Battle of the Bibles - Present Truth

Section One
Chapters One to Eleven
The Protestant Reformation
"In the sixteenth century, the Reformation, presenting an open Bible to the
people, had sought admission to all the countries of Europe. Some nations welcomed it
with gladness, as a messenger of Heaven. In other lands the papacy succeeded to a
great extent in preventing its entrance".
"The war against the Bible, carried forward for so many centuries in France,
culminated in the scenes of the Revolution. That terrible out breaking was but the
legitimate result of Rome's suppression of the Scriptures. It represented the most striking
illustration which the world has ever witnessed of the working out of papal policy" (E.G.
White, "The Great Controversy", p 265).
Chapter One
Pre-Reformation Years
When the people of England went to church in the early sixteenth century, they
did so with a sense of obligation tinged with awe and even fear, for attendance at Mass
in the parish church was seen as a ritual essential to the preservation of body and soul.
In those days their priests were seldom heard reading from the Bible; it was
written in Latin. What they did hear and understand were the prayers for an Italian prince
of the Medici nobility who was known to them as Pope Clement. The pope was virtually
the indisputable ruler of Europe in temporal as well as spiritual matters. Believing him to
be a successor of the apostle Peter, and, therefore custodian of the heavenly keys, the
English were not only inclined to render him spiritual allegiance, but were bound by
ecclesiastical and civil laws to pay taxes for his support.
One of the annual taxes levied on every household was cunningly designed to
reinforce the dogma of apostolic succession. It was called, "Peter's Pence". When first
introduced it was a mere "penny per hearth", but like other schemes for collecting tax, it
soon demonstrated its propensity to increase as well as to proliferate.
The pope's tax agents were considered as set apart and above the mundane
affairs of life. They were not subject to civil laws, but if the occasion demanded it, they
were tried before an ecclesiastical court. They carried impressive titles such as
Archbishop, Archdeacon and Parish Priest.
To assist the pope's men in their holy endeavours, lay men and women were
appointed as church wardens. Besides being responsible for the upkeep and care of the
church and its surrounds, they were expected to keep Peter's Pennies rolling in. They
also had to collect other of the numerous taxes among which were levies consisting of
tithes, mortuary dues and probate fees. (See D.H. Pill, "The English Reformation", pp
22, 25)
And then there were the Mendicant Friars who literally swarmed over the
countryside like a plague, begging and sometimes demanding food, lodging and money.
For the pious faithful, the church had much to offer, but it was nearly all
collectable in a future life. If this was insufficient inducement for the faithless, there was
the ever present spectre of an intermediate stay in purgatory and even everlasting hellfire.
But for those who openly questioned the credibility of the system, their passage to
hell was given a decided impetus with the designation of the term, "heretic". In the year
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