The Great Controversy The Great Controversy | Page 62
Chap. 4 - The Waldenses
Amid the gloom that settled upon the earth during the long period
of papal supremacy, the light of truth could not be wholly extinguished.
In every age there were witnesses for God—men who cherished faith in
Christ as the only mediator between God and man, who held the Bible
as the only rule of life, and who hallowed the true Sabbath. How much
the world owes to these men, posterity will never know. They were
branded as heretics, their motives impugned, their characters maligned,
their writings suppressed, misrepresented, or mutilated. Yet they stood
firm, and from age to age maintained their faith in its purity, as a sacred
heritage for the generations to come.
The history of God’s people during the ages of darkness that
followed upon Rome’s supremacy is written in heaven, but they have
little place in human records. Few traces of their existence can be
found, except in the accusations of their persecutors. It was the policy of
Rome to obliterate every trace of dissent from her doctrines or decrees.
Everything heretical, whether persons or writings, she sought to destroy.
Expressions of doubt, or questions as to the authority of papal dogmas,
were enough to forfeit the life of rich or poor, high or low. Rome
endeavored also to destroy every record of her cruelty toward dissenters.
Papal councils decreed that books and writings containing such records
should
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