I. THE CRUSADES. 1095 AD.

            Crusades against the Moslems had been going on for sometime in Spain and Eastern Europe, but only as a matter of defense against the growing tide of Islam. After the Moslems were defeated on the Eastern and Western areas of Europe the tide began to change and now is the form of the religious Crusades, Europeans became the aggressors in a offensive attacks on the Arabs.

            The primary cause of the Crusades was a religion one. That being the freeing the Holy Land from the pagan Moslems. Of course there were great political and economic gains to be had by any nation that controlled the Middle East. So sanctified by the Roman Catholic Church, the crusaders marched into Palestine under religious banners. In Europe it was a glorious thing to do, that is to march off in the "cause of Christ" to rescue Palestine from the heathens. It was disastrous for many. The members of the First Crusade, either died on the way to Palestine or were massacred by the Turks in Asia Minor. The rest captured and sold into slavery.

           The first organized Crusade led by noblemen from France, Belgium and Norman Italy by 1099 AD had successful captured Jerusalem. The Moslems in the late 1180's began to threaten the area again, so the Second Crusade was called, but ended in failure and the Moslems recaptured Jerusalem. Now the Third Crusade was to try again to free Jerusalem from the Moslems, but it also failed. The Sixth Crusade ended in a treaty which allowed Christian access to Jerusalem.

            One of the worst Crusades, the Children's Crusade,in 1212 ended in tragedy. Led by two boys named Stephen and Nicholas, who marched across Southern Europe with hundreds of children, contending that their purity of life would give them victory. Most perished on the way and the rest were sold into slavery in Egypt.

II. THE DARK AGES.

            The period that ended in the Great Reformation was one of a dark history for Europe and the Roman Church. During this time the church had grown to have great political power over all the European nations. Where the head of the church was there was power. Pope Clement V, a Frenchmen, moved the papacy to Avignon, France in 1305. The next Pope tried to restore order but after his death, two Popes claimed power. One pope was in Avignon and the other in Rome. European nations had now to choose which pope to follow. The matter was not solved until the early 1400's.

            The governments of Europe was heavily taxed by the Roman Church who passed it on to their subjects. The church taxed all of Europe and England and became wealthy beyond imagination. This lay at the root of the "problems" of the Roman Church. Where great wealth is there is also great corruption and power. Under the title and influence the actual governing power in Europe was the Holy Roman Empire.

III. THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION: 1517 AD

           The Reformation began in Germany with a young monk named, Martin Luther. In 1510 -1511, Luther was sent to Rome on business for his monastery. In Rome he was greatly shocked at the corruption and luxury of the Roman Church. He was later transferred to Wittenberg, Germany, and taught Bible and received his Doctor of Theology degree there in the University.

            During the years between 1530 and 1517, while intensively studying the Bible, and particularly reading Romans 1:17, he was convinced the Scriptures taught salvation was by the Grace of God through faith alone apart from the works of man. On October 31, 1517, Luther posted his "Ninety-five Theses" on the door of the church in Wittenberg. This Theses, condemned and criticized the "indulgence" system of the Roman Church. Indulgences were "licenses" which was paid for in money to the Church, in which a person would be absolved or forgiven of some sin. This pieces of paper, were sold like you would purchase any ordinary item, and the Church would issue forgiveness for any sin if you had the price of the indulgence. You could even buy them in advance and use them as needed!!! Luther, issued his Theses and challenged all on comers to prove it was Scriptural. This caused a great uproar among the people, who because of the oppression of taxes by the Roman Church, supported Luther's ideas. In 1520, Luther was excommunicated. Later they tried to capture him and put him on trial, but he escaped. During the period when he was in hiding ending in 1534, he translated the entire Bible into German. He denounced his monastic vows and married. In 1530, the Diet of Augsburg was held, and the "Augsburg Confession" drawn up which became the official creed of the first Protestant Church, the Lutheran Church.

            The reformation spread into all of Europe and began the process of ending Roman Catholic political rule. In Switzerland, under the reformer Zwingli, this country became Protestant. At later churchman named John Calvin, formed what is today Presbyterianism.

IV. THE ANABAPISTS.

           The Anabaptist were reformers who left the Roman Church in Switzerland. They were radical reformers, who went further that other reformers in denouncing un-Scriptural practices of Catholicism. They based their doctrines on the Bible. They became the enemies of many of the reformers who still held on to many Catholic teachings such as infant baptism. Anabaptists refused infant baptism. Zwingli, tried to reason with the Anabaptists, but by 1526, saw they would not be persuaded to change their views. The Swiss church decided to punish them and if they refused to recant, were drown! By 1535, most Anabaptists who had not been murdered had left Switzerland and gone into other parts of Europe.

           In Germany, the Anabaptist leader, Balthaser Hubmaier, in 1528, was burned at the stake. His wife was drown in the Danube, by Roman Catholic authorities. The reason for his death was he refused to recant his belief in the separation of church and state, the sole authority of the Bible, and the baptism of believers only! The Anabaptists denied many of the ideas of the Protestant reformers Luther and Zwingli, thus they were hated by Catholic and Protestant alike. Many were martyred in Germany for their faith.

            In the Netherlands, Menno Simons, gave up his position as a priest in the Catholic church, and embraced the Anabaptist beliefs. In 1676, his followers the Mennonites, gained freedom.

           The Anabaptists were simple Bible believing people mostly of peasant class. Some of their leaders led them astray and took advantaged of them. Yet today as says Cairns in his "History of the Church," neither Mennonites nor Baptist should be ashamed to count them among their spiritual ancestors.

            By the mid 1500's, one-sixth of the French were Protestant. They were at first identified as Calvinists, due to the missionary efforts of John Calvin the Swiss reformer. Included in this group were the Waldenses of Southern France. In 1560, they began being called "Huguenots". The origin of the name is unknown. They grew in great numbers in France, until they became a threat to Roman rule there. Starting in 1538, a policy of religious war was practiced to try and bring the French Huguenots back under Roman rule. Between 1559 and 1598 eight fierce wars were fought. The terrible massacre of St. Batholomew was begun in 1572. Over 2000 Hugeunots were murdered in Paris on the nights of August 23 and 24. In all as many as twenty thousand were murdered and their property seized by the Roman Catholics. For a brief period the persecution ended with Henry IV, and ex-Huguenot. However, in 1685, Louis XIV, revoked the order of tolerance and the Huguenots in mass fled France to England, Prussia, Holland, South Africa and the Carolinas in America. Because they were the skilled artisans of France and professional middle class, their departure was a serious blow to the French economy.

            It should be noted that the Protestant reformation was a reforming of the Roman Catholic church. Although many Catholics left the Roman church and turned to the Scriptures for their rule of faith and practice, they NEVER completely left all the errors and false doctrines of Roman Catholicism. For example:

1. Protestantism has never accepted the principle of separation of church and state. In Europe today, the church is a state church, supported largely by government imposed taxes.

2. The idea of the bread in the Lord's Supper actually becoming the physical body of Christ, which was the Roman teaching was only modified by Protestants. Most still today, see it as a sacrament, having saving properties.

3. Protestants still baptize babies and they hold the writing of their church fathers to be a source of church doctrine and have never accepted the Bible as their sole rule of faith and practice.

4. They held on to a organized system of hierarchy in church government, which is another unscriptural hold-over from Roman Catholicism.

           Although many Protestants believed in the biblical Gospel they have never left many of the gross un-biblical practices of the Catholic church.

           Also it is well to note in judging the value of the Reformation to TRUE Christianity, that the Protestants persecuted and murdered thousands Bible believing Christians, because these Bible believers would not accept the false doctrines the Protestants brought over with them from Roman Catholicism.

           History, not the writer of these notes, clearly shows that Protestants have never been the true champions of true biblical faith. The true champions were those that the Protestants and the Catholics alike murdered by the thousands. Groups such as the Anabaptists, the Waldenses, Mennonites and the Huguenots. These were the forerunners of those today who hold uncompromisingly to the truth, that the Bible and the Bible alone, is the only and sole authority for Truth and the true church.