The European Union in Prophecy The EU in Prophecy I | Page 188

The European Union in Prophecy
presented in the Bible in a clear and simple manner, so that all men may understand
them. Christ said, "My doctrine is not Mine, but His that sent Me" (John 7:16); and
Paul declared that should he preach any other gospel than that which he had received,
he would be accursed (Galatians 1:8). "How, then," said the Reformer, "shall others
presume to enact dogmas at their pleasure, and impose them as things necessary to
salvation?"--Wylie, b. 10, ch. 4. He showed that the decrees of the church are of no
authority when in opposition to the commands of God, and maintained the great
Protestant principle that "the Bible and the Bible only" is the rule of faith and practice.
This contest, though conducted upon a stage comparatively obscure, serves to
show us "the sort of men that formed the rank and file of the army of the Reformers.
They were not illiterate, sectarian, noisy controversialists--far from it; they were men
who had studied the word of God, and knew well how to wield the weapons with which
the armory of the Bible supplied them. In respect of erudition they were ahead of their
age. When we confine our attention to such brilliant centers as Wittenberg and Zurich,
and to such illustrious names as those of Luther and Melanchthon, of Zwingli and
Oecolampadius, we are apt to be told, these were the leaders of the movement, and
we should naturally expect in them prodigious power and vast acquisitions; but the
subordinates were not like these. Well, we turn to the obscure theater of Sweden, and
the humble names of Olaf and Laurentius Petri --from the masters to the disciples-
what do we find? . . . Scholars and theologians; men who have thoroughly mastered
the whole system of gospel truth, and who win an easy victory over the sophists of the
schools and the dignitaries of Rome."-- Ibid., b. 10, ch.4.
As the result of this disputation the king of Sweden accepted the Protestant faith,
and not long afterward the national assembly declared in its favor. The New
Testament had been translated by Olaf Petri into the Swedish language, and at the
desire of the king the two brothers undertook the translation of the whole Bible. Thus
for the first time the people of Sweden received the word of God in their native tongue.
It was ordered by the Diet that throughout the kingdom, ministers should explain the
Scriptures and that the children in the schools should be taught to read the Bible.
Steadily and surely the darkness of ignorance and superstition was dispelled by
the blessed light of the gospel. Freed from Romish oppression, the nation attained to
a strength and greatness it had never before reached. Sweden became one of the
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