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The Abiding Gift of Prophecy - Contents
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    Pre-Reformation Times

    As we near the great Reformation of the sixteenth century, we find preparatory movements springing up in many parts of the world. These were led by zealous Christian men to whom there came a clear view of primitive Christianity, together with great alarm concerning the fallen state of the Catholic Church.AGP 216.1

    “In the different countries of Europe men were moved by the Spirit of God to search for the truth as for hid treasures. Providentially guided to the Holy Scriptures, they studied the sacred pages with intense interest. They were willing to accept the light, at any cost to themselves. Though they did not see all things clearly, they were enabled to perceive many long-buried truths. As Heaven-sent messengers they went forth, rending asunder the chains of error and superstition, and calling upon those who had been so long enslaved, to arise and assert their liberty.” Id., p. 79.AGP 216.2

    The unusual experiences that came to these leaders led them to believe that God was speaking to them and laying upon them the responsibility of proclaiming the need of a great spiritual revival and reformation. Such a movement was begun in England during the fourteenth century.AGP 216.3

    Of all who gave their lives to lead the human race out of the darkness, superstition, and cruelty of the “world’s midnight,” none, perhaps, contributed more than John Wycliffe of England.AGP 216.4

    He was born in Yorkshire, in the year 1320, and died a peaceful death in his rectory on the last day of December, 1384. Wylie, one of the very readable historians of the beginnings, developments, and triumphs of Protestantism, left on record a remarkable statement regarding Wycliffe. He says:AGP 217.1

    “Wycliffe stands apart, distinctly marked off from all the men in Christendom. Bursting suddenly upon a dark age, he stands before it in a light not borrowed from the schools, nor from the doctors of the church, but from the Bible. He came preaching a scheme of reinstitution and reformation so comprehensive, that no reformer since has been able to add to it any one essential principle. On these solid grounds he is entitled to be regarded as the Father of the Reformation. With his rise the night of Christendom came to an end, and the day broke which has ever since continued to brighten.” “The History of Protestantism,” Vol. I, p. 124.

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