1436 CE
Sabbatarianism had been persecuted in Norway, from at least the Church Council in Bergen, 22 August 1435 and the conference in Oslo in 1436. People in different places of the kingdom, had commenced to keep the Sabbath day holy and the archbishop forbade it on the grounds that:
It is strictly forbidden - it is stated - in the Church-Law, for anyone to keep or to adopt holy days, outside of those that the pope, archbishop, or bishops appoint (R. Keyser The History of the Norwegian Church under Catholicism, Vol II, Oslo, 1858, p. 488).
Again we see the day of rest commanded by YHWH superceded by the day of rest commanded by man.
Also at the Catholic Provincial Council of Bergen 1435, it was said: "We are informed that some people in different districts of the kingdom have adopted and observed Saturday-keeping."
"We are informed that some people in different districts of the kingdom, have adopted and observed Saturday keeping. It is severely forbidden - in holy church canon - one and all to observe days excepting those which the holy Pope, archbishop, or the bishops command. Saturday keeping must under no circumstances be permitted hereafter further than the church canon commands. Therefore, we counsel all the friends of God throughout all Norway who want to be obedient towards the holy church to let this evil of Saturday keeping alone; and the rest we forbid under penalty of severe church punishment to keep Saturday holy." ~Catholic Provincial Council at Bergen. 1435 Dip. Norveg., 7, 397.
The Church Conference at Oslo in 1436 stated:
It is forbidden under the same penalty to keep Saturday holy by refraining from labour (History of the Norwegian Church etc., p. 401).
1458 CE
Frederic Reiser, after 25 years among the Waldensians of Bohemia and Austria, was burnt at Strassburg.
There are thus at least four groups over some eight countries, some of which were integrated with Protestants. There were Subordinationists, or Unitarians, in Austria in the thirteenth century and (from above) the Inquisitor of Krems denounced 36 localities in 1315, burning 130 martyrs. The bishop of Neumeister was burnt as one of these heretics in Vienna. He is said to have declared, that there were some 80,000 Waldensians in the duchy of Austria.
1475 CE
After an inspection of the Ciudad Real diocese in 1475, the Archbishop of Toledo, Alonso de Carrillo, came to the conclusion that the Conversos were clandestine Judaisers and that arguments in favour of harsh measures to contain them were justified. Indeed, it would not be long before things took a turn for the worse for the New Christians. The specter of heresy had appeared in the midst of the anti-converso furore and it cast an increasingly long shadow.
The Spanish Inquisition
1478 CE
Pope Sixtus IV begins the Spanish Inquisition and it continues until suppressed by decree in 1834 CE.
1488 CE
The Vaudois Christians inhabiting the Cottian and Dauphinese Alps are slaughtered. Altogether there perished more than 3,000 Vaudois, including the entire population of Val Loyse, after taking refuge from the advancing army in a cave. The Lord of La Palu had his men set fire to huge piles of wood thereby suffocating the valley inhabitants inside the cave. There were found in it 400 infants, suffocated in their cradles, or in the arms of their dead mothers.
1503 CE
Council, Moscow, 1503: "The accused (Sabbath-keepers) were summoned; they openly acknowledged the new (sic) faith, and defended the same. The most prominent of them,...were condemned to death, and burned publicly in cages, at Moscow, Dec 17.1503-" H. Sternberfi, Geschichte der Juden.
1506 CE
Saint Francis Xavier, born Francisco de Jaso y Azpilicueta (7 April 1506, Javier, Navarre – 3 December, 1552, Shangchuan Island, China) was a pioneering Roman Catholic missionary born in the Kingdom of Navarre (Spain) and co-founder of the Society of Jesus [Jesuits]. He was a student of Saint Ignatius Loyola and one of the first seven Jesuits who dedicated themselves to the service of God at Montmarte in 1534. Attwater (1965), p. 141
When the Jesuit St. Francis Xavier arrived in India he immediately requested to the pope to set up the Inquisition there.
"The Jewish wickedness" of which Xavier complained was evidently the Sabbath-keeping among those native Christians as we shall see in our next quotation. When one of these Sabbath-keeping Christians was taken by the Inquisition he was accused of having *Judaized*; which means having conformed to the ceremonies of the Mosaic Law; such as not eating pork, hare, fish without scales, etc., of having attended the solemnization of the Sabbath." Account of the Inquisition at Goa, Dellon, p.56. London, 1815
"Of an hundred persons condemned to be burnt as Jews, there are scarcely four who profess that faith at their death; the rest exclaiming and protesting to their last gasp that they are Christians, and have been so during their whole lives." Ibid p.64
1507 CE
Church begins selling indulgences to pay for St. Peter's Basilica, Rome.
1508 CE
According to Liebman, as early as 1508, bishops in Havana and Puerto Rico informed Madrid that the New World was being filled with hebreo cristianos (Hebrew Christians), nuevo cristianos (New Christians), conversos (converts), Moriscos (Moors), and other heretics, in spite of several decrees barring their entry. Silvio Zavala wrote: "The Holy Office in Spanish America persecuted the apostates, Moriscos, Jews, Protestants and, in general, heretics.
Seymour Liebman, ed., The Jews and the Inquisition of Mexico: The Great Auto Da. Fe of 1649, as related by
New World Jewry, 1493-1825: Requiem for the Forgotten. New York: Ktav Publishing House, 1982. - The Inquisitors and the Jews in the New World
Most people are not aware that the Catholic Inquisitions were also carried out in North America. See The Inquisition in the New World
Most people are not aware that the Catholic Inquitions were also carried out in North America. See The Inquisition In The New World and Mexican Inquisition.
1517 CE
Martin Luther begins the alleged "Reformation" in Europe. If you study Martin Luther you will discover that he was a bigot and called for the extermination of the Jews.
1519 CE
The Edict of the Faith issued at Valencia by Andres de Palacio, Inquisitor to Valencia, and has been published by Roth [not Andrew]. It can be seen from that Edict that there were a general series of facts and superstitions listed which identified three groups of people. The first was the Christians who held to the so-called Judaising tendencies. The second group was the Jews themselves and the third group were the Muslims. It is obvious from the Edict that the doctrines had penetrated the Roman Catholic Church itself as the words spoken over the Eucharist were specifically identified as an indicator of the alleged heresy in the Edict.
Also the Cross, or the Sign of the Cross, was not used by the Sabbatati. [Netzarim do not use any pagan symbols]. From an examination of the Edict it seems that the group denied the Soul and the doctrines of Heaven and Hell. They observed the Sabbath from sunset Friday to sunset Saturday doing no labour on the Sabbath. They celebrated the feast of Unleavened Bread and Passover with bitter herbs. They fasted on Atonement [They were completely Netzarim] (Roth, pp. 77ff.; Cecil Roth in his work The Spanish Inquisition, Robert Hale Ltd, London, 1937).
The general views and observance of the Jews were included in the list as shown in the Edict so that the systems were run together making it difficult to identify exactly the distinctions between them. They kept the food laws and also buried their dead according to the Jewish custom. Much of the Edict includes superstitions attributed to the sects (e.g. p. 78). They denied Mariolatry and this was "grouped" with the Judaic denial of the Messiah.
The doctrine of Transubstantiation was denied, as was the Catholic form of the doctrine of Omnipresence, which was Platonic Animism (p. 78). The priests seemed to be involved and were identified from the consecration. The Christians seemed to dress as Jews adhering to the laws governing fabrics (p. 79). They met in house churches [house congregations]and read Bibles out of the vernacular. The property of the heretics was confiscated and this no doubt helped the zeal of the Inquisitors.
Marranos or New Christians could not be accepted as witnesses in any proceedings. The withholding of the names of witnesses was introduced in the thirteenth century ostensibly to protect the weak against the powerful accused but this became the norm and none could find out the names of their accusers. (Roth correctly points out that even up to 1836 in England accused felons could not have counsel or see copies of the depositions made against them). The times themselves were barbaric and the Inquisition was the worst of the barbarism.
Eastern European Sabbatati
We know precisely what the doctrines of the Hungarian and Transylvanian churches were from the fifteenth to the nineteenth century. The record was preserved by Dr Samuel Kohn, Chief Rabbi of Budapest, Hungary in DIE SABBATHARIER IN SIEBENBURGEN Ihre Geschicte, Literatur, und Dogmatik, Budapest, Verlag von Singer & Wolfer, 1894, Leipzig, Verlag von Franz Wagner. The entire structure is listed in the book translated from German: The Sabbatarians in Transylvania, by Samuel Kohn, ed. W. Cox, CCG Publishing, USA 1998.
This branch of the Vallenses or Sabbatati restored the original and true [Netzarim - the Way] Christianity (Kohn, p. 8). They practiced adult baptism [Mikvah]. They kept the Sabbaths and Holy Days, including Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Atonement, Tabernacles and the Last Great Day and, most importantly, the New Moons. Trumpets is not listed separately in the hymnal and appears to have been celebrated with the hymns of the New Moon. Their doctrines encompassed the physical Millennium of 1,000 years at the beginning of which Christ will return and regather Judah and Israel. They used YHWH's calendar based on the New Moons.
They taught two resurrections, one to eternal life at Mashiyach's coming and another to judgment at the end of the Millennium. They taught salvation by grace but that the laws still needed to be kept. They held that YHWH calls people and that the world in general is blinded.
It can thus be seen that the early Sabbath "Church" was Netzarim. The Sabbath was simply a facet of their belief system, which pointed to the worship of the One True Elohim. They were persecuted in East Europe for their [Mitzwot (Commandment) and] Sabbath-keeping. They were denied the status of a meeting place when even the Jews were accorded that status. They were denied access to the printing press and thus made their sermons out by hand in chain letter style. The Inquisition was ruthless in its suppression of this system and, in the West, Sabbath-keeping alone was enough to have them executed.
1544 CE
The Church Conference at Oslo reissues the warning of 1436.
It is forbidden under the same penalty to keep Saturday holy by refraining from labor (History of the Norwegian Church etc., p. 401).
Some of you, contrary to the warning, keep Saturday. You ought to be severely punished. Whoever shall be found keeping Saturday, must pay a fine of ten marks (History of King Christian the Third, Niels Krag and S Stephanius).
Thus it is evident, that Sabbath-keeping had become entrenched in Norway, over the period of at least one hundred years. Sabbatarianism and at least the understanding of the seventh day Sabbath, was also extant in Norway from the reformation, according to comments made in notations or translations: for example see Documents and Studies Concerning the History of the Lutheran Catechism in the Nordish Churches, Christiania, 1893; and also Theological Periodicals for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Norway, Vol. 1, Oslo, p. 184. Sabbath-keeping spread also into Sweden and was suppressed continuously.
This zeal for Saturday-keeping continued for a long time: even little things which might strengthen the practice of keeping Saturday were punished (Bishop Anjou, Svenska Kirkans Historis, (after) Motet i Upsala).
The practice extended into Finland and King Gustavus Vasa I of Sweden wrote to the people of Finland. Some time ago we heard that some people in Finland had fallen into a great error and observed the seventh day, called Saturday (State Library at Helsingfors, Reichsregister, Vom. J., 1554, Teil B.B. leaf 1120, pp. 175-180a).
Sabbath-keeping Congregations, however, remained extant in Sweden up until current times.
We will now endeavour to show that the sanctification of the Sabbath has its foundation and its origin in a law which God at creation itself established for the whole world, and as a consequence thereof is binding on all men in all ages (Evangelisten (The Evangelist), Stockholm, May 30 to August 15, 1863: organ of the Swedish Baptist Church).
1555 CE
Many Protestants (and Sabbath-keepers) are burned [alive] in England
1579 CE
Faustus Socinius united the factions under himself from 1579. He had been invited to Siebenburg (or Siebenburgen) to counteract the anti-Trinitarian stand of Francis David (or Davidis) (1510-1579). David died at Deva Castle where he had been imprisoned for his views on the nature of Christ. The Church at Siebenburg after the death of Francis David was headed by Andreas Eossi and this was the [Congregation] in East Europe of which the members were the descendants of the Waldensians. They kept the Sabbath, Kadosh Days and New Moons and they were the true believers of YHWH in Europe, being what we would call the Thyatiran era
David had refused to accept the peculiarly Socinian tenet that Christ, though not God, was to be adored. The Church of God in Europe had never accepted that Christ was the object of worship or adoration. The rejection of worship of Christ was the consistent view of the Church of God over the centuries, including the Waldensians of which the church at Siebenburg was a part. David was imprisoned for this view and died in prison. Hugh Pope also notes that Budnaeus was degraded for holding the same view as David and was excommunicated in 1584. These two were thus converted to the faith from so-called Orthodoxy.
The Socinians at this time suppressed the old catechism and issued a new one entitled the Catechism of Racow, which although drawn up by Faustus Socinius was not published until 1605, the year after his death. It was first published in Polish and then in Latin in 1609.
The Socinians flourished. They established colleges, held synods, and owned printing presses from which they produced large amounts of literature. This literature was collected by Sandius under the title Bibliotheca Antitrinitarianorum. Faustus' works are collected in the work Bibliotheca Fratrum Polonorum.
The Church of God at Siebenburg, on the other hand, was denied the status of a church and denied a printing press. Eossi wrote his work out by hand and it was copied by assistants.
See also 1519 CE
Not satisfied that the Unitarians were teaching all the Biblical truths, he set out to study the Bible thoroughly. He enjoined the following doctrines upon his followers:
1.The Passover, Days of Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, Day of Atonement, Feast of Tabernacles, the Last Great Day. Note: the Feast of Trumpets was not listed in the Old Sabbath Songbook under its own feast.
On pages 62-67 of Kohn's book (published 1894) it is said of the hymnal that: The hymnal was written in Hungarian by [Andreas] Eossi, Enok Alvinczi and Johannes Bokenyi. Thomas Pankotai, & Simon Pechi. ... It consisted of 102 Hymns: 44 for the Sabbath, 5 for the New Moon, 11 for Passover and Unleavened Bread, 6 for the Feast of Weeks, 6 for Tabernacles, 3 for New Year, 1 for Atonement, 26 for everyday purposes.
2.The Ten Commandments.
3.The Health Laws (no eating of blood, pig, strangled animals).
4.The Millennium to last 1000 years, & at the beginning of which Christ will return and regather Judah and Israel.
5.The use of God's sacred calendar.
6.Two different resurrections: one to eternal life at Christ's coming; the other to judgement at the end of 1000 years.
7.Saved by grace, but laws still need to be kept.
8.It is God who calls people into His truth. The world in general is blinded.
9 Christ was the greatest of the prophets, the most holy of all people, the "crucified Lord", "the Supreme Head and King of the real believers, the dearly beloved and holy Son of God."
The Growth of Unitarianism:
The term Unitarianism is an English word which stems from the Latin unitarius and it was first used of a legalized religion in 1600 (Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics (ERE), art. Unitarianism, Vol. 12, p. 519). It is specifically founded on the conception of the single personality of the Deity in contrast to the orthodox doctrine of His triune nature. It should not be confused with the present day Unitarian fellowships which are something totally different.
What They Said
"It is known that the Greek name endings with sus, seus, and sous [which are phonetic pronunciations for the chief Greek god of Olympus] were attached by the Greeks to names and geographical areas as means to give honour to their supreme deity, Zeus."
~Dictionary of Christian Lore and Legend Professor J. C. J. Metford
