The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 185

The European Union in Prophecy
Nowhere were the reformed doctrines more generally received than in the
Netherlands. In few countries did their adherents endure more terrible persecution.
In Germany Charles V had banned the Reformation, and he would gladly have
brought all its adherents to the stake; but the princes stood up as a barrier against
his tyranny. In the Netherlands his power was greater, and persecuting edicts
followed each other in quick succession. To read the Bible, to hear or preach it, or even
to speak concerning it, was to incur the penalty of death by the stake. To pray to God
in secret, to refrain from bowing to an image, or to sing a psalm, was also punishable
with death. Even those who should abjure their errors were condemned, if men, to die
by the sword; if women, to be buried alive. Thousands perished under the reign of
Charles and of Philip II.
At one time a whole family was brought before the inquisitors, charged with
remaining away from mass and worshiping at home. On his examination as to their
practices in secret the youngest son answered: "We fall on our knees, and pray that
God may enlighten our minds and pardon our sins; we pray for our sovereign, that his
reign may be prosperous and his life happy; we pray for our magistrates, that God
may preserve them."--Wylie, b. 18, ch. 6. Some of the judges were deeply moved, yet
the father and one of his sons were condemned to the stake.
The rage of the persecutors was equaled by the faith of the martyrs. Not only
men but delicate women and young maidens displayed unflinching courage. "Wives
would take their stand by their husband's stake, and while he was enduring the fire
they would whisper words of solace, or sing psalms to cheer him." "Young maidens
would lie down in their living grave as if they were entering into their chamber of
nightly sleep; or go forth to the scaffold and the fire, dressed in their best apparel, as
if they were going to their marriage."-- Ibid., b. 18, ch. 6.
As in the days when paganism sought to destroy the gospel, the blood of the
Christians was seed. (See Tertullian, Apology, paragraph 50.) Persecution served to
increase the number of witnesses for the truth. Year after year the monarch, stung to
madness by the unconquerable determination of the people, urged on his cruel work;
but in vain. Under the noble William of Orange the Revolution at last brought to
Holland freedom to worship God. In the mountains of Piedmont, on the plains of
France and the shores of Holland, the progress of the gospel was marked with the
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