://breachrepairers.webs.com/

100

of purgatory, since it is very near to the horror of despair. 16. Hell, purgatory, and heaven seem to differ the same as despair, fear, and assurance of salvation. 17. It seems as though for the souls in purgatory fear should necessarily decrease and love increase. 18. Furthermore, it does not seem proved, either by reason or by Scripture, that souls in purgatory are outside the state of merit, that is, unable to grow in love. 19. Nor does it seem proved that souls in purgatory, at least not all of them, are certain and assured of their own salvation, even if we ourselves may be entirely certain of it. 20. Therefore the pope, when he uses the words "plenary remission of all penalties," does not actually mean "all penalties," but only those imposed by himself. 21. Thus those indulgence preachers are in error who say that a man is absolved from every penalty and saved by papal indulgences. 22. As a matter of fact, the pope remits to souls in purgatory no penalty which, according to canon law, they should have paid in this life. 23. If remission of all penalties whatsoever could be granted to anyone at all, certainly it would be granted only to the most perfect, that is, to very few. 24. For this reason most people are necessarily deceived by that indiscriminate and high-sounding promise of release from penalty. 25. That power which the pope has in general over purgatory corresponds to the power which any bishop or curate has in a particular way in his own diocese and parish. 26. The pope does very well when he grants remission to souls in purgatory, not by the power of the keys, which he does not have, but by way of intercession for them. 27. They preach only human doctrines who say that as soon as the money clinks into the money chest, the soul flies out of purgatory. 28. It is certain that when money clinks in the money chest, greed and avarice can be increased; but when the church intercedes, the result is in the hands of God alone. 29. Who knows whether all souls in purgatory wish to be redeemed, since we have exceptions in St. Severinus and St. Paschal, as related in a legend. 30. No one is sure of the integrity of his own contrition, much less of having received plenary remission. 31. The man who actually buys indulgences is as rare as he who is really penitent; indeed, he is exceedingly rare.


101

32. Those who believe that they can be certain of their salvation because they have indulgence letters will be eternally damned, together with their teachers. 33. Men must especially be on guard against those who say that the pope's pardons are that inestimable gift of God by which man is reconciled to him. 34. For the graces of indulgences are concerned only with the penalties of sacramental satisfaction established by man. 35. They who teach that contrition is not necessary on the part of those who intend to buy souls out of purgatory or to buy confessional privileges preach unchristian doctrine. 36. Any truly repentant Christian has a right to full remission of penalty and guilt, even without indulgence letters. 37. Any true Christian, whether living or dead, participates in all the blessings of Christ and the church; and this is granted him by God, even without indulgence letters. 38. Nevertheless, papal remission and blessing are by no means to be disregarded, for they are, as I have said (Thesis 6), the proclamation of the divine remission. 39. It is very difficult, even for the most learned theologians, at one and the same time to commend to the people the bounty of indulgences and the need of true contrition. 40. A Christian who is truly contrite seeks and loves to pay penalties for his sins; the bounty of indulgences, however, relaxes penalties and causes men to hate them -- at least it furnishes occasion for hating them. 41. Papal indulgences must be preached with caution, lest people erroneously think that they are preferable to other good works of love. 42. Christians are to be taught that the pope does not intend that the buying of indulgences should in any way be compared with works of mercy. 43. Christians are to be taught that he who gives to the poor or lends to the needy does a better deed than he who buys indulgences. 44. Because love grows by works of love, man thereby becomes better. Man does not, however, become better by means of indulgences but is merely freed from penalties. 45. Christians are to be taught that he who sees a needy man and passes him by, yet gives his money for indulgences, does not buy papal indulgences but God's wrath. 46. Christians are to be taught that, unless they have more than they need, they must reserve enough for their family needs and by no means squander it on indulgences. 47. Christians are to be taught that they buying of indulgences is a matter of free choice, not commanded.


102

48 Christians are to be taught that the pope, in granting indulgences, needs and thus desires their devout prayer more than their money. 49. Christians are to be taught that papal indulgences are useful only if they do not put their trust in them, but very harmful if they lose their fear of God because of them. 50. Christians are to be taught that if the pope knew the exactions of the indulgence preachers, he would rather that the basilica of St. Peter were burned to ashes than built up with the skin, flesh, and bones of his sheep. 51. Christians are to be taught that the pope would and should wish to give of his own money, even though he had to sell the basilica of St. Peter, to many of those from whom certain hawkers of indulgences cajole money. 52. It is vain to trust in salvation by indulgence letters, even though the indulgence commissary, or even the pope, were to offer his soul as security. 53. They are the enemies of Christ and the pope who forbid altogether the preaching of the Word of God in some churches in order that indulgences may be preached in others. 54. Injury is done to the Word of God when, in the same sermon, an equal or larger amount of time is devoted to indulgences than to the Word. 55. It is certainly the pope's sentiment that if indulgences, which are a very insignificant thing, are celebrated with one bell, one procession, and one ceremony, then the gospel, which is the very greatest thing, should be preached with a hundred bells, a hundred processions, a hundred ceremonies. 56. The true treasures of the church, out of which the pope distributes indulgences, are not sufficiently discussed or known among the people of Christ. 57. That indulgences are not temporal treasures is certainly clear, for many indulgence sellers do not distribute them freely but only gather them. 58. Nor are they the merits of Christ and the saints, for, even without the pope, the latter always work grace for the inner man, and the cross, death, and hell for the outer man. 59. St. Lawrence said that the poor of the church were the treasures of the church, but he spoke according to the usage of the word in his own time. 60. Without want of consideration we say that the keys of the church, given by the merits of Christ, are that treasure. 61. For it is clear that the pope's power is of itself sufficient for the remission of penalties and cases reserved by himself. 62. The true treasure of the church is the most holy gospel of the glory and grace of God.


103

63. But this treasure is naturally most odious, for it makes the first to be last (Mt. 20:16). 64. On the other hand, the treasure of indulgences is naturally most acceptable, for it makes the last to be first. 65. Therefore the treasures of the gospel are nets with which one formerly fished for men of wealth. 66. The treasures of indulgences are nets with which one now fishes for the wealth of men. 67. The indulgences which the demagogues acclaim as the greatest graces are actually understood to be such only insofar as they promote gain. 68. They are nevertheless in truth the most insignificant graces when compared with the grace of God and the piety of the cross. 69. Bishops and curates are bound to admit the commissaries of papal indulgences with all reverence. 70. But they are much more bound to strain their eyes and ears lest these men preach their own dreams instead of what the pope has commissioned. 71. Let him who speaks against the truth concerning papal indulgences be anathema and accursed. 72. But let him who guards against the lust and license of the indulgence preachers be blessed. 73. Just as the pope justly thunders against those who by any means whatever contrive harm to the sale of indulgences. 74. Much more does he intend to thunder against those who use indulgences as a pretext to contrive harm to holy love and truth. 75. To consider papal indulgences so great that they could absolve a man even if he had done the impossible and had violated the mother of God is madness. 76. We say on the contrary that papal indulgences cannot remove the very least of venial sins as far as guilt is concerned. 77. To say that even St. Peter if he were now pope, could not grant greater graces is blasphemy against St. Peter and the pope. 78. We say on the contrary that even the present pope, or any pope whatsoever, has greater graces at his disposal, that is, the gospel, spiritual powers, gifts of healing, etc., as it is written, 1 Co 12[:28]. 79. To say that the cross emblazoned with the papal coat of arms, and set up by the indulgence preachers is equal in worth to the cross of Christ is blasphemy. 80. The bishops, curates, and theologians who permit such talk to be spread among the people will have to answer for this.


104

81. This unbridled preaching of indulgences makes it difficult even for learned men to rescue the reverence which is due the pope from slander or from the shrewd questions of the laity. 82. Such as: "Why does not the pope empty purgatory for the sake of holy love and the dire need of the souls that are there if he redeems an infinite number of souls for the sake of miserable money with which to build a church? The former reason would be most just; the latter is most trivial. 83. Again, "Why are funeral and anniversary masses for the dead continued and why does he not return or permit the withdrawal of the endowments founded for them, since it is wrong to pray for the redeemed?" 84. Again, "What is this new piety of God and the pope that for a consideration of money they permit a man who is impious and their enemy to buy out of purgatory the pious soul of a friend of God and do not rather, because of the need of that pious and beloved soul, free it for pure love's sake?" 85. Again, "Why are the penitential canons, long since abrogated and dead in actual fact and through disuse, now satisfied by the granting of indulgences as though they were still alive and in force?" 86. Again, "Why does not the pope, whose wealth is today greater than the wealth of the richest Crassus, build this one basilica of St. Peter with his own money rather than with the money of poor believers?" 87. Again, "What does the pope remit or grant to those who by perfect contrition already have a right to full remission and blessings?" 88. Again, "What greater blessing could come to the church than if the pope were to bestow these remissions and blessings on every believer a hundred times a day, as he now does but once?" 89. "Since the pope seeks the salvation of souls rather than money by his indulgences, why does he suspend the indulgences and pardons previously granted when they have equal efficacy?" 90. To repress these very sharp arguments of the laity by force alone, and not to resolve them by giving reasons, is to expose the church and the pope to the ridicule of their enemies and to make Christians unhappy. 91. If, therefore, indulgences were preached according to the spirit and intention of the pope, all these doubts would be readily resolved. Indeed, they would not exist. 92. Away, then, with all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Peace, peace," and there is no peace! (Jer 6:14) 93. Blessed be all those prophets who say to the people of Christ, "Cross, cross," and there is no cross! 94. Christians should be exhorted to be diligent in following Christ, their Head, through penalties, death and hell.


105

95. And thus be confident of entering into heaven through many tribulations rather than through the false security of peace (Acts 14:22).


106

History of the Christian Church

Recommend Documents