It Is Written

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Series Code: IIW

Program Code: IIW001475A


01:30 ♪[Theme music]♪
01:40 ♪[Theme music]♪
01:49 >>John: This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw.
01:53 Thanks for joining me in Rome.
01:56 ♪[Music]♪
01:57 3 million people call this city home.
02:01 It's one of the most visited cities in the world.
02:05 And has some of the planet's most
02:07 recognizable tourist attractions.
02:11 20 million people visit Rome every year.
02:15 4 million alone visit the Colosseum.
02:19 That's 11,000 a day.
02:20 [Vehicle sounds]
02:23 Legend has is that Rome was founded in 753 B.C.
02:27 Which means people have been living here
02:29 almost 3 thousand years; most likely a lot longer.
02:34 Rome was home to the emperors,
02:36 Constantine,
02:37 and Trajan,
02:38 and Nero,
02:39 and others.
02:40 The Olyimpc games were held here in 1960,
02:43 Rome was bombed during Word War II,
02:46 history oozes from the pores of the eternal city.
02:56 The Roman empire which ruled for around 600 years
02:59 was governed from Rome.
03:01 As well as being the capital of Italy today,
03:04 Rome was the capital of the Roman empire,
03:06 and for half a millenium was the largest city in the world.
03:10 The Roman empire stretched all the way from Hadrian's wall
03:14 in the north of England,
03:15 across Europe and north Africa to the Persian Gulf.
03:19 But visit Rome and there's no escaping an obvious fact,
03:23 the city is dominated by a certain entity which happens
03:26 to be the largest Christian denomination in the world.
03:31 St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican city
03:33 is one of the largest church buildings in the world.
03:36 It's not a cathedral,
03:38 the cathedral of the pope of Rome,
03:40 who also happens to be the Bishop of Rome
03:42 is the archbasilica of St. John Lateran;
03:45 which is about 3 miles from here.
03:48 And the faithful come here from all over the world
03:50 to visit shrines and cathedrals and Holy sites
03:54 that are important to their faith.
04:00 Rome claims that it is the one true church founded by Jesus,
04:05 and that the pope is St. Peter's successor.
04:10 But while the church of Rome has occupied the place
04:13 of greatest influence of any church in the world
04:15 for well over a thousand years,
04:18 there was a time when its influence and supremacy
04:21 was jeopardized.
04:28 When the Protestant Reformation challenged
04:30 the authority of the established church 500 years ago,
04:34 it took on what had become the most powerful institution
04:37 in western civilization.
04:41 So how did the church become so powerful?
04:44 Well when the Roman empire collapsed
04:45 in the 5th century A.D.
04:47 an enormous power vacuum was created in Europe.
04:51 By that time, Christianity had been established
04:54 as the state religion of the Roman empire.
04:57 That had been so for more than 150 years.
05:00 There was only one power that could provide
05:04 any measure of stability,
05:06 one historian put it this way.
05:09 “With the breakup of the Roman bureaucracy the structure of
05:12 daily life was threatened with disintegration.
05:16 The only trace left of the Roman organism
05:18 was the Catholic Church,
05:21 and the only men with administrative experience
05:24 were the bishops.”
05:26 Another historian wrote:
05:27 “The reins and skills of government were
05:30 handed down by a dying empire to a virile papacy;
05:35 the lost power of the broken sword was rewon
05:38 by the magic of the consoling word;
05:41 the armies of the state were replaced by the missionaries
05:44 of the Church moving in all directions
05:47 along the Roman roads,
05:49 and the revolted provinces, accepting Christianity,
05:53 again acknowledged the sovereignty of Rome.”
06:03 The transition from ancient to medieval Christianity
06:07 began in earnest with the conversion
06:09 of the emperor Constantine.
06:11 Which was almost certainly only a nominal conversion.
06:15 Constantine's arch, built more than 1700 years ago,
06:19 very near the Colliseum,
06:21 commemorates the victory that brought Constantine to power
06:24 in 312 A.D.
06:29 Constantine claimed that he'd received a vision from God
06:32 assuring him that he would triumph
06:34 which led him to embrace Christianity,
06:36 which until that time had been a persecuted sect.
06:40 Christianity became the means through which Constantine
06:43 brought peace and unity to the empire.
06:46 But that peace and unity came at a high price.
06:51 As the church found acceptance with kings and emporers,
06:55 Christianity itself underwent a metamorphisis.
06:58 It began to resemble less and less the early Christan church,
07:03 and was influenced more and more, by Paganism.
07:07 Keep in mind that the Roman emporers including Constantine,
07:10 had been Pagans.
07:12 As you might imagine, it would've been difficult at best
07:16 for Constantine's new found faith not to have been
07:19 influenced by his Pagan background.
07:22 Turned out to be impossible.
07:25 Centuries before Jesus had said of the Pharisees:
07:28 “In vain they worship Me,
07:30 teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.”
07:33 Matthew 15:9.
07:35 Throughout western Christianity,
07:37 Paganism and the faith of Jesus along with church and state,
07:41 were blended together.
07:43 The Roman empire was a Pagan empire,
07:46 when it embraced Christianity
07:48 it didn't rid itself of Pagan influences.
07:51 Instead, it embraced them and absorbed them.
07:56 As a result, the church lost the power of the Gospel.
08:01 The story is told that Pope Julius the second
08:04 was once speaking with the scholar Erasmus here in Rome.
08:08 He referred to the church's great wealth
08:10 and then referenced Peter's statement in Acts chapter 3:
08:13 “Silver and gold have I none.”
08:16 The pope turned to the scholar and he said,
08:18 “well we cannot say that now, can we?”
08:21 And the scholar replied by saying.
08:22 “no we cannot.
08:24 And neither can we say, rise up and walk.”
08:27 Back with more in just a moment.
08:29 [Music]
08:36 >>John: I'm John Bradshaw from It Is Written,
08:38 inviting you to join me for 500,
08:42 nine programs produced by it Is Written
08:44 taking you deep into the Reformation.
08:47 This is the 500th anniversary of the beginning
08:50 of the Reformation,
08:51 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses
08:54 to the door of the Castle church in Wittenberg, Germany.
08:57 We'll take you to Wittenberg,
08:58 and to Belgium,
08:59 to England,
09:00 to Ireland,
09:01 to Rome,
09:02 to the Vatican City,
09:03 and introduce you to the people who created the Reformation,
09:06 who pushed the Reformation forward.
09:08 We'll take you to sites all throughout Europe
09:10 where the reformers lived and, in some cases, died.
09:13 We'll bring you back to the United States
09:15 and take you to a little farm in upstate New York,
09:18 and show you how God spread the Reformation here.
09:21 Don't miss 500.
09:23 You can own the 500 series on DVD.
09:26 Call us on 888-664-5573,
09:31 or visit us online at itiswritten.shop.
09:37 >>John: Thanks for joining me on It Is Written.
09:39 The New Testament church had very little wealth
09:42 and absolutely no political power.
09:45 But it did have what the apostle Paul described as
09:48 “the power of God to salvation.”
09:51 And the book of Acts says that that power
09:53 “turned the world upside down.”
09:56 But when the church compromised with the world
09:58 in order to receive favor and protection,
10:02 that primitive power of the Gospel was lost.
10:05 ♪[Music]♪
10:11 But civil and ecclesiastical power soon fell into the hands
10:15 of the church as Europe searched for stability.
10:19 The Emperor Justinian,
10:21 who had ruled what was once the eastern half of the Roman Empire
10:24 became the champion for Roman Christianity.
10:27 The Emperor became the defender of the church,
10:30 and set about to destroy by military means
10:34 the theological enemies of the church.
10:37 Tribes such as the Heruli,
10:38 the Ostrogoths and the Vandals were subdued and conquered.
10:43 One historian reflected upon these conquests.
10:47 “The Church, with the shadow of the ancient authority behind it,
10:51 was the only symbol left of imperial Rome,
10:54 and its bishop,
10:55 the Pope,
10:57 was the city's only recourse for leadership and protection,
11:00 The Roman Empire in Europe would be replaced
11:03 by the spiritual empire,
11:05 which came to be temporal as well,
11:07 whose reigning seigneur was the bishop of Rome.”
11:13 There were some colorful characters associated with
11:15 the papacy in the Middle Ages.
11:18 Pope Gregory the Seventh, who reigned in the 11th century,
11:22 forced the German Emperor Henry IV
11:25 to wait outside in the snow for three days
11:30 before agreeing to see him and reconcile him to the church.
11:34 Now, you might not expect things to be done that way today,
11:36 but in the medieval church, that's how things were done.
11:40 ♪[Music]♪
11:44 Pope Sixtus the Fourth,
11:46 famous for building the Sistine Chapel in Rome,
11:49 which was named for him, reigned in the 15th century.
11:54 He was also deeply involved in the politics
11:57 of the Italian States,
11:59 and in 1476 he was involved in a conspiracy
12:03 to assassinate an Italian statesman and his brother,
12:07 whose family at the time were rulers in the city of Florence.
12:11 Other popes such as Alexander the Sixth and Julius the Second
12:14 kept mistresses and fathered illegitimate sons,
12:18 and even maneuvered these illegitimate sons
12:20 into positions of influence.
12:22 [Crowd noises]
12:35 Of course they weren't all bad,
12:37 and you can't judge an entire organization
12:39 by a few rotten eggs.
12:42 But it was a system that dictated to countries,
12:44 manipulated states,
12:46 and believed that the line separating church and state
12:49 should simply disappear.
12:52 And it helps us to understand why the Reformation
12:54 should take place at all.
12:56 The system was simply broken.
12:59 In time, the papacy got to the place
13:01 where tradition had authority over Scripture.
13:05 Pope Innocent III, who ruled between 1198 and 1216,
13:09 and was the most powerful of all of the medieval popes,
13:12 had this to say about his spiritual role:
13:15 "The successor of Peter is the Vicar of Christ;
13:19 he has been established as a mediator between God and man,
13:23 below God but beyond man,
13:25 less than God but more than man,
13:28 who shall judge all and be judged by no one."
13:33 And the church had tools at its disposal
13:35 to strike fear into the heart of people,
13:38 of people who were largely ignorant and,
13:40 when it came to the scriptures, completely illiterate.
13:44 The sentence of interdict,
13:46 a sort of censure the church placed upon dissenters,
13:49 meant that sins couldn't be forgiven,
13:51 the sacraments couldn't be dispensed,
13:53 prayers for the dead couldn't be heard.
13:56 Essentially, heaven was cut off for people
13:59 who were living in the affected area.
14:01 And when you consider that the church is the doorway to heaven,
14:04 well, when the church goes ahead and shuts that door,
14:08 you can imagine.
14:09 During the reign of Innocent III,
14:11 the nation of France was placed under interdict
14:14 as the pope tried to persuade the king
14:17 to take back his estranged wife.
14:19 During the 1400s, the city of Prague,
14:22 in what was then Bohemia and is now the Czech Republic,
14:25 suffered a similar fate during the ministry of John Huss.
14:29 [Sound of water]
14:35 And it got much worse than interdict.
14:37 Anyone living in the world dominated by the church
14:40 in the Middle Ages had to deal with some grim realities.
14:45 Under the influence of Saint Augustine,
14:47 the church accepted the theory that humanity's willpower
14:50 was so depraved that the use of force against heretics
14:55 and sinners was sometimes necessary.
14:59 As a result, the medieval church resorted to some of the most
15:02 brutal tactics ever seen in history as a means of
15:05 controlling the consciences of God's people.
15:08 Christians during these centuries
15:10 were burned at the stake,
15:11 tortured on the rack,
15:14 and a whole lot more, all in the name of God.
15:18 ♪[Music]♪
15:25 One historian wrote,
15:27 “Compared with the persecution of heresy in Europe
15:29 from 1227 to 1492,
15:33 the persecution of Christians by Romans
15:35 in the first three centuries after Christ
15:38 was a mild and humane procedure.
15:41 Making every allowance required of an historian
15:44 and permitted to a Christian, we must rank the Inquisition,
15:48 along with the wars and persecutions of our time,
15:51 as among the darkest blots on the record of mankind,
15:55 revealing a ferocity unknown in any beast.”
15:59 ♪[Music]♪
16:00 So you can understand why Wycliffe spoke out in England,
16:04 and why John Huss protested in what we know today to be
16:07 the Czech Republic,
16:08 why Calvin rose up in Geneva
16:10 and Knox in Scotland
16:12 and Zwingli in Zurich.
16:14 The church was broken, abusing its power,
16:18 choking off the Scriptures from the people,
16:20 and teaching falsehood in the place of truth.
16:25 Of course, church leaders today don't speak in quite the same
16:28 tone as Pope Innocent III did all those years ago.
16:32 But Rome still takes a hard line on how its teachings
16:35 are to be evaluated,
16:36 maintaining it holds a unique place among Christian faiths.
16:40 In 1997, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger,
16:43 who went on to become Pope Benedict XVI,
16:46 said that the use of Scripture to evaluate Church teaching
16:50 “was one of the most dangerous currents
16:52 to flow out of the Vatican II Council.”
16:56 So what do you do when you're a church leader
16:59 and you discover that there are inconsistencies between
17:02 what the Bible teaches and what you hold to
17:05 be true as an organization?
17:07 Problem, or not?
17:09 We'll find out in just a moment.
17:11 ♪[Music]♪
17:19 >>Announcer: In Matthew 4:4, the Word of God says,
17:22 "It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone,
17:25 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'"
17:29 “Every Word”
17:30 is a one-minute, Bible-based daily devotional
17:32 presented by Pastor John Bradshaw,
17:34 and designed especially for busy people like you.
17:37 Look for Every Word on selected networks,
17:40 or watch it online every day on our website,
17:42 ItIsWritten.com.
17:45 Receive a daily spiritual boost.
17:47 Watch “Every Word.”
17:48 You'll be glad you did.
17:50 Here's a sample.
17:53 ♪[Theme music]♪
17:58 >>John: Five hundred years after the Protestant Reformation
18:01 began on October 31, 1517,
18:04 we might be tempted to wonder what Luther and Knox
18:06 and Zwingli and Calvin
18:07 and Farel and Beza and the Huguenots
18:09 and the Anabaptists and so many others achieved.
18:12 Today it would seem that the protest is over.
18:15 Even though the most influential church in the world
18:17 offers indulgences,
18:18 hears confessions,
18:19 teaches justification by faith and works,
18:22 considers Mary the queen of Heaven,
18:24 where're the Protestants today?
18:26 Protestants are being welcomed back into the church of Rome,
18:29 and many see this as positive.
18:30 It's been said it's more important
18:33 to be divided by truth than it is to be united by error.
18:37 Paul said in II Timothy 4, verse 2,
18:39 “Preach the word; be instant in season,
18:42 out of season; reprove, rebuke,
18:44 exhort with all long suffering and doctrine.”
18:46 The Word.
18:47 Anything less will never do.
18:49 I'm John Bradshaw for It Is Written.
18:51 Let's live today by every Word.
18:52 ♪[Music]♪
18:56 >>John: By the time of the Reformation,
18:58 the church of Rome had become by far
19:00 not only the most powerful church on the planet,
19:04 but also the most powerful political entity.
19:07 And that happened as Rome filled a vacuum left
19:09 by the failed Roman Empire.
19:11 It was basically thrust into that role.
19:13 That could have been a wonderful opportunity
19:16 for church leaders to elevate the gospel and the message
19:19 of Christ's righteousness and grace and mercy.
19:24 But traditions started coming into the church
19:26 a lot like a rising tide creeping up a beach.
19:29 One of the unique teachings that the Reformers were up against
19:33 was that of the Magisterium,
19:34 the “teaching office” of the church,
19:37 the church's ability to decide what's true and what is not.
19:41 It's said that Jesus Christ is the source
19:45 of all of the church's teachings,
19:46 but that those teachings rest upon Scripture AND
19:51 “sacred tradition.”
19:52 In other words,
19:53 our traditions provide us with a source of unerring truth,
19:56 and we know that to be true because we say it is true.
20:01 And we can say it's true because God has given us
20:04 the authority to do that.
20:05 And we know He's given us that authority because we say so.
20:11 ♪[Music]♪
20:20 The teachings of the Magisterium are said to be
20:22 “the prime, God-given means of finding the truth.”
20:27 But appealing to the Bible as your authority
20:30 only gets you someplace if people accept
20:33 that the Bible is authoritative.
20:36 Now, do the teachings of the church
20:37 ever contradict the teachings of the Bible?
20:39 Yes, at times they do.
20:42 But that's okay, because the church says it's okay.
20:47 Even Pope John Paul II admitted
20:49 that he was contradicting the teachings of Jesus.
20:53 "Have no fear when people call me the Vicar of Christ,
20:57 when they say to me 'Holy Father'
20:59 or 'Your Holiness,'
21:00 or use terms similar to these,
21:03 which seem even inimical to the gospel.
21:06 Christ Himself declared,
21:08 'Call no one on earth your father;
21:11 you have but one father in heaven.
21:13 Do not be called Master;
21:15 you have but one Master, the Messiah' (Matthew 23:9-10).
21:19 These expressions, nevertheless,
21:21 have evolved out of a long tradition,
21:24 becoming part of common usage.
21:27 One must not be afraid of these words either.”
21:31 Modern popes have also made it clear that people must confess
21:35 their sins to a priest to receive God's forgiveness.
21:40 “Rebuffing a belief widely shared by Protestants
21:43 and a growing number of Roman Catholics,
21:45 Pope John Paul II on Tuesday dismissed the
21:49 'widespread idea that one can obtain forgiveness
21:52 directly from God,'
21:54 and exhorted Catholics to confess more often
21:57 to their priests.”
21:59 The Apostle John wrote,
22:00 “If we confess our sins,
22:02 He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins
22:06 and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
22:12 And the Reformers knew that,
22:14 and were determined that people could find forgiveness in Christ
22:18 rather than through a church and its sacraments.
22:21 One of the practices that spurred Martin Luther
22:24 to write his 95 theses was the selling of indulgences.
22:28 But even though the selling of indulgences
22:30 virtually kick-started the Reformation,
22:32 things haven't changed.
22:34 "Pope John Paul II announced yesterday
22:37 that throughout the millennium celebration,
22:39 penitents who do a charitable deed or give up cigarettes
22:43 or alcohol for a day can earn an 'indulgence'
22:46 that will eliminate time in purgatory."
22:49 This was reported in the New York Times:
22:52 “In recent months dioceses around the world
22:55 have been offering Catholics a spiritual benefit
22:58 that fell out of favor decades ago, the indulgence,
23:02 a sort of amnesty from punishment in the afterlife,
23:05 and reminding them of the church's clout
23:07 in mitigating the wages of sin.
23:10 “The fact that many Catholics under 50 have never sought one,
23:14 and never heard of indulgences
23:15 except in high school European history
23:18 (Martin Luther denounced the selling of them in 1517
23:22 while igniting the Protestant Reformation),
23:24 simply makes their reintroduction more urgent
23:27 among church leaders bent on restoring fading traditions
23:31 of penance in what they see as a self-satisfied world.”
23:37 So the issues that were raised by the Protestant Reformers
23:41 still exist today,
23:43 emphasized by a headline that appeared on the front page
23:46 of the Los Angeles Times back in the year 2000:
23:50 "Vatican Declares Catholicism Sole Path to Salvation."
23:55 The Secretary of the World Council of Churches
23:58 at the time said this in response:
24:00 “It's realistic to acknowledge that this is the official
24:03 Catholic position and we cannot simply wish it away.”
24:07 Men like John Huss and his colleague Jerome in Bohemia,
24:11 Louis de Berquin in France,
24:13 William Tyndale of England,
24:14 Ridley,
24:15 Latimer and Cranmer in England,
24:17 Patrick Hamilton and George Wishart in Scotland,
24:19 and millions of others during those dark,
24:22 blood-stained centuries, gave their lives,
24:24 in the words of the apostle John,
24:27 “for the Word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ”
24:30 (Revelation. 1:2).
24:33 There's a remarkable story told about a Dutch Anabaptist
24:36 named Dirk Willems,
24:38 who was condemned to die by the church
24:40 for refusing to adhere to the church's teachings,
24:43 specifically on infant baptism.
24:46 But Willems managed to escape from where he was being held,
24:49 and he crept across the frozen ice covering a moat.
24:53 A prison guard noticed what was going on and pursued Willems,
24:57 but he fell through that thin ice into the frigid waters.
25:01 He cried help for help.
25:02 There was nobody to help him
25:04 except for the escaping Dirk Willems,
25:06 who did not want to see the man perish.
25:10 He went back and rescued the man,
25:11 but he paid a high price for his bravery.
25:16 He was recaptured,
25:18 put in prison again,
25:20 and was burned at the stake by the church.
25:23 See, these great men and women of faith
25:25 believed the words of Jesus found in Revelation 2, verse 10,
25:28 where Jesus said,
25:29 “Be faithful unto death,
25:32 and I will give you the crown of life.”
25:38 This was the world into which
25:39 the Protestant Reformers were born.
25:43 They rose up to oppose something God
25:45 had never intended would be created:
25:48 a system of salvation based on works and not grace,
25:53 where the only freedom believers had was that
25:55 given them by the church.
25:57 A powerful system that,
25:59 believing it was doing the work of God,
26:01 was prepared to use force to get its way.
26:08 But the dark clouds that held back the light of truth,
26:11 the unholy alliance of church and state,
26:15 couldn't endure forever.
26:18 The corruption and cruelty of the Renaissance church
26:21 was like the hour before the dawn.
26:24 The morning sun would soon drive away the darkness.
26:29 Grace and truth would break forth.
26:32 ♪[Music]♪
26:36 In Old Testament times,
26:38 God's people suffered for many years
26:40 under the heavy hand of Egyptian slavery.
26:43 But then there was a miraculous breakthrough,
26:45 and God delivered His people,
26:47 opening up the Red Sea
26:49 and guiding them to the Promised Land.
26:53 Well, there would be a miraculous breakthrough again.
26:55 The light of God's Word was going to shine.
26:58 God's plans would not be frustrated.
27:01 A new day would dawn for believers everywhere.
27:04 God's work was not done.
27:07 Great days were ahead.
27:08 ♪[Music]♪
27:15 >>John: Who is the mystery beast of Revelation?
27:18 The Book of Revelation speaks of a power of tremendous
27:20 religious and political significance that will rise up
27:23 in Earth's last days.
27:25 Find out who it is by receiving this free offer,
27:28 “The Mystery Beast of Revelation.”
27:31 Call us on 800-253-3000,
27:34 or visit us online at itiswritten.com.
27:38 Or you can write to the address on your screen.
27:40 I'd like you to receive our free offer,
27:43 “The Mystery Beast of Revelation.”
27:45 >>John: Thank you for remembering that It Is Written
27:47 exists due to the gracious support of people like you.
27:51 It's your support that makes it possible for It Is Written
27:53 to share Jesus and the great truths of the Bible
27:57 with the world.
27:58 You can send your tax-deductible gift
28:00 to the address on your screen,
28:02 or you can support It Is Written through our website,
28:04 itiswritten.com.
28:07 Thanks for your generous support.
28:09 Our number is 800-253-3000,
28:12 and our web address is
28:13 itiswritten.com.
28:16 >>John: Let's prayer together now.
28:18 Our Father in Heaven,
28:20 we thank You that in Your goodness
28:21 You have preserved Your Word for us.
28:24 We thank You for Jesus, the Word made flesh.
28:27 We wish that He would live in our hearts
28:29 and we pray You would make that so.
28:32 And we pray that our lives would be based on Your Word.
28:36 We thank You that there were men and women of old
28:38 who dared to stand up for Your Word,
28:40 they in many cases paid the ultimate price
28:43 so we could have delivered to us the freedom
28:47 that comes through knowing You personally,
28:51 through Your Word.
28:52 So bless us Lord I pray that any reform
28:55 that must take place in our own lives would happen
28:58 so that we can be by Your Grace,
29:00 everything that You wish we would be.
29:04 We thank You and ask Your blessing and we pray together
29:06 in Jesus' name,
29:07 Amen.
29:09 Thanks so much for joining me,
29:10 I'm looking forward to seeing you again.
29:12 Until then, remember:
29:14 “It is written, man shall not live by bread alone,
29:18 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God."
29:22 ♪[Theme music]♪


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Revised 2017-10-20