The faith which for centuries was held and taught by the Waldensian Christians was in marked contrast to the false doctrines put forth from Rome . Their religious belief was founded upon the written word of God , the true system of Christianity . But those humble peasants , in their obscure retreats , shut away from the world , and bound to daily toil among their flocks and their vineyards , had not by themselves arrived at the truth in opposition to the dogmas and heresies of the apostate church . Theirs was not a faith newly received . Their religious belief was their inheritance from their fathers . They contended for the faith of the apostolic church , -- " the faith which was once delivered unto the saints ." Jude 3 . " The church in the wilderness ," and not the proud hierarchy enthroned in the world ' s great capital , was the true church of Christ , the guardian of the treasures of truth which God has committed to His people to be given to the world .
Among the leading causes that had led to the separation of the true church from Rome was the hatred of the latter toward the Bible Sabbath . As foretold by prophecy , the papal power cast down the truth to the ground . The law of God was trampled in the dust , while the traditions and customs of men were exalted . The churches that were under the rule of the papacy were early compelled to honour the Sunday as a holy day . Amid the prevailing error and superstition , many , even of the true people of God , became so bewildered that while they observed the Sabbath , they refrained from labour also on the Sunday . But this did not satisfy the papal leaders . They demanded not only that Sunday be hallowed , but that the Sabbath be profaned ; and they denounced in the strongest language those who dared to show it honour . It was only by fleeing from the power of Rome that any could obey God ' s law in peace .
The Waldenses were among the first of the peoples of Europe to obtain a translation of the Holy Scriptures . Hundreds of years before the Reformation they possessed the Bible in manuscript in their native tongue . They had the truth unadulterated , and this rendered them the special objects of hatred and persecution . They declared the Church of Rome to be the apostate Babylon of the Apocalypse , and at the peril of their lives they stood up to resist her corruptions . While , under the pressure of long-continued persecution , some compromised their faith , little by little yielding its distinctive principles , others held fast the truth . Through ages of darkness and apostasy there were Waldenses who denied the supremacy of Rome , who rejected image worship as idolatry , and who kept the true Sabbath . Under the fiercest tempests of opposition they maintained their faith . Though gashed by the Savoyard spear , and scorched by the Romish fagot , they stood unflinchingly for God ' s word and His honour .
Behind the lofty bulwarks of the mountains--in all ages the refuge of the persecuted and oppressed-the Waldenses found a hiding place . Here the light of truth was kept burning amid the darkness of the Middle Ages . Here , for a thousand years , witnesses for the truth maintained the ancient faith . God had provided for His people a sanctuary of awful grandeur , befitting the mighty truths committed to their trust . To those faithful exiles the mountains were an emblem of the
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