In Honor of the Reformation, V -10/10/09

Aftermath After his departure, still desirous that his firmness should not be mistaken for rebellion, Luther wrote to the emperor. "God, who is the searcher of hearts, is my witness," he said, "that I am ready most earnestly to obey your majesty, in honor or in dishonor, in life or in death, and with no exception save the word of God, by which man lives. In all the affairs of this present life, my fidelity shall be unshaken, for here to lose or to gain is of no consequence to salvation. But when eternal interests are concerned, God wills not that man should submit unto man. For such submission in spiritual matters is a real worship, and ought to be rendered solely to the Creator."--Ibid., b. 7, ch. 11. On the journey from Worms, Luther's reception was even more flattering than during his progress thither. Princely ecclesiastics welcomed the excommunicated monk, and civil rulers honored the man whom the emperor had denounced. He was urged to preach, and, notwithstanding the imperial prohibition, he again entered the pulpit. "I never pledged myself to chain up the word of God," he said, "nor will I." --Martyn, vol. 1, p. 420. He had not been long absent from Worms, when the papists prevailed upon the emperor to issue an edict against him. In this decree Luther was denounced as "Satan himself under the form of a man and dressed in a monk's frock."-- D'Aubigne, b. 7, ch. 11. It was commanded that as soon as his safe-conduct should expire, measures be taken to stop his work. All persons were forbidden to harbor him, to give him food or drink, or by word or act, in public or private, to aid or abet him. He was to be seized wherever he might be, and delivered to the authorities. His adherents also were to be imprisoned and their property confiscated. His writings were to be destroyed, and, finally, all who should dare to act contrary to this decree were included in its condemnation. The elector of Saxony and the princes most friendly to Luther had left Worms soon after his departure, and the emperor's decree received the sanction of the Diet. Now the Romanists were jubilant. They considered the fate of the Reformation sealed. God had provided a way of escape for His servant in this hour of peril. A vigilant eye had followed Luther's movements, and a true and noble heart had resolved upon his rescue. It was plain that Rome would be satisfied with nothing short of his death; only by concealment could he be preserved from the jaws of the lion. God gave wisdom to Frederick of Saxony to devise a plan for the Reformer's preservation. With the co-operation of true friends the elector's purpose was carried out, and Luther was effectually hidden from friends and foes. 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 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. Spring, summer, and autumn passed, and winter came, and Luther still remained a prisoner. Aleander and his partisans exulted as the light of the gospel seemed about to be extinguished. But instead of this, the Reformer was filling his lamp from the storehouse of truth; and its light was to shine forth with brighter radiance. In the friendly security of the Wartburg, Luther for a time rejoiced in his release from the heat and turmoil of battle. But he could not long find satisfaction in quiet and repose. Accustomed to a life of activity and stern conflict, he could ill endure to remain inactive. In those solitary days the condition of the church rose up before him, and he cried in despair. "Alas! there is no one in this latter day of His anger, to stand like a wall before the Lord, and save Israel!"--Ibid., b. 9, ch. 2. Again, his thoughts returned to himself, and he feared being charged with cowardice in withdrawing from the contest. Then he reproached himself for his indolence and self-indulgence. Yet at the same time he was daily accomplishing more than it seemed possible for one man to do. His pen was never idle. While his enemies flattered themselves that he was silenced, they were astonished and confused by tangible proof that he was still active. A host of tracts, issuing from his pen, circulated throughout Germany. He also performed a most important service for his countrymen by translating the New Testament into the German tongue. From his rocky Patmos he continued for nearly a whole year to proclaim the gospel and rebuke the sins and errors of the times. But it was not merely to preserve Luther from the wrath of his enemies, nor even to afford him a season of quiet for these important labors, that God had withdrawn His servant from the stage of public life. There were results more precious than these to be secured. In the solitude and obscurity of his mountain retreat, Luther was removed from earthly supports and shut out from human praise. He was thus saved from the pride and self-confidence that are so often caused by success. By suffering and humiliation he was prepared again to walk safely upon the dizzy heights to which he had been so suddenly exalted. As men rejoice in the freedom which the truth brings them, they are inclined to extol those whom God has employed to break the chains of error and superstition. Satan seeks to divert men's thoughts and affections from God, and to fix them upon human agencies; he leads them to honor the mere instrument and to ignore the Hand that directs all the events of providence. Too often religious leaders who are thus praised and reverenced lose sight of their dependence upon God and are led to trust in themselves. As a result they seek to control the minds and consciences of the people, who are disposed to look to them for guidance instead of looking to the word of God. The work of reform is often retarded because of this spirit indulged by its supporters. From this danger, God would guard the cause of the Reformation. He desired that work to receive, not the impress of man, but that of God. The eyes of men had been turned to Luther as the expounder of the truth; he was removed that all eyes might be directed to the eternal Author of truth. A Few Details of the History of Reformation Persecutions by the Papacy of `Andersgläubige' (people espousing a variant belief), were legalized at least ever since the Roman Emperor Justinian incorporated such language in his decrees. But it was Pope Nicholas I. (858-867) who accelerated such terrible scourges when he congratulated the king of Bulgaria, a new convert to Christianity, to massacre and put to death "those wandering sheep who refuse to enter the fold." [Thompson, R.W., The Papacy and the Civil Power, p. 244.] The Waldenses could trace their ancestors back to the time of the Apostle Paul. John Wycliffe, the `Morning Star of the Reformation' lived in the 14th century in England and translated the Bible into English.[300] His followers became known as the Lollards, who were vigorously persecuted and exterminated, but there were survivors. In Bohemia (Tchechoslovakia) Huss and Jerome of Croatia lifted their voices against papal abuses. Having rejected, nearly extinguished the light of the Bible and made it unavailable for many the spiritual darkness was undescribable. `Aberglaube' and weird religious views abounded. When Huss found a copy of the Bible chained in a cell of a German monastery a spark was kindled and a fire lit which Rome was unable to put out. Coinciding just in perfect timing with the reformation was the invention of moveable letters. As the story goes, Johanne Gutenberg was sitting in his father's workshop in Germany in the early 1400s whittling the letters of his name in soft wood, when he accidently dropped the letter "h" into a bucket of purple dye. He was able to get it out, and let it dry on a piece of paper. After it dried, he picked it up, and the impression that was left on the paper and on his mind was never to be erased. His printing press has changed the world more than anything has in the past 1000 years. In Germany it was Dr. Martin Luther and Phillip Melanchthon who came to oppose the attitude of the papacy. For a long time they were regarded as still being part of the Middle Ages also referred to as the `Dark Ages'. Their time and the centuries before them were called `dark' because spiritual darkness prevailed like a very deep chasm which these reformers could not bridge all the way except for a getting a little light to shine and check the darkness. Before that the wholistic Hebrew concept of God, man and universe had God at its very center. The early Christian church had God at its center. The influence of Paganism entering the church incrementally removed the old foundations of solid faith in the Almighty God. Eyes turned more and more on a poor human substitute in Rome and the local parish. These could not and did not represent God according to the biblical record. The reformers achieved to identify the man of sin. The apostasy from God's Word matured and brought on a narrow salvation by works, doing things, in Catholicism, Islam, and all religions around the world. Against this background of false religion the reformers stepped in. Their efforts merely lifted the darkness just barely. They too were still very much part of the culture of thought and suppositions rampant in their day. One of these was the concept of predestination. According to this view, God predestines some to find salvation and others to destruction. By the moving of the divine will, some are thought to some day be with God while others are fated to be evil and die. Predestination denies man a real choice in his ultimate future. Human free will has little impact in this scenario. Man sort of just dangles from a thread from heaven above safety or perdition. Preaching to others and trying to save them becomes merely a prescribed script which actives the puppet strings which moves mouths, minds and hearts. The principle of predestination is, no one can overwrite divine sovereignty. But what is the truth? Another `battle cry' was the concept of "sola scriptura", `faith alone'. This concept derived out of Luther's attempt to challenge the RC practice of expensive indulgences, rigorous penance, numerous sacraments, and the mediation of a human priesthood. Luther's position was that forgiveness for sin was on the basis of God's grace through the believer's faith - alone. Even though "faith alone" was to separate faith from all the human machinery and tradition of his day, Luther never intended for the doctrine of "faith (in Jesus) alone" to be completely autonomous from the rest of the Word of God. - For example, Luther wrote of "antinomianism" (against the law) and applied it to those who took the doctrine of "faith alone" to an unbiblical, radical position of destroying the relationship between the law and the gospel (zwischen dem Gesetz und dem Evangelium). Justification by faith alone was being interpreted as a license to sin by some who were antagonistic towards the 10 Commandments. Melanchthon taught, that "repentance must precede faith, and that knowledge of the moral law is needed to produce repentance." Rom. 7:7.[Encyclopedia Britannica, 1911 Editions, Article: Antinomians, www.1911encyclopedia.org] There is another point that Protestants today are rejecting with regards to "faith alone". It is the inherent relationship between faith and the Word of God that we cannot ignore for the Bible says, "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." Rom. 10:17 The following examples may clarify the lesson to learn from this. a) It is God's spoken word that establishes a foundation for faith to be exercised. When Jesus told Peter that he could walk on water, it was Christ's words that authorized Peter to exercise faith. When God has declared a promise in His Word, it is only then that that promise becomes the basis for true faith to exist. This is something that has become a stumbling block within Protestantism. b) On the other hand, how can we have faith in Sunday keeping when the Bible is silent about worshiping on that day? How can we exercise faith on the foundation of silence which is really an erroneous doctrine? How can we have faith in something that God has not publicly spoken and declared? And if it is not in the Bible, it is not of faith and thereby it becomes dead works and even sin. "For whatever is not of faith is sin."Rom. 14:23. Conclusion: Protestants today have embraced serious theological errors that are not supported by the Word of God. Errors like, 1) eternal torment in hell, 2) non-immortality of the soul, 3) Sunday sacredness, 4) secret rapture, 5) original sin, 6) predestination, etc. By doing so they are rejecting the pillars of the Protestant Reformation of "sola fida" and "sola scriptura". - Some who claim to be Seventh day Adventists also can be found in this camp today. In the minds of our people the faith of our Protestant ancestors is being taken away. The true faith and experience of the Reformers has been compromised by all the sweet talk of the ecumenical movement. When the spirit of Protestantism was alive and well, the Reformers had a powerful, united voice against the abuses of distorted Christianity. Because of their zeal for God's truth they were able to turn the whole world upside-down and change the entire course of human history. The Protestant Reformation produced a great uproar and "house-cleaning" which resulted in the greatest fragmentation in the history of the church. The outcome was that the entire world came out of the Dark Ages. Today, sadly, we are heading straight back into the Dark Ages because the heirs of the Reformers have rejected the principles of the Reformation. Now they can be seen to bow before "Peter" and kiss his ring. In doing so they try to get you to accept fictitious principles that are not Reformation at all. In fact they are ignorant what the Reformers stood for. All the C and D students, the hippie generation, are now in places of leadership. This will worsen significantly in the future because atheism is rewriting history books leaving out anything that has to do with the Bible, Christianity and who knows what all. Encyclopedias produced today are not worth the paper to be purchased, so are many other books. Protestantism has greatly changed since the 16th century while Catholicism has not. Roman Catholicism teaches traditions and practices tradition. Rome lets you know where it stands, even though they are wrong. Unlike Protestants, who preach Biblical truth and practice RC traditions mixed-in with some distortions of the Bible. No denomination is immune from this deceitful and often silent threat. There is a vast disarray, disagreements and confusion within Protestantism today. The above line on `sola scriptura' and `antinomina' are just examples. Today there exists a crisis of authority as it did in Luther's days. We have rejected the Protestant principle on what the final authority is for God's people if we point to articles of faith or some creed. For Luther everything stood under the judgment of the Bible, and he would use the Word of God to judge the church, the church teachings, and even the pope. Examples of opposers to the living God can be read about in the Bible. We refer to the account of Hophni and Phineas, the sons of Eli, who ministered in the Temple, as the "sons of Belial", 1.Sam. 2:12. That word `Belial' means worthless and wicked. If you read the entire chapter you find that their sins, extortion and fornication inside the temple, were "very great before the Lord." Likewise, Paul passed judgment upon the false apostles of his day. "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ." 2.Cor. 11:13. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit Paul warned the church against these "false" ministers of Satan that were in the church (verses 14 & 15). Did the Holy Spirit reveal this to him so he could be unchristian and full of hate? Of course not. Paul expressed the strong conviction called "righteous jealousy." "For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy ... I fear, least by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted." 2. Cor. 11:2,3. What Paul did was done in order to vindicate the glory of Christ's truth and to preserve the honor of God among the faithful. In fact there is a Divine judgment which rests upon those who corrupt the gospel of Christ. "But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." Gal. 1:8. And so Luther's battle was with the "ex cathedra" or the seat/chair of the papacy which states that papal proclamations "ex cathedra" are preserved by the Holy Spirit from any possibility of error. And to resist any papal proclamation is to resist the Holy Spirit. Luther responded with his own proclamation: "Spiritus Antichristi est Papa" or "this spirit of the papacy is the spirit of Antichrist." The spirit implied by Luther was the spirit of arrogance which he believed was usurping the Spirit of Christ. Luther's battle was not so much with the rank and file members of the church. Luther was not anti-Catholic. He was anti-papal. He rejected the claims of the Papacy and its authority. At issue in the controversy between God and Satan is God's character which has been defamed and muddled by the arch deceiver. Divine goals in matters of faith were taught in the Hebrew sanctuary. The maligned character of God was corrected by Jesus. Notes & References [010] Martin was about 13 years of age when on Sabbath, the April 18, 1506 the cornerstone of the Papal St. Peter's Basilica was laid in Rome, leading to the sale of indulgences to cover the cost in Europe and desecrating God's holy Sabbath day in the process. Another reformer was Huldreich Zwingli of Zurich, Switzerland. He was born in 1484 and died in 1531. Zwingli, inspired by Desiderius Erasmus (born 1466 or 69 in Rotterdam to 1536 in Basel), led the reform movement in his native land, thus breaking its dependency with Rome for a season. [0015] As much as I could make out a rather hard to read Latin text which, of course, is not free of errors because of letters being used in a way we don't see them anymore today, plus my Latin is not where it should be for a project like this: "Uniuerlis petes Iras inspecturis Reymudes pandi. Sacre pagine pfessor Archidiaconus in eccla ranctoneii Sancte sedis aplice, ptbonunus.ab Almaniauniversas 7 singla puintias ciuitates .tras 7 locs Sermaie 7 Sallias puincijs Bacie Swecie ac Norwegie regnis. 7 alias ubibbz sviect Orator Nuntius 7 Comissarius sphcus Slim. Rorufacim 9. qks scissim9 dus ur Innocenus ppa.viii.er modern9 cuctis viusqz serus rpifidebz p tunone catholice fitei 5 Turcos tur ordiatoz nraz marr9 soivices poingen vlt iubileu 7 alias idulgen.gras.facultates qo supdicti rpifideles obtine pne visitato ecclas p noslaut p omissarios nros oeputadas.sch vilitasset ecclas vib tpe iubilei put i bulk aplicis tesup pfectis pleni9 ptiek possine eligepfeltore idoneu sclare utregare q eos vita coite ab oibz erceiliz7 telictis pterop sedi aptice rfuans toties qties op9 fuerit absolue possit. Er isop toties qnes ad tale statu oeunerit ut verisitie te eop moz te dubitek ena si tuc eos ab bac luce decedere no otigat.arz in vero mortis articulo plearia oim suox pecox rnnlioz eis vale at iptiri de sue pleitudie ptans faculate pcessit. Volutqz ide scissi9 ons nf motu xpo oes 7 singlos bmoi befcores arz eox parctes tesuctos 7 eox befcores q cu caritate tecesserit i oibz pcib9 suffrages.inisf. elemosinis.ieiunus. oroibz. disciplis 7 ceteris oibz spualibz bois q fiut7 fieri potert i to vniuersalt sacrolca rpi ecclia militate 7 oibz mebus eiusde imppetuii ptia pes fieri. Lu itaqz deuot ___ In rpo _____________________ adipi9 fidei pta sbuetoz 7 sefchoz tur sunn pontificis intetoz er eraz ordinatoz, vut p pntes Iras sibi in bmoi testioriu a nob iditas aqproba9 de suis bonis ptulerit eiusz auere ponficis sibi vt indulgens p pdicta tuitoe fidei pcessa quo ad in supioubz pteta vei 7 gaudere valest merito pstat esse petssu. Batu sub sigillo nro ad hoc ordinato. Bie __________ ?? ________ Anno dei Mcccclvvviil Hozma absoluconis i vita toties quoties. [20] This was probably because of the persecutions Francis I. conducted against the Protestants in France. We read, "Hardly had Francis I. concluded his penitential procession, when he again turned to the Protestant princes of Germany and attempted to resume his negotiations with them. They not unnaturally asked of him an explanation of his recent proceedings. Why so anxious to court the favor of the Protestants of Germany when he was burning the Protestants of France? Where there two true faiths in the world, to create a realm on the west of the Rhine, and the religion of Wittenberg on the east of the river? But the king was ready with his excuse and his excuse was that of almost all persecutors of every age, `the king had not been burning Lutherans but executing traitors,' if those he had put to death had invited foreign sentiment. It was not for their religion but for their sedition that they had been punished. Such was the excuse which Francis gave to the German princes in his letter of the 15th of February." [Wylie, J.A. (1808-1890),History of Protestantism, Vol. 2, p. 207.] The Bible teaches, "Do violence to no man, neither accuse any falsely; and be content with your wages."Luke 3:14 [60] False political charges have been used throughout history to charge against God's people. Even Jesus was falsely accused of such charges, Luke 23:1,2,5. The apostles also had serious political charges brought against them, Acts 17:7; 24:5. [68] Isn't Reformation Automatic? Don't Christians habitually and automatically engage in reform? No. In point of fact, many Christians make but few reforms and little effort to reform. They are astonishingly content. They pass through life with a few changed beliefs but little change in the life. They have been taught that they have little substantive role in the process of end-time events. They have been taught that they are already "saved." And unless the heart is radically changed, we may be sure that men will follow what Albert Jay Nock called "Epstean's law": Please go to the site for the whole, very well presented and timely article." [100] In the Bible sword frequently means a spiritual sword, not a military weapon, but rather the Word of God, the Holy Bible. In other words, families may disagree on what they believe about the Bible and implies we should become thoroughly familiar with its messages for that is the duty of every person on earth. The sword is two edged for it represents what we call today the Old and New Testament, the law and the prophets. [140] Play of words on Daniel 7:7. [200] Theses titles may have included: (1) His `Table Talks'; (2) `378 thesis against Eck', published July 1518; (3) Various Latin writings and letters; (4) The Epistles of Paul to the Romans, Galatians and Hebrews; on the Psalms (1516-1518). [200] Luther used the `Tepl Bible', named from Tepl, Bohemia. This Tepl manuscript represented a translation of the Waldensian Bible into the German which was spoken before the days of the Reformation. [Comba, The Waldenses of Italy, p. 191.] Of this remarkable manuscript, Comba says: "When the manuscript of Tepl appeared, the attention of the learned was aroused by the fact that the text it presents corresponds word for word with that of the first three editions of the ancient German Bible. Then Louis Keller, an original writer, with the decided opinions of a layman and versed in the history of the sects of the Middle Ages, declared the Tepl manuscript to be Waldensian. Another writer, Hermann Haupt, who belongs to the old Catholic party, supported his opinion vigorously." [Comba, The Waldenses of Italy, p. 190.] From Comba we also learn that the Tepl manuscript has an origin different from the version adopted by the Church of Rome; that it seems to agree rather with the Latin versions anterior to Jerome, the author of the Vulgate; and that Luther followed it in his translation, which probably is the reason why the Catholic Church reproved Luther for following the Waldenses.[Comba, The Waldenses of Italy, p. 192.] Another peculiarity is its small size, which seems to single it out as one of those little books which the Waldensian evangelists carried with them hidden under their rough cloaks.[Comba, The Waldenses of Italy, p. 191, note 679.] We have, therefore, an indication of how much the Reformation under Luther as well as Luthers Bible owed to the Waldenses. Waldensian influence, both from the Waldensian Bibles and from Waldensian relationships, entered into the King James translation of 1611. Referring to the King James translators, one author speaks thus of a Waldensian Bible they used: "It is known that among modern versions they consulted was an Italian, and though no name is mentioned, there cannot be room for doubt that it was the elegant translation made with great ability from the original Scriptures by Giovanni Diodati, which had only recently (1607) appeared at Geneva." [Dr. Benjamin Warfield of Princeton University, `Collections of Opinions and Reviews,' Vol. II, p. 99.] It is therefore evident that the translators of 1611 had before them four Bibles which had come under Waldensian influence: the Diodati in Italian, the Olivetan in French, the Lutheran in German, and the Genevan in English. We have every reason to believe that they had access to at least six Waldensian Bibles written in the old Waldensian vernacular. Dr. Nolan, who had already acquired fame for his Greek and Latin scholarship, and researches into Egyptian chronology, and was a lecturer of note. He spent 28 years to trace back the Received Text (This is the by Moses Maimonides declared `Aaron ben Moshe ben Asher' text using the latters vowel markings in favor over others) to its apostolic origin. He was powerfully impressed to examine the history of the Waldensian Bible. He felt certain that researches in this direction would demonstrate that the Italic New Testament, or the New Testament of those primitive Christians of northern Italy whose lineal descendants the Waldenses were, would turn out to be the Received Text. He says:"The author perceived, without any labor of inquiry, that it derived its name from that diocese, which has been termed the Italick, as contradistinguished from the Roman. This is a supposition, which receives a sufficient confirmation from the fact, that the principal copies of that version have been preserved in that diocese, the metropolitan church of which was situated in Milan. The circumstance is at present mentioned, as the author thence formed a hope, that some remains of the primitive Italick version might be found in the early translations made by the Waldenses, who were the lineal descendants of the Italick Church; and who have asserted their independence against the usurpation of the Church of Rome, and have ever enjoyed the free use of the Scriptures. In the search to which these considerations have led the author, his fondest expectations have been fully realized. It has furnished him with abundant proof on that point to which his inquiry was chiefly directed; as it has supplied him with the unequivocal testimony of a truly apostolical branch of the primitive church, that the celebrated text of the heavenly witnesses was adopted in the version which prevailed in the Latin Church, previously to the introduction of the modern Vulgate." [Dr. Frederick Nolan (1784–1864), `Integrity of the Greek Vulgate', pp. xvii, xviii.] In 1617 Dr. William Polk published, `In Defense of the Protestant Bible', a book which compares the Protestant Bible in one column and the Jesuit Bible in the other. Examination reveals that in at least 76 places where the Jesuit Bible correlates suspiciously with the modern versions of today. Conclusion: Modern Bibles are catholic, ecumenical Bibles changing doctrines by misrepresentations of numbers of Bible texts thus destroying Bible principles relating to the divinity of Jesus Christ. Where did this Vaudois Church amid the rugged peaks of the Alps secure these uncorrupted manuscripts? In the silent watches of the night, along the lonely paths of Asia Minor where robbers and wild beasts lurked, might have been seen the noble missionaries carrying manuscripts, and verifying documents from the churches in Judea to encourage their struggling brethren under the iron heel of, first Rome's Emporers and then the Papacy. The sacrificing labors of the apostle Paul were bearing fruit. His wise plan to anchor the Gentile churches of Europe to the churches of Judea, provided the channel of communication which defeated continually and finally the bewildering pressure of the Papacy. Or, as the learned Scrivener has beautifully put it: "Wide as is the region which separates Syria from Gaul, there must have been in very early times some remote communication by which the stream of Eastern testimony, or tradition, like another Alpheus, rose up again with fresh strength to irrigate the regions of the distant West." [F.H.A. Scrivener, Introduction to the Criticism of the N. T., Vol. II, pp. 299, 300.] We have it now revealed how Constantines Hexapla Bible was successfully met. A powerful chain of churches, few in number compared with the manifold congregations of an apostate Christianity, but enriched with the eternal conviction of truth and with able scholars, stretched from Palestine to Scotland. If Rome in her own land was unable to beat down the testimony of apostolic Scriptures, how could she hope, in the Greek speaking world of the distant and hostile East, to maintain the supremacy of her Greek Bible? The Scriptures of the apostle John and his associates, the traditional text, the Textus Receptus, if you please, arose from the place of humiliation forced on it by Origens Bible in the hands of Constantine and became the Received Text of Greek Christianity. And when the Greek East for one thousand years was completely shut off from the Latin West, the noble Waldenses in northern Italy still possessed in Latin the Received Text. To Christians preserving apostolic Christianity, the world owes the Bible. It is not true, as the Roman Church claims, that she gave the Bible to the world. What she gave was an impure text, a text with thousands of verses so changed as to make way for her unscriptural doctrines. While upon those who possessed the veritable Word of God, she poured out through long centuries her stream of cruel persecution. Or, in the words of another writer: "The Waldenses were among the first of the peoples of Europe to obtain a translation of the Holy Scriptures. Hundreds of years before the Reformation, they possessed the Bible in manuscript in their native tongue. They had the truth unadulterated, and this rendered them the special objects of hatred and persecution... Here for a thousand years, witnesses for the truth maintained the ancient faith... In a most wonderful manner it (the Word of Truth) was preserved uncorrupted through all the ages of darkness." [E. G. White, Great Controversy, pp. 65, 66, 69.] The struggle against the Bible adopted by Constantine was won. But another warfare, another plan to deluge the Latin west with a corrupt Latin Bible was preparing. We hasten to see how the world was saved from Jerome and his Origenism. NOTE: The two great families of Greek Bibles are well illustrated in the work of that outstanding scholar, Erasmus. Before he gave to the Reformation the New Testament in Greek, he divided all Greek MSS. into two classes: those which over all agreed with the Received Text in key texts and those which agreed with the Vaticanus MSS. The King James from the Received Text has been the Bible of the English speaking world for 300 years. This has given the Received Text, and the Bibles translated from it into other tongues, standing and authority. At the same time, it neutralized the dangers of the Catholic manuscripts and the Bibles in other tongues translated from them. [A page of Genesis 3 in the Complutensian Polyglot Bible can be seen in BA, Sep 1986, p. 177.] Spain: In the first half of of the 19th century the NT Bible was well received in Lugo but not in León due to friars who spoke well of it and recommended its perusal.

The Apostles (Original). Received Text/ Grundtext (Greek). Waldensian Bible (Italic). Erasmus (Received Text Restored). Luthers Bible, Dutch, French, Spanish, Italian, French, etc., Tyndale, (English) 1535 Rheims (English - from the Received Text). King James, 1611 Oxford Movement. (from Received Text). Dr. Philip Schaff (B and Aleph). American Revised 1901. From the Bible we know that the truth of the word of God would be hidden away for 1260 years. That means the trustworthy text cannot be found in the many manuscripts found in the West, but it must be the `Received Text' as transmitted by the persecuted church. "And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth." Rev. 11:3.

The Apostates (Corrupted Originals). Sinaiticus and Vaticanus Bible (Greek). Vulgate (Latin). Church of Romes Bible. Vaticanus (Greek). Westcott and Hort (B and Aleph). English Revised 1881. [Westcott, Brooke Foss (1825-1901) Bishop of Durham; Hort, Fenton John Anthony (1828-1892), a biblical scholar.][Comment: The production of the RSV version was chaired by Dr. Luther A. Weigle (???? - 9.2.1976)]. Archbishop John Henry Newman (1801-1890) was a convert to Catholicism and the successor to Westcott & Hort's work. He went to Rome to marry the English church back to Catholicism. And what did the pope of the day tell them? `We'll take you back on the same condition that you left.' That meant that under the Council of Trent the KJB must be dispatched with and they must have a Bible based on the Catholic Bible.

[300] John Wickliff believed correctly in the time when Richard II. became king of England in 1377 and Gregory IX. was the fomenting Pope in Rome: 1) The holy eucharist, after the resurrection, is not the very body of Christ. 2) The Church of Rome is not the head of all churches more than any other church is; nor that Peter had any more power given of Christ than any other apostle had. 3) The Pope of Rome has no more the keys of the Church than has any other within the order of priesthood. 4) The Gospel is a rule sufficient to itself to rule the life of every Christian man here, without any other rule. 5) All other rules, under whose observances divers religious persons be governed, do add no more perfection to the Gospel, than does the white color to the wall. 6) Neither the Pope, nor any other prelate of the church, ought to have prisons wherein to punish transgressors.

The Importance of Reading the Right Bible 1. When Bible believing people come together as one people they should have one Bible in the pew, because God is not the author of confusion. 2. More and more Adventists are closing their Bibles because they can't follow the myriad of different Bibles in the pulpits. 3. Consequently multiple translations destroy one's ability to memorize Bible verses - as we were once known as the people of the book. 4. It destroys harmony in our ranks. 5. It destroys our once privileged position in being Bible exponents and to be considered in the world to be the best in memorizing verses. 6. It makes it easier to proof Catholicism and it makes it hard to proof Adventism. The common people have usually no trouble understanding the King James Version. The King James Bible brought millions to understand Jesus Christ. And as we can say, God and the English speaking world would finish the Reformation with the same Bible that he started it with. In `Counsels to Parents and Teachers', p. 22, God says through His Word as emphasized by His prophet, that He does not intend now to revise His Bible. Here is the quotation: "God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation," the apostle Paul writes, "through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth," 2 Thessalonians 2:13. In this text the two agencies in the work of salvation are revealed--the divine influence, and the strong, living faith of those who follow Christ. It is through the sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth that we become laborers together with God. Christ waits for the co-operation of His church. He does not design to add a new element of efficiency to His word; He has done His great work in giving His inspiration to the word. The blood of Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the divine word, are ours. The object of all this provision of heaven is before us-- the salvation of the souls for whom Christ died; and it depends upon us to lay hold on the promises God has given, and become laborers together with Him. Divine and human agencies must co-operate in the work." {CT 22.1} In `Story of Redemption' we read that it was the duty of the Reformers to give us the Bible. "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." {SR 353.1} Old English and Hebrew Characteristics We now come, however, to a very striking situation which is little observed and rarely mentioned by those who discuss the merits of the King James Bible. The English language in 1611 was in the very best condition to receive into its bosom the Old and New Testaments. Each word was broad, simple, and generic. That is to say, words were capable of containing in themselves not only their central thoughts, but also all the different shades of meaning which were attached to that central thought. Since then, words have lost that living, pliable breadth. Vast additions have been made to the English vocabulary during the past 300 years, so that several words are now necessary to convey the same meaning which formerly was conveyed by one. It will be readily seen that while the English vocabulary has increased in quantity, nevertheless, single words have lost their many shades, combinations of words have become fixed, capable of only one meaning, and therefore less adaptable to receiving into English the thoughts of the Hebrew which likewise is a simple, broad, generic language.