The Protestant Inquisition: "Reformation" Intolerance and Persecution

Biblical Evidence of Catholicism ^ | March 07, 2007 | Dave Armstrong

[Dqban22]

The Protestant Inquisition: "Reformation" Intolerance and Persecution

Dave Armstrong

March 07, 2007

"Disclaimer and statement of intent: Unfortunately, the religious "scandal score" needs to be evened up now and then, and the lesser-known "skeletons in the closet" need to be rescued from obscurity, surveyed, and exposed. I take no pleasure in "dredging up" these unsavory occurrences, but it is necessary for honest, fair historical appraisal. This does not mean that I have forsaken ecumenism, or that I wish to bash Protestants, or that I deny corresponding Catholic shortcomings."

"Historical facts are what they are, and most Protestants (and Catholics) are unaware of the following historical events and beliefs (while, on the other hand, one always hears about the embarrassing and scandalous Catholic stuff -- and not often very accurately or fairly at that). If (as I suspect might often be the case) readers are shocked or surprised by the very title of this paper, this would be a case in point, and justification enough for my purposes of education. With that end and stated outlook in mind, I offer this copiously-researched treatise, with all due respect to my Protestant brethren, yet not without some remaining trepidation."

"Historically nothing is more incorrect than the assertion that the Reformation was a movement in favour of intellectual freedom. The exact contrary is the truth. For themselves, it is true, Lutherans and Calvinists claimed liberty of conscience . . . but to grant it to others never occurred to them so long as they were the stronger side. The complete extirpation of the Catholic Church, and in fact of everything that stood in their way, was regarded by the reformers as something entirely natural."

"This fact is forgotten by Protestants. They read blood-curdling stories of the Inquisition and of atrocities committed by Catholics, but what does the average Protestant know of Protestant atrocities in the centuries succeeding the Reformation? Nothing, unless he makes a special study of the subject . . . Yet they are perfectly well known to every scholar . . . If I do not enumerate here the persecutions carried on by Catholics in the past, it is because it is not necessary in this book to do so. This volume is addressed especially to Protestants, and Catholic persecutions are to them sufficiently well known . . ."

"Now granting for the sake of argument, that all that is usually said of Catholic persecutions is true, the fact remains that Protestants, as such, have no right to denounce them, as if such deeds were characteristic of Catholics only. People who live in glass houses should not throw stones . . . "

"It is unquestionable . . . that the champions of Protestantism - Luther, Calvin, Beza, Knox, Cranmer and Ridley -- advocated the right of the civil authorities to punish the 'crime' of heresy . . . Rousseau says truly:"

" The Reformation was intolerant from its cradle, and its authors were universal persecutors . . ."

Auguste Comte also writes:

"The intolerance of Protestantism was certainly not less tyrannical than that with which Catholicism is so much reproached." (Philosophie Positive, IV, 51)

The rest of is important article

http://socrates58.blogspot.com/2007/03/protestant-inquisition-reformation.html

[Dqban22]

" What makes, however, Protestant persecutions specially revolting is the fact that they were absolutely inconsistent with the primary doctrine of Protestantism -- the right of private judgment in matters of religious belief! Nothing can be more illogical than at one moment to assert that one may interpret the Bible to suit himself, and at the next to torture and kill him for having done so! Nor should we ever forget that . . . the Protestants were the aggressors, the Catholics were the defenders. The Protestants were attempting to destroy the old, established Christian Church, which had existed 1500 years, and to replace it by something new, untried and revolutionary. The Catholics were upholding a Faith, hallowed by centuries of pious associations and sublime achievements; the Protestants, on the contrary, were fighting for a creed . . . which already was beginning to disintegrate into hostile sects, each of which, if it gained the upper hand, commenced to persecute the rest! . . . All religious persecution is bad; but in this case, of the two parties guilty of it, the Catholics certainly had the more defensible motives for their conduct."

[ansel12]

Which denomination’s did that, and how many members of those denominations do those churches have in the United States?

How many freepers belong to those denominations, how do those denominations vote in America, as majority proabortion, pro-gay, democrat voters, like the Catholic denomination does, or like Evangelical denominations?

[glennaro]

Change “Protestant” to “Progressive” and this opinion piece becomes timeless.

[Alex Murphy]

Lessee....dusting off the usual "MadLibs" script-o-matic.... ahem.....here we go.

(clears throat, reads from MabLibs)

"I feel like Protestant haters have taken over FR. Why do you hate Protestants so much? Did you get this off of a rabid anti-Protestant web site? I bet you wouldn't have the guts to post this sort of thing about Muslims."

[CharlesOConnell]

A Catholic unfriendly book said that there were an average of 3 burnings at the stake per year over an area covered by the Spanish inquisition from Sicily to Peru, a secular, state institution that was forbidden by Papal decree from practicing in 1475.

[LibFreeUSA]

What ia the point of this article?

The Salem witch burnings????

[LibFreeUSA]

I am a Catholic, and I don’t see the point of this article.

[Big Red Badger]

What a Crock,,

[ansel12]

I don’t think that we are importing 10s of millions of democrat voting immigrants from a particular church denomination, and their future democrat voting offspring, from Protestant nations either.

[BlackAdderess]

The Protestant side of the family went through hell in France, the Catholic side enjoyed a stability over there that allowed them to avoid all the confiscations, decapitations, incarcerations, and all around ugliness, and allowed them to hang onto the same piece of land for over 800 years. The Catholics were beaten and terrorized for no good reason after emigrating however.

[Bryanw92]

Wow. The secular humanists are right. Every type of Christian church is evil.

[spirited irish]

Let’s see....the men and women of Sodom have declared war on the Christian Church, “Caitlyn” is the reigning model of androgyny-— the pagan ideal; ISIS is brutally murdering Christians and erasing Christian presence out of the Middle East; the progressive “elite” are brazenly destroying what’s left of America’s foundations;and Obama, the State Department and many other federal agencies are pushing sodomy,et al onto the rest of the world. In the face of all of this bad news an FR poster has nothing better to do than instigate trouble against Protestants?!?

[Dqban22]

I do no hate the Protestants, or any other religion. I respect all the religions. As a mater of fact I love the Protestants as my brothers in Christ, and I love the Jews, because as Pius XI told a group of Belgian pilgrims: “Through Christ and in Christ, we are spiritual descendants of Abraham.” I have presented historical facts, regardless if they are critical of Catholics, Protestants or Muslims. I have exposed the Marxist infiltration of the Catholic Church as well as the Protestant churches for over the last 30 years. Also I exposed and denounced repeatedly the slaughter of Christians by Muslims and the Islamic infiltration at the highest level of our government.

As Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

[HerrBlucher]

Its just another salvo in the Catholic v Protestant war that continues on ad infinitum here at FR. There is plenty of instigating going on with both sides......not that there is anything wrong with that.

[ansel12]

The Salem witch burnings????

They were hanged, none were burned.

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

No one was burned. They were hanged. If someone accused pleaded innocent, their property was confiscated and they went to trial and were found “Guilty”, then hanged.

If they pleaded “Guilty” they were fined, had their property confiscated and given a short prison sentence.

One man, accused refused to make a plea. They tied him down and piled rocks on him. He still refused to plea, saying merely..”More Weight!” He died, but his property was NOT confiscated because he had not made a guilty or not guilty plea.

When the public tired of this sham and began to ignore the girls making the accusations, they realized their jig was up and returned to normal. Much like the “witchcraft in day care centers” the media ran with back in the 1980s.

[Dqban22]

The point is that in these forums the Church is being debased continuously using the falsehoods of the Black Legend, and History should presented honestly and truthfully. If you read the whole article and the sources I believe you will be aware that nobody have been free from sin and that many horrors have been committed by those who distort the message of love of our Lord Jesus Christ.

[Rufii]

Auguste Comte also writes:

"The intolerance of Protestantism was certainly not less tyrannical than that with which Catholicism is so much reproached." (Philosophie Positive, IV, 51)

One might recall that Comte founded something called "the religion of humanity."

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***What makes, however, Protestant persecutions specially revolting is the fact that they were absolutely inconsistent with the primary doctrine of Protestantism***

Sounds to me as if someone, probably a prince, using religion as a cover for political gain and paybacks.

[heye2monn]

I agree that both Catholics and Protestants did terrible things during the Catholic-Protestant wars. But what? This is a terribly written, opaque and worthless excerpt.