[soft gentle music]
00:00:00.63\00:00:02.66
- [Narrator] "When he
opened the fifth seal,
00:00:02.66\00:00:05.13
I saw under the
altar the souls of those
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who had been slain
for the Word of God
00:00:07.90\00:00:10.41
and for the
testimony which they held.
00:00:10.41\00:00:13.01
And they cried with
a loud voice, saying,
00:00:13.01\00:00:16.01
'How long, O,
Lord, holy and true,
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until you judge
and avenge our blood
00:00:18.51\00:00:21.78
on those who
dwell on the earth?'"
00:00:21.78\00:00:24.42
[soft gentle music]
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- The early Celtic
Church was incredibly grateful
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for the gospel that
Patrick brought to Ireland,
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a gospel that had liberated them
00:00:33.26\00:00:34.83
from the blood-thirsty
deities of Celtic mythology
00:00:34.83\00:00:37.83
and introduced them to a
God whose love was so profound
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that he gave his
own life to save them.
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The story of Jesus
fueled such passion
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in the hearts of Irish believers
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that they couldn't
keep it to themselves.
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In addition to
becoming the guardians
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of the world's great literature,
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they also became incredibly
effective missionaries.
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[soft gentle music]
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[wind howling]
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[light dramatic music]
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[light dramatic music continues]
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The Irish monks lived communally
in abbeys like this one
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and whenever the
abbey grew too large,
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a number of the
monks would leave
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and establish
one somewhere else.
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Eventually, their
centers of learning
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spilled past the
boundaries of Hibernia
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and poured out across
the whole European continent,
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to the extent that when
Charlemagne sat on the throne
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of the Holy Roman
Empire in the eighth century,
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he actually knew the works
and teachings of Irish monks.
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In fact, he knew of
more than 600 monasteries
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the Irish had built
right inside his own territory.
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[light dramatic music]
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The impact of Irish
missionaries was huge.
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Most religious revivals
only last a few short years
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but the movement
sparked by Patrick
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lasted an
astonishing four centuries.
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From the time the
British Romans went back home
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to the moment the
Vikings first set foot
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in the British Isles,
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history is
exploding with the names
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of larger-than-life
Irish missionaries,
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men who changed
the face of the world,
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people like
Columcille or Columba,
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Aidan, Boniface,
Columbanus, just to name a few.
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These people
represented a Christianity
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that grew up
distinct from the church
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that had adopted the
politics of Constantine
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in what was left of
the Western Roman Empire.
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And the stories are amazing.
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[light dramatic music]
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It is the beginning
of the sixth century,
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about 100 years after Patrick
brings the gospel to Ireland.
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And an Irish monk, a
prince who has chosen
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the monastic
life at Clonary Abbey
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is sitting in the dark,
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secretly making a
copy of a beautiful psalter
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that belongs to the abbey.
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His name is Columcille,
or Columba to the English.
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And like all Celtic Christians,
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he is a lover of beautiful books
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and he simply must have a
copy of this one for himself.
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[light dramatic music]
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But tragically, his copy is
discovered by Phinean the Abbot
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and it is
immediately confiscated.
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Columba is dragged
before the high king of Ireland,
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King Diermait,
who rules that making
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personal copies of
books is a form of theft.
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So Columba will not be
allowed to keep the one he made.
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As far as we know,
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it is the world's
very first copyright case
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and the unwanted
verdict gives birth
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to a deep grudge
in Columba's heart.
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[light dramatic music]
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Years later, when one
of Columba's own followers
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is killed by that same king,
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Columba seizes his opportunity.
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Such a grave
injustice, the murder of a monk,
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that has to be avenged.
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So he takes to the battlefield
against the high king
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and at the end of the day
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more than 3,000 have died,
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3,001 to be exact.
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Now Columba doesn't
have to make a copy anymore,
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he can just go take the
original psalter for himself
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and that's what he does.
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Now, when the church
finds out what he's done
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they're enraged
and they tell him,
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"Look, you're gonna have
to leave Ireland for good
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until you've baptized
as many as you killed.
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3,001."
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So like any good Irish monk,
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he takes 12 of his followers
to go start a new abbey
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and he comes to
this place, Iona,
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just off the coast of Scotland,
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which happens to be
just far enough away
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that you can no longer
see the coast of Ireland.
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[gentle music]
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[gentle music continues]
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It sounds like a
pretty bad story,
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scandalous, like the
stuff that was happening
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with that other Christianity
over on the European mainland.
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But God has a way
of taking things back,
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even our worst mistakes
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and this is a story
with a happy ending.
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[gentle somber music]
00:05:03.73\00:05:07.34
[birds twittering]
00:05:07.34\00:05:10.41
By the time
Columba left for Scotland,
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there were actually
very few Romans left
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in the northern
reaches of Europe.
00:05:15.91\00:05:17.58
Most of them had gone home
after the collapse of the empire
00:05:17.58\00:05:20.28
leaving behind this
massive power vacuum
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that the Germanic barbarians
were only too happy to fill.
00:05:23.12\00:05:26.02
So as illiterate barbarians
are pouring into the region,
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people who wanted
culture and education,
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they needed some place to go
00:05:31.26\00:05:33.16
and they heard of
the learned Celts.
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So they started coming
to places like this, Iona,
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and as an added bonus,
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this was a long ways
away from any trouble.
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[gentle somber music]
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Because of the influx of
foreigners, at least in part,
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this new abbey Columba built
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became a great
center of learning.
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And from this spot
on the edge of the world
00:05:53.85\00:05:56.32
the Celtic
Christian sent hundreds,
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maybe thousands of missionaries
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back to the European continent
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to establish even more
centers of Christian learning.
00:06:01.99\00:06:05.53
By the time Columba died,
00:06:05.53\00:06:07.03
he'd already built 60
such centers that we know of
00:06:07.03\00:06:10.03
and in another 200 years,
by the time of Charlemagne,
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that number had
swelled to more than 600.
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[gentle somber music]
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So, did Columba
ever baptize his 3,001?
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Without a doubt, the number
was much larger than that.
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Another early Celtic missionary
worth noting is Columbanus
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who was in his mid-20s when
Columba was exiled to Scotland.
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He was trained as a
missionary in Bangor
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and about the year 590
A.D. at about the age of 50,
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just like Columba, he
assembled 12 followers
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and set out for distant lands,
00:06:46.80\00:06:48.80
this time to mainland Europe.
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He managed to set up another
60 monasteries in France,
00:06:50.87\00:06:53.81
Germany, Switzerland,
00:06:53.81\00:06:55.64
and even over the
Alps in the north of Italy.
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One of his most famous
centers of learning is Bobbio,
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a community that
Columbanus built in his 70s
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a community that is
still here to this day.
00:07:04.95\00:07:08.22
[gentle somber music]
00:07:08.22\00:07:11.43
And it's all because a
young British kidnapping victim
00:07:13.63\00:07:16.03
was faithful to
the call of Christ.
00:07:16.03\00:07:17.93
He listened to the voice of God,
00:07:17.93\00:07:19.97
and because of that, the light
of the gospel stayed ignited
00:07:19.97\00:07:22.77
during one of
Earth's darkest periods.
00:07:22.77\00:07:25.44
It even made it all
the way down here to Italy,
00:07:25.44\00:07:28.24
almost to the
very gates of the city
00:07:28.24\00:07:29.98
where Christians first
compromised with Constantine.
00:07:29.98\00:07:32.88
It's got to be one of
the most incredible stories
00:07:32.88\00:07:36.22
in religious history.
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God takes this
uneducated, blood thirsty,
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promiscuous tribe of warriors
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and uses them to keep the
light of the gospel alive.
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[bright piano music]
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But here in the
northern reaches of Italy
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in the Piedmont Valley Region,
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there was another
group of Christians
00:07:58.37\00:07:59.87
who also developed an isolation
00:07:59.87\00:08:01.94
from the great
compromise of Constantine.
00:08:01.94\00:08:04.78
There was another
church in the wilderness,
00:08:04.78\00:08:07.28
this time not protected by
the remoteness of an island
00:08:07.28\00:08:10.55
but by the inaccessible
mountain passes of the Alps.
00:08:10.55\00:08:14.06
They were the Waldenses.
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And while the
original Celtic Christians
00:08:15.72\00:08:18.13
tragically
eventually faded away,
00:08:18.13\00:08:20.90
the Waldensian
Christians persisted
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for a much, much longer time.
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[uplifting music]
00:08:25.53\00:08:28.44
It all began with Peter Waldo,
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a wealthy
merchant from Lyon, France,
00:08:32.61\00:08:34.61
who in about the year 1170
A.D. suddenly became convicted
00:08:34.61\00:08:39.11
that God would rather
have him help the poor
00:08:39.11\00:08:41.68
than accumulate
riches for himself.
00:08:41.68\00:08:43.99
So he started a movement
00:08:43.99\00:08:45.79
teaching people
the art of self-denial
00:08:45.79\00:08:47.62
for the sake of the gospel
00:08:47.62\00:08:49.29
and the people who
joined his movement
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were named after
him, the Waldensians.
00:08:51.13\00:08:54.76
[gentle music]
00:08:54.76\00:08:57.47
Or at least
that's the story you find
00:08:58.60\00:09:00.67
in a lot of
modern reference books.
00:09:00.67\00:09:02.90
It's not a bad
story, it's just not true.
00:09:02.90\00:09:06.78
There's no doubt
that Peter Waldo was real
00:09:06.78\00:09:08.88
and he was probably
affiliated with the Waldensians.
00:09:08.88\00:09:12.45
You can even
find a statue of him
00:09:12.45\00:09:14.02
at the Luther
Memorial in Worms, Germany
00:09:14.02\00:09:16.25
because he really was an
early Christian reformer.
00:09:16.25\00:09:20.06
But the idea that Waldensian
Christians descended from Waldo
00:09:20.06\00:09:23.43
completely falls apart
when you examine it closely.
00:09:23.43\00:09:26.76
First of all, you can
find the name Waldenses
00:09:26.76\00:09:29.26
in European literature
years before Waldo's conversion
00:09:29.26\00:09:32.43
and there is even
evidence that Pope Lucius II
00:09:32.43\00:09:35.17
was persecuting Waldensians
for their distinct beliefs
00:09:35.17\00:09:38.54
decades before the
appearance of Waldo.
00:09:38.54\00:09:41.18
So we know they couldn't
possibly come from Peter Waldo
00:09:41.18\00:09:44.68
and yet there they are,
00:09:44.68\00:09:46.01
a distinct Christian group
00:09:46.01\00:09:47.45
hiding in the
mountains of Northern Italy.
00:09:47.45\00:09:49.85
[somber dramatic music]
00:09:49.85\00:09:51.85
At a time when
owning a copy of the Bible
00:09:51.85\00:09:54.06
was considered sheer heresy,
00:09:54.06\00:09:55.89
the Waldensians were
making copies by hand,
00:09:55.89\00:09:58.76
just like the Celts had been,
00:09:58.76\00:10:00.46
and they were
spreading those copies
00:10:00.46\00:10:01.76
all over Western Europe.
00:10:01.76\00:10:03.60
And like the Celts,
00:10:03.60\00:10:05.27
they were a distinctly
biblical Christianity.
00:10:05.27\00:10:08.77
So, where did they come from?
00:10:08.77\00:10:11.34
[somber dramatic music]
00:10:11.34\00:10:14.71
The truth is we
don't have a lot of details
00:10:21.02\00:10:23.55
because persecutors
came and burned down
00:10:23.55\00:10:25.35
a key Waldensian
library in the 1500s.
00:10:25.35\00:10:27.79
So, a lot of the
history went up in flames
00:10:27.79\00:10:30.46
almost 500 years ago.
00:10:30.46\00:10:32.89
But we do know some things.
00:10:32.89\00:10:34.60
According to
historian Alexis Muston,
00:10:34.60\00:10:37.60
the word Waldensian or
Waldenses has nothing at all
00:10:37.60\00:10:41.34
to do with Peter Waldo.
00:10:41.34\00:10:42.94
It has a very
simple explanation.
00:10:42.94\00:10:45.17
- [Narrator] It is from
their character as dalesmen,
00:10:46.57\00:10:49.28
or men of the valleys,
00:10:49.28\00:10:51.25
that they have
received their name.
00:10:51.25\00:10:53.68
This name, derived
primarily from the Latin Vallis,
00:10:53.68\00:10:58.29
or valley, is variously spelled.
00:10:58.29\00:11:01.16
The French form of
the word, which is val,
00:11:01.16\00:11:04.49
gives rise to a plural vaux,
00:11:04.49\00:11:06.43
and thence to the
adjective vaudois.
00:11:07.50\00:11:10.50
The Italian form of the word
gives the adjective vallenses,
00:11:10.50\00:11:14.90
strengthened into valdenses,
00:11:14.90\00:11:17.57
and thence corrupted
in English into Waldenses.
00:11:17.57\00:11:21.51
- So the Waldensians are
simply people of the valleys,
00:11:22.81\00:11:25.08
in the Alps
between France and Italy,
00:11:25.08\00:11:27.15
places like Angrogna
00:11:27.15\00:11:28.35
where the
Waldensians had their seminary
00:11:28.35\00:11:30.65
and their annual synods.
00:11:30.65\00:11:32.12
And places like Torre
Pellice and Bobbio Pellice
00:11:32.12\00:11:35.66
where the
Waldensians lived, worked,
00:11:35.66\00:11:38.19
and ran the remarkable church,
00:11:38.19\00:11:40.53
and suffered much for
the sake of the gospel.
00:11:40.53\00:11:44.17
[light airy music]
00:11:44.17\00:11:47.07
[light airy music continues]
00:11:51.94\00:11:55.68
[light airy music continues]
00:11:59.91\00:12:03.65
[gentle music]
00:12:04.49\00:12:05.72
One thing's for sure,
00:12:05.72\00:12:06.99
these were not Roman Christians
00:12:07.76\00:12:10.99
even though they were
in very close proximity
00:12:10.99\00:12:12.83
to the center of religious
power in the Medieval period.
00:12:12.83\00:12:16.23
So if they
weren't Roman Christians
00:12:16.23\00:12:17.83
where exactly
did they come from?
00:12:17.83\00:12:20.54
There are two
distinct possibilities.
00:12:20.54\00:12:22.87
One theory says that
the Waldensians were early
00:12:24.41\00:12:26.64
Christians who fled the
city of Rome during the brutal
00:12:26.64\00:12:29.58
persecutions brought on
by the pagan Roman government
00:12:29.58\00:12:31.81
back in the first
and second centuries.
00:12:31.81\00:12:34.72
As they fled to the north,
00:12:34.72\00:12:36.08
they found refuge
in the remote valleys
00:12:36.08\00:12:37.99
of the Piedmont Region.
00:12:37.99\00:12:39.49
In favor of this
theory is the fact that
00:12:40.49\00:12:42.26
the Waldensians had a really old
00:12:42.26\00:12:44.09
Latin version of the
Bible known as the Italic
00:12:44.09\00:12:47.03
and it predates Jerome's
"Vulgate" by about 230 years.
00:12:47.03\00:12:50.87
We think it was
created about the year 157 A.D.
00:12:50.87\00:12:54.50
and it uses an older form
of Latin that was really common
00:12:54.50\00:12:57.54
during the earliest
Christian persecutions.
00:12:57.54\00:13:00.54
And oddly enough,
it's also really close
00:13:00.54\00:13:04.25
to the Latin version
that the Celtic missionaries
00:13:04.25\00:13:06.48
brought with them to
the settlement at Bobbio.
00:13:06.48\00:13:09.78
But there is a second and
very intriguing possibility.
00:13:09.78\00:13:13.89
[gentle music]
00:13:13.89\00:13:15.29
In the 15th chapter of Romans,
00:13:15.29\00:13:17.06
Paul tells the Roman believers,
00:13:17.06\00:13:19.16
"I hope to see you in
passing as I go to Spain."
00:13:19.16\00:13:24.20
What the Bible doesn't tell us
00:13:25.03\00:13:26.43
is whether or not the
great apostle ever made it.
00:13:26.43\00:13:29.44
[gentle music]
00:13:29.44\00:13:30.91
But where the Bible is silent,
00:13:30.91\00:13:32.44
the memories of early
Christians fortunately
00:13:32.44\00:13:34.38
fill in some of the blanks.
00:13:34.38\00:13:36.21
At the end of the first century,
00:13:36.21\00:13:37.71
the Bishop of Rome is a
guy by the name of Clement
00:13:37.71\00:13:40.08
and he writes
that Paul had preached
00:13:40.08\00:13:41.88
to the extremity of the west,
00:13:41.88\00:13:44.25
and of course Spain was
the extremity of the west.
00:13:44.25\00:13:48.49
There's also an ancient
second century manuscript
00:13:48.49\00:13:50.79
found in Bobbio, right
in the Celtic monastery.
00:13:50.79\00:13:54.36
It's called the
Muratorian fragment
00:13:54.36\00:13:56.26
and it specifically mentions
a visit from Paul to Spain.
00:13:56.26\00:14:00.14
And John Chrysostom, of course,
00:14:00.14\00:14:01.64
the great preacher
of the fourth century,
00:14:01.64\00:14:03.27
specifically mentions
that Paul had been to Spain
00:14:03.27\00:14:06.04
in a sermon he preaches
on the book of 2 Timothy.
00:14:06.04\00:14:09.71
The earliest Christians
appear to have understood
00:14:09.71\00:14:11.88
that Paul had made it
to the country of Spain
00:14:11.88\00:14:14.72
and if Paul had made the journey
over land instead of by sea
00:14:14.72\00:14:18.22
the only way to go
00:14:18.22\00:14:20.19
would be right
through the Piedmont Region,
00:14:20.19\00:14:22.36
through the mountain passes
where the Waldensians lived.
00:14:22.36\00:14:25.96
And sure enough, there
is a longstanding tradition
00:14:25.96\00:14:29.13
among some Waldensians
00:14:29.13\00:14:31.13
that Paul himself had
first led them to Christ.
00:14:31.13\00:14:35.34
[gentle music]
00:14:35.34\00:14:37.97
[birds twittering]
00:14:39.37\00:14:40.64
So, who were
these remarkable people?
00:14:40.64\00:14:43.78
Well, we know they were humble
00:14:43.78\00:14:45.48
because they shun the
extravagance of the medieval
00:14:45.48\00:14:47.68
church preferring instead to
live in simple places like this.
00:14:47.68\00:14:50.89
They had 150 pastors or
Barbas as they called them
00:14:50.89\00:14:53.96
who trained at this
center up in the valleys.
00:14:53.96\00:14:56.52
But as important
as those pastors were,
00:14:56.52\00:14:58.96
it was missionaries
that were the real focus.
00:14:58.96\00:15:00.86
They had far more of those
00:15:00.86\00:15:03.16
because their passion
like the Celts before them
00:15:03.16\00:15:05.50
was to carry the
gospel to the whole world.
00:15:05.50\00:15:07.17
In fact, if you wanted
to be a Waldensian pastor
00:15:07.17\00:15:10.11
first you had to
prove your calling
00:15:10.11\00:15:11.67
by serving as a missionary
for at least three years.
00:15:11.67\00:15:14.34
So that sounds
pretty simple, right?
00:15:18.51\00:15:20.55
Just serve as a
missionary for three years.
00:15:20.55\00:15:23.08
But don't forget,
Europe has plunged
00:15:23.08\00:15:24.59
into the depths of the Dark Ages
00:15:24.59\00:15:26.02
and it's actually
become legal in many places
00:15:26.02\00:15:28.09
to own or
distribute copies of the Bible
00:15:28.09\00:15:30.53
because the powers that be
00:15:30.53\00:15:31.79
thought they could
reign in independent thinking
00:15:31.79\00:15:34.00
if they kept people ignorant.
00:15:34.00\00:15:35.53
So the Bible was only for
the highly trained clergy.
00:15:35.53\00:15:38.17
It was banned for everybody else
00:15:38.17\00:15:39.73
and that way they thought
00:15:39.73\00:15:41.34
people couldn't
come to conclusions
00:15:41.34\00:15:43.17
that were different from
those of the official church.
00:15:43.17\00:15:46.54
[gentle ethereal music]
00:15:46.54\00:15:49.08
What the Waldensians
were doing was very risky.
00:15:49.08\00:15:52.68
Like the early
Celtic missionaries
00:15:52.68\00:15:54.25
they spent
countless hours making copies
00:15:54.25\00:15:56.58
of the Bible by hand in
places like this scriptorium,
00:15:56.58\00:16:00.76
safely tucked away, out
of sight and out of reach.
00:16:00.76\00:16:04.63
They would take those copies
or sometimes just fragments
00:16:04.63\00:16:07.66
and hide them in their clothes.
00:16:07.66\00:16:09.46
Then posing as
traveling merchants,
00:16:09.46\00:16:11.23
they sold luxury
items from the far east,
00:16:11.23\00:16:13.23
things like silk or pearls.
00:16:13.23\00:16:15.60
And when they found someone
00:16:15.60\00:16:16.81
they thought
might be interested,
00:16:16.81\00:16:18.57
that person would also
get a copy of the Bible.
00:16:18.57\00:16:22.28
Their official motto,
"Lux Lucet in Tenebris,"
00:16:22.28\00:16:25.98
light shines in the darkness,
00:16:25.98\00:16:28.18
because they were
holding the torch of the gospel
00:16:28.18\00:16:30.75
in very dark times.
00:16:30.75\00:16:32.69
And to be sure they did know
00:16:32.69\00:16:35.19
that they were the
church of the wilderness
00:16:35.19\00:16:37.26
facing down a
very dark adversary.
00:16:37.26\00:16:40.43
[tense music]
00:16:40.43\00:16:42.93
Before long the
Waldensian missionaries
00:16:46.43\00:16:48.64
had so many converts all across
Europe that some sources say
00:16:48.64\00:16:52.81
that they could
travel from Cologne, Germany
00:16:52.81\00:16:54.68
down to Florence, Italy, a
distance of some 700 miles,
00:16:54.68\00:16:58.68
and stay in the home
of a Waldensian believer
00:16:58.68\00:17:01.55
every single night. [blows]
00:17:01.55\00:17:04.59
[tense music]
00:17:07.19\00:17:09.76
Their wild success drove
the official church crazy.
00:17:12.19\00:17:15.23
What the Waldensians were
teaching was radically different
00:17:15.23\00:17:18.23
than what was being taught
00:17:18.23\00:17:19.50
in the mainstream
pulpits of Europe.
00:17:19.50\00:17:21.17
[light ethereal music]
00:17:22.30\00:17:25.64
[cowbell ringing]
00:17:28.81\00:17:30.31
So for example, they taught
that you could pray in a barn
00:17:30.31\00:17:32.15
just as well as you
could pray in a church.
00:17:32.15\00:17:33.48
You didn't need
a special building
00:17:33.48\00:17:35.42
and that infuriated
the mainstream clergy
00:17:35.42\00:17:37.75
because they'd spent
these massive sums of money
00:17:37.75\00:17:40.66
building and maintaining
a lot of luxurious churches.
00:17:40.66\00:17:43.99
[light ethereal music]
00:17:43.99\00:17:46.56
The Waldensians also denied
the existence of purgatory,
00:17:46.56\00:17:49.63
a teaching that was
just starting to emerge
00:17:49.63\00:17:51.47
in the mainstream churches
00:17:51.47\00:17:52.97
because they considered
it a cheap fundraising ploy
00:17:52.97\00:17:56.30
and they
couldn't find it anywhere
00:17:56.30\00:17:57.67
in the pages of the Bible,
00:17:57.67\00:17:59.04
a book they
practically knew by heart.
00:17:59.04\00:18:02.21
[light ethereal music]
00:18:02.21\00:18:06.21
Holy water the Waldensian said
no different than rainwater.
00:18:06.21\00:18:10.45
Pilgrimages to holy sites,
00:18:10.45\00:18:11.79
just a good way to
drain your personal finances.
00:18:11.79\00:18:14.56
Holy relics, they
said those are just
00:18:14.56\00:18:16.79
body parts, rotting flesh.
00:18:16.79\00:18:19.06
[tense music]
00:18:19.89\00:18:22.70
Their simple humble lives
provided a painful contrast
00:18:22.70\00:18:26.27
with the extravagant
lives of the medieval clergy.
00:18:26.27\00:18:29.64
And on top of
that, they dared to say
00:18:29.64\00:18:32.61
that the Bible never suggests
00:18:32.61\00:18:34.71
that the bishop of
Rome has any preeminence
00:18:34.71\00:18:37.25
over other
members of the clergy.
00:18:37.25\00:18:39.45
[tense music]
00:18:39.45\00:18:42.05
The Waldenses were
officially denounced
00:18:45.99\00:18:48.09
as a threat to
the mother church,
00:18:48.09\00:18:49.79
and in 1184 at
the Synod of Verona
00:18:49.79\00:18:52.33
they were
officially excommunicated.
00:18:52.33\00:18:54.73
In 1487, Innocent
VIII issued a papal bull
00:18:54.73\00:18:58.37
calling for the
extermination of the Waldenses
00:18:58.37\00:19:01.27
after which they
were ruthlessly persecuted
00:19:01.27\00:19:03.84
almost to the
brink of extinction.
00:19:03.84\00:19:05.94
The stories that follow
are not for the weak of heart.
00:19:07.81\00:19:11.55
There was the
Massacre of Merindol in 1545,
00:19:11.55\00:19:13.78
which completely eradicated
a number of Waldensian villages
00:19:15.15\00:19:18.49
and put thousands of
humble believers to death.
00:19:18.49\00:19:20.89
There was the massacre of 1655
00:19:21.69\00:19:24.23
when the Duke of
Savoy sent his forces in
00:19:24.23\00:19:26.36
to deal with the
rebellious Christians.
00:19:26.36\00:19:28.66
Almost 2,000 people
were raped, tortured,
00:19:28.66\00:19:32.37
mutilated, and finally murdered
00:19:32.37\00:19:35.17
simply because as a
matter of conscience,
00:19:35.17\00:19:37.47
they wouldn't tow
the official party line.
00:19:37.47\00:19:40.04
The slaughter
was so unbelievable
00:19:40.04\00:19:41.88
that it moved the English
poet John Milton to tears.
00:19:41.88\00:19:44.71
- [Narrator] "Avenge, O
Lord, thy slaughtered saints,
00:19:46.78\00:19:50.65
whose bones lie scattered
on the alpine mountains cold,
00:19:50.65\00:19:54.52
even them who kept
thy truth so pure of old,
00:19:54.52\00:19:58.36
when all our fathers
worshiped stocks and stones."
00:19:58.36\00:20:03.30
[tense music]
00:20:03.30\00:20:05.87
[crow cawing]
00:20:08.00\00:20:10.64
- Back in 1488, an
army of about 18,000 men,
00:20:10.64\00:20:14.54
many times more than the
people they were hunting,
00:20:14.54\00:20:16.81
started to chase the Waldensians
00:20:16.81\00:20:18.45
up into the higher
reaches of the mountains.
00:20:18.45\00:20:21.02
The unfortunate
believers loaded their elderly
00:20:21.02\00:20:23.28
and their children into carts
00:20:23.28\00:20:24.79
and began the long climb
up the slopes of Mont Pelvoux
00:20:24.79\00:20:27.89
some 6,000 feet
above the valley floor.
00:20:27.89\00:20:30.83
[tense dramatic music]
00:20:30.83\00:20:34.10
Halfway up the mountain
00:20:35.96\00:20:37.47
they found a little
sliver of hope, a huge cave.
00:20:37.47\00:20:40.77
The Waldensians
quickly took shelter
00:20:40.77\00:20:42.44
hoping to hide
from their persecutors.
00:20:42.44\00:20:45.44
It was an ideal spot.
00:20:45.44\00:20:47.01
There was a platform in
front where the Waldensian men
00:20:47.01\00:20:49.54
could stand watch
and alert the group
00:20:49.54\00:20:51.55
if they spotted
the pursuing army.
00:20:51.55\00:20:53.98
It would be easy to defend
00:20:53.98\00:20:55.95
and the entrance was
barricaded with large stones.
00:20:55.95\00:20:59.29
If the sources
are to be trusted,
00:20:59.29\00:21:01.52
they apparently had
enough food with them
00:21:01.52\00:21:02.96
to hole up for a very long time.
00:21:02.96\00:21:05.46
[tense dramatic music]
00:21:05.46\00:21:08.73
What they didn't count on
00:21:15.84\00:21:17.51
was the army going up
the mountain above the cave
00:21:17.51\00:21:20.28
and descending on ropes.
00:21:20.28\00:21:22.01
The Waldensians
disappeared inside for safety
00:21:22.01\00:21:24.68
and the commander saw them go
00:21:24.68\00:21:26.72
but wouldn't let his men follow
00:21:26.72\00:21:28.08
because he thought
it would be too risky
00:21:28.08\00:21:29.52
to try and fight inside.
00:21:29.52\00:21:31.55
Instead, he had them pile up
wood in the mouth of the cave
00:21:31.55\00:21:34.26
and light it on fire, filling
it with thick black smoke.
00:21:34.26\00:21:37.73
Now the Waldensians had
a terrible choice to make.
00:21:37.73\00:21:41.00
They could either run
outside and die by the sword
00:21:41.00\00:21:44.00
or stay inside and suffocate.
00:21:44.00\00:21:46.57
Sources tell us
as many as 3,000 died
00:21:46.57\00:21:49.17
inside that cave that day
00:21:49.17\00:21:50.57
including babies in
their mother's arms.
00:21:50.57\00:21:53.04
An entire village of Waldensians
had just been wiped out.
00:21:53.04\00:21:57.35
[ominous music]
00:21:57.35\00:22:00.08
[somber music]
00:22:01.92\00:22:04.52
[somber music continues]
00:22:09.82\00:22:13.33
Century after century,
00:22:15.00\00:22:16.73
the Waldensians were hit
again and again, and again
00:22:16.73\00:22:21.47
but it was worth it before long
00:22:21.47\00:22:23.24
like the early
Celts before them,
00:22:23.24\00:22:24.77
their influence was
felt all over Western Europe
00:22:24.77\00:22:27.98
and because of their efforts,
00:22:27.98\00:22:29.48
people had an opportunity to
hear the gospel for themselves
00:22:29.48\00:22:32.25
and understand what
Jesus had done for them.
00:22:32.25\00:22:34.52
And this at a time
when mainstream Christianity
00:22:34.52\00:22:36.99
had shifted its focus to more,
well, Constantinian concerns
00:22:36.99\00:22:40.92
like power, money,
and political influence.
00:22:40.92\00:22:44.19
As official Christianity
became distinctly unChrist-like,
00:22:44.19\00:22:48.23
God kept the light
of the gospel alive
00:22:48.23\00:22:50.27
with the Israel of
the Alps, the Waldensians.
00:22:50.27\00:22:53.74
Jesus had
promised that his gospel
00:22:53.74\00:22:55.50
would be
preached in all the world
00:22:55.50\00:22:57.31
as a witness to all
nations before the second coming
00:22:57.31\00:23:00.58
and no amount
of human compromise
00:23:00.58\00:23:02.88
would be allowed to stop it.
00:23:02.88\00:23:04.91
[somber music]
00:23:04.91\00:23:07.65
The real shame of
our own Christian history
00:23:12.15\00:23:14.06
is that it was no
longer the pagan Roman emperor
00:23:14.06\00:23:16.32
who was coming after us.
00:23:16.32\00:23:18.09
Instead, we were
persecuting other believers.
00:23:18.09\00:23:21.20
We were behaving
more like Diocletian
00:23:21.20\00:23:22.96
who used the power
of the Roman Empire
00:23:22.96\00:23:25.30
to go after people who
didn't think exactly like him.
00:23:25.30\00:23:28.57
Now, there are still traces
of this in Christianity today,
00:23:28.57\00:23:31.37
dangerous
tendencies to go after people
00:23:31.37\00:23:33.64
who don't think or
behave exactly like us.
00:23:33.64\00:23:37.25
Now, the impact of the
Waldensians was massive, huge
00:23:37.25\00:23:40.72
even though most people
have never heard their names.
00:23:40.72\00:23:43.65
They have, however,
heard the names of people
00:23:43.65\00:23:46.52
who drew their courage
from the Waldensian example,
00:23:46.52\00:23:48.82
people like Wycliffe, The
Morning Star of the Reformation,
00:23:48.82\00:23:51.89
an Oxford scholar who gave
an English Bible to his people.
00:23:51.89\00:23:56.30
There's little doubt
that he was heavily influenced
00:23:56.30\00:23:58.73
by the work and
teachings of the Waldensians.
00:23:58.73\00:24:01.70
John Huss was another one.
00:24:01.70\00:24:03.14
The man who
fearlessly stood against
00:24:03.14\00:24:04.91
the abuses of
medieval Christianity
00:24:04.91\00:24:06.88
from his pulpit in Bethlehem
Chapel in the city of Prague.
00:24:06.88\00:24:10.71
One after another, brave
Christians all across Europe
00:24:10.71\00:24:14.22
took their inspiration
from the Waldensian missionaries
00:24:14.22\00:24:17.05
and the light of the
gospel began to shine
00:24:17.05\00:24:19.45
all across the
former Western Roman empire.
00:24:19.45\00:24:22.56
Because of their example,
the darkness began to retreat.
00:24:22.56\00:24:26.39
[swooshes]
00:24:27.56\00:24:28.76
And now after more
than a thousand years,
00:24:28.76\00:24:31.77
we finally come
to Martin Luther,
00:24:31.77\00:24:33.80
the name everybody knows.
00:24:33.80\00:24:36.20
The words he spoke
at the Diet of Worms
00:24:36.20\00:24:38.14
as he faced down a
church that had compromised
00:24:38.14\00:24:40.88
are still ringing
in our collective ears.
00:24:40.88\00:24:43.48
[tense uplifting music]
00:24:43.48\00:24:44.95
- [Narrator] "Unless I
am convicted by scripture
00:24:44.95\00:24:46.88
and plain reason,
00:24:46.88\00:24:48.25
I do not accept the
authority of popes and councils,
00:24:48.25\00:24:51.45
for they have
contradicted each other.
00:24:51.45\00:24:53.42
My conscience is
captive to the Word of God.
00:24:54.49\00:24:57.13
I cannot and I will
not recant anything,
00:24:57.13\00:24:59.89
for to go against conscience
is neither right nor safe.
00:24:59.89\00:25:03.26
God help me."
00:25:03.26\00:25:05.10
[tense uplifting music]
00:25:05.10\00:25:08.47
[tense
uplifting music continues]
00:25:13.11\00:25:17.31
[tense
uplifting music continues]
00:25:20.95\00:25:25.15
- It was October 31st,
1517 that this brave German monk
00:25:30.23\00:25:34.13
nailed 95
propositions for debate
00:25:34.13\00:25:36.77
to the church door
here in Wittenberg.
00:25:36.77\00:25:39.27
Because like the Waldensians
and like the Celts before him,
00:25:39.27\00:25:42.10
his heart was
captive to the Word of God.
00:25:42.10\00:25:44.44
This much of the
story everybody knows
00:25:44.44\00:25:47.54
but what most people never hear
00:25:47.54\00:25:49.04
is how Luther was not
alone, not even close.
00:25:49.04\00:25:51.78
I mean, sure we know
there were other reformers,
00:25:51.78\00:25:53.72
Tyndale, Wycliffe, Huss.
00:25:53.72\00:25:56.45
But Luther was also
standing on the shoulders
00:25:56.45\00:25:58.29
of a thousand years
of brave Christians,
00:25:58.29\00:26:00.29
a church literally
hiding in the wilderness
00:26:00.29\00:26:03.22
waiting for morning to break,
for freedom to be restored.
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There are four horsemen
in the Book of Revelation:
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the white horse of the
early apostolic church,
00:26:12.40\00:26:15.24
the red horse,
the brave Christians
00:26:15.24\00:26:16.84
who were persecuted
by the pagan Romans,
00:26:16.84\00:26:19.17
the black horse, a
church that compromised
00:26:19.17\00:26:21.51
after Constantine,
00:26:21.51\00:26:23.11
and the pale horse, the
church of the Dark Ages,
00:26:23.11\00:26:26.45
when biblical Christianity
was literally pushed
00:26:26.45\00:26:29.12
to the very
fringes of the world.
00:26:29.12\00:26:31.19
Those are also
the first four seals
00:26:32.25\00:26:34.52
and seal number
five is remarkable.
00:26:34.52\00:26:37.39
"I saw under the
altar the souls of those
00:26:38.63\00:26:40.90
who had been slain
for the Word of God
00:26:40.90\00:26:42.76
and for the
testimony which they held.
00:26:42.76\00:26:45.17
And they cried with
a loud voice, saying,
00:26:45.17\00:26:47.57
'How long, O
Lord, holy and true,
00:26:47.57\00:26:49.84
until you judge
and avenge our blood
00:26:49.84\00:26:52.01
on those who
dwell on the earth?'"
00:26:52.01\00:26:53.84
It's the cry of God's people
00:26:55.54\00:26:57.18
waiting for the
end of the Dark Ages
00:26:57.18\00:26:59.58
and like every other
part of the prophecy,
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this one came to pass too
00:27:01.32\00:27:03.12
because here we
are, free to worship,
00:27:03.12\00:27:05.45
free to believe, free
to share what we know.
00:27:05.45\00:27:09.09
Do not waste this opportunity
00:27:09.09\00:27:11.19
because if you
read prophecy carefully,
00:27:11.19\00:27:13.43
you'll see, it's
going to happen again.
00:27:13.43\00:27:16.50
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- [Announcer] This
has been a broadcast
00:27:52.90\00:27:54.27
of the Voice of Prophecy.
00:27:54.27\00:27:56.67
To learn more about
how you can get a DVD copy
00:27:56.67\00:27:59.81
of a "Pale Horse
Rides" for yourself,
00:27:59.81\00:28:02.71
please visit
PaleHorseRidesDVD.com
00:28:02.71\00:28:06.82
or call toll-free 844-822-2943.
00:28:06.82\00:28:11.52
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