A Brief History of Ecumenism’s Development
The wheat and the tares grew together with relatively little disturbance until the great Reformation. While the turbulence of the Reformation made great strides in the search for truths lost since the first advent, the wounds it caused were rather readily healed and denominationalism was the victor. The wheat (coming out of the old system) could not yet stand alone, but were planted in one or another denomination containing mostly tares.
The beginning of the nineteenth century, however, saw something unusual happening. In 1799 A.D., in the sight of the entire world, Napoleon took the pope prisoner and carried him to France where he died. The psychological effect of this action was tremendous. All could see that the pope’s power was inferior to Napoleon’s, and the pope began from that point to lose his hold over the minds of the religious world. Papacy has always been one of the most fervent opponents of the spread of the Bible, and even the Protestant world up to that time often frowned on widespread reading and interpretation of God’s Word. But with papacy’s humiliation, Bible societies sprang into existence almost overnight, and translations of the Bible in nearly all languages quickly were distributed worldwide. Honest searchers for truth began studying the Scriptures and began separating themselves from the various errors of Christendom. A new era had begun! The fraction of the denominations became rapid and commonplace.
This trend was a threat to the established authority of Babylon, and so she tried to do something about it. In 1846 A.D. the major Protestant denominations formed the Evangelical Alliance.
It was an attempt to state to the world that "if you agree with us (with our teachings), you are acceptable; you are orthodox." Here was the beginning of the church union movement which is climaxing so rapidly in our day. The battle has been the same ever since: "orthodoxy" versus the spirit of free inquiry into the word of God. The matter is rarely stated that bluntly, but that is, in fact, the motivating force. Babylon is trying desperately to survive. It is the old spirit of "either we hang together or we will all hang alone." It is union based on fear. It is union based on a quest for power—not a quest for truth. It is not of God. It is of Satan.
Thus we see that the present church union movement has its roots in historical events of well over a century ago. And the prophetic warnings about it have been circulated for nearly that long also—although many seem to think that discussion on this matter is of more recent origin.”
“A short time before he relinquished his position as Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the established Church of England, Dr. Fisher paid a visit to the late Pope John. This was the first get together of the heads of these two great ecclesiastical systems mentioned in Revelation 13. Dr. Fisher urged greater unity between Protestants and Catholics when he visited Rome, and pointed out that he used the word "unity", not "union" deliberately.
By this he apparently meant cooperation between differing elements of Christian thought without loss of identity and doctrinal authority. This bears out Nah 1:9, 10 of both ends of a scroll coming together, the one side Catholic, the other Protestant, opposed and yet connected—each side united and federated to the best of its ability.
The Bible points out that as a result the nominal church systems will rise to great prominence again in connection with the civil powers (Rev 16:13, 14). But the Bible declares that this reign as a queen will be a short one, and that the fall of Babylon will be tremendous—like a great millstone cast into the Sea. Rev 18:21.”
The wheat and the tares grew together with relatively little disturbance until the great Reformation. While the turbulence of the Reformation made great strides in the search for truths lost since the first advent, the wounds it caused were rather readily healed and denominationalism was the victor. The wheat (coming out of the old system) could not yet stand alone, but were planted in one or another denomination containing mostly tares.
The beginning of the nineteenth century, however, saw something unusual happening. In 1799 A.D., in the sight of the entire world, Napoleon took the pope prisoner and carried him to France where he died. The psychological effect of this action was tremendous. All could see that the pope’s power was inferior to Napoleon’s, and the pope began from that point to lose his hold over the minds of the religious world. Papacy has always been one of the most fervent opponents of the spread of the Bible, and even the Protestant world up to that time often frowned on widespread reading and interpretation of God’s Word. But with papacy’s humiliation, Bible societies sprang into existence almost overnight, and translations of the Bible in nearly all languages quickly were distributed worldwide. Honest searchers for truth began studying the Scriptures and began separating themselves from the various errors of Christendom. A new era had begun! The fraction of the denominations became rapid and commonplace.
This trend was a threat to the established authority of Babylon, and so she tried to do something about it. In 1846 A.D. the major Protestant denominations formed the Evangelical Alliance.
It was an attempt to state to the world that "if you agree with us (with our teachings), you are acceptable; you are orthodox." Here was the beginning of the church union movement which is climaxing so rapidly in our day. The battle has been the same ever since: "orthodoxy" versus the spirit of free inquiry into the word of God. The matter is rarely stated that bluntly, but that is, in fact, the motivating force. Babylon is trying desperately to survive. It is the old spirit of "either we hang together or we will all hang alone." It is union based on fear. It is union based on a quest for power—not a quest for truth. It is not of God. It is of Satan.
Thus we see that the present church union movement has its roots in historical events of well over a century ago. And the prophetic warnings about it have been circulated for nearly that long also—although many seem to think that discussion on this matter is of more recent origin.”
“A short time before he relinquished his position as Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the established Church of England, Dr. Fisher paid a visit to the late Pope John. This was the first get together of the heads of these two great ecclesiastical systems mentioned in Revelation 13. Dr. Fisher urged greater unity between Protestants and Catholics when he visited Rome, and pointed out that he used the word "unity", not "union" deliberately.
By this he apparently meant cooperation between differing elements of Christian thought without loss of identity and doctrinal authority. This bears out Nah 1:9, 10 of both ends of a scroll coming together, the one side Catholic, the other Protestant, opposed and yet connected—each side united and federated to the best of its ability.
The Bible points out that as a result the nominal church systems will rise to great prominence again in connection with the civil powers (Rev 16:13, 14). But the Bible declares that this reign as a queen will be a short one, and that the fall of Babylon will be tremendous—like a great millstone cast into the Sea. Rev 18:21.”
