Friends, The 1913 Roman Catholic Encyclopedia declares, on the consequences of the English Reformation: The Reformation destroyed the unity of faith and ecclesiastical organization of the Christian peoples of Europe, cut many millions off from the true Catholic Church, and robbed them of the greatest portion of the salutary means for the cultivation and maintenance of the supernatural life. Incalculable harm was thereby wrought from the religious standpoint. The false fundamental doctrine of justification by faith alone, taught by the Reformers, produced a lamentable shallowness in religious life. Zeal for good works disappeared, the asceticism which the Church had practised from her foundation was despised, charitable and ecclesiastical objects were no longer properly cultivated, supernatural interests fell into the background, and naturalistic aspirations aiming at the purely mundane, became widespread. How unjust and untrue is this estimation of the English Phoenix rising from the dust & ashes! Learn about the Divines who defended the doctrines of the Blessed Trinity and the inerrancy of Scripture, against Deists, and all the mystical doctors & theologians of our history! Look at the names of these sermons by Isaac Maddox, just one Divine of many: 1733; A sermon [for] the Incorporated Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. 1737; The love of our country recommended: [for] the Societies for Reformation of Manners. 1739; A sermon [for] the Publick Infirmary in James-Street, Westminster. 1741; A sermon [for] charity-schools, in and about the cities of London and Westminster. 1743; The duty and advantages of encouraging public infirmaries [for] the London Infirmary, in Goodman’s-Fields, for the relief of sick and diseased manufacturers, and seamen in merchant-service 1748; The necessity of perseverance in well-doing; a sermon [for] the Worcester Infirmary. 1750; The expediency of preventive wisdom [for] the several hospitals of the city of London. 1752; A sermon preached [for] the Hospital for the Small-pox, and for Inoculation. 1753; The wisdom and duty of preserving destitute infants. The Anglicans of the past did nothing more than to propagate the holy Faith and zealously do good works unto all. Let us revive our strength, by calling upon the LORD and knowing our own history! Don't let yourselves be discouraged. Come, let us discuss the positive legacy of the English Reformation!
Poor Jesuits. I guess we can't benefit from the "deep richness" of the religious life where the grace of God is annihilated and one can merit heaven by his works and sufferings and, under the rod of clerical discipline, pay for the sins that Christ already paid for.
"Be of good comfort, and play the man, Master Ridley; we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in England, as I trust shall never be put out." ~ Bishop Latimer
"And now I would ask a strange question: who is the most diligentest bishop and prelate in all England that passeth all the rest in doing his office? I can tell for I know him who it is; I know him well. But now I think I see you listening and hearkening that I should name him. There is one that passeth all the other, and is the most diligent prelate and preacher in all England. And will ye know who it is? I will tell you: it is the devil. He is the most diligent preacher of all other; he is never out of his diocese; he is never from his cure; ye shall never find him unoccupied; he is ever in his parish; he keepeth residence at all times; ye shall never find him out of the way, call for him when you will he is ever at home; the diligentest preacher in all the realm; he is ever at his plough; no lording nor loitering can hinder him; he is ever applying his business, ye shall never find him idle, I warrant you. And his office is to hinder religion, to maintain superstition, to set up idolatry, to teach all kind of popery. He is ready as he can be wished for to set forth his plough; to devise as many ways as can be to deface and obscure God's glory...O that our prelates would be as diligent to sow the corn of good doctrine as Satan is to sow cockle and darnel." ~ Sermon on the Plough, Hugh Latimer, Bishop of Worcester.
What great historical memorials, Old Christendom. Thank you for the enthusiastic contributions. Your quotes of heroic men like Ridley & Latimer sent shockwaves of awe through the heart. They were such impressive and good men. Looking at the way in which they strove for evangelical unity in all Christendom, this report of the Catholic Encyclopedia 1913 is particularly unjust: In every land in which it found ingress, the Reformation was the cause of indescribable suffering among the people; it occasioned civil wars which lasted decades with all their horrors and devastations; the people were oppressed and enslaved; countless treasures of art and priceless manuscripts were destroyed; between members of the same land and race the seed of discord was sown. Germany in particular, the original home of the Reformation, was reduced to a state of piteous distress by the Thirty Years' War, and the German Empire was thereby dislodged from the leading position which it had for centuries occupied in Europe. Yet every plot and sedition in those days began under Romanists, such as the "Pilgrimage of Grace" and the reign of Bloody Mary. It was the great men of Canterbury & Wittenberg who did all in their power to stem the tide of such evil rebellions and discords. It is a little-known fact that Cranmer was so humane as to plea with Cromwell & HM Henry VIII to spare the lives of More & Fisher in 1536, hoping for a good compromise that would satisfy the consciences of all. He was rebuked by Henry & Cromwell - who both died affirming Roman Catholicism, it might be added. The effects of the English Reformation were: godliness, loyalty, and upright living, in all quarters. The Romanists, like Pappenheim, Tilly, Alba, and other great murderers & traitors of the counter-reformation, had no regard for morals or ethics - killing Protestants was a favour, in their eyes. The ideal of the Cosmic, Imperial Church, warped them and justified all evils. Their justification by good works made them into monstrous doers of evil works. Protestants, scorning the glory of man's good works, did the most noble and loving works of all!
I'm awed by what just one man had to stand up to in order to start all this. Luther must have felt truly alone, facing endless armies of acolytes and people who had never read the Holy Scriptures. What can one man do against such reckless hate, in an era of burnings and persecutions, in an era where an holy episcopal see was defiled by a Prince-Bishop who wore a world-dominating tiara? It can be difficult to appreciate just what colossal edifices Cranmer was up against. Here are three varying descriptions of the Papal Tiara, put upon every Pope's head from 1150-1963: 1. The Triregnum (the Papal Tiara formed by three crowns symbolizing the triple power of the Pope: father of kings, governor of the world and Vicar of Christ (vatican.va) 2. Among the various interpretations, we shall mention the one that says that the three crowns represent the militant, the suffering and the triumphant Church. (vatican.va) 3. The tiara is comprised of three crowns signifying the pope's three-fold duties to teach, sanctify, and govern the Church. (SSPX.org) Look at the immensity, the monstrosity, of the presumptions. Thank God for the gift of such startlingly brave men as our Latimer, Ridley, Cranmer, Wytcliffe, Tynsdale, and so many others! What a legacy of heroism they've left us!
The Magisterial Protestant state churches were just as evil as the Roman Catholics, using the persecution, torture, mutilation, and murder of dissenters in the name of Jesus as an approved policy.
There were incidents, sadly, but it was not upon such an universal, unstoppable, imperial scale as Rome.
True. The Anabaptists are too often a forgotten or ignored part of the Reformation. I admire them; they, the Baptists, and Quakers are largely responsible for giving us the gift of religious liberty.