Facts of Faith

Facts of Faith, by Christian Edwardson, originally published in 1943 by the Southern Publishing Association, has been reprinted by CHJ Publishing. This 320-page book is available from The Bible Sabbath Association, 3316 Alberta Drive, Gillette, WY 82718, for $12.00 postage paid.

Since there has been such a distortion of the facts relating to the history relating to Sabbath keepers, Edwardson compiled an extensive list of quotations from original sources. This collection of facts does indeed help to strengthen our faith. The source of the distortion of facts is the Roman Catholic Church in general, and the Jesuit order (Society of Jesus) in particular.

Catholicism Versus the Bible

The Roman Catholic Church for hundreds of years was against the reading of the Bible by the common people. The Church feared that if the people read the Bible, they would lose faith in the Church, and oppose her worship as idolatry. Burning Bibles was a common tactic of Rome, and is well documented. When the Protestant Reformation and the printing press proliferated the Bible to such an extent that it was impossible for Rome to limit Bible reading, Rome advanced her own corrupted version, the Vulgate, the mother of many modern versions such as the New International Version, while the Waldenses and other Sabbath-keepers maintained a more pure version of the Scriptures.

Edwardson produces direct quotations from Roman Catholic authorities to prove that their foundation is not the Bible only, as is ours, but the Bible and tradition (rulings of the Popes and councils), with tradition having the preeminence.

The “Little Horn”

From history we see that the “little horn” of Daniel 7:8 is the Papacy, which arose among the ten European kingdoms into which the Roman Empire (the fourth beast) was split. It caused three Arian kingdoms, which stood in its way, to be plucked up by the roots (Heruli, Vandals, Ostrogoths). Roman Emperor Justinian in A.D. 538 published edicts which compelled all to join the Catholic Church in ninety days or leave the empire, and confiscated all their goods. This, according to Edwardson, began the 1,260 year period of the reign of the “little horn,” for “a time and times, and half a time” (3 1/2 times = 360 x 3.5 = 1,260). Roman Catholicism was made the state religion, and all other religions were forbidden. In 1798, exactly 1,260 years later, Napoleon’s armies under the French general Berthier, conquered Rome, took Pope Pius VI prisoner, and declared an end to the temporal reign of the Pope, converting the Papal States into the Roman Republic.

Further, this “little horn” was to “speak great words against the Most High,” Daniel 7:25. Statements from Popes and official Catholic sources confirm that Popes believe, as Pope Leo XIII wrote, “We hold upon this earth the place of God Almighty.” Rome’s definition of “heresy” is anyone who will not blindly submit to papal authority, but will read the Bible, deciding for himself what he shall believe. More than 50,000,000 “heretics” have been slaughtered at the behest of the Roman Catholic Church.

The “little horn” should “think to change times and laws,” Daniel 7:25. After the worship of images had crept into Catholic Church during the fourth and sixth centuries, its leaders removed the second commandment from their doctrinal books, because it forbids us to bow down to images, Exodus 20:4-5, and they divided the tenth, so as to retain ten in number. They admit they changed the day of worship from the Biblical Sabbath to Sunday. Mithraism, a refined religion of sun worship, had captivated the Roman Empire. By the middle of the third century A.D., it was on the verge of becoming a universal religion. Roman Caesars, soldiers, and learned Greeks embraced Mithraism, with its popular Sunday (“venerable day of the sun”) and birth of the sun on December 25. Sunday, in the Roman world, stood for what was eminent and popular, while the Sabbath, kept by the Jews and Christians, stood for what was despised and looked down upon. The Church lowered its standards, mixed heathen sentiments into Christian doctrines, and became permeated with pagan ideas. The Church could reach the heathen better by keeping their day. Emperor Constantine, an inveterate Sun worshiper, enacted a Sunday law in A.D. 321, forcing people in cities to rest on Sunday. Pope Sylvester co-operated with Constantine to bring paganism into the Church, causing the Sabbath-keeping Waldensians to declare that Pope Sylvester was the Antichrist.

The Church at this time consisted of two widely different kinds of members. First, the old class who had accepted Christianity by genuine conversion and separation from the world, who lived mostly in the country and out-of-the-way places. Second, there were new converts who lived mostly in big cities, who had come in through a mass movement, following the crowd in what was popular, attracted by hopes of temporal gain or honor, who were devoid of any personal Christian experience, but constituting the majority. Are there two such classes today?

Waldenses Kept the Sabbath

One of the great lies told today is that the Waldenses did not keep the Sabbath. Also, it is falsely reported that the Waldenses originated from the twelfth century work of Peter Waldo. Dr. Peter Allix, author of the authoritative work, Ancient Church of Piedmont, states, “It is not true, that Waldo gave this name to the inhabitants of the valleys: they were called Waldenses, or Vaudes, before his time, from the valleys in which they dwelt...It is absolutely false, that these churches were ever founded by Peter Waldo. . . . It is a pure forgery” (pages 182, 192 of his book, 1821 reprint of 1690 edition). Allix shows further that the Waldenses kept the Sabbath (page 169 of the 1821 edition, page 154 of the 1690 edition). Pope Gregory (A.D. 590-604) railed against “certain men of perverse spirit [who] have sown among you things that are wrong and opposed of the holy faith, so as to forbid any work being done on the Sabbath day.”

Historian William Jones reports that King Louis XII (1462-1515) was informed by the enemies of the Waldenses inhabiting Provence that they had committed “heinous crimes,” but upon investigation, King Louis found that they kept the Sabbath day, observed adult baptism, taught their children the commandments of God, and were better men than himself or his people (History of the Christian Church, Vol. 2, pp. 71-72, London: 1818). David Benedict reports that the Waldenses of the Alps were called Sabbati, Sabbatati, Insabbatati, but more frequently Inzabbatati, “so named from the Hebrew word Sabbath, because they kept the Saturday for the Lord’s day” (General History of the Baptist Denomination, Vol II, p. 413, Boston: 1813).

Briefly, Edwardson covers the Sabbath-keeping history of the Celts, Zinzendorf, Sabbath-keepers in India, Scandinavia, and the Taiping in China. He shows the deceit and wickedness of the Jesuit Francis Xavier, who sought to destroy the Sabbath keepers of India by the Inquisition. Facts relating to the Reformation have been suppressed by the Catholics, who deny that indulgences were sold, and cover up the utter depravity of the priests. During the Middle Ages, if you were an honest and upright person, you were suspected of being a “heretic.”

Papacy the Antichrist

The identification of the papacy with the antichrist is especially well written. The Waldenses, Wycliffe, Tyndale, and Luther all agreed that the Pope is the Antichrist, yet due to the Futurist Jesuit philosophy, many today believe that the antichrist is not the papacy, but some future individual who is yet to appear. A title of the Pope is “Vicarius Filii Dei,” Latin for “Vicar of the Son of God.” Eyewitnesses have observed this title on one of the Pope’s triple crowns during his coronation. The Roman numerals of this title add up to “666.”

Along with Seventh-day Adventist beliefs of prophecy, Edwardson believes that the “two-horned beast” of Revelation 13:11 is the United States, allied with Papal Rome. There is no doubt that a major aim of the Catholic Church is to make America dominantly Catholic, and that if this is accomplished, our religious freedoms will vanish. Textbooks have been revised to be more favorable to Rome, and less favorable to Protestants. Authentic church history books have been suppressed. The press favors the Catholic Church, and libraries have excluded books which expose the evils of the Inquisition, while opening their shelves to scores of pro-Catholic books. The Catholic Church organization’s avowed principles are diametrically opposed to liberty of speech, press, and religion, as understood by the founders of the United States of America and incorporated into its fundamental laws.

The Road to Canossa

Papal doctrine, as enunciated by Pope Paul IV in 1559, states “The Pope as representative of Christ on earth has complete authority over princes and kingdoms, and may judge the same. All monarchs, who are guilty of heresy or schism [as defined by the R.C.C.], are irrevocably deposed...deprived forever of their right to rule, and fall under the sentence of death. If they repent, they are to be confined in monastery for the term of their life, with bread and water as their only fare. No man is to help an heretical or schismatical prince. The monarch guilty of this sin is to lose his kingdom in favor of rulers obedient to the Pope” (Life and Times of Hildebrand, Arnold Harris Matthews, p. 288, London: 1910). Any person dealing with the excommunicated king became thereby himself excommunicated.

Have you traveled the “road to Canossa”? Many people today, even in Sabbath-keeping churches, have traveled this road. It is the road of compromise, or accommodation, with the Church of Rome, submission to the Papal, antichristian, authority.

King Henry IV traveled the road to Canossa. He is a type of many, before and after, who have capitulated to Rome. On February 22, 1076, Pope Gregory VII excommunicated Henry IV, and “forbade him to govern Germany and Italy, dispensed his subjects from the oath of allegiance they had taken to him, and forbade every one to obey him as a king.” To prevent the loss of his kingdom, Henry had to give in. He set out across the dangerous Alps during a severe winter, at last arriving at Canossa, Italy, where the pope temporarily abode. In the penitent’s garb of wool, fasting, and barefoot, the “mighty” king stood outside the fortress, begging the Pope to allow him to rule his own country, awaiting the pleasure of the Pope for three days before “His Holiness” would condescend to admit him. Gregory extracted from Henry the promise of a meeting among the princes of Germany, where “the pope as judge” was to decide whether Henry was to be “held unworthy of the throne according to ecclesiastical law” or not. He excommunicated Henry a second time, March 7, 1080, and installed a new king, which plunged Germany into civil war.

The power of the papacy over civil government was epitomized by Pope Gregory at Canossa. Those who travel the road to Canossa today are surrendering like Henry did. Mentally, they are supporting the Pope of Rome.

Jesuits Are Enemies of the Sabbath

Europe today might have been a Protestant continent, even France and Italy, had not the Jesuit order been formed, and the Jesuit-led Council of Trent led a successful counter reformation that regained much ground taken from Catholics during the sixteenth century. An official tenet of Trent was that tradition stands above Scripture. The tactics of the Jesuits have not changed. Today, they are still very active as militant, highly organized, shock troops of the Pope.

Jesuits are bound under oath to look to their General (the Black Pope who sits in Rome, as opposed to the White Pope, the Pope most people are familiar with) and Superiors as holding “the place of Christ our Lord,” and must obey them unconditionally without the least hesitation, a “corpse like obedience.” For their dirty work of subverting political, religious, educational, and social systems, Jesuits have been expelled from fifty different countries, such as England, France, Spain, etc. Even Pope Clement XIV, in 1773, abolished the Jesuit order, which order was reversed by a later Pope. The phrase, “the end justifies the means,” comes from a free translation of several official statements of purpose of the Jesuits. They will lie, steal, murder, and do whatever it takes to further the papal power. They are the arch enemies of the Sabbath, only one example being the Jesuit extermination of the Sabbath-keeping St. Thomas Christians of India.

Mark of the Beast

If you do not believe that the Mark of the Beast involves Sunday keeping as opposed to Sabbath-keeping, then you probably ignore official Catholic statements, cited in Facts of Faith. Cardinal Gibbons’ chancellor wrote that the change of the Sabbath to Sunday by the Catholic Church is “a mark of her ecclesiastical power and authority in religious matters” (1895 letter). Protestants who accept Sunday are traveling the road to Canossa, and being inconsistent and rebellious against their “mother” Church.

In the Catholic Rheims English New Testament, published in 1582, we read, “And if the Church had authority and inspiration from God, to make Sunday, being a work-day before, an everlasting holyday: and the Saturday, that before was holyday, now a common work-day: why may not the same Church prescribe and appoint the other feasts of Easter, Whitsuntide [Sunday Pentecost], Christmas, and the rest? For the same warrant she hath for the one she hath for the other.” The Roman “Decretalia,” an authentic work on Roman ecclesiastical law, states, “The pope has power to change times, to abrogate laws, and to dispense with all things, even the precepts of Christ.” Sunday-keeping “not only has no foundation in the Bible, but it is in flagrant contradiction with its letter, which commands rest on the Sabbath, which is Saturday. It was the Catholic Church which, by the authority of Jesus Christ, has transferred this rest to the Sunday . . . . Thus the observance of Sunday by the Protestants is an homage they pay, in spite of themselves, to the authority of the Church” (Plain Truth About Protestantism of Today, Segur, p. 213, Boston: 1868).

God’s “name” will be written in the foreheads of His people, Revelation 14:1. The choice is clear before us today: take the road to Canossa, or instead take the road to salvation through the Messiah.

Facts of Faith, a 320-page book by Christian Edwardson, is available from: The Bible Sabbath Association, 3316 Alberta Drive, Gillette, WY 82718, for $9.95 postage paid. It is an excellent companion book to Truth Triumphant by B.G. Wilkinson.