And the beast of the earth had power to give life unto the image of the first beast, that it should both speak, and cause as many as would not worship the (Catholic) image of the (Roman) beast to be killed (Rev. 13:15 paraphrased). For the first three hundred years of its existence the Christian church endured persecution that was often severe. The chief persecutor was the pagan Roman Empire. With the advent of Constantine, this oppression ceased, but the persecution of true Christians would be resumed. It would come from an unlikely source — the church itself. This harassment of the saints would be aided and abetted by the powers of christendom — especially the “Holy Roman Empire.”
The witnesses
Christianity as a movement had already lost its way when Constantine came upon the scene, and there were those who were separating themselves from it. For true disciples the elevation of the church to the status of state religion must have been the ultimate sign of apostasy.
As time went on, dissidents who opposed the Catholic system would find themselves severely persecuted for their faith. It would be as if the pagan Empire had never perished. The link between the two is indicated by a voracious dragon representing paganism in Revelation 12 while a brutal beast symbolizes papal Rome in chapter 13.
The Albigensian’s
“As time went on the crusading movement was increasingly diverted…and in the thirteenth century the popes launched crusades…against European heretics such as the Albigensians…” (Eerdmans’ Handbook to the History of Christianity, p. 270).
The Albigensians were a group who emerged at the end of the twelfth century in what is now southern France. We have chosen to look at them for two reasons. In their manner of life they resembled Christadelphians, and through them we can feel the oppression believers had to endure. Further, it was because of them that the Catholic church established the Inquisition.
They called themselves Cathars (cathari, Greek for pure), and they separated themselves entirely from corrupt medieval Christianity. What we know of them comes from their enemies, so we have little knowledge of their teachings. If their detractors are correct, their doctrines were confused, so we cannot say with certainty that they were twelfth century Christadelphians. But what happened to them is a perfect example of the treatment of all who did not bow to papal authority in doctrine and practice.
When they were attacked by the established church, it was expected that the Cathars would submit or be silenced, but “they openly defended their beliefs, to the amazement of the orthodox, at a public debate in 1165 in a town near Albi…They rejected the cross as a symbol not of redemption but of torture and degradation. They rejected the veneration of dead saints and martyrs, whose relics they regarded as hardly different from sticks and stones. They rejected all the traditional sacraments…They rejected, above all, the Church of Rome, which they attacked as the betrayer of Christianity. They likened it to the Antichrist, and to the Whore of Babylon” (Otto Friedrich: The End of the World, a History, p. 70).
Albigensians (from Albi in the Languedoc province) claimed the authority of the New Testament for their version of Christianity. Like the early disciples they had no churches but went about from town to town, preaching their gospel and tending to the sick. They lived honest lives and worked hard in their fields. They gained the respect of all except the officials of the church.
“The most important element of Catharism was neither ceremony nor organization but rather the sense of mission. The Cathars claimed to be the only true followers of Christ, and of the apostolic tradition…Rome recognized the Cathars not merely as a band of heretics who had strayed from the true faith but as deadly enemies…The Church of Rome, Albigensians insisted, was the Beast of the Apocalypse, and if the Beast threatened violence, so be it. True Christians had known martyrdom long before the popes had come to sit on their gilded throne” (Ibid, p. 71).
The Cathars were growing in numbers and had spread into Italy itself. The papacy could not overlook their defiance, and soon steps were taken to eradicate their movement. “…as many as would not worship the image of the beast…should be killed.”
Persuasion
The first steps taken against the dissenters by the pope involved persuasion. He sent his legates to argue for the cause of orthodoxy. The Cathars pointed out the contrast between richly robed churchmen, representing the papacy, and Christ and his disciples. Not only did the papal mission fail, but respect for the heretics grew among the populace.
Domingo de Guzman, a Spanish priest, got the point. He received permission from the pope to found an order of priests who would emulate the simplicity of the Cathars. They would go about the region dressed in simple robes, begging for their food, and preaching the Catholic gospel. They would also seek out heretics. Thus was born the Dominican order of mendicant (beggar) friars.
Papal resolve
Persuasion having failed, the pope issued marching orders. The heretics were to be rooted out. Anyone who aided or showed sympathy toward the Cathars was threatened with excommunication. The sovereign of the French region was Count Raymond of Toulouse, and under his tolerant rule dissenters had enjoyed a measure of peace. Alarmed that his country was about to be invaded, he appealed to the pope to call off his mercenaries. The count was severely punished for daring to question this crusade, and he was forced to join his enemies against his own people.
The church never forgave the ruler of Languedoc for harboring heretics in his domain. Even in death Count Raymond was punished. Though many testified that he was a good Catholic, the pope never gave permission for his funeral. He lay in his coffin unburied until nothing remained, and his country was taken from his heirs by the French.
Birth of the Inquisition
The church now put into motion the “final solution” to the problem of the Albigensian heretics. It was the Inquisition. “The Vatican had a new weapon at its disposal, the robed armies of the mendicant orders, and particularly the teaching friars organized by Saint Dominic (Domingo de Guzman)…The Dominicans received their orders from Pope Gregory IX. Wherever they might find either a heretic or any priest or lord who tolerated heresy, said Gregory, ‘you are empowered to proceed against them and all others, without appeal, calling in the aid of the secular arm, if necessary, and coercing opposition, if requisite, with the censures of the church, without appeal.” (I bid, pp. 94-95).
How the Inquisition worked
In theory, the Inquisition was a legal and orderly procedure. It was presumably based on Roman law, and the accused were given the benefit of public trials. But, “upon this system of law, the church slowly built a system of organized terrorism” (Ibid, p. 98). To make the process legal, heresy was defined as a crime and judgment was enforced by the secular authorities. Local magistrates had no choice but to cooperate with the inquisitors. Pope Innocent IV issued a papal bull, Ad Extirpanda, which “not only permitted the torture of suspects, as had actually been approved by the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215, but recommended it, virtually urged it…As the Inquisition became more and more a self-fulfilling institution, all the rules that limited its authority gradually disintegrated. At the Council of Albi, in 1254, it was agreed that any advocate who defended a suspected heretic was himself liable to a charge of complicity in heresy…Pope Alexander IV reissued Ad Extirpanda in 1259, and Pope Clement IV reissued it again in 1265″ (Ibid, p.106).
The end of the Albigensians
Persecution can be very effective. It was so in the Middle Ages, as the Catholic church relentlessly pursued and purged out all those who opposed her authority and teaching. The Albigensians were given no peace until the last of them had been hunted down and put to death.
To understand the effect such oppression had on a community, we must imagine a situation in which our pioneer brethren were cut down in the vigor of life, our most active young brethren of each generation imprisoned or killed. We would have been continually harassed for a hundred years — instead of living in peace as we have done.
Toward the end, the community had lost touch with its pioneers and was joined by others who opposed the papal authority on various grounds. They were more interested in resistance than in witnessing for Christ. A band of them took refuge in a mountain retreat from which they were eventually flushed out. Those who refused to make their peace with the papal system were herded into a stockade which was then burned around them. Two hundred people perished in the flames.
“The Inquisition never forgot, never relented, never gave up…Catharism survived only in the mountain villages. Even there the inquisitors pursued them…By the middle of the fourteenth century, the Inquisition in Languedoc came to an end because even the inquisitors could find no more victims” (Ibid. p. 108).
Will we be persecuted?
Persecution comes in many forms. All those who strive earnestly to live and to preach the gospel will suffer some form of persecution. Whether we may yet have to endure something of the oppression of the past remains to be seen. Certainly we must be spiritually prepared for such a possibility.
At this time, however, our greatest trial may be the “kindness” of our adversaries. The ecumenical spirit of our time can affect us, so that we lose sight of the real worth of the Truth. The temptation to become children of our age is always a danger. The world is still at enmity with Christ, and christendom today no more teaches the true gospel than it did in medieval times.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One