March, 2024
In the last article, we considered how the Word of God and the Bible have been attacked continuously since their inception. The serpent, Satan, is still putting this question into the minds of those who claim to love God and His word. The serpent is subtly and persistently questioning, “Yea, hath God said?” Then the enemy denies what God has said. “Thou shalt not surely die,” says the serpent, even though God said Adam and Eve would die the very day they disobeyed God and sinned. First the doubt, then the denial, it seems always to work just that way.
This article will reveal much of the wicked persecution of genuine Bible-believing Christians over the centuries by those who claim to be the one true church of Jesus Christ. This question must be asked and answered: Was the Roman Catholic Church’s persecution of real Bible-believing Christians a temporary failure or a consistent evil? We all understand the difference between a crime of passion and ongoing wickedness. A crime of passion involves a single incident contrary to a person’s usual character. In contrast, the crime of a mass murderer is not just a one-time event but reflects the person’s true nature and character.
Suppose it can be demonstrated that the Roman Catholic Church organization tortured and murdered millions of people over 1500 years. Can we all agree that we are not talking about a crime of passion or a singular event contrary to the general character of the Roman Church? Doesn’t a centuries-long slaughter of Bible believing Christians speak to the nature and character of the Roman Catholic organization? A singular crime of passion is understandable but not excusable. However, the mass murder of millions of innocent men, women, and children over hundreds of years is not comprehensible, forgivable, or justifiable. Do you disagree?
Let us consider some specifics. Early on in the Christian era, God raised a group of people who lived in the Alps. They were called the Vaudois, and they spoke Old Latin. These people translated the Greek into Old Latin for their people who spoke Latin but not Greek. By AD 200, this Old Latin, which was widely spoken back then, spread to England. Christians called it the Vulgate (the Latin Vulgate came later) because it was in the common language. Anyone could understand it. Vaudois missionaries spread the word wherever they could. As almost everyone knows, the Roman Empire persecuted early believers until the time of Constantine. During this period, Christians were not murdering other so-called Christians.
Persecution of Christians began in the first century under the Roman Empire. The destruction of Jerusalem, the Jewish temple, and the Jewish nation of Israel took place in AD 70. Emperor Nero heavily persecuted Christians until his death in AD 68. The Roman persecution of Christians ended under Constantine in AD 313. The Western Roman Empire eventually collapsed in AD 476 under Romulus Augustulus. The Eastern Roman Empire continued as the Byzantine Empire during the Middle Ages. Its apostasy was slower than that of the Western branch of the Christian church.
In AD 313, Constantine was not yet made sole emperor of the entire Roman Empire. His counterpart was Emperor Licinius. It is said that Constantine had a dream of the Christ of God with the same sign he had seen in the heavens. This sign was to safeguard him in battle. Some think it was the sign of a cross, a cross of light carrying the inscription, “with this sign, you shall win.” Others believe this was the sign of the sun god (an ankh) that he and Romans worshiped. Some link this dream to his battle with Maxentius at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge on October 28, 312 AD. This convinced him to change Rome’s position concerning the Christians and no longer persecute them.
He signed the Edict of Milan in AD 313, granting tolerance to Christians. Christianity eventually became the state religion of the Roman Empire. Serious compromise of the truth of the gospel begins here: first, when the Roman Empire no longer persecuted Christians, and second, when Church and State combined. False converts flooded the church. Some say Constantine did not become a real Christian until just before he died, and others doubt that he ever was a Christian. From what I have read, a deathbed conversion or no conversion at all makes the most sense. Combining political and religious authority breeds corruption of the worst sort. There is a good reason why our Constitution prohibits the government from “establishing” a religion that all citizens must practice or denying the “free exercise” of faith, which allows citizens to practice their religion as they see fit (within reason).
Constantine was now the head of the church as well as the government. One of his new titles was Bishop of Bishops. He ordered his servant, Eusebius of Caesarea (263-339), to get 50 Bibles. As a follower of Origen and an editor of some of his works, Eusebius went to Alexandria for Origen’s Bibles. Constantine also wanted to unite all religions to make his job more manageable. The result was the combining of paganism with Christianity, with a flood of unsaved people coming into the Christian church.
When did Christianity become the religion of the Roman Empire? This video, which I mentioned at the outset, claims that in 331 AD Constantine issued another edict. He started to persecute others who would not conform to this new religion of Christianity as he and others defined it. Constantine began to incorporate pagan religious ideas into Christianity, as a catholic or universal religion. However, it did not become the official state religion of the Western Roman Empire until AD 380 under the Emperor Theodosius.
During this time, around 330 AD, Constantine created a new headquarters and named it Constantinople after himself. He believed he couldn’t change the name of Rome. He and his leaders left Rome. The Catholic Bishop of Rome remained behind and became a wealthy man with a palace, lands, money, and lots of possessions. Constantine died, and his three sons fought over who would succeed him. As a result, the kingdom fell apart over time.
When did “Christians” start persecuting other Christians?
According to the author of the book, The Pilgrim Church, by E. H. Broadbent, the first persecutions and murders of other Christians by nominal ‘Christians’ did not occur until the year 385 (page 34 of his book). At this time, a Christian Bishop, named Priscillian, was accused of heresy. He and some of his followers, called Priscillianists, were tortured and murdered by what was becoming the new Catholic Church, according to this author.
Check out the website, Catholic.com, for more details. The Roman Catholic Church claims Priscillian taught heresy in the form of Gnostic-Manichaean doctrines. He and other leaders were excommunicated. This website believes that the report making Priscillian out to be a good man and not guilty of what he was accused of is not to be considered. I would expect nothing less from the Roman Catholic Church. Let us say, for the moment, that Priscillian was indeed a false teacher. Would a genuine follower of Jesus Christ torture and murder a false teacher? If you think so, then you and I have very different views on what a genuine follower of Christ acts like. Christ came to save the world and not condemn it. Christ came to save souls, not destroy them.
The Vaudois, I mentioned earlier, were another group of Christians that the Catholic Church persecuted because they rejected the centralized power of the Church with one Pope being in charge, among other disagreements.
Siricus (384-399) was the first Roman Bishop to take the title of Pontifex Maximus and the new title of “Pope.” (See book by David W. Daniels titled, Did the Catholic Church Give us the Bible? Page 51). The Pope began to rule as the head of the Roman Church. The push was on for everyone to have the same Bible. He found a man named Jerome (340-420). As an intellectual, Jerome’s first books were translations of Origen’s writings. (Remember him?) By 390 AD, Jerome finished translating the Bible, the Old Latin Bible, which he rejected. Mr. Daniels states that his pride got in the way of his work, and he took liberties with changing Origen’s Bible. He made some enemies. Augustine of Hippo tried to get him to change a few things, but he refused. By 405 AD, Jerome finished his Latin Bible while leaving much unchanged. His new Bible was called the Latin Vulgate; the other Latin Bible was just the Vulgate. (Page 53 of Daniel’s book). The new Bible was not a success as Christian’s preferred the Old Latin Vulgate. The new Pope was unhappy about that. Ongoing Christian persecution by Christians was put on hold while they fought the Visigoths in 410 AD.
This attack from the outside was the first in about 800 years and signaled the end of the Roman Empire (not to be confused with the Roman Catholic Church). The attacks continued decade after decade until the Western Roman Empire fell. The Pope and his priests took over the administration of what remained of the western Roman Empire. The beast had arisen. The beast’s assault on true Christians and their Bible continued, except for the occasional interruption.
When I was a relatively new Christian, I always wondered why Protestants and Catholics both embraced Augustine. A couple of reasons that Rome claims him are: he believed the new Roman Catholic religion was from God, he thought the true Greek Bible was Origen’s Septuagint, and that Jerome gave believers the true Latin Bible. Other Christians rejected all of this, and many were murdered for it. (I may write an article on Augustine because his influence even today is so profound.)
When did the Roman Catholic Church give Mary the title of ‘mother of God’? And what does that have to do with the persecution of those Christians who refused to accept this false teaching?
The next pope to be considered was Celestine I (422-432), a friend of Augustine. He succeeded Boniface I. He called the Council of Ephesus the Third Ecumenical Council. It was called for in 431 AD to address the Nestorian controversy. Nestorius of Constantinople refused to use the term Mary, Mother of God. This council also condemned Pelagianism, which denied Original Sin (thanks to Augustine), among other things. At this Council, it was determined that Mary would be called the Mother of God. For the first four hundred years, no Christian leader thought of Mary as the mother of God.
Idol makers would not suffer a loss of business under the new church created by Rome. Statutes of Mary and other saints were acceptable. The other thing this council did was to recommend the works of ‘Church Fathers” such as Origen, Augustine, Jerome, Irenaeus, and Eusebius. For Roman Catholics, these men became exceedingly influential. For other Christians, the Church Fathers have always been the apostles and the writers of the New Testament as well as other Christian leaders in the second and third centuries, not ‘scholars’ who came after the writers of the New Testament.
As mentioned already, the first persecutions of Christians by other ‘Christians (Roman Catholics)’ began in 385 AD. Concerning the issue of Mary being called the “mother of God,” eventually tolerance gave way to mandatory compliance. Mary veneration became required. The Roman Catholic Church persecuted those who refused.
How accurate is the record of history?
Unfortunately, many people never question the accuracy of historical accounts. They assume that everything that is called history is objective and accurate.The truth is that accounts of history are written by those who win wars and conquer nations. They who rule and survive long enough write a history that they want everyone to know (believe) about the war and their opponent. History is, by its nature, personal, subjective, and political.
Take, for instance, public education in the United States of America. The liberal and progressives have won the battle. They have authored a new version of all history, especially our own, for our children. How have they done this? It is being done by omitting important facts and truths that they want our children to remain unaware of. At the same time, a new history is being crammed down the throats of our children. That history is what liberals want them to think and believe is true. This new history, some of which is outright lies, is being taught to our children for a political purpose. Education has been turned into indoctrination. And that indoctrination is to brainwash our children, the Marxist way, so that these young minds turn away from the religion and morality of their parents and this nation. Evidence that this is true is everywhere, and if you don’t see it plainly, you have been blinded and are deceived. Even if others may not, I will pray for you.
Let us look more closely at what history tells us about the beginning of the Christian Church, and the Catholic Church. What are the earliest Councils and what did they address?
The assembly Constantine convened in 314, the Council of Aries, was called to address the Donatist controversy just within the Western part of the Roman Empire. These Christians broke with Western Christianity out of Rome over the election of Caecilian as bishop of Carthage. Donatists were early Christians who produced the Montanist and Novatian movements in Asia Minor and the Melitians in Egypt. They rejected state interference in church affairs. They used peasant warriors who called themselves Circumcellions. They believed in social revolution. Despite continuous pressure from the Roman Emperors and others, the Donatist church survived until its extinction in North Africa in the Middle Ages.
Montanists (late second century) believed that true Christianity depended on a mystical experience with the Spirit. They believed that there were two classes of Christians: 1) spirit-filled Christians and 2) ordinary Christian believers. Sounds familiar with what some believe today. They were eventually condemned for erasing the distinctions between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Melitians, sometimes called the Church of the Martyrs, were an early Christian group founded in about AD 306 in Egypt. They differed with others about the ease with which backslidden professors or apostates, who denied the faith under persecution, were allowed back in the church.
Novatians were early Christians who refused to readmit those baptized Christians (AD 200-258) who denied God under persecution or who backslid and compromised the truth.
Constantine the Great presided over the Council of Nicaea in AD 325, which was the very first one in the history of the Catholic Christian church. It was called to resolve the Arian heresy for all Christian Churches (east and west), which said that Christ was not divine but created. The Council declared that Jesus was the Son of God and coeternal with the Father. Arian leaders were banished from their churches. This council also established a date for the celebration of Easter. It also began the drafting of canon law for ecclesiastical policy governing both the Latin and Eastern Orthodox Catholic churches.
The Council of Ephesus in 431 AD, called the third Ecumenical Council, was called to address the Nestorian controversy. The main issue was how to address the unity of Christ and how to articulate it. As mentioned, this council declares Mary to be ‘the Mother of God’. This is an obvious apostasy from Biblical Christianity. God has no mother. God is eternal and is spirit. Jesus, the man, did have an earthly mother, Mary. (See my first article on this false theology of the Roman Catholic Church).
A few things to remember before we proceed. Constantine became the Pontifex Maximus, which is Latin for “Supreme Pontiff” or chief of the pagan priesthood known as the Pontifical College (The Roman Catholic Church today has the Sacred College of Cardinals headed by the Pope). This was the most critical position in the Roman Empire’s pagan religion and was open only to patricians until 254 BC. This religious office (Pontifex Maximus) and the role of Emperor merged eventually. The Pope of Rome claims this title, Pontifex Maximus, today. Why would the Pope lay claim to this title?
The compromise of Biblical Christianity continued, and steadfast Bible believing Christians found it necessary to separate themselves, many times geographically, from the ongoing apostasy and persecution of the Catholic church and the Roman Catholic Church. Some of these groups had names, while many others remained nameless. They were Bible believing followers of Christ who rejected the universal Catholic church, its Bible, and all its many compromises.
Who was the Very First Vicar of Christ? This may shock you, but it was not Peter. Constantine the Great, the Roman Emperor, called himself the first Vicar of Christ. Today, the pope is called the Vicar of Christ. Constantine officiated at pagan celebrations. He built pagan temples and, at the same time, built Christian Churches. To unify his kingdom, he incorporated pagan religions with Christianity into a universal or Catholic church. Constantine and those who followed him then began to persecute those ‘heretical’ Christians who would not go along with his paganized Christianity. It is said, in this video, that more Christians were persecuted after his edict than before it. Interesting. How quickly Constantine went from tolerating Christianity and stopping the persecution of Christians, to persecuting Christians who refused to accept his compromises. It seems his political office was more important than his spiritual or religious office.
After Constantine, the rulers of the Roman Catholic Church took on his titles of Pontifex Maximus, Vicar of Christ, and Bishop of Bishops. The papacy we know today is a continuation of the role of Constantine, the Roman Emperor. Some say this marks the beginning of the Dark Ages. When the Roman Empire fell, the Christian church took over the remnants of the empire. For many years, the Roman Catholic Church leadership had supreme religious authority and great political power at the same time. And this extended to many nations.
“The history of the centuries which followed Constantine unfolds the growth in worldliness and ambition of the clergy, both of the Eastern and Western catholic churches, until they claimed entire dominion over the possessions and consciences of mankind. They enforced these claims with a violence and guile that knew no limits. It also reveals here and there the path of tribulation trodden by countless saints who, at all times, and in various places, have suffered all things at the hands of the dominant World-Church (Roman Catholic Church in particular), rather than deny Christ or be turned back from following Him.” (Emphasis added. Pages 38 and 39 of the book, The Pilgrim Church, by E. H. Broadbent, published by Must Have Books).
The Holy Spirit of God led the apostolic church. No one man was ever in charge: not Peter, not Paul, but the Holy Spirit of God. When the apostles and the early church leaders lived, the number of churches exploded and the number of believers multiplied. Then men sought to organize, oversee, and coordinate things. I liken that to when the Jews demanded an earthly king, like other nations, instead of the LORD God. The influence and leadership of the Holy Spirit waned and was replaced by organization, structure, and more rules and traditions of men. Things went downhill from there.
Clergy sought power, status, and position, not holiness or the will of God. Only the priests of Rome and the Bishop of Rome were authorized to interpret the Bible, which they got from Jerome, the Latin Vulgate Bible. He got it from Alexandria. Superstition grew within the Roman Church, and Mary veneration/worship was demanded, not just recommended. True Christians, who rejected all these compromises of the truth of God and the Catholic Bible, continued to be persecuted. They fled as best they could.
Veneration of Relics and Images
The veneration of relics began early in the history of the Catholic Church. Helena, the mother of Emperor Constantine the Great, supposedly brought back pieces of the cross of Christ. Pictures, statues, images, icons were greatly valued. Church buildings were built to honor martyrs, Mary, or receive the icons, pictures, and so forth. Before that time, believers met in homes, not large buildings, which we call churches. Instead of praying to God alone, believers began to pray to saints and Mary. Superstition regarding all these images and relics grew. Along with this were numerous doctrinal changes. Deviation from these dogmas was called heresy. Heresy was punishable by death.
In 842, under Emperor Theodora, “the supporters of images had triumphed, and it was determined to exterminate the ‘heretic.” Theodora had so consistently and powerfully proclaimed that images, pictures, and relics were valueless, and had maintained a spiritual worship and the priesthood of all believers.” (Page 47 of Broadbent’s book).
This Emperor lost the battle and capitulated to the Roman Church. These events prepared the Christians for the test that they would endure. The names that survived these persecutions are: Constantine, Simeon, Genesios, Joseph, Zacharias, Baanes, Symbat, Sergius. “These men labored from the middle of the 7th century to the middle of the 9th century”. (Page 48). They tried to live according to the standards of Biblical Christianity and were persecuted and murdered for it by the Roman Catholic Church. Are you seeing a trend here? Persecution by the Roman Catholic Church is being normalized.
The Dark Ages and the remnant of genuine believers.
During the Dark Ages, AD 476 to 1500, religious practice in medieval Europe was dominated by the Roman Catholic Church. Ignorance, even among the Roman clergy, was rampant. But there has always been a remnant of Bible believing followers of Christ who would never be part of the apostate Roman Catholic Church. Two such groups are the Waldenses and the Albigenses. There were many other groups with different names (for example, the Vaudois and Anabaptists). But they all had this in common: they rejected the apostate Roman Catholic religion and its Bible.
It is essential to understand that what it meant to be a Christian in the past and what it means today are viewed very differently. You and I may disagree that certain groups who called themselves Christians were Christian in the eyes of God. And those who wrote these histories may have had different views on what a Christian was than we do today, or they did back then. Only God knows the countless untold stories of humble believers in Christ throughout the ages whose stories will never be told this side of heaven.
Let us remember that we are discussing the torture and murder of Christians by “Christians.” Jews and others were also killed by those who call themselves “Christian” and who belonged to the Roman Catholic Church. According to them, the Roman Catholic Church is the one true “Christian” Church. Sadly for the world, the one true “Church” was not even close to the end of their murdering for Jesus.
What is the meaning of the word ‘church’?
Let us also remember that the ‘church’ in scripture represents the body of true believers in Jesus Christ. This is the one true church. It has nothing to do with a corporation, institution, a building, or a denomination. All who love and obey Jesus are His Church, the body. Jesus alone is the head of the body, the head of the Church of Christ. Today, when we refer to the ‘church’, we mean a building located at a specific address, or we suggest a “church” denomination such as the Roman Catholic Church. The Church of Jesus Christ is those true believers in Christ, no matter where they are located or what denomination they belong to. As a follower of Jesus Christ, I am the church. You are the church if you love and obey Jesus Christ. Many people who attend a “church” are not members of the body of Christ, the true church.
Roman Catholic persecution continues.
The Crusades of 1096 to 1291. There were eight major crusades. These were a series of religious wars between Christians (Catholics mainly) and Muslims regarding the control of the holy land and its sacred sites. The crusade wars were in response to Muslim aggression and expansion. Muslims won. It is estimated that 1,700,000 people died. The population of the entire world at that time was estimated at 300,000,000.
The Inquisition and the suppression of the Bible. This video claims, and history tells us, that the Bible was forbidden beginning in the 10th century. The Roman Catholic suppression of the Bible in vernacular languages started in the Middle Ages. For instance, Pope John X, AD 920, banned the use of the Old Church Slavonic translation. And in the Second Council of Tarragona in AD 1234, the Spanish Bishops banned ownership of the Bible, pursuant to the decree of King James of Aragon. Before we continue, let me interject a brief history of the development of the Canon of the Bible, especially the 27 books of the New Testament. The following comments will tie in nicely to the topic of the Bible being banned by the Roman Catholic Church for centuries.
Why did the Roman Catholic Church deny Christian’s access to the Bible? Is not the suppression of the bread of life (word of God), a form of persecution?
Why were Christians denied the Bible for 1,000 years?According to the Huffington Post, in an article by Benard Starr, Contributor, dated May 20, 2013, titled “Why Christians were denied access to their Bible for 1,000 years.” He goes on to say that the New Testament, at the time of the Council of Nicaea in AD 325, was not universally accepted. Groups of believers used many different documents, but there was still a core group of books which were used by almost all. The Council of Hippo sanctioned 27 New Testament books in AD 393. Four years later, the Council of Carthage confirmed the same 27 books as authoritative scriptures of the Christian church.
Early Christian church leadership went to great lengths to eliminate false gospel accounts, and there were a number of them. So why would the Roman Catholic Church restrict the reading and use of the New Testament? And if a Christian church wanted to spread the good news, wouldn’t equipping members with the New Testament be extremely helpful? Of course it would. But this is not what occurred. Why? The “church” (Roman Catholic Church) restricted the ownership and reading of the Bible and later forbade the translation of the Bible into the language of the people! The author, Starr, is careful not to mention that this is suppression by the Roman Catholic Church, not the true Christian church. These thousand years of suppressing the reading of the Bible is probably counted from AD 500 to AD 1500 or around that time.
What follows are the minutes of two Roman Catholic Church councils. The Synod of Toulouse in 1229, “We prohibit also that the laity should be permitted to have the books of the Old or New Testament; but we most strictly forbid their having any translation of these books.” In other words, they prohibited the laity from having Bibles and, most especially, having Bibles that people could read and understand. Does that sound like something Jesus Christ would do or something Satan would do?
The second council, Council of Tarragana dated 1234, “No one may possess the books of the Old and New Testaments in the Romance (common) language, and if anyone possesses them, he must turn them over to the local bishop within eight days after promulgation of this decree, so that they may be burned.” Being burned is not much encouragement for spreading the Good News! Do you believe that a genuine follower of Jesus Christ would make such an evil decree? I do not think it is possible.
The Synod of Oxford in 1408 declared it heresy to have a version of the Bible not authorized by the Roman Church. Finally, the Council of Trent declared that all Bibles not authorized by the Roman Catholic Church are on the list of forbidden books in Rule III.
Back to the article, ‘Why were Christians denied the Bible for 1,000 years? The author of this article, Mr. Starr, believes that one main reason for this was the Roman Catholic Church’s desire to destroy Judaism and cleanse the church from its Jewish heritage and foundation. That may have been part of it, I agree. But it is much more directed at Bible believing Christians who refused to submit to the pope and all the unbiblical teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. The more ignorant the lay Catholic is, the easier they are to manipulate. Might that explain why the Roman Catholic Church denied the Bible to Catholics?
Over the centuries, millions of Bible-believing Christians have been murdered by the Roman Catholic Church. Jews and others have also been murdered by this church/organization. The Roman Catholic Church organization is an enemy of the real Bible and real believers in Jesus Christ. Let’s get back to the Inquisition, our following example of Christians being persecuted by people claiming to be ‘Christian”.
Spanish Inquisition. Spanish priest, Dominic de Guzman, founded this order of the Dominicans within the Roman Catholic Church around AD 1216/7 just before the Pope (Innocent the 3rd) died in AD 1218. This priest was rebuked by Bible believing Christians, and he wanted to put a stop to that. Hence, the beginning of the Inquisition with Pope Innocent the 3rd. What bitter irony that the name of this mass murderer is “Pope Innocent.” The absolute truth is that he was “Innocent” of truth, righteousness, and godliness. No one could find Pope Innocent III guilty of any of these virtues. And Pope Innocent 3rd was not ‘innocent’ of such sins as lying, unrighteousness, and ungodliness.
According to author David Daniels, in 1229, the Roman Catholic Inquisition killed 32,000 Albigenses (friends of the Vaudois) at Toulouse and stole their property. (Page 87). This is just one of many examples of the blood lust of the Roman Catholic Church/organization. For centuries, the Roman Catholic Church murdered other Bible believing Christians. It only got worse after the Council of Trent (mid-16th century) when the number of Bible believing Christians murdered numbered into the millions. (Page 87 of his book).
Medieval Inquisition. The Roman Catholic Inquisition began in the 12th-century Kingdom of France to eradicate heresy, particularly among the Cathars and the Waldensians. From this time until the mid-15th century, it is known as the Medieval Inquisition. The Spanish Inquisition lasted between 1478 and 1834 to eradicate heresy in Spain. Heresy was anything the church of Rome didn’t approve of. Millions of Christians and others were murdered and tortured by the Roman Catholic Church organization over many hundreds of years (600 years or so). Does that sound like something Jesus Christ would approve of? If your Jesus would be pleased with this, then you and I worship a different Jesus.
As mentioned, some of the early Christians were known as the Albigenses after the city of Albi in France. They debated with the Catholics often. They believed some things that most of us today do not believe. Supposedly, they believed the good was that which is spirit and evil is that which is matter. People are spirits trapped in human bodies. I am not convinced they believed that, but that is what we are told to think. Remember my comments about history and who writes history for us? These people led a very ascetic way of life and believed they were followers of Jesus Christ. Their righteousness was a constant rebuke to godless Catholic clerics. They rejected many Roman Catholic doctrines and were thus a threat and needed to be exterminated. Huguenots are descended from this group.
By AD 1233, the inquisition was made official and for 600 years was in effect. The Popes outlawed the possession, reading, and adherence to the Bible. Suppression of the Bible extended well past 6 centuries. In John chapter one, we read,
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made. In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. John 1:1-5. “And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. John 1:14.
John declares that Jesus Christ is the Word of God made flesh. This light and truth came to enlighten the world, but the world of mankind loved the darkness and rejected His light. Suppressing the Word of God is suppressing God, who is the Word. Only a Satanic force would reject or suppress the Word and embrace darkness. To believe that the Roman Catholic Church’s suppression of the Word is anything but demonic is a testimony to the power of deception.
John Dowling estimated that the Roman Catholic Church organization killed an estimated 50 million Bible believing Christians (the true church) throughout the Inquisition. Source: “The History of Romanism by John Dowling, p. 511, published in 1845.
We know from history that the Roman Catholic organization (false church) persecuted Bible believing Christians (true church) for many centuries. That included a variety of forms of demonic torture along with the cruelest forms of murder for violation of their orders. Many real Christians ignored these satanic demands and paid the ultimate price.
Roman Catholic persecution of believers: erasing them and their histories.
It is important to remember that genuine Bible believers (the true church of Christ) have always existed alongside and before the Roman Catholic Church/organization came into existence. Sometimes they were called Paulician or “Thonraks” or by some other name. (Page 40 of Broadbent’s book). Groups such as these and others, such as the Anabaptists, that rebuked the apostasy of the Roman Catholic Church, were persecuted, robbed, and destroyed.
Their literature, stories, and history were purposely obliterated just as the Roman Catholic Church burned Bibles to keep people from reading them. The author, Broadbent, writes about these Christian saints and those who believed like they did, living around 653, 684, 720, 813 AD, and through the Great Reformation. I highly recommend his book and Fox’s Book of Martyrs.
Truthful historical accounts are rare, as I have mentioned already. As a result of the Roman Catholic Church’s destruction of Christian people groups and their beliefs, including their histories and religious practices, the true history of Christian groups outside of the Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Catholic Church is difficult to find and rare. All these groups claimed to be descendants of the Apostolic tradition and believers in New Testament doctrines. Unfortunately, there are significant gaps in their history as the Roman Catholic church sought to destroy their memory, their beliefs, and ruin their reputations at the same time. Does that sound like something real followers of Jesus Christ would do?
In addition, the Roman Catholic Church fabricated lies regarding their beliefs and their character. As I said earlier, history is written by those who win battles and survive. How much of what a person gets from the internet is factual? God only knows. I think that not much can be trusted. Our media makes history every day by what they neglect to mention, what they let slip by, and by the propaganda they broadcast. Most of it isn’t very objective. All of it is untrustworthy because so much of it is a lie of some kind.
I am convinced that if the Roman Catholic Church has anything to do with writing history, it can’t be trusted. History has shown that these godless Catholic leaders are anything but trustworthy servants of the Most High God. An organization (East and West Catholic Church and then the Roman Catholic Church) that will torture and murder millions of gentle, kind, holy, loving, and righteous believers in Christ, will not stop there but will malign their beliefs and reputations with no remorse whatsoever. They will destroy their history, but that was not always as successful as they wanted.
Please read E. H. Broadbent’s book for all the details regarding the Pilgrim Church. I only scratched the surface in this article. The main point in all this is to understand that there has always been a true and faithful remnant (the true church) of God that existed 1) before, and 2) alongside the apostate Christian organization known as the Roman Catholic Church. (Dave Hunt calls the Roman Catholic Church a counterfeit Christian Church. He has written lots of essential truths about the Roman Catholic Church over the years, and I recommend his books and videos.)
This historical perspective of the Catholic church is much like the Democratic Party in the USA, which is the leading force behind baby killing in our nation. If the Democrats will kill babies and sell their body parts, it should not surprise us that they will cheat, steal elections, lie, and do anything necessary to keep their hold on power. Likewise, suppose the Roman Catholic Church would murder millions of good, kind, decent, and righteous Bible believing Christians. In that case, it should not surprise us that this same organization/church will forge documents, commit fraud, lie about history, and destroy the memory and reputations of their enemies (true Christians).
The group presenting this video series claims that the Waldenses (the name for any group of Bible believing Christians) dated back to the second century and used the Italic version of the Bible. The Roman Catholic Church, they claim, persecuted them for over 1,000 years. Popes cursed them, slandered them, and killed them. They were never part of Rome and went by a variety of names over the centuries. All these men, and countless others, were condemned by the Roman Catholic organization. Rome has always hated the actual Bible and Bible believers.
The church of Jesus Christ suffered persecution by the Jews, the Roman Emperor, and, worst of all, by the apostate Christian Church known as the Roman Catholic Church organization. This apostate Christian Church hates the Word of God and has done and will continue to do whatever it takes to destroy the credibility of the Bible. They demand that the entire world fall to their knees and obey the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church organization.
Final comments as I close this section on persecution
With so much information, it is easy to miss the most important. I repeat this quote in closing this article. John Dowling estimated that the Roman Catholic Church organization killed an estimated 50 million Bible believing Christians (the true church) throughout the Inquisition. Source: “The History of Romanism by John Dowling, p. 511, published in 1845.
In world history, there are very few individuals and empires that have murdered such vast numbers of human beings. Stalin and Mao come to mind. Hitler, by comparison, killed but a few million. In Christian world history, there is nothing comparable, that I am aware of, in terms of the total number of people tortured and murdered by the Roman Catholic Church/organization.
What does that tell you about a ‘Christian Church’ that has murdered around 50 million other Christians in the name of Jesus Christ? Most of us have no problem believing that godless Stalin and Mao were evil and served the devil. But what about the Roman Catholic Church? Can it be called anything but pure evil? I seriously do not understand how anyone who knows the Jesus Christ of the New Testament could believe that the Roman Catholic Church organization is in any way Christian. If a person or a ‘Church’ can murder that many people, steal all their possessions, practice all manner of sins, and still be called Christian, then the word Christian has no meaning whatsoever.
Remember what I said earlier about the difference between a singular crime of passion and the centuries-long murder of millions of Bible believing followers of Jesus Christ. Both are crimes, but only one reveals the true nature of the person or entity. Jesus said a bad tree can only produce bad fruit. What is the fruit of the tree called, the Roman Catholic Church?
Protestant persecution
The Catholic Church is not the only organized Christian sect that has persecuted others who do not believe what it believes. For example, the Protestant reformer, Huldrych Zwingli of Switzerland, murdered other believers who refused to accept those beliefs he thought must be believed. And what was the great heresy that led him to state that those who refused must die? Adult baptism! At one time, Zwingli said infant baptism was not demanded in the Bible, and then later condemned adult baptism. In our country, as it was being formed, Christians were persecuting other Christians. God’s standard of righteousness has not changed. No murderer (Catholic or Protestant) has eternal life abiding in them, see 1 John. God condemns Catholic and Protestant persecution of others. (See Broadbent’s book, The Primitive Church, pages 160-161, if you want more information.)
Love your neighbor and your enemy.
Jesus said that the two greatest commandments are to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. The second is to love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus never once forced, under the threat of death, anyone to follow Him. He invited them using reason, logic and the truth. What makes anyone think that the true church of Christ is in the business of forcing conversion on pain of torture and death? How could so many be so blind?
Not only are we to love our neighbor, but we are also commanded to love our enemy. Is mass murdering our neighbor and our enemy an example of love? No right-thinking or honest person believes that is true. No child of God would practice such an evil against a neighbor or an enemy. (I am not talking about self-defense, which is not a sin).
I must add a comment about the legalized murder of over 62 million babies by our government since 1973. Worldwide, the number of babies murdered by abortion is between 1 and 1.5 billion. It is impossible to understand this depth of evil apart from the devil and the selfishness of mankind.
While the Roman Catholic Church organization tried to keep the Word of God out of the hands of ordinary people, God had different plans, which we will now consider. In the next article, Part 5, we will consider in more detail how we got our English Bible and the Roman Catholic Church’s opposition to it.
