Protestantism

Protestantism means protesting against the un-biblical teachings of the Church of Rome. It is what gave rise to the mighty Protestant Reformation of the 15th and 16th centuries and birthed the greatest experiment in human civilization, the United States of America. Most of the Christian denominations, which came out of the Papal church in protest of its un-Biblical teachings and man made traditions, have retained many traits and characteristics of the mother church. Sunday sacredness is the most prominent. We read in the book, the Great Controversy: “It is the spirit of the papacy, the spirit of conformity to worldly customs, the veneration for human traditions above the commandments of God, that is permeating the Protestant churches, and leading them on to do the same work of Sunday exaltation which the papacy has done before them” (GC 573).

Today, America, through self-appointed religious leaders, directs the nation back to Rome. The National Back to Church Sunday movement, a coalition of Evangelical, Catholic, and mainline Sunday- keeping churches are joining forces for the establishment of Sunday sacredness in America. The question is, where are the Protestants?

Not unlike the 95 theses of Martin Luther, nailed on the door of the Cathedral of Wittenberg on October 31, 1517, God’s Sabbath Truth is destined to impact the course of Christendom.

A great drama is being played out, before our very eyes, in these the final hours of earth’s history. It revolves around God’s word versus the traditions of the papacy. The great Protestant Reformer, Martin Luther, along with others such as Calvin, Zwingli, Knox, Edwards, Henry , Clark, Wesley, and Spurgeon, just to name a few, identified the Roman Catholic Church as the first beast of Revelation 13 and the papacy as the anti-Christ of Bible prophecy. As a result of their courage, tens of thousands of Roman Catholics, infected with the holy boldness of those Reformers, returned to the Scriptures and discovered the truth about Jesus. The world has not been the same since. Unfortunately today, most Protestants and Evangelicals have developed a nauseating case historical amnesia, all but forgetting the work, commitment, and sacrifice of the Reformers. They have, knowingly or unknowingly, set aside that which distinguishes them from Catholicism, instead joining with her to achieve an un-achievable peace. For the most part, they are oblivious to the conflict in which they are engaged. But all must choose whose side of the controversy they’re on: the God of creation or the papacy’s. There is no middle ground.

Ellen G. White, world renowned Bible commentator, alerts us, “In the movements now in progress in the United States to secure for the institutions and usages of the church the support of the state, Protestants are following in the steps of papists. Nay, more, they are opening the door for the papacy to regain in Protestant America the supremacy which she has lost in the Old World. And that which gives greater significance to this movement is the fact that the principal object contemplated is the enforcement of Sunday observance—a custom which originated with Rome, and which she claims as the sign of her authority” (Great Controversy 573).

The fact of the matter is that the God of creation has never made Sunday holy. Neither does He force anyone to accept what He offers. Further, legislation of religious dogmas always lead to tyranny and persecution of those who do not agree with the legislated dogma.

Ellen White, who the Smithsonian magazine lists as one of the ten most influential religious figures of all time, continues, “The Protestant churches are in great darkness, or they would discern the signs of the times. The Roman Church… is employing every device to extend her influence and increase her power in preparation of a fierce and determined conflict to regain control of the world, to re-establish persecution, and undo all that Protestantism has done” (Ibid 563-565). Join us in rekindling the Reformation

Christians everywhere, like the Reformers of old, need to rekindle the spirit of Protestantism and resist Rome’s call for universal Sunday sacredness, a tradition contrary to God’s word which she claims is her mark of authority in religious matters.