DUE TO THE CORRUPTION OF THE CHURCH, OPPOSITION BEGAN TO GROW WITHIN ITS RANKS IN FRANCE.
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THE ALBIGENSES: + Believed marriage was earthly + Believed in a separated life + Believed the Bible to be the sole rule of faith + Rejected papal authority
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Pope Innocent III Urging War Against the Albigenses
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| THE WALDENSES:
+ Sent out by Peter Waldo + Ministered in groups of two + Believed the Bible to be the sole rule of faith + Rejected papal authority
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These two groups, the Albigenses
and the Waldenses would later be important in the
reformation...
In opposition to them, the church developed the Dominican and Franciscan scholars to combat the heresies, but it did not work! |
| Many Albigenses and Waldenses
fell victims to the Inquisition. But their numbers in southern
France were so great that the task of destroying them was too big
for the Inquisition. Then the popes resorted to other
measures. They preached a crusade against the heretics.
Some of the nobles responded to the call of the popes. They
marched at the head of their armies into southern France. For
twenty years, "blood flowed like water." The country
was devastated by war of the most savage kind. What had been
the fairest province of France was turned into a wilderness, and its
cities into ruins. The Albigenses were rooted out.
The Waldenses found a place of refuge in the high valleys of the Alps. They still live there today. At the time of the reformation they accepted its teachings and became Protestants. Of the Christians who broke away from the Roman Catholic Church during the Middle Ages, they are the only group that has survived to the present time... |
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| INDULGENCES:
When money was needed to finance the expensive cultural tastes of he Popes, indulgences were sold. John Tetzel was the first seller of them in AD 1190. The system pleased the church and the sale of indulgences was a source of huge income. It kept money flowing into the pope's coffers. Tetzel, an eloquent Dominican Friar and high-pressure salesman, was peddling indulgences in an unusually scandalous manner near the Saxony border in the neighborhood of Wittenberg. In his sales talks he said, "The moment you hear your money drop in the box, the soul of your mother will jump out of purgatory." In other words, When the gold in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs!
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John Tetzel Selling Indulgences |
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When scholarly debate did not stop the tide of dissent within the church, force began to be used. THE INQUISITION BEGAN!
The Inquisition was a traveling court of the church. It turned the "guilty" over to secular powers for punishment. Since the church controlled these rulers, it was successful in executing thousands...
One million Jews were torn apart on the rack because they were "heretics" (so judged by the RCC) who would not accept the Trinity and submit to the Pope's authority.
The Dark Ages:
+ Sprinkling of infants practiced
+ Communion believed to impart the life of Christ
+ Confession to man took the place of repentance to God
+ Doctrine of purgatory taught (a second chance after death)
+ Light hidden for 1200 years, and true salvation lost!
This period of church history is so dark that it has been called the "Babylonian Captivity" of the church.
The Papacy moved at this time from Rome to Avignon, France.
There were three popes at one time! (1) Pretender in Rome (2) Pope in Avignon (3) Newly elected Pope by Council
The cry for reformation of the church was growing louder due to:
+ The immorality of the Popes and priests who often had mistresses
+ The secularization of a church that was amassing huge land holdings through Simony
+ Heavy papal taxes paid to Italy
+ Resentment of kings and lords toward the political interference of the church in their affairs
+ The conflicting papal decrees and excommunications issued from multiple popes
+ A heartfelt cry for Biblical Truth!
It is important to remember here that the MEDIEVAL PERIOD was from AD 500 - AD 1300
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AD 1300 - 1500
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AD 1517
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AD 1517 - 1900
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Light Begins To Dawn |
The Reformation |
Rise of Denominations |
| AD 1300 -
1500 Light Begins to Dawn!
As the Dark Ages came to a close, the modern era of enlightenment began. It was called the Renaissance (meaning, "Rebirth") __________________________
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AD 1517 The Reformation
The Reformation
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AD 1519 Leipsig Disputation with Johann Eck. Martin Luther in this debate questioned the infallibility of Pope Leo X - he was enraged! __________________________
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| AD 1520
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Enraged with Luther, the Pope issued a Papal Bull (legal document demanding Luther be examined and questioned) If the Pope ordered his writings to be burned, then Luther decided to do something more... and he did something more: On December 10, 1520, a large crowd of students, professors, and citizens assembled outside the walls of the city of Wittenberg. One of the professors kindled the pile. Luther placed the books of canon law (church law) on the burning wood. Then amid solemn silence Luther placed a copy of the bull on the fire, and said: "As thou hast wasted the Holy One of God, so may the eternal flames waste thee." He waited until the books and the bull were consumed. Then with his friends and colleagues he returned to the town. Luther was excommunicated -- the Pope was furious and failed at apprehending Luther. In the end result, Luther's success was due to the great favor he had in the eyes of Prince Frederick who despised the Papal taxes and protected him. Though to our knowledge, Luther and Prince Frederick never met. __________________________
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| AD 1521
It was planned that Luther would be put to death as a pestilent heretic. Prince Frederick had Luther carried off to the Wartburg Castle, famed refuge of Luther in Eisenach where Luther stayed for ten months while the storm quieted. Luther was a volcano whose eruptions from 1517 to 1521 caused the quakes which convulsed the Church, first in Germany, but soon also in many other countries of Western Europe.
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AD 1524 to AD 1515 The Peasant's War (an uprising of the peasants in central and south Germany) took place at this time. __________________________
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Augsburg Confession In this year, Luther's beliefs, were written by Melanchthon and presented
| During this time
Truth demands to be told. Tremendous persecution of the Reformationists was carried out by the Roman Catholic Church against those that 'protested' their version of Christianity. The Reformationists 'protested' the dogmas, rules, doctrines, and corruption of the Church at this time in history. Thus they were called 'Protestants' - and are stilled called Protestants to this day (meaning basically any form of Christian faith that is not Roman Catholic) The etymology of the name Protestant is derived from protest... The Reformation Christians, or Protestants as they came to be known, continued to hold some of the doctrines of the Church Father Christianity. For example, the formula for water baptism in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost and the concept of a triune God as well as other things which are not listed here. Neither of these doctrines we have pinpointed were held nor taught by the Apostles. Hence, Protestantism was not Apostolic Christianity -- it was again, a developed Christianity.
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