Welcome to my Bible Truth Restored post where I share an overview of the Protestant Reformation. I am editing the post today to update some new history that I have learned through attending seminars at church.
Sola Scriptura means that Scripture alone is the primary and absolute source for all doctrine and practice (faith and morals).
Bible Truth Restored
The Protestant Reformation began in earnest during the fifth century when St. Patrick evangelized Ireland. This was after the Roman Empire had fallen. God used Barbarians to overthrow Rome and some of these Barbarians ended up in Ireland.
Ireland is an Island Nation. It was far enough away from the Catholic Church in Rome to not be influenced by the Papal System that teaches doctrines that are not in the Bible. You can learn more about this period of Christianity from the Pale Horse Rides Documentary from the Voice of Prophecy.
The Adventist movement, ( every person that believes Jesus Christ is going to return to take His believers to heaven is an Adventist ) is a culmination of Biblical Truth being restored that began in 1175 when Peter Waldo uncovered many deceptions that the Catholic Church used. Due to its length, I made a detailed description of Peter Waldo and the Waldensian movement in the last section of this blog post.*
In the 1300’s, John Wycliff translated the Bible into the language of the common people.
Jan Hus ( John Hus ) lived from 1369-1415 in Europe. He protested the Catholic Eucharist tradition. He was burned at the stake for heresy by the Catholic hierarchy.
The Bible does clearly say that Jesus Christ died on the Cross once for mankind’s sins. 1 Peter 3:18 in the Amplified Bible says:
For indeed Christ died for sins once for all, the Just and Righteous for the unjust and unrighteous [the Innocent for the guilty] so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit;
Ulrich Zwingli was a Catholic priest serving in Zurich, Switzerland during the 1500’s. Zwingli spoke against the medieval doctrines of the Catholic church and frequently pointed people to base their beliefs on what the Bible says. He was in disagreement with Luther on issues about the Eucharist.
Then in 1517 Martin Luther published his 95 Theses and posted them at the Castle Church on the campus of the University of Wittenburg in Germany.
In the 1500’s, John Calvin ( Presbyterian ) restored the truth that Christ is the mediator between man and God and not a priest.
Then John Smythe ( Baptist ) restored the truth of Baptism by Immersion in the 1600’s.
In the 1700’s, John Wesley ( Methodist ) restored the importance of witnessing.
Everyone of these truths being restored is very important but further truths kept being discovered so just using one of these truths to base a religious doctrine on is not good enough when it comes to following God’s word in the Bible.
Pride can affect very well educated people and closes the mind of some people to the point that they are not willing to accept further truth. More truth came out in 1844.
In 1844, Rise of the Adventist Movement ( 19 years later Seventh-day Adventist ) restores message of Law of God and the Heavenly Sanctuary ministry found in Hebrews 8.
So when someone makes a comment about not believing what the Seventh-day Adventist believe, they are indirectly saying they do not believe in the whole Bible Truth Restoration movement of the Protestant faiths.
If you want to learn more, seek out some Bible studies around Daniel 8:14. This is the 2300 Day Prophecy between 457 BC when the Decree to Rebuild Jerusalem in Ezra 7 was proclaimed until 1844 which is the Start of Judgment after the Great Disappointment. The Seventh-day Baptist led by William Miller were deeply saddened that Jesus did not return in October of 1844.
My resource for the above material is the Gospel Path of Salvation ( GPS ) by Ivor Myers.
Mr. Ivor Myers has an incredible story about being saved and how he overcame a difficult youth. He was involved with the Rap Music Industry in California. Someone shared the Gospel Message with Ivor which dramatically changed his life. You can find some of his videos online.
Here is the detailed synopsis about Peter Waldo that I mentioned above. He lived over 300 years before Martin Luther and began the Bible Truth Restored movement.
*Peter Waldo was a wealthy clothier and merchant living in Lyons, France. Mr. Waldo was well educated, knew how to read Latin which meant he was able to read the Bible . He heard a sermon in 1160 that set in motion a series of events that is probably the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Waldo drew people to him like a ‘magnet’ because he lived what the Bible teaches.
The following information is from Wikipedia: “The Waldensian movement was characterized from the beginning by lay preaching, voluntary poverty and strict adherence to the Bible. Between 1175-1185 Peter Waldo either commissioned a cleric from Lyons to translate the New Testament into the vernacular, the Arpitan (Franco-Provençal) language or was himself involved in this translation work.
Regardless of the source of translation, he is credited with providing to Europe the first translation of the Bible in a ‘modern tongue’ outside of Latin. In 1179, Waldo and one of his disciples went to Rome where they were welcomed by Pope Alexander III, and the Roman Curia. They had to explain their faith before a panel of three clergymen, including issues which were then debated within the Church, as the universal priesthood, the gospel in the vulgar tongue, and the issue of self-imposed poverty.
The results of the meeting were inconclusive, and Waldo’s ideas, but not the movement itself, were condemned at the Third Lateran Council in the same year, though the leaders of the movement had not been yet excommunicated.
Driven away from Lyons, Waldo and his followers settled in the high valleys of Piedmont, and in France, in the Luberon, as they continued in their pursuit of Christianity based on the New Testament. Finally, Waldo was excommunicated by Pope Lucius III during the synod held at Verona in 1184, and the doctrine of the Poor of Lyons was again condemned by the Fourth Lateran Council in 1215 where they are mentioned by name for the first time, and regarded as heresy.
The Roman Catholic Church began to persecute the Waldensians, and many were tried and sentenced to death in various European countries during the 12th, 13th, and 14th centuries. These Christians persisted by fleeing to the Alps and hiding there. Centuries after Waldo’s death, this Christian movement connected with the Genevan or Reformed branch of the Protestant Reformation.” The Waldensians were Seventh-day Sabbath keepers.
Did you know that there are Ethiopian Christians that have always kept the Seventh-day Sabbath? It very well could be that they were just far enough away from the Roman Catholic Church that the Sunday worship doctrine never reached the Ethiopians. I have seen a building in Seattle, Washington where a congregation of these Sabbath keepers meets every Saturday for worship.
A denomination known as the Anabaptists rose up during the 16th century. Anabaptists rejected the Catholic practice of infant baptism.
Seventh Day Baptists have presented the Sabbath as a sign of obedience in a covenant relationship with God and not as a condition of salvation. They have not condemned those who do not accept the Sabbath but are curious at the apparent inconsistency of those who claim to accept the Bible as their source of faith and practice, yet have followed traditions of the church instead.
Seventh Day Baptists date their origin with the mid-17th century separatist movement in England. The first separate church of record was the Mill Yard church founded about 1650 in London. A group of these believers established the first Seventh Day Baptist Church in America in December, 1671.
A group of young Bible believing Christians from the Methodist, Seventh-day Baptist & Seventh-day Presbyterian churches stayed up all night reading their Bibles and formed the Seventh-day Adventist church in 1863. The early church leaders were in their 20’s and the movement has grown into the fastest growing Protestant church in the world.
The Seventh-day Adventists have the largest Protestant school system in the world with many hospitals & clinics around the world as well. There are Seventh-day Adventist fellowships in over 220 nations of the world. God has a Bible Truth Restored movement.
I am not a trained Theologian. I did attend private high schools in Virginia and had Theology classes. My college degree is in Business & Economics and I am a born again Baptized by Immersion Seventh-day Adventist Protestant Christian. I am in my Bible doing some daily study ever since Jesus came into my heart in 2007.
I hope you have enjoyed my Bible Truth Restored post. If another Bible based church can show me new truth, I will be open to searching the Scriptures to see if it is sound teaching. As for now, I am confident in the doctrines taught by the Seventh-day Adventist church.
I knew right away that he meant we should strive to walk closer to God on a daily basis. In my own personal journey, I have not achieved perfection & realize I never will. I have made progress though.
In 2004, I began reading the Holy Bible. I ask God each time I open the Book to guide my understanding. I also attend weekly Bible classes to be instructed by a mentor and hear other people’s interpretations of the Scriptures.
The Great Controversy Between Good and Evil Is All About the Character of God.
When King Nebuchadnezzar saw God’s goodness, he was changed and transformed. Daniel was a devout follower of the Lord and his actions led to King Nebuchadnezzar’s change of heart.
Matthew 24:30
Revelation 1:7
Revelation 21:1-4
John 3:16-17