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¤[Theme music]¤
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>>John Bradshaw: This is It
Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw.
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Thanks for joining me.
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On September the
27th, 1540, Pope Paul III
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sat in the apostolic
palace in the Vatican City,
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wondering if things
could possibly get worse,
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for him and for his church.
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He realized
that the Vatican City
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had a lot of ground to make up.
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It had been 23
years since Martin Luther
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had nailed his 95 theses to
the door of the Castle Church
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in Wittenberg, Germany,
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and since that
time whole countries
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had broken free
from Rome's control.
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Parts of
Germany and Scandinavia,
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England, the
Netherlands, Switzerland,
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they all seceded from Rome.
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Luther's writings and the
writings of other Reformers
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had spread across Europe.
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People were
experiencing liberation.
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Long before Luther,
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there were reform
movements within Catholicism.
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Peter Waldo pressed for
reform within the church
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in the 12th century.
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He spoke against purgatory
and against the teaching
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of transubstantiation,
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which states that
during the communion service
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the bread and wine, or juice,
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become the actual
body and blood of Jesus.
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For his trouble he
was severely persecuted.
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He and his followers retreated
to live in the isolated valleys
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of the Piedmont
region in northern Italy,
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where they worked and educated.
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But it wasn't far enough
away to be out of the reach
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of a church that was
determined to destroy them.
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John Wycliffe, who was
born around the year 1328,
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is known today as “the Morning
Star of the Reformation.”
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Educated at
Balliol College in Oxford,
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he translated the Bible
from Latin into English,
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or the English of his day.
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From his parish in
Lutterworth in England,
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Wycliffe attacked monasticism,
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the veneration of saints,
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transubstantiation,
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and he even said the
papacy wasn't biblical,
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going so far as to equate
the papacy with the antichrist.
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It's no wonder
he wasn't popular.
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After his death the church
declared him to be a heretic,
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exhumed his body,
burned his remains,
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and cast his ashes
into the River Swift,
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which flows through Lutterworth.
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Wycliffe influenced the Czech
reformer Jan Hus, or John Huss.
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Now, you have to keep
in mind that to speak out
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against the church meant death,
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and these men knew that.
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Huss was commanded by the
church to appear at a trial
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in Constance, Germany.
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The church
promised to protect him.
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But the moment he
arrived in that city,
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he was
apprehended by the church,
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thrown into a loathsome
prison, left to languish there.
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Then he was
brought out and executed,
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and his ashes were
thrown into the Rhine River.
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Luther was by no
means the first burr
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under the saddle of the church,
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but he was
definitely the biggest challenge
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they'd had to deal with.
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Now, it's not
like Luther didn't have
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plenty of material to work with.
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Church leaders, many of them,
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were openly corrupt;
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the faithful were
kept completely in the dark
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as far as
Scripture was concerned.
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They couldn't possess the Bible.
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In fact, to have the
Bible, portions of the Bible,
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even handwritten
portions of the Bible,
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was enough to get a
person sentenced to death.
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The church financed
the building of St Peter's
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by selling indulgences.
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This was a phenomenal abuse
of ignorant church members,
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telling them that
sins could be forgiven
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or temporal punishment
for sin would be lessened
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if they paid
money to the church.
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Indulgences could
be bought for the dead.
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It was outrageous.
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Reform was inevitable.
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And by the time Luther stood up,
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and Melanchthon with him,
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and Calvin
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and Farel
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and Zwingli
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and Knox,
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all roughly at the same time,
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the world was shaken.
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And the church trembled.
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Which brings us back to
September the 27th, 1540,
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at a meeting that
took place on that day,
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here in the Vatican.
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A small group of priests
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was ushered into
Pope Paul's presence.
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A group with an
agenda, a concerned group.
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Concerned by what they
saw happening to the church,
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which they believed
was divinely commissioned
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to represent God on Earth.
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They were led by a
sharply intelligent man,
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a theologian and former soldier.
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His name was Ignatius of Loyola.
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His words at
that memorable meeting
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have been paraphrased by
the late author Malachi Martin.
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He said, “Holy Father, the
papacy and the Roman Catholic
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Church are in mortal trouble.
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Needed is a modern weapon to
fight this totally new warfare.
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Give us, a new charter like
no other charter given before.
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Make us independent
of all local authorities
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and directly
responsible to Your Holiness.
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We will go anywhere
at any time at any cost
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to life and comfort
in order to do anything.”
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And so the Society of Jesus came
into existence: the Jesuits.
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It was the first time an
organization quite like this
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had existed within
the Roman Catholic Church.
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The pope would launch
a counter reformation,
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a strategy to press back against
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the advances
made by Protestantism.
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The Jesuits would
be a significant factor
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in aiding the church
to regain lost prestige,
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power and influence.
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>>Dr. Damsteegt:
The Counter Reformation
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was simply the
response of the church
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against what
they saw, an uprising.
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Kind of a revolt
that should be put out.
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What they did is
analyzing the arguments
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that were presented
by Luther and others,
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and trying to counteract it.
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You know, you
have to keep in mind,
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the church was one church, and
there is no split whatsoever.
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And the church
wanted to preserve this,
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and they thought the
greatest sin in the world
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would be to ruin
the unity of the church.
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>>John: When you're
losing market share,
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when in a sporting event
you have to come from behind,
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when it's the third
quarter of the Super Bowl
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and you're down
by 28 points to 3,
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and it looks like
you're about to lose big,
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you mount a comeback effort.
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Some comebacks are
successful, some not so much.
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This would be a
comeback of epic proportions.
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If Rome was going to fix
the damage caused by Luther
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and Wycliffe and
Farel and a host of others,
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something had to be done.
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And it would take
some remarkable leadership.
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Which brings us to
Ignatius of Loyola.
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I'll have more in just a moment.
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¤[Theme music]¤
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I'm John Bradshaw
from It Is Written,
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inviting you to
join me for “500,”
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nine programs
produced by it Is Written
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taking you deep
into the Reformation.
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This is the 500th anniversary
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of the beginning
of the Reformation,
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when Martin Luther
nailed his 95 theses
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to the door of the Castle
church in Wittenberg, Germany.
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We'll take you to Wittenberg,
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and to Belgium,
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to England,
00:09:28.73\00:09:29.56
to Ireland,
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to Rome,
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to the Vatican City,
00:09:31.67\00:09:32.97
and introduce you to the people
who created the Reformation,
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who pushed the
Reformation forward.
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We'll take you to
sites all throughout Europe
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where the reformers
lived and in some cases died.
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We'll bring you
back to the United States
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and take you to a little
farm in upstate New York,
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and show you how God
spread the Reformation here.
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Don't miss 500.
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You can own the
500 series on DVD.
00:09:52.45\00:09:55.49
Call us on 888-664-5573,
00:09:55.52\00:10:00.13
or visit us online
at itiswritten.shop.
00:10:00.16\00:10:05.20
¤[Music]¤
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He was born here in Azpeitia,
at the Castle of Loyola,
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in what's known today as Basque
Country in northern Spain,
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about 30 miles from
the border with France
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and about 60
miles from Pamplona,
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famous for the
Running of the Bulls.
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This basilica, the
santuario de Loyola,
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is built on the
site of his birthplace.
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He was named Iñigo, the
youngest of thirteen children.
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His mother died
shortly after he was born,
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so he was raised by the
wife of a local blacksmith.
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He took the surname Loyola,
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a reference to this place
where he was born and raised.
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At the time, it
was just a village.
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When he was 17, he
joined the military.
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He became an expert in dueling.
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It's said that when a man
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challenged the
divinity of Christ,
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he challenged
that man to a duel,
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and he killed
him with his sword.
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When he was 18 years old, he was
employed by the Duke of Najera.
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He spent 12 years
working for the man.
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He was involved
in a lot of battles.
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But his military
career came to an end in 1521,
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during the Battle of Pamplona.
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He was struck by a
cannon ball, seriously injured.
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One of his legs was shattered.
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It's a wonder
he survived at all.
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But he did survive,
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and spent the rest of
his life walking with a limp.
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During his recovery,
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he underwent a
spiritual experience
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which led him to
devote the rest of his life
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to the service of his faith.
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He read about
Jesus and about the lives
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of the saints of his church,
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and was impressed by
people like Francis of Assisi.
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He spent weeks in prayer
and meditation in this cave,
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developing what
would eventually be called
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his Spiritual Exercises.
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During this time Inigo
experienced a number of visions.
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According to one
writer, they appeared to him as
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"a form in the air
near him and this form
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gave him much consolation
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because it was
exceedingly beautiful,
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it somehow seemed to
have the shape of a serpent
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and had many things that shone
like eyes, but were not eyes.
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He received much
delight and consolation
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from gazing upon this object,
00:12:25.67\00:12:27.81
but when the object vanished
he became disconsolate.”
00:12:27.84\00:12:31.41
In order to grow close to God,
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he pursued an ascetic
life of strict self-denial,
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as many monks or
priests did in those days.
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He made a pilgrimage to Israel,
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hoping to convert
the people controlling
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the Holy Land to Christianity.
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The Spiritual
Exercises he developed
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set the tone for
the Jesuit order.
00:12:51.90\00:12:54.64
The exercises
emphasized discernment regarding
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the difference between good
and evil in a person's life.
00:13:01.21\00:13:04.38
He taught that
through discernment
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a believer can achieve
a mystical union with God,
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and therefore
understand God's will.
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This trend toward mysticism
in the philosophy of the Jesuits
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encouraged a larger
movement toward mysticism
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during the time of
the Counter Reformation.
00:13:23.33\00:13:26.10
The challenge, of
course, is that with this system
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the Bible isn't necessarily
seen as a Christian's
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supreme spiritual authority.
00:13:32.11\00:13:33.94
But emphasizing the Bible
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was what the
Reformers had been doing,
00:13:36.64\00:13:39.11
and that had taken a toll on the
church's power and authority.
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He studied in Barcelona,
and then spent seven years
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as a university
student in Paris.
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The Reformation was
in full swing by then,
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the effects of the
Reformation clearly seen
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as people all around him,
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irrespective of
their class in society,
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were taking sides
in the controversy.
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And it was while he
was at that university
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that he met the six
men who would join with him
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in his life's work,
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the work for which
the world remembers him,
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work that would
impact his church,
00:14:11.18\00:14:13.11
Christianity as a
whole, and even the world.
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On the morning of
August the 15th, 1534,
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Ignatius Loyola
and his six friends
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met together in one of
the oldest churches in Paris.
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Together they took vows,
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and formed what would become
known as the Society of Jesus.
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It was formally
established five years later,
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and one year after that,
00:14:35.17\00:14:36.87
in that memorable
meeting with Pope Paul III,
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the highest
blessing of the church
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was bestowed upon
Ignatius and his friends,
00:14:42.11\00:14:45.15
and their plans to
regain ground lost by the papacy
00:14:45.18\00:14:48.12
and blunt the
progress of the Reformation.
00:14:48.15\00:14:51.15
¤[Soft music]¤
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He sent his
companions throughout Europe
00:14:56.56\00:14:58.73
establishing universities
and colleges and seminaries.
00:14:58.76\00:15:02.43
Educate the educators, and you
influence what's being taught,
00:15:02.46\00:15:06.10
and what's being thought.
00:15:06.13\00:15:08.74
With the help of
his personal secretary,
00:15:08.77\00:15:10.67
he wrote the
Jesuit Constitution,
00:15:10.71\00:15:13.04
based on the principle
of absolute self-denial
00:15:13.07\00:15:16.11
and complete
obedience to the pope.
00:15:16.14\00:15:19.11
They adopted the
motto, “perinde ac cadaver,”
00:15:19.15\00:15:22.05
which means “as if a dead body.”
00:15:22.08\00:15:25.32
Part of the oath
taken by Jesuits says,
00:15:25.35\00:15:27.72
"I do further
promise and declare,
00:15:27.76\00:15:30.26
that I will have no
opinion or will of my own,
00:15:30.29\00:15:33.19
or any mental
reservation whatever,
00:15:33.23\00:15:35.33
even as a corpse or cadaver,
00:15:35.36\00:15:38.07
but will unhesitatingly
obey each and every command
00:15:38.10\00:15:41.67
that I may
receive from my superiors
00:15:41.70\00:15:43.57
in the Militia of the
Pope and of Jesus Christ."
00:15:43.61\00:15:47.64
>>Dr. Damsteegt: The people
who adopt the Special Exercises
00:15:48.78\00:15:51.91
were, had a strong
faith in that whatever
00:15:51.95\00:15:55.48
they were being
told is the truth.
00:15:55.52\00:15:58.39
If the church would tell me that
this is white while it is black,
00:15:58.42\00:16:05.13
I would accept it.
00:16:05.16\00:16:07.76
Very, very simple.
00:16:07.76\00:16:09.26
And if the church says this,
00:16:09.30\00:16:12.80
even if my senses
says it is incorrect,
00:16:12.83\00:16:16.04
because the church
says it, I will accept it.
00:16:16.07\00:16:20.54
And so it was a total,
total mortification of the will.
00:16:20.58\00:16:28.95
That was a fantastic
system of brainwashing,
00:16:28.98\00:16:32.15
that you believe
without reservation
00:16:32.19\00:16:34.16
that what the church
teaches you should be,
00:16:34.19\00:16:36.59
that is the truth and
nothing but the truth.
00:16:36.62\00:16:39.19
¤[Soft music]¤
00:16:39.23\00:16:40.06
The Jesuits are
still a powerful force
00:16:40.10\00:16:41.56
in the Roman Catholic Church,
00:16:41.60\00:16:43.40
and scores of colleges and
universities around the world
00:16:43.43\00:16:46.37
are under their guidance.
00:16:46.40\00:16:48.44
In 2013, Pope Francis
became the first Jesuit
00:16:48.47\00:16:52.67
to be elected to his
church's highest office.
00:16:52.71\00:16:55.81
The Jesuits were
the foot soldiers
00:16:55.84\00:16:57.81
of the Counter Reformation.
00:16:57.85\00:17:00.15
But the papal church
was also taking other steps
00:17:00.18\00:17:03.12
to restore its power.
00:17:03.15\00:17:04.99
There was much more to
the Counter Reformation.
00:17:05.02\00:17:07.76
At the Council of Trent,
held between 1545 and 1563,
00:17:07.79\00:17:13.86
strategies were devised
to help the church address
00:17:13.90\00:17:17.17
the challenges presented
by the Protestant Reformation.
00:17:17.20\00:17:20.57
Now, any talk of compromise with
Protestantism was ruled out.
00:17:20.60\00:17:25.14
But the council did
acknowledge that certain abuses
00:17:25.17\00:17:27.91
had occurred at some levels
00:17:27.94\00:17:29.81
under the
auspices of the church.
00:17:29.84\00:17:32.05
So there were some changes made.
00:17:32.08\00:17:34.12
For example, certain
measures were introduced
00:17:34.15\00:17:36.79
to govern more closely
the sale of indulgences.
00:17:36.82\00:17:40.32
But the veto power
of church tradition
00:17:40.36\00:17:42.66
above the Bible was maintained,
00:17:42.69\00:17:45.09
as was the role of sacraments
00:17:45.13\00:17:46.80
and other rituals in obtaining
salvation and divine grace.
00:17:46.83\00:17:50.90
The apocryphal books, books
such as Wisdom, Judith, Tobit,
00:17:50.93\00:17:54.54
those two extra chapters said to
be part of the book of Daniel,
00:17:54.57\00:17:57.67
they were
granted the same status
00:17:57.71\00:18:00.58
as Scripture by the council.
00:18:00.61\00:18:02.44
The council reaffirmed the
veneration of relics and images,
00:18:02.48\00:18:06.75
as well as the
veneration of saints.
00:18:06.78\00:18:08.92
And the Council of
Trent was responsible
00:18:08.95\00:18:12.22
for some very interesting
theological developments,
00:18:12.25\00:18:15.99
developments which today
have largely been lost sight of,
00:18:16.02\00:18:18.79
but developments
which have impacted
00:18:18.83\00:18:21.40
Christianity in an enormous way.
00:18:21.43\00:18:23.70
I'll tell you
more in just a moment.
00:18:23.73\00:18:25.43
¤[Theme music]¤
00:18:25.47\00:18:31.14
>>Announcer: In Matthew
4:4, the Word of God says,
00:18:34.88\00:18:37.45
“It is written, 'Man
shall not live by bread alone,
00:18:37.48\00:18:40.58
but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.'"
00:18:40.62\00:18:44.39
“Every Word”
00:18:44.42\00:18:45.35
is a one-minute,
Bible-based daily devotional
00:18:45.39\00:18:47.66
presented by
Pastor John Bradshaw,
00:18:47.69\00:18:49.42
and designed especially
for busy people like you.
00:18:49.46\00:18:52.53
Look for Every Word
on selected networks,
00:18:52.56\00:18:55.23
or watch it online
every day on our website,
00:18:55.26\00:18:57.73
ItIsWritten.com.
00:18:57.77\00:19:00.14
Receive a daily spiritual boost.
00:19:00.17\00:19:02.30
Watch “Every Word.”
00:19:02.34\00:19:03.77
You'll be glad you did.
00:19:03.81\00:19:05.17
Here's a sample.
00:19:05.21\00:19:08.11
¤[Theme music]¤
00:19:08.91\00:19:14.15
>>John: It was five hundred
years ago that Martin Luther
00:19:14.18\00:19:16.58
nailed his 95 theses
to that famous church door
00:19:16.62\00:19:19.42
in Wittenberg, Germany.
00:19:19.45\00:19:21.32
Half a millennium.
00:19:21.36\00:19:23.02
Why would that protest 500
years ago be important today?
00:19:23.06\00:19:26.19
In Galatians 5:1
we read these words:
00:19:26.23\00:19:28.63
“Stand fast therefore in
the liberty by which Christ
00:19:28.66\00:19:31.33
has made us free.”
00:19:31.37\00:19:33.07
Five hundred years ago
there was no religious freedom.
00:19:33.10\00:19:35.44
The state and the people
were ruled by the Roman church.
00:19:35.47\00:19:39.27
Everyone,
including kings and emperors
00:19:39.31\00:19:40.88
worshiped and
believed as they were told.
00:19:40.91\00:19:43.04
To step out of line,
00:19:43.08\00:19:44.01
to think for yourself,
00:19:44.05\00:19:45.05
to follow your
conscience, meant certain death.
00:19:45.08\00:19:48.35
Without the Reformation there'd
be no freedom of religion today.
00:19:48.38\00:19:51.05
So how important is
freedom of religion?
00:19:51.09\00:19:53.86
It's hard for us to
imagine religious persecution
00:19:53.89\00:19:56.02
or tolerance in a free country,
00:19:56.06\00:19:57.53
but that's what
Luther knew where he was.
00:19:57.56\00:20:00.33
That's where we'd be
without him and others like him.
00:20:00.36\00:20:01.96
Thank God today for
your religious freedom.
00:20:02.00\00:20:04.40
I'm John Bradshaw
for It Is Written.
00:20:04.43\00:20:05.83
Let's live today by every Word.
00:20:05.87\00:20:07.17
¤[Music]¤
00:20:07.20\00:20:08.70
¤[Music]¤
00:20:09.77\00:20:15.64
>>John: Thanks for
joining me on It Is Written.
00:20:15.68\00:20:18.58
As Protestants appealed to the
Bible during the Reformation,
00:20:18.61\00:20:22.48
the authority of the
ruling church was undermined.
00:20:22.52\00:20:25.65
Numerous figures
claimed that the prophecies of
00:20:25.69\00:20:28.56
Daniel and Revelation
and the writings of Paul
00:20:28.59\00:20:31.96
pointed out that the papacy
00:20:31.99\00:20:33.73
was the
Antichrist of Bible prophecy.
00:20:33.76\00:20:37.13
So during the Council of Trent,
00:20:37.17\00:20:39.00
the pope commissioned the
Jesuits and the others present
00:20:39.03\00:20:42.70
to go to Scripture
and find an interpretation
00:20:42.74\00:20:45.84
of those passages
that would claim otherwise.
00:20:45.87\00:20:49.71
In the decades that
followed the Council of Trent,
00:20:49.74\00:20:52.15
Jesuit theologian
Francisco Ribera claimed that
00:20:52.18\00:20:55.48
the papacy couldn't
possibly be the Antichrist,
00:20:55.52\00:20:58.45
because the Antichrist
would be a single figure
00:20:58.49\00:21:00.69
that would arise at
the end of the time.
00:21:00.72\00:21:03.43
Twentieth-century Protestant
theologian George Eldon Ladd
00:21:03.46\00:21:06.86
commented on
Ribera's work, saying this:
00:21:06.90\00:21:10.00
“In 1590 Ribera published a
commentary on the Revelation
00:21:10.03\00:21:14.97
as a counter interpretation
to the prevailing view
00:21:15.00\00:21:17.57
among Protestants
which identified the Papacy
00:21:17.61\00:21:20.81
with the Antichrist.
00:21:20.84\00:21:22.68
Ribera applied all of Revelation
but the earliest chapters
00:21:22.71\00:21:26.15
to the end time rather than
to the history of the church.
00:21:26.18\00:21:30.35
Antichrist, he taught,
would be a single evil person
00:21:30.39\00:21:34.42
who would be
received by the Jews
00:21:34.46\00:21:36.73
and who would
rebuild Jerusalem.”
00:21:36.76\00:21:39.73
Another
brilliant Jesuit scholar,
00:21:39.76\00:21:41.80
Cardinal Robert
Bellarmine of Rome,
00:21:41.83\00:21:44.10
now St. Robert Bellarmine,
00:21:44.13\00:21:46.20
assisted Ribera in
developing this new theology.
00:21:46.23\00:21:49.94
Another 20th-century theologian
00:21:49.97\00:21:51.67
had this to say
about Bellarmine:
00:21:51.71\00:21:54.44
“The futurist
teachings of Ribera were further
00:21:54.48\00:21:57.21
popularized by
an Italian cardinal,
00:21:57.25\00:21:59.85
and the most renowned of
all Jesuit controversialists.
00:21:59.88\00:22:04.25
His writings claimed
that Paul, Daniel, and John
00:22:04.29\00:22:08.06
had nothing whatsoever to
say about the Papal power.
00:22:08.09\00:22:12.36
The futurists' school
00:22:12.39\00:22:14.20
won general
acceptance among Catholics.
00:22:14.23\00:22:17.67
They were taught that antichrist
was a single individual
00:22:17.70\00:22:21.54
who would not rule
until the very end of time.”
00:22:21.57\00:22:25.64
>>Dr. Damsteegt: The goal
was to eliminate any shadow of a
00:22:25.67\00:22:28.48
doubt that the pope has
anything to do with prophecy.
00:22:28.51\00:22:33.08
And so they projected the
little horn into the future.
00:22:33.11\00:22:37.52
As a result, they said,
“We haven't yet seen it.
00:22:37.55\00:22:42.99
It has not been here.
00:22:43.02\00:22:44.63
It will come one day.
00:22:44.66\00:22:46.59
And so we have still
to look in the future
00:22:46.63\00:22:49.10
before we see the antichrist.”
00:22:49.13\00:22:50.60
And still today most
Catholics look in the future
00:22:50.63\00:22:55.07
and wait until the
appearance of this.
00:22:55.10\00:22:58.27
Futurism was slow to catch on.
00:22:58.31\00:23:01.48
But the intention was that
the ideas promoted by futurism
00:23:01.51\00:23:05.41
would eventually be
taught by Protestants.
00:23:05.45\00:23:09.15
In the early 1800s,
00:23:09.18\00:23:11.05
a British preacher by
the name of John Darby,
00:23:11.09\00:23:13.86
a man who stood strongly
for the veracity of scripture
00:23:13.89\00:23:16.73
in face of growing
theological liberalism,
00:23:16.76\00:23:20.23
took hold of the idea of
a future one-man antichrist.
00:23:20.26\00:23:24.40
In the United States,
00:23:24.43\00:23:25.87
a Kansas City
attorney named Cyrus Schofield
00:23:25.90\00:23:28.77
published a version of
the Bible popular enough
00:23:28.80\00:23:31.77
to sell millions of copies.
00:23:31.81\00:23:33.14
And in that Bible
he included study notes
00:23:33.17\00:23:35.91
based on the writings of
Darby and the Jesuits Ribera
00:23:35.94\00:23:40.52
and Bellarmine,
00:23:40.55\00:23:41.72
study notes that pointed to
a future one-man antichrist.
00:23:41.75\00:23:47.46
A British theologian
commented on that, saying this:
00:23:47.49\00:23:50.39
“It is a matter of deep regret
that those who hold and advocate
00:23:50.43\00:23:55.63
the futurist
system at the present day,
00:23:55.66\00:23:58.03
Protestants as they
are for the most part,
00:23:58.07\00:24:00.37
are thus really
playing into the hands of Rome,
00:24:00.40\00:24:04.17
and helping to screen
the Papacy from detection
00:24:04.21\00:24:06.98
as the Antichrist.”
00:24:07.01\00:24:08.81
Another Jesuit
scholar originated
00:24:08.84\00:24:11.21
the school of
prophetic interpretation
00:24:11.25\00:24:13.31
known as preterism.
00:24:13.35\00:24:15.32
“Pre”-terism teaches that all
of the apocalyptic prophecies
00:24:15.35\00:24:18.85
of the Bible have
been fulfilled already.
00:24:18.89\00:24:21.42
Previously.
00:24:21.46\00:24:22.92
Which would mean, then,
that there can't possibly be
00:24:22.96\00:24:25.26
an end-time antichrist.
00:24:25.29\00:24:27.36
And if that's the case,
then whoever antichrist is
00:24:27.40\00:24:30.63
couldn't possibly be the papacy.
00:24:30.67\00:24:32.97
Now, the
Reformers were convinced.
00:24:33.00\00:24:35.67
But years later, their
views have been undermined
00:24:35.70\00:24:38.47
by interpretations of
prophecy that sprang directly
00:24:38.51\00:24:42.61
from the Counter Reformation.
00:24:42.64\00:24:44.85
So the work of
Ignatius of Loyola
00:24:47.02\00:24:48.62
and the Counter Reformation
has been profoundly influential.
00:24:48.65\00:24:52.62
Five hundred years ago
reformers like Martin Luther,
00:24:52.65\00:24:55.49
Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin
and John Knox were engaged
00:24:55.52\00:24:59.73
in a resistance movement
against a powerful church
00:24:59.76\00:25:02.93
with enormous
political influence.
00:25:02.96\00:25:05.53
They rebutted
teachings they saw as unbiblical
00:25:05.57\00:25:08.74
and believed that they
were doing the work of God
00:25:08.77\00:25:11.11
in bringing the light of the
Bible into the lives of people.
00:25:11.14\00:25:15.18
That's why there was such an
emphasis on the part of people
00:25:15.21\00:25:17.68
such as William
Tyndale and Martin Luther
00:25:17.71\00:25:20.45
to translate the Bible.
00:25:20.48\00:25:22.38
They saw it as vital
to get the word of God
00:25:22.42\00:25:24.75
into people's hands
and drive back the darkness
00:25:24.79\00:25:28.02
that had flooded
into Christianity
00:25:28.06\00:25:30.26
under the watch of a
church that had compromised.
00:25:30.29\00:25:34.00
The Reformers championed
the teaching of justification
00:25:34.03\00:25:37.10
by grace alone,
00:25:37.13\00:25:38.70
through faith
alone, in Christ alone.
00:25:38.73\00:25:41.87
But the church
made itself essential
00:25:41.90\00:25:44.31
in the plan of salvation,
00:25:44.34\00:25:46.07
declaring that the
sacraments were channels
00:25:46.11\00:25:49.24
of the grace of God.
00:25:49.28\00:25:51.01
That idea was
unbiblical in Jesus' day,
00:25:51.05\00:25:53.28
unbiblical in
the Reformers' day,
00:25:53.31\00:25:56.05
and it's unbiblical today.
00:25:56.08\00:25:58.05
The idea that human
beings should confess their sins
00:25:58.09\00:26:00.99
to another human being
and receive forgiveness
00:26:01.02\00:26:03.32
from that human being,
00:26:03.36\00:26:04.36
or even from God
through that human being,
00:26:04.39\00:26:07.83
is the sort of
idea that the Reformers
00:26:07.86\00:26:09.26
fought against strenuously,
00:26:09.30\00:26:11.30
and something that the Counter
Reformation fought to defend.
00:26:11.33\00:26:15.74
Martin Luther, while
he was still a priest,
00:26:15.77\00:26:18.27
was scandalized by the way
the church sold indulgences.
00:26:18.31\00:26:22.78
Essentially, pardon for
sin was bought and sold.
00:26:22.81\00:26:28.62
Sacramentalism was
denounced as being unbiblical.
00:26:28.65\00:26:31.69
The same for
transubstantiation and celibacy,
00:26:31.72\00:26:35.16
and the papacy itself.
00:26:35.19\00:26:37.23
The abuses carried
out by church leaders
00:26:37.26\00:26:39.03
couldn't be
tolerated any longer,
00:26:39.06\00:26:41.26
and the Reformers
stood up to say so,
00:26:41.30\00:26:44.07
often paying with their lives.
00:26:44.10\00:26:47.00
So two things are clear.
00:26:47.04\00:26:48.44
Number one, the
Reformation brought
00:26:48.47\00:26:50.37
about a lot of
much-needed change.
00:26:50.41\00:26:53.01
And number two,
00:26:53.04\00:26:54.51
500 years later it could be said
00:26:54.54\00:26:56.78
that the
Reformation didn't change much.
00:26:56.81\00:27:01.38
And that raises
a lot of questions.
00:27:01.42\00:27:04.82
¤[Theme music]¤
00:27:04.85\00:27:10.13
>>John: What is
the mark of the beast?
00:27:10.46\00:27:15.43
One of the most serious warning
messages in all of the Bible
00:27:15.46\00:27:18.03
centers around
the mark of the beast.
00:27:18.07\00:27:19.93
And you can understand
what it is from the Bible.
00:27:19.97\00:27:24.04
I'd like to send
you today's free offer.
00:27:24.07\00:27:25.84
It's called “The
Mark of the Beast.”
00:27:25.87\00:27:27.88
Call us on 800-253-3000,
00:27:27.91\00:27:31.05
or visit us online
at itiswritten.com.
00:27:31.08\00:27:34.82
Or you can write to
the address on your screen.
00:27:34.85\00:27:37.35
I'd like you to
receive our free offer,
00:27:37.39\00:27:39.59
“The Mark of the Beast.”
00:27:39.62\00:27:42.16
Thank you for
remembering that It Is Written
00:27:42.19\00:27:44.33
exists due to
the gracious support
00:27:44.36\00:27:46.63
of people like you.
00:27:46.66\00:27:48.36
It's your support that enables
00:27:48.40\00:27:49.76
It Is Written to share Jesus
00:27:49.80\00:27:51.50
and the great hope of
the Bible with the world.
00:27:51.53\00:27:53.67
You can send your
tax-deductible gift
00:27:53.70\00:27:56.47
to the address on your screen,
00:27:56.50\00:27:57.81
or you can support It Is
Written through our website,
00:27:57.84\00:28:00.68
itiswritten.com.
00:28:00.71\00:28:03.68
Thanks for your
generous support.
00:28:03.71\00:28:05.15
Our number is 800-253-3000,
00:28:05.18\00:28:08.55
and our web
address is itiswritten.com.
00:28:08.58\00:28:12.02
>>John: Let's pray together.
00:28:13.72\00:28:15.39
Our Father in Heaven,
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how thankful we are for Jesus,
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for grace,
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for Your prophetic Word.
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How thankful we are for truth,
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that You are a God of love
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and your spirit has
been sent to guide us.
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Lord, what are we?
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Human beings weakened by sin,
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weak through our own failure
to surrender our lives to You.
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Lord, as the God of our lives,
let Jesus be our present Savior.
00:28:36.75\00:28:41.22
Fill us with Your Holy Spirit.
00:28:41.25\00:28:42.95
Guide us in your way.
00:28:42.98\00:28:45.05
And grant that we
may recapture the vision
00:28:45.09\00:28:47.82
the Protestants of
old had of faithfulness
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to Your Word and
oneness with You.
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We thank You, and
we pray in Jesus' name,
00:28:55.30\00:28:59.03
Amen.
00:28:59.07\00:29:01.07
Thanks so much for joining me.
00:29:01.10\00:29:02.30
I look forward to
seeing you again next time.
00:29:02.34\00:29:04.44
Until then, remember:
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"It Is Written, 'Man
shall not live by bread alone,
00:29:06.41\00:29:10.71
but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.'"
00:29:10.75\00:29:14.72
¤[Theme music]¤
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