The “Dark Ages”

Not content with absolute dominion over the spiritual and temporal affairs of the people, this papal kingdom attempted the exercise of authority also over the consciences of men. Especially was this so during the dark ages, when this power was at the zenith of its glory. This exercise of authority extended also far into the day when the light of religious freedom commenced to break forth, during the period known as the revival of learning. Previous to this revival, as we have seen, the language of learning was the Latin tongue. The people were helplessly dependent upon their priests for all instruction in scientific as well as religious thought. The few copies of the Bible extant were guarded by the clergy, and the scriptures were not accessible to the common people, and since they could neither read nor write, and in very few instances understood Latin, they would have been helpless even with the Bible in their hands. Under these conditions it is not to be wondered at that the poor people of those benighted countries of Europe, credulous and filled with superstitious fear, were ready to accept almost anything that was made known to them, in doctrine or deed, by unscrupulous priests.

The Revival of Learning

Neither is it to be wondered at that priests attempted to use force and coercion during the revival of learning to check the opportunities of the people in obtaining light and truth. It was due to the exercise of greater knowledge on the part of the priests and their performance of mystic ceremonies, that over-awed the people and enabled the clergy to keep them shackled by the chains of ignorance and superstition. Ignorance was a ready tool in the hands of the priests by which they shaped and moulded the masses into vessels to their liking. The increase of learning among the people, aided by the discoveries and inventions of the times, would change all this; for the people would not be so ready to accept every wind of doctrine without some mental cogitation and desire to have a reason given why things were thus and so. Moreover, the revival of learning meant the end of many practices and blasphemous doctrines advanced in the name of Jesus Christ, such as the exercise of force over the consciences of men and the sale of indulgences for the pardon of sin—if not the end, at least a wonderful modification of such an evil system.

Early Translations of the Bible

Evidently this ruling ecclesiastical power realized that enlightened conditions would bring rebellion against its authority. For that reason stringent laws were framed to enforce the edicts and regulations of the church of Rome. During the “Reformation” and before, there were several translations of the Bible made in the languages which the common people understood. Wycliffe’s Bible appeared in 1380 and was followed by translations at a later date, both in English and other tongues. At first there was an attempt to destroy these copies which were prepared without authority or sanction from the Catholic Church. With the invention of printing in the fifteenth century, however, the cause of religious freedom received a wonderful impetus, and Bibles were distributed all over Europe. Before the time of printing a Bible cost five hundred crowns, and such copies as were in existence were in the keeping of the clergy, who guarded them with the utmost zeal. Through the aid of printing, the price of Bibles was reduced to five crowns, which made it possible for the people not only to have the privilege of hearing the scriptures read in their own tongue, but also to acquire the understanding by which they could read them for themselves.

Scripture-Reading Forbidden

An English chronicler, Henry Kneighton, many years before the “Reformation” expressed the prevailing notion about the reading of the scriptures when he denounced the general reading of the Bible, lamenting “lest the jewel of the Church, hitherto the exclusive property of the clergy and divines, should be made common to the laity.” Archbishop Arundel in England had issued an enactment that “no part of the scriptures in English should be read, either in public or in private, or be thereafter translated, under pain of the greater excommunication.” The New Testament translation of Erasmus was forbidden at Cambridge, and the Vicar of Croyden said from his pulpit: “We must root out printing, or printing will root us out.” In the reign of Henry VIII the reading of the Bible by the common people, or those who were not of the privileged class, had been prohibited by act of Parliament, and men were burned at the stake in England as well as in the Netherlands and other parts of Europe for having even fragments of the scriptures in their hands.

For those who were considered derelict in church duties or heretical in doctrine, edicts were declared, forbidding them to gather in private assemblies for devotion, in various parts of Europe. All reading of the scriptures; all discussion within one’s own doors concerning faith, the sacraments, the papal authority, or other religious matter, was forbidden “under penalty of death. The edicts were no dead letter. The fires were kept constantly supplied with human fuel by monks who knew the act of burning reformers better than of arguing with them. The scaffold was the most conclusive of syllogisms, and used upon all occasions” (The Rise of the Dutch Republic, Motley).

The Inquisition

Continuing this woeful account of conditions in the rebellious Netherlands and other countries under Spanish rule, the author of The Rise of the Dutch Republic says: “Charles V introduced and organized a papal institution, side by side with those horrible ‘Placards’ of his invention, which constituted a masked inquisition even more cruel than that of Spain.... The execution of the system was never permitted to languish. The number of Netherlanders who were burned, strangled, beheaded, or buried alive, in obedience to his edicts, and for the offense of reading the scriptures, of looking askance at a graven image, or of ridiculing the actual presence of the body and blood of Christ in a wafer, have been placed as high as one hundred thousand by distinguished authorities, and have never been put at a lower mark than fifty thousand.”

Dawning of a Better Day

Conditions like these could not go on forever. The dawn of a better day began to break over the nations. The Spirit of the Lord was striving with men and preparations commenced for the introduction into the world of the re-established Gospel at a later day. It was necessary that the shackles of superstitious fear and illiteracy, which bound the world so completely, should be broken, that men might exercise their right of free agency before the fulness of Gospel light should break forth. Not only was advancement made in the art of printing, but there came a revival of learning and research in all directions and in all parts of Europe. It was not confined to one land or to one people, but the whole of Europe took on a new life. The discovery of the telescope, the law of gravitation, the invention of gunpowder and many other wonderful things, were revolutionizing the thoughts of men.

The Mission of Columbus

With the discovery of the mariner’s compass navigators became more bold and daring, and gradually extended their explorations until they discovered the way to India around the Cape of Good Hope. Near the close of the fifteenth century the belief prevailed that the earth was flat and inhabited only on the upper side. Beyond the shores of lands then known it was thought there hung a pall of fog and darkness. The sea was referred to as the “Sea of Darkness” beyond the boundaries known to man. Far off in or beyond the ocean it was believed great dragons had their lair, and if any man should be so unfortunate as to drift among them he would return no more. Mariners had been afraid to traverse the seas far beyond the sight of land. Shortly before the end of this century there came one navigator more daring than his fellows, who proposed to cross the sea. After many pleadings and attempts to interest some one with means in the venture, he finally succeeded and the remarkable feat was done. In accomplishing this he made discoveries that the Lord, in his wisdom, had kept hid from the nations of the east all down through the ages, until in his own due time he desired them to be revealed. Columbus was moved upon by the Spirit of the Lord and crossed the waters in fulfilment of predictions made by a prophet, who lived on this continent, five hundred years before the birth of Christ.

The “Reformation”

All these things played an important part in the establishment of individual and religious freedom. The most important agency of all in this great work was doubtless the so-called “Reformation,” which was in fact a revolution from the bondage of the church of Rome. Great men of intellectual power began to undermine the thraldom of the religious world. This rebellion against the dominion of Rome was almost simultaneous in the various lands. In England, Scandinavia, France, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany, many “reformers” arose near the end of the fifteenth and during the sixteenth century. They were of varying degrees of enthusiasm and opposition to the teachings of that time. In the beginning their only desire was to correct evils within the Catholic Church, but failing in this many of them openly rebelled and set up independent churches of their own.

Martin Luther

The greatest of these “reformers” was Martin Luther in Germany, who did more than any other individual in casting off the yoke of bondage placed upon the people by the papacy. Powerful princes came to his aid, but there was not in Germany at that time the cohesion of the people, or the centralization of power, that existed in England under Henry VIII, or in Sweden, where Gustavus Vasa reigned. Luther’s task, therefore, was a heavy one, but he nobly carried it through to the bitter end.

The Protestant Revolution a Preparatory Work

Their mission was not, however, to set up the Church or Christ, for the time was not ripe, and that important event was reserved for another generation. They were called to be forerunners of that eventful day, and did much to prepare the world for the ushering in of the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. The Lord did not call them to their great work by an opening of the heavens; by visitation of angel, or direct communication, as in times of old; neither did any of them claim that in this manner they had been called. Nevertheless it was the Spirit of the Lord which rested upon them and inspired them to fight against the abominations and practices of their times committed in the name of religion. Such, at least, was the case with most of them. The motive of Henry VIII of England, was a selfish one; yet the Lord brought good out of it in behalf of religious freedom. At first Henry opposed the rebellion of Luther and others most vigorously, even writing in defense of the pope of Rome, for which service he received the benediction of the pope and the title of “Defender of the Faith.” Afterwards, when his own interests where in conflict with the policy of the Catholic Church and in no wise he could prevail, he became rebellious, with the result that he was excommunicated by the pope. In defense he established an independent church, known today as the Church of England, of which he became the head. Parliament and the people were back of him and thus the great state church of England was brought into being.

Disagreement Among “Reformers”

The pity of it all is that these “reformers” when they established their religious freedom, could not agree among themselves. They were constantly in turmoil, contending one with another on points of doctrine, which led to considerable bitterness and the establishing of various and conflicting sects. Moreover, they had not learned the lesson themselves, through all the persecutions they were forced to suffer, that toleration was a fundamental principle of freedom. Because this great lesson had not been learned the persecuted became the persecutors in many cases, and were just as intolerant where they had the power with those who disagreed with them as their enemies had been with them.

America a Land of Freedom

Nevertheless the seeds of toleration had been sown, but they were of slow growth. Toleration was a matter of education and therefore came by degrees and could not burst forth in full fruition at once. Not until there had been much shedding of blood in Europe, and more particularly in America during the war for independence, were the people fully awakened to this truth. It required a planting in new soil in a choice land above all other lands. Here in America freedom and religious toleration became a fundamental part of our great government. Our land became a land of refuge for the afflicted, the downtrodden, and the oppressed of other nations, who found in the United States a haven of rest; for this land had been dedicated to liberty by the shedding of blood.

Praise be to the great souls who conducted the Protestant Revolution. They helped to make it possible for the establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the early part of the nineteenth century, preparatory to the second coming of the Son of God. For all the good they did we honor them, and they shall receive their reward which shall be great. They were not restorers, but were sent to prepare the way for one who was yet to come with a mission of restoration and everlasting power.