Truth Triumphant - Benjamin G. Wilkinson

was contained in the profession.[20]
Three of the demands passed by this crushing
assembly stand out above all others for their
cruelty. First, there was the decree demanding the
celibacy of the clergy. If the synod had passed this
regulation as of force from then on, it would have
been a great enough revolution; but the decree was
made retroactive. All the Syrian priests were
immediately to put away their wives. Since it had
been the practice of the St. Thomas Christians to
permit the wife of the priest to draw some little
financial pay from the revenues of the church, this
also was cut off, 1eaving the poor woman and her
children without support.
Another of the cruel regulations was to single
out for burning at the stake those Christians whom
the Roman Catholic Church chose to designate as
apostate.[21] As has been noted before, the
Christians whom they designated as apostate were
generally called Judaizers, or those who observed
the seventh day as the Sabbath. Decree 15 of
Action viii, as recorded by Geddes, reads, “The
759