The State Of Religion
THE STATE OF RELIGION
By reading this history, a person should be able to see that the religion of Christ, meant to be spirit and truth, had been turned into nothing but outward observances, ceremonies, and idolatry. We had so many saints, so many gods, so many monasteries, so many pilgrimages. We had too many churches, too many relics (true and fake), too many untruthful miracles. Instead of worshipping the only living Lord, we worshipped dead bones; in place of immortal Christ, we worshipped mortal bread.
No care was taken about how the people were led as long as the priests were fed. Instead of God’s Word, man’s word was obeyed; instead of Christ’s testament, the pope’s canon. The law of God was seldom read and never understood, so Christ’s saving work and the effect on man’s faith were not examined. Because of this ignorance, errors and sects crept into the church, for there was no foundation for the truth that Christ willingly died to free us from our sins—not bargaining with us but giving to us.
Although God allowed His Church to wander for a long time, at last it pleased Him to restore it to its original foundation. And here we must admire God’s wisdom, for just as the church fell into ruin because of the ignorance of its teachers, shortly after the burning of John Huss and Jerome, God gave man the art of printing, which restored knowledge to the church.
Through the grace of God, men of wisdom were now able to communicate their thoughts accurately and widely so others could distinguish light from darkness, truth from error, religion from superstition. Knowledge grew in science and in languages, opening a window of light for the world and clearing the way for the Reformation of the church. Still, many were left to suffer before that reform would be complete.