Seven Essential Bible Study Tools

My father was a carpenter and home builder. Believe it or not, he built homes completely by himself, from the ground up. He bought the land, drew the architectural plans, obtained the necessary permits, dug the foundation (by hand), poured the foundations, constructed the house, did the plumbing and electrical wiring, did all the painting, designed and built the kitchen cabinets, everything. He had no subcontractors. He did it all himself. In Portland, Gresham, Lincoln City, and McMinnville, Oregon, are well-built homes my father built.

One of the things I noticed most about my father was the way he treated his tools. His attitude toward his tools affected everything he did. (1) he had a few simple tools, (2) he knew how to use his tools, and took great care to keep them in good working order, and (3) he took great care in the finished product; he worried about the details, was slow and careful, and incessantly used his level to make sure the job was done right.

I have inherited some of my father’s tools, carefully kept in his metal tool box. My most prized carpentry tool is my grandfather’s hand saw, with his signature etched in the metal, dating from about 1900. My father’s tools lasted a lifetime and longer. The carpenter’s square, tape measure, pliers, shake axe, hammer, several kinds of hand saws, mortar board, trowel, pipe threader, brace and bit, and the ever present level point back to a time when homes were built to last, not slapped together. These were not cheap tools that you use once and then lose or throw away.

Dad didn’t work fast. He felt that some of the newer tools and materials, such as electric skill-saws and drywall, were not as good as hand saws and lathe and plaster. He would saw a 2x4 stud with his right hand until he was tired, then switch to his left hand, without missing a beat. My father’s definition of ready mix concrete was his son (me) feeding the sputtering electric cement mixer with gravel and cement. Plaster was mixed in a trough and carried on a hod into the house to smear on the thin strips of wood lathe nailed to the walls. Plumbing was the most difficult job, as we used no plastic or copper pipe, but galvanized steel water pipe, and cast iron sewer pipes fastened together with oakum and molten lead.

Although modern contractors laugh at my father’s “primitive” construction practices, his simple houses he built with his own hands are still standing. A cement driveway we laid in 1965 is still good, with few if any cracks. In 1962, our home on the Oregon coast withstood the Columbus Day storm which devastated the state. Our neighbor’s house lost its roof, but our home stood like a rock.

Well do I remember seeing my father, walking around inside an unfinished house, after working 10-12 hours, worrying about how he did that day, and planning what he would do the next day. If that blessed level showed something was not quite right, he would tear it down and start over! I have never known my father to brag about anything he did, but I did notice the quiet pride and self satisfaction when he finished a house. My father instilled in me the value of using quality tools to produce a quality product.

If we approach our study of the Bible with almost as much care as my father built houses, then perhaps we will produce a quality finished product — a life of godly character. Like a master carpenter, we need to carefully choose a few simple tools, and use them skillfully, taking care in the finished product. Dad bought the best tools he could find. He treasured them, and he learned how to use them as a craftsman. Your attitude toward your tools effects how you work with them.

As my father prized his carpentry tools, so I value highly the Seven Essential Bible Study Tools. Giving & Sharing can deliver six of them to you at discount. You need to know how to use them, respect them, keep them for a lifetime, and in some cases, pass them down for generations. The seventh tool, the Almighty’s Holy Spirit, is like my father’s level. It is the test, the plumb line, the guide for everything you build with the six other tools. We cannot “sell” the Spirit to you, but you can “buy” it free from the Eternal (see Matthew 25:1-9 and Revelation 3:18).

The first Essential Bible Study Tool is the Oxford (or Cambridge) Wide Margin King James Version Bible. Why should your main study Bible be the King James Version? Because other essential Bible Study tools are keyed to the KJV. Further, the KJV is based on the Received Text, while most modern translations rely on the spurious Codex Vaticanus and Codex Sinaiticus. Inferior translations, such as the New International Version, the most popular today, are like cheap tools.

Professor Robert Alter of the University of California, a Bible translator himself, admits, “Modern English versions repeatedly put readers at a grotesque distance from the Hebrew Bible. To this day, the Authorized Version of 1611 (the “King James Bible”), for all its inaccuracies, archaisms, and insistently Jacobean rhythm and tone, remains the closest we have yet come to the distinctive experience of the original” (emphasis mine). We recommend the excellent book, Our Authorized Bible Vindicated by B.G. Wilkinson ($6.95 retail, $6.00 suggested donation from Giving & Sharing) which shows the superiority of the King James Version.

Use the wide margins to enter your own notes and comments. Use a BIC Accountant’s Fine Point Ink Pen, or similar extra fine point, which does not “bleed” through the pages. If you wish to highlight portions in color, we recommend Eagle Prismacolor pencils, which can be obtained from an art supply store. Our article, “King James Version Errors,” helps to identify the few inaccuracies in the KJV, as well as understand the meaning of some out of date words used in the KJV.

When you become skillful using the Oxford Wide Margin KJV as your main study Bible, you will memorize where on the page certain key passages are located. For example, I can “see” the Ten Commandments of Exodus 20, on the right hand side of the page in my Oxford Wide Margin Bible.

The second Essential Bible Study Tool is Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance. Every word in the KJV Bible in its textual context is listed, alphabetically, with the corresponding number for the Hebrew or Greek word from which it is translated. This “Strong’s Number” is the key used for other essential Bible Study Tools. Strong’s has two major uses: to look up a passage when you only know one or a few words of that passage, and to look up all related passages covering a specific word or subject.

A third Essential Bible Study Tool, the Franklin Electronic Bible, can replace or enhance Strong’s, especially when you are looking up scripture passages. If you are sitting in Sabbath services listening to a fast talking preacher, you will have no trouble turning to every scripture passage he cites, using the Electronic Bible. You only have to type a portion of the scripture reference, and the Electronic Bible knows what you mean. For example, suppose you want to look up I Corinthians 15:50. You can enter your scripture search in several ways: 1Cor 15 50, or I Co 15 50, etc. If you want to it the hard way, you can type the whole thing out, “I Corinthians 15:50.” A second use of the Electronic Bible is to search for passages containing a word or group of words. For example, suppose you want to see all passages where the words “good man” are used in close proximity. Type “good man” and instantly, you are taken to the first occurence, and you can scroll backwards and forwards to read surrounding verses, and/or jump forward to view additional occurences where these words are used. The Franklin Electronic Bible is an excellent Bible Study Tool. There are three sizes and add-in book modules available. My dad, although skeptical of modern tools, would have loved it.

The fourth and fifth Essential Bible Study Tools are the Englishman’s Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance, and the Englishman’s Greek Concordance. Why, you may ask, do we need two more concordances? Isn’t Strong’s enough? No. Just as my father used different kinds of saws to cut different materials, so you need more than one kind of concordance. The KJV Bible, and any translation for that matter, does not always translate a particular Hebrew or Greek word into the same English equivalent word. For example, look up the word “love” in Strong’s Concordance. You will see that in the New Testament, the word “love” is translated from two basic Greek words, agape, Strong’s #25 or 26, and phileo, Strong’s #5368. These Greek words have very different meanings, yet they are both translated “love” in the KJV.

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could gather together all instances where agape is used, and all references where phileo is used, so you can see what the Bible says about these important concepts of different kinds of love? With the Englishman’s Concordances, you can do this sort of thing! They are keyed to Strong’s Hebrew and Greek numbers, so once you locate the words under study using Strong’s, you can simply move over to the Englishman’s concordances to find all places in the Bible where that word or words are used.

You will find in this instance, that agape is translated as either “love,” or “charity,” and that phileo is translated “love,” or “loveth,” or “kiss.” Using only Strong’s, you might not have discovered this information.

Finally, the sixth Essential Bible Study Tool is The Interlinear Bible. It is the only tool among the others that could be considered advanced. The Hebrew and Greek text of the whole Bible is shown, with the Strong’s numbers above the Hebrew and Greek. With the Interlinear Bible, you can get back to the original language of the Bible, and verify if the translators did their job correctly.

While these six tools can help you understand much Bible truth, without the seventh tool, the Holy Spirit, you may build a very shaky house. The Spirit of the Almighty is like my father’s carpenter level. If the result of your Bible Study is not “level,” or “plumb,” it is not right, and you might as well tear it down and start over.

I encourage you to use these Seven Essential Bible Study Tools to be enriched and enlightened by the Word of God. The six tools are not inexpensive, but you can obtain them from us at discount. In addition, we recommend, for advanced Bible students, Hebrew and Greek lexicons (dictionaries), keyed to Strong’s numbers. Please see the current Giving & Sharing Order Blank for the suggested donation for these excellent products.

Rome’s Challenge: Why Do Protestants Keep Sunday?

Surprisingly, the Roman Catholic Church has produced an excellent article on the Biblical Sabbath, highly recommended by The Bible Sabbath Association. How did this incongruity occur?

The World’s Columbian Exposition, held in 1893 in Chicago, created quite a stir among Protestant churches, when the Fair was open on Sundays. Some of the churches attempted to legally stop this “Sabbath” desecration. In response to this controversy, a series of articles were published from September 2-23, 1893, in the Catholic Mirror, official organ of Cardinal Gibbons, which expressed a challenge from the Catholic Church to Protestants as to why they keep Sunday, when the Bible commands Sabbath (Saturday) observance. The Catholic Mirror reviewed the Bible evidence and properly concluded that the Sabbath is a commanded day of rest and worship, and that Sunday worship is NOT authorized by the Bible.

Protestants are not consistent (Sabbath-keepers such as Seventh-day Adventists excepted). They claim their faith is grounded in “the Bible only,” yet by keeping Sunday, they are recognizing the tradition and authority of the Roman Catholic Church. This hypocrisy led Catholics to launch the “counter-Reformation,” at the Council of Trent (1546), which stated that Scripture and tradition are to be received and venerated equally, that the apocryphal books are part of the Scripture canon, and the Vulgate is the sole authentic and standard Bible, with the authority to supersede the original texts, and forbade the interpretation of Scripture contrary to the sense received by the Catholic Church.

Finally, the December 23, 1893, issue of the Catholic Mirror responded favorably to the Adventists, who used their material to promote the Sabbath. “Reason and common sense,” the Catholic Mirror concluded, “demand the acceptance of one or the other of these alternatives: either Protestantism and the keeping of holy of Saturday, or Catholicity and the keeping of Sunday. Compromise is impossible.” Will you accept Rome’s challenge?

Rome’s Challenge, Why Do Protestants Keep Sunday? is available from The Bible Sabbath Association, 3316 Alberta Drive, Gillette, Wyoming 82718 for $1.00 postage paid. It should be noted that the Catholic article infers that before the sixteenth century Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church was the only Christian Church. The fact is, there have been faithful Sabbath-keepers in many parts of the world since the First Century, A.D.

Truth Triumphant

Reliable, accurate, and comprehensive information about the history of Sabbath-keepers can be of great benefit to us today. The Sabbath is under attack. The inspiring story of others who have likewise struggled to maintain their faith can help us to strengthen our commitment to the commandments of our Creator and the faith of our Savior.

Dr. Benjamin G. Wilkinson (1871-1967), an eminent Seventh-day Adventist scholar, who was fluent in six languages, in 1942 produced an exceptional history of the Church in the Wilderness (A.D. 538-1798), entitled Truth Triumphant, the Church in the Wilderness. His splendid bibliography and footnotes demonstrate rigorous scholarship. The history he relates is unknown to most Sabbath-keepers today, to their detriment.

The worldwide extensive scope of Sabbath-keeping for many hundreds of years is truly astounding. Lucian of Syria (ca. A.D. 250-312) upheld the commandments of God and preserved the text of the New Testament (minus the spurious apocryphal books). Vigilantius Leo (A.D. 364-408), not Peter Waldo, was the first leader of the Waldenses in northern Italy and southern France. He influenced Patrick, the Sabbath-keeping saint of Celtic Ireland. Columba (b. 521), Columbanus (A.D. 543-615) and other Celtic Sabbath-keepers evangelized Europe and maintained the highest standards of scholarship and learning during the Dark Ages.

In A.D. 285, Papas was chosen head of the Church of the East (also called Assyrian Church, or wrongly called Nestorian Church). Excommunicated by Victor I, bishop of Rome in the late second century, the Church of the East flourished, and kept the Sabbath for hundreds of years, in spite of opposition from Zoroastrianism, Buddhism, and Hinduism. The thrilling story of the Church of the East, including the St. Thomas Christians in India, and the profusion of Sabbath keepers in China and Japan, is tempered with the awful persecution in the 1500s of Sabbath-keepers by the Jesuits.

Wilkinson’s thorough treatment of the Waldensians in the Alps should be enough to bury the false idea that the Waldenses did not begin until about 1160, and the wrong theory that most of the Waldenses never kept the Sabbath. He cites the fourth century church historian Socrates, who wrote, “For although almost all the churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, have ceased to do this.” Sozomen, another historian and contemporary of Socrates, declares, “The people of Constantinople, and almost everywhere, assemble together on the Sabbath, as well as on the first day of the week, which custom is never observed at Rome or at Alexandria.”

The council held at Elvira, Spain, ca. A.D. 305, upholds the Sabbath. Spanish Sabbath-keepers of the Pyrenees influenced the Waldenses. The Latin word for “valley dweller” is vallis. It is Vaudois in French, Valdesi in Italian, and Valdenses in Spanish. Spanish Sabbath-keepers were also called Sabbatati. Wilkinson maintains, “A large portion of the Waldenses, whether called by that name or by other names, believed the observance of the fourth commandment to be obligatory upon the human race. Because of this, they were designated by the significant title of Insabbati, or Insabbatati. Farmers or townsmen going on Saturday about their work were so impressed by the sight of groups of Christians assembling for worship on that day that they called them Insabbatati.”

Some Bohemians of the fourteenth century held “that none of the ordinances of the church that have been introduced since Christ’s ascension ought to be observed, being of no worth; the feasts, fasts, orders, blessings, offices of the church and the like, they utterly reject.” They were in contact with the Waldenses of the Alps. Erasmus testified that as late as about 1500, these Bohemians kept the seventh day scrupulously, and were called Sabbatarians.

Wilkinson reports on Aba (ca. A.D. 500-575) and the Church in Persia, Timothy of Baghdad (A.D. 700-824), how the Apostle Thomas established a long-lived Sabbath-keeping community on the west coast of India, and how Sabbath-keepers flourished during the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907) in China.

It appears that the key to the long term survival of Sabbath-keepers in diverse groups scattered around the world was the fact that they were relatively independent. As Wilkinson notes, “It was the purpose of the Celtic Church to plant many centers rather than to concentrate numbers and wealth in some ecclesiastical capital.” Wilkinson relates how many geographically diverse groups nevertheless maintained contact with their brethren in other lands. Today it is true that there is strength in a diversity that nevertheless maintains frequent contact among the scattered groups of brethren. Although Wilkinson’s excellent book, Truth Triumphant, ends in 1798, the story of the Sabbath-keeping Church continues. We should be inspired to maintain the faith, and to continue to support the scattered brethren, around the world.

Truth Triumphant, 424 pages, by Dr. B.G. Wilkinson, is available for a donation of $12.95 (plus $2.00 postage) from The Bible Sabbath Association, 3316 Alberta Drive, Gillette, WY 82718.

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.

— written by Richard C. Nickels

Giving & Sharing, PO Box 100, Neck City, MO 64849 USA