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Chapter 13: Heresies and Persecutions
From A.D. 426 to 1500. Very early in the history of Christianity, as has already been observed, heresies of different kinds commenced to creep into the churches. The true churches being independent of each other, in their organization and government, were but little affected by these heresies. Some of the churches, however, soon lost their independent form, and several combining…
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Chapter 14: Heresies and Persecutions (Continued)
It would seem that the indignities visited by a ruler upon one of his honored subjects, could not be greater than the one which has just been narrated, much less could it be perpetrated by one claiming, as does the pope, to be God's vicegerent upon earth. Raymond VI., count of Toulouse, however, was subjected to a still more humiliating…
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Chapter 15: Reformation of the Sixteenth Century
"And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters; with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication. So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness; and…
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Chapter 16: Waldensean Period (Concluded)
We left off the history of the Waldenses at the close of chapter twelfth, in order to give some account of the heresies and corruptions of the Catholic party, which gave rise to the reformation of the sixteenth century. We are told that when the witnesses “shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit…
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Chapter 17: Anabaptists, Or, Baptists
The term Anabaptist was applied to all that class of persons who were known by the more general name of Waldenses. While the name Anabaptist was not so generally used until after the reformation of the sixteenth century, it was occasionally used as early as the beginning of the third century. Literally the word means to baptize again, and was…
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Chapter 18: Baptists in America
The origin of the Baptists in America is not traceable to any one man or set of men. They came here singly and in groups. By comparing their articles of faith a unity of doctrine was discovered and churches were formed. Baptist churches are always formed just in this way. A few individuals, having been previously baptized, and holding membership…