The Beast, The Image, And The English Reformation -Time Line 1517 - 1564

1517-1564: The Reformation.

The Reformation. The church is in terrible shape, and everyone agrees change is necessary. Lutherans rediscover justification by faith and personal relationship with Christ. They popularize the Bible, and retain most of the traditions of the church (though not scholasticism, allegory, or the historic episcopate). Calvinists (Presbyterians, Puritans, Reformed, Congregationalists, etc., also Zwinglians) reject everything not expressly commanded in the Bible. Anabaptists (Baptists, charismatics, etc.) deny there has been any continuity in the historic Church. Humanists (liberals, Unitarians) introduce scientific study of old documents and traditions and emphasize the ethical teachings of Jesus. Roman Catholics rediscover scripture, tradition, reason, and mystical experience in their own counter-reformation. Ultimately, we Anglicans are influenced about equally by all five movements. The history of the English reformation, however, is not very edifying....

1521 Lutheran books appear in England. Cambridge students form a study-group at the White Horse Tavern; Thomas Cranmer is perhaps among them. Henry VIII writes a book on the sacraments against Luther. The bishop of Rome gives him a golden rose and names him "defender of the faith".

1525 Henry VIII, who long ago got special permission from the bishop of Rome to marry his brother's virgin widow Catherine, has been upset because she cannot bear him a son. This is the year Henry meets pretty Anne Boleyn. This begins the "King's affair." The bishop of Rome will not annul Henry's marriage to Catherine, because Catherine's nephew is holding him prisoner....

1526 Cardinal Wolsey presides at a massive burning of Lutheran books.

1527 Thomas Bilney, respected Cambridge preacher and Lutheran sympathizer, is dragged from his pulpit. (He is burned in 1531.)

1528 Simon Fish, a London attorney and amateur actor who has fled to AntwerpRome. (Henry VIII really likes this book.) after spoofing the clergy, writes "A Supplication for Beggars", which urges an end to taxes for

1529 Henry VIII decides he does not need to get permission from the bishop of Rome to have his marriage annulled. (The idea is probably Thomas Cromwell's.) He declares himself head of the English church (whatever that means), forcibly cuts the Anglican bishops off from communion with Rome, calls the Reformation Parliament, and marries Anne Boleyn. Services at the churches, however, remain essentially the same. (The mass is in Latin, there is no sermon or systematic Bible reading, and the people are passive and receive communion only at Easter, getting only the consecrated bread.)

1532 Cranmer made archbishop of Canterbury. (This effectly ends clerical celibacy among Anglicans, as Cranmer is twice-married). The "Act in Restraint of Appeals" prohibits appeals to the bishop of Rome.

1534 "Act of Succession." Everyone must swear allegiance to Henry VIII as head of the English church. Thomas More, his Prime Minister and author of "Utopia", and John Fisher, saintly bishop of Rochester, refuse to swear.

1535 Henry VIII beheads Fisher and More after the bishop of Rome makes Fisher a cardinal. Henry is sorry to have to do this, and his court wears mourning for two weeks. Henry had intended to execute Mary, his daughter by Catherine, who also refused to swear. He was dissuaded from doing this by Cranmer.

1536 Henry VIII executes Anne Boleyn and marries Jane Seymour. He continues to oppose the introduction of an English-language Bible for his people.

1536 (Brussels) William Tyndale, a priest and Lutheran sympathizer who is responsible for an illegal English translation of the Bible, is strangled at the stake. Tyndale's last words are "Lord, open the King of England's eyes."

1536 Henry VIII ensures the permanent popularity of the English reformation by abolishing the monasteries and sharing the loot with almost everyone.

1538 John Rogers (alias Thomas Matthew) prints the Tyndale Bible translation (finished by Miles Coverdale) in Paris. It is approved by the Henry VIII as the "Great Bible" to be read by all his people.

1538 Jane Seymour dies following the birth of Henry VIII's only legitimate son, Edward. 1539 The Six Articles, against Lutheranism. Hugh Latimer, bishop of Winchester, resigns in protest. Henry VIII is still occasionally burning Lutherans and hanging Roman Catholics.

1540 Henry VIII marries and divorces Anne of Cleves, executes the now-unpopular Thomas Cromwell, and marries Katherine Howard.

1543 Katherine Howard beheaded. Henry VIII marries Katherine Parr.

1544 Cranmer instructed to write prayers and a litany (for the army) in English. He does this so well that he is asked to make a prayer book in English, based on the service at Salisbury Cathedral.

1545 Henry VIII's last speech to Parliament. He says Papist, Lutheran, Anabaptist are names devised by the devil to sunder one man's heart from another.

1546 (Germany) Council of Trent. Bishops in communion with the bishop of RomeTridentine Church (today's Roman Catholic church). England is becoming a haven for Protestants from the continent. decide that the church "venerates equally" the Bible and the written and unwritten traditions (whatever that means). This is the beginning of the

1547 Henry VIII dies. He has executed around 60 people for "religious" reasons, among a total of about 130 political executions. He is succeeded by his sickly teenaged son, Edward VI. Chantries suppressed.

1548 Prayer of Humble Access, for the people to say in English, introduced into Latin mass.

1548 "Images" ordered removed from all churches by the council of regents. This also means no vestments, ashes, palms, holy water, or crucifixes. This causes so much resentment that an order suppressing all preaching follows.

1549 First Book of Common Prayer (Cranmer's work), introduced on Day of Pentecost. It is written in English, emphasizes the people's participation in the eucharist, and requires the Bible to be read from cover to cover. Fast days are retained (supposedly to help fishermen), but saints' days are not. Roman Catholic rebels in Cornwall claim they cannot understand English.

1550 New ordinal requires that a Bible be given to newly-ordained bishops (not a staff) and priests (not eucharistic vessels).

1550 "Hooper's visitation". A bishop surveys the parish priests and finds them concerned about their work but poorly educated.

1552 Book of Common Prayer revised to suit Protestants. No more "real presence" at the eucharist (the "black rubric" permits kneeling, however). No vestments, no signing of the cross at confirmation, no holy oil, no reserved sacrament, no prayers for the departed. 1553 Forty-two articles drafted. The Calvinist influence is obvious.

1553 (Geneva) Calvin burns Michael Servetus, a Unitarian who has fled to escape the Spanish Inquisition. Liberals lose their illusions about Calvinism.

1553 Edward VI dies. People are tired of Protestant looting of churches. Mary Tudor ("Bloody Mary"), a militant Roman Catholic, becomes queen. Popular at first, she soon marries the hated Philip II of Spain. Persecution of Protestants begins; Mary appoints new bishops and fires all married priests. During her reign, about 300 Protestans are burned, including 5 bishops, 100 priests, 60 women. An attempt by Cardinal Pole (Mary's archbishop of Canterbury) to restore monasticism fizzles when, among 1500 surviving monks, nuns, and friars, fewer than 100 are willing to return to celibacy. All this ensures Roman Catholics will remain unpopular in England.

1555 Mary burns bishops Hugh Latimer and Nicholas Ridley at the stake (Oct. 16).

1556 Mary succeeds in brainwashing Thomas Cranmer, who signs a retraction which he later repudiates. Mary burns him at the stake (March 21).

1558 Mary dies. (Cardinal Pole dies minutes later.) Elizabeth I, a Protestant, becomes queen. Despite many problems (including frequent assassination plots from Roman Catholics), she supports the enterprising middle class and England prospers.

1559 Ordination of the moderate Matthew Parker as archbishop of Canterbury.

1559 Book of Common Prayer revised. Elizabeth I reintroduces the surplice, explaining that it is a clergyman's uniform. The Black Rubric is gone. A special license is required to preach. There is no church music except metrical psalms sung to ballad tunes.

1560 Saints' days are reintroduced.

1560 John Jewel writes "An Apology for the Church of England". Rome, not England, is schismatic.

1563 Thirty-Nine Articles drafted as a doctrinal statement by a convocation of the Church of England.

1563 "Foxe's Book of Martyrs." The bishop of Rome is portrayed as the Antichrist; Foxe writes speeches as needed for such "Protestant martyrs" as Thomas Cromwell.

1568 Archbishop Parker produces the "Bishop's Bible".

Revelation 13
1.And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and upon his heads the name of blasphemy. 2. And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority. 3. And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast. 4. And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? 5. And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 6. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. 7. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. 8. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9. If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. 11. And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon12. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. 13. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, 14. And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell
on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. 15. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 16. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:









17. And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.



Exodus 20:8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Exodus 20:9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work:
Exodus 20:10 But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Revelation 12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Revelation 22:14 Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.



18. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.










House of Commons Members = 649
King + 1
Wives + 6
Total = 666

"Thou shalt not Kill"

Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre by François Dubois


From the Musée Cantonal Des Beaux-Arts, Lausanne Switzerland


August 24, 1572, was the date of the infamous
St. Bartholomew's Day Massacre in France.

On that day, over 400 years ago, began one of the most horrifying holocausts in history. The glorious Reformation, begun in Germany on October 31, 1517, had spread to France—and was joyfully received. A great change had come over the people as industry and learning began to flourish, and so rapidly did the Truth spread that over a thirdof the population embraced the Reformed Christian Faith.
However, alarm bells began to ring at the Vatican! France was her eldest daughter and main pillar— the chief source of money and power. . . .
King Pepin of the Franks (the father of Charlemagne) had given the Papal States to the Pope almost 1000 years earlier.
Almost half the real estate in the country was owned by the clergy.
Meanwhile, back in Paris, the King of France and his Court spent their time drinking, reveling and carousing.
The Court spiritual adviser—a Jesuit priest— urged them to massacre the Protestants—as penance for their many sins! To catch the Christians off-guard every token of peace,
friendship, and ecumenical good will was offered.
Suddenly—and without warning—the devilish work commenced.
Beginning at Paris, the French soldiers and the Roman Catholic clergy fell upon the
unarmed people, and blood flowed like a river throughout the entire country.
Men, women, and children fell in heaps before the mobs and the bloodthirsty troops.
In one week, almost 100,100 Protestants perished.
The rivers of France were so filled with corpses that for many months no fish were eaten.
In the valley of the Loire, wolves came down from the hills to feel upon the decaying bodies of Frenchmen.
The list of massacres was as endless as the list of the dead!
Many were imprisoned—many sent as slaves to row the King's ships—and some
were able to escape to other countries. . . .
The massacres continued for centuries.
The best and brightest people fled to Germany, Switzerland, England, Ireland and eventually America and brought their incomparable manufacturing skills with them. . . .
France was ruined. . . . Wars, famine, disease and poverty finally led to the French Revolution—the Guillotine—the Reign of Terror—the fall of the Roman Catholic Monarchy—atheism—communism etc., etc.
When news of the Massacre reached the Vatican there was jubilation!
Cannons roared—bells rung—and a special commemorative medal was struck—to honor the occasion!
The Pope commissioned Italian artist Vasari to paint a mural of the Massacre—which still hangs in the Vatican!
Medal struck by Emperor Gregory XIII (1572-85) to commemorate the slaughter of over 100,000 French Christians!!

Emperor Gregory had the great red dragon of Satan as his heraldic symbol!
The Gregorian Calendar is named after him.

The Huguenots won a short period of relief from persecution with the ascension of Henry IV to the throne.
The Edict of Nantes gave full freedom to his Protestants subjects.
The signing of this Edict inaugurated an eraof peace and great prosperity for France.
However, for granting his subjects liberty of conscience, the king was stabbed to death by a Jesuit named Ravaillac. This Edict of Toleration was revoked in 1685, and a new storm of persecution ensued.
The exodus began again with over a million Huguenots fleeing France to avoid certain torture and death.



The descendants of the survivors that reached America were determined that
this tragedy should not occur there.

Many of them were prominent in the founding of the country.
They knew that an armed citizenry in France wouldhave prevented this tragedy from ever happening—and as a result—they gave us the First and Second Amendments to the Constitution. They knew that freedom of religion and an armed citizenry go hand in hand:

Amendment 1
Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment 2
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.



Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are, Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.
Thatto secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. . . .



The French Protestants were called Huguenots:

President George Washington had a Huguenot ancestor, as did at least 5 other Presidents: John Adams, John Quincy Adams, John Tyler, James Garfield, and Theodore Roosevelt.
A Huguenot refugee named Apollos de Revoire settled in Boston, and had a son
who signed his name Paul Revere! Remember his famous midnight ride?
Three members of the Continental Congress - Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and Elias Boudinot were Huguenots.
Other great names include Francis Marrion, General George Patton, Clair Chennault, Admiral Dewey, Du Ponts, Henry Thoreau, Longfellow etc., etc. A Huguenot colony was founded in Florida in 1562 (years before the English landed), but was later destroyed by Spanish
raiders.


According to the Syllabus of Errors of Pope Pius IX, it is an ERROR to say that the "church" has not the right to use force.

"24. The Church has not the power of using force, nor has she any temporal power, direct or indirect.
-- Apostolic Letter "Ad Apostolicae," Aug. 22, 1851."

Below you will read about more Catholic Love, World Peace, and Safety

The Oath of a Knight of Columbus



"I, ___ ___, now in the presence of Almighty God, the Blessed Virgin
Mary, the Blessed St. John the Baptist, the Holy Apostles, St. Peter and
St. Paul, and all the Saints, Sacred Hosts of Heaven and to you, my
Ghostly Father, the Superior General of the Society of Jesus founded by
St. Ignatius Loyola, in the Pontification of Paul III, and continued to
the present, do by the Womb of the Virgin, the Matrix of God, and the Rod
of Jesus Christ, declare and swear that his Holiness, the Pope, is
Christ’s Viceregent and is the true and only Head of the Catholic of
Universal Church throughout the earth; and that by virtue of the keys of
binding and loosing given his Holiness by my Savior, Jesus Christ, he hath
power to depose heretical kings, princes, states, commonwealths and
governments and they may be safely destroyed. Therefore to the utmost of
my power I will defend this doctrine and his Holiness’ right and custom
against all usurpers of the heretical or Protestant authority whatever,
especially the Lutheran Church of Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, and
Norway and the now pretended authority of the Churches of England and
Scotland, of the Calvinists, of same now established in Ireland and on the
continent of America and elsewhere, and all adherents in regard that they
may be usurped and heretical, opposing the sacred Mother Church of Rome.
"I do now denounce and disown any allegiance as due to any heretical
king, prince, or state, named Protestant, or Liberals, or obedient to any
of their laws, magistrates or officers.
"I do further declare that the doctrines of the Churches of England
and Scotland, of the Calvinists, Huegenots, and others of the name of
Protestants or Masons to be damnable, and they themselves to be damned who
will not forsake the same.
"I do further declare that I will help, assist and advise all or any
of his Holiness’ agents, in any place where I should be, in Switzerland,
Germany, Holland, Ireland, or America or in any other kingdom or territory
I shall come to and do my utmost to extirpate the heretical Protestant or
Masonic doctrines and to destroy all their pretended powers, legal or
otherwise.
"I do further promise and declare that, notwithstanding I am
dispensed with to assume any religion heretical for the propagation of the
Mother Church’s interests, to keep secret and private all her agent’s
counsels from time to time, as they entrust me, and not divulge, directly
or indirectly, by word, writing, or circumstances whatever, but to execute
all that should be proposed, given in charge, or discovered unto me by
you, my Ghostly Father, or any of the Sacred Order.
"I do further promise and declare that I will have no opinion or will
of my own or any mental reservation whatsoever, even as a corpse or
cadaver (Perinde ac Cadaver), but will unhesitatingly obey each and every
command that I may receive from my Superiors in the Militia of the Pope
and of Jesus Christ.
"That I will go to any part of the world withersoever I may be sent,
to the frozen regions North, jungles of India, to the centers of
civilization of Europe, or to the wild haunts of the barbarous savages of
America without murmuring or repining, and will be submissive in all
things whatsoever communicated to me.
"I do further promise and declare that I will, when opportunity
presents, make and wage relentless war, secretly and openly, against all
heretics, Protestants and Masons, as I am directed to do to extirpate them
from the face of the whole earth; and that I will spare neither age, sex,
or condition, and that I will hang, burn, waste, boil, flay, strangle and
bury alive these infamous heretics; rip up the stomachs and wombs of their
women and crush their infant’s heads against the walls in order to
annihilate their execrably race. That when the same cannot be done
openly, I will secretly use the poisonous cup, the strangulation cord, the
steel poniard, or the leaden bullet, regardless of the honor, rank,
dignity, or authority of the persons whatever may be their condition in
life, either public or private, as I at any time may be directed so to do
by any agent of the Pope or Superior of the Brotherhood of the Holy Father
of the Society of Jesus.
"In confirmation of which I hereby dedicate my life, soul, and all
corporal powers, and with the dagger which I now receive I will subscribe
my name written in my blood in testimony thereof; and should I prove false
or weaken in my determination, may my brethren and fellow soldiers of the
Militia of the Pope cut off my hands and feet and my throat from ear to
ear, by belly opened and sulfur burned therein with all the punishment
that can be inflicted upon me on earth and my soul shall be tortured by
demons in eternal hell forever.
"That I will in voting always vote for a K. of C. in preference to a
Protestant, especially a Mason, and that I will leave my party to do so;
that if two Catholics are on the ticket I will satisfy myself which is the
better supporter of the Mother Church and vote accordingly.
"That I will not deal with or employ a Protestant if in my power to
deal with and employ a Catholic. That I will place Catholic girls in
Protestant families that a weekly report may be made of the heretics.
"That I will provide myself with arms and ammunition that I may be in
readiness when the word is passed, or I am commanded to defend the Church
either as an individual or with the Militia of the Pope.
"All of which I, ____ ____, do swear by the Blessed Trinity and
Blessed Sacrament which I am now to receive to perform and on my part to
keep my oath.
"In testimony hereof, I take this Most Holy and Blessed Sacrament of
the Eucharist and witness the same further with my name written with the
point of this dagger dipped in my own blood and seal in the face of this
Holy Sacrament."
Oath Taken by a Perspective Member of the Knights of
Columbus, as recorded in Congressional Record of the U.S.A., House Bill
1523, Contested election case of Eugene C. Bonniwell, against Thos. S.
Butler, Feb. 15, 1913.




















































1 Thessalonians 5



1. But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you.
2. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night.
3. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.
4. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.