Battle of the Bibles - Present Truth

attacked and destroyed monasteries and other religious houses. "Burn the nests and the
rooks will fly, " cried Knox (ibid p 302).
When eventually he went the way of all flesh and rested beneath his epitaph, all
would agree with the truth written there "Here lies one who never feared the face of
man".
The tide of opinion quickly turned against the popish -controlled government, a
circumstance which soon neutralised any threat to England and resulted in imprisonment
for the Scottish Queen. With both England and Scotland now well on the way to
becoming Protestant countries, they, for the first time had a common bond which would
eventually bring about that political union which we know today as Great Britain.
But, just as importantly, with this union there arose a Protestant alliance which
was to flourish throughout the British Empire. When the Empire lost its colonies in North
America, the Protestant bond not only remained, but strengthened. Within this alliance,
there arose the great Bible Societies which propelled the Protestant Bibles to the
uttermost parts of the world.
Chapter Six
The Council of Trent
We have noted the great influence which the Reformation in Europe was having
on England and Scotland in particular; and it was to Protestant areas of Europe that
many a persecuted Reformer fled for safety and succour.
At the time of John Knox's return to Scotland, Geneva had become a busy centre
for Bible translation. Calvin, a relative of the Waldensian, Olivetan, who translated the
New Testament into the French language, had edited a second edition of his Bible. This
Waldensian Bible then became the basis of an English-language Bible which came to be
known as the Geneva Bible because it was translated in Geneva. For the first time, a
complete English Bible was divided into verses.
By 1560, this Geneva Bible was being enthusiastically adopted by Protestant
England and Scotland where it was to remain the leading version until it was finally
superseded by the King James Version of 1611.
It was this line of Bibles which came to be known as the Received Text. This line,
preserved during the Dark Ages by the churches of the wilderness, inspired the
Reformation and resulted in catastrophe for Roman Catholicism.
Rome could not let the use of the Protestant Bible, with its religious and political
consequences, go unchallenged. In 1545 the Vatican assembled a council of war
against the Reformation. Known as the Council of Trent, it was prolonged until the year
1563.
Very early in its deliberations, the Council was seen to give recognition to, and
allow itself to be dominated by, a recently-formed sect of the Roman Catholic Church
known as the Society of Jesus, whose members are commonly referred to as Jesuits.
Their principal founder, Ignatius Lyola, is described in Collin's Dictionary as "a crafty
person, an intriguer (an opprobrious use of the word)" while Jesuitism is defined as: "the
principles and practices of the Jesuits; cunning deceit; deceptive practices to effect a
purpose". The perceived aim of the Society is to protect Roman Catholicism by
destroying Protestantism.
When we consider Protestantism's forceful and consistent denunciations of
Romanism in those times, its gross immorality, its intrigue and false religion, it would be
expected that meeting these charges would be high on the Council's list of priorities. But
this was not the case.
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