Video: A Lamp in the Dark

[temporal1]

i’m not sure where to put this article.
i’ve never seen anything like it.

Catholic Answers / Anabaptists
Violent and extremely radical body of ecclesiastico-civil reformers
https://www.catholic.com/encyclopedia/anabaptists

[temporal1]

Whoever wrote this does not seem even to have looked at even a secular history book.

I will use as an example my, now falling apart "The Reformation of the Sixteenth Century" by Roland Bainton. He would say that the Anabaptist movement was "The church withdrawn" . As to Munster "The whole ugly episode discredited anabaptism. Despite the fact that they had been for the first ten years under frightful provocation they had been without offense, yet when a handful of the fanatics ran amuck, the entire party was besmirched by with the excesses of the lunatic fringe, and well into the nineteenth century historians of the reformation did little but recount the aberrations of the saints rampant. (Pg. 106.)

so there you have it. He is a secular historian, his book a text in a state university history class in the 70s,

They are making the exception the rule. The Munsterites were outliers, by far.

Much of this occurred because the more moderate leadership was killed off by the catholics and the lutherans. The result was that the fringe took over in that area for that brief moment. Sattler, Manz, Blaurock Sattler, all dead. Whatever did they expect. They also find a way to talk about the movement, without even mentioning the Phillips brothers and Menno Simons. However did they do that.

This is, to say the least intellectually dishonest, and was cherry picking. There is also no mention of the Anabaptists of Nikolsberg.

This piece is dishonest. Period.

Thanks. i found the report ghastly and shocking.
The presentation belies the content. i don’t know anything about the source (Catholic Answers / Catholic.com).

Did you notice Menno (Simonis) mentioned in the last paragraph?

Also, at the very bottom:

Catholic Answers is pleased to provide this unabridged entry from the original Catholic Encyclopedia, published between 1907 and 1912. It is a valuable resource for subjects related to theology, philosophy, history, culture, and more. Like most works that are more than a century old, though, it may occasionally use anachronistic language or present outdated scientific information.
Accordingly, in offering this resource Catholic Answers does not thereby endorse every assertion or phrase in it.

[temporal1]

2025

New topic:
Thomas_muntzer / “Decline of christianity in the united states” / Spoken Word
viewtopic.php?t=8169

P.3:
.. i wish i could locate it, somewhere, oj noted, to paraphrase,
Mennonites began separation of church from state, but aren’t credited for it.
i believe this is accurate. i believe it’s an important message in scriptures. ..

^^(relying on oj to correct.)

Related instagram: (opinions)

Gutenberg printing press / Literacy / Jordan Peterson
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DHEQf_XPQh1/

How the Protestant Reformation Made the World Literate

The Protestant Reformation didn’t just transform faith—it revolutionized literacy.
Before the Reformation, reading was largely restricted to clergy and the elite.
Reformers like Martin Luther and William Tyndale believed that everyone should read the Bible for themselves, sparking a literacy movement that changed the world.

1. The Printing Press and Bible Translation
• Luther’s German Bible (1522) and Tyndale’s English Bible (1526) made Scripture accessible to ordinary people.
• Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press (c. 1440) allowed mass production of books, fueling literacy growth.

2. Education for All
• Protestant nations established schools to teach children how to read the Bible.
• John Calvin and others promoted universal education, influencing public schooling.

3. The Literacy Explosion
• By 1600, literacy rates in Protestant regions soared, outpacing Catholic territories.
• The first modern textbooks and grammar schools emerged from Protestant movements.

4. A Lasting Impact
• The Reformation laid the foundation for modern democracy, free thought, and education.
• Nations shaped by Protestantism—like Germany, the UK, and the US—became global leaders in literacy and innovation.

The Reformation proved that when people can read God’s Word, they can change the world.

^^JP does not name or differentiate Anabaptists in this instagram.

Catholics have trouble with Protestants and Anabaptists (and Orthodoxy) to this day. Broadly blaming Martin Luther.
Altho, i read new Pope Leo XIV has initiated reconciliation with Orthodoxy.

June 2025 / Vatican News / Pope reaffirms commitment to full communion with Orthodox Church
Addressing a delegation from the Ecumenical Patriarchate on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, Pope Leo XIV reiterates his commitment to respectful dialogue and collaboration aimed at restoring full visible communion.
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news ... nople.html

[JayP]

I realize this is sort of pointless butI will channel my inner Donkey Hoe T.

Because some “Catholic” source in adequately and perhaps inaccurately posts about the Anabaptists you draw such large and sweeping conclusions about both the RCC formally and its members. Catholic answers is a lay group. Pretty accurate when referencing Catholic doctrine, all over the place on general topics.

Guys, it is a pointless exercise what you try to do. This isn’t Pilgrim where you only need to check in with one document, or one of the few bishops.

I can find bishops and even Popes that mistake something. The church is HUGE with lots of people saying all sorts of things.

[JohnH]

I realize this is sort of pointless butI will channel my inner Donkey Hoe T.

Because some “Catholic” source in adequately and perhaps inaccurately posts about the Anabaptists you draw such large and sweeping conclusions about both the RCC formally and its members. Catholic answers is a lay group. Pretty accurate when referencing Catholic doctrine, all over the place on general topics.

Guys, it is a pointless exercise what you try to do. This isn’t Pilgrim where you only need to check in with one document, or one of the few bishops.

I can find bishops and even Popes that mistake something. The church is HUGE with lots of people saying all sorts of things.

I thought the whole point of the Catholic Church was their unity and soundness of doctrine. So is it actually some vague deal where nobody is quite sure what they’re actually supposed to believe and you can’t trust the people in charge?

[JayP]

Continue to deliberately misunderstand. I appreciate the consistency.

[temporal1]

2026

i just read a bit about the Ethopian Bible, new to me.

PDF / 2151 pages / In English
https://rickmcelderry.com/EthiopianOrthodoxBible.pdf

Bible Wisdom Hub
https://biblewisdomhub.org/when-was-the ... e-written/

Is the oldest Bible from Ethiopia?
The oldest Bible is not from Ethiopia. The oldest known complete Bible is the Codex Sinaiticus, which dates back to the 4th century. It is believed to have originated from the Eastern Mediterranean region. There are ancient Biblical manuscripts found in Ethiopia, such as the Ethiopian Garima Gospels, but they are not considered to be the oldest.

What is the oldest Bible?
The oldest Bible is Codex Vaticanus, which is believed to have been written in the 4th century AD. It is one of the oldest surviving copies of the Greek Bible and is housed in the Vatican Library in Rome. Codex Vaticanus contains almost the entire Christian Old Testament and New Testament, making it a valuable resource for biblical scholars studying the text of the Bible.

.. Is the Ethiopian Bible the same as the Catholic Bible?
The Ethiopian Bible is similar to the Catholic Bible, but there are some key differences.
The Ethiopian Bible, also known as the Ethiopic version of the Bible, includes several additional books that are not found in the Catholic Bible. These books are collectively known as the “Ethiopian canon” or the “Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church Canon.”

Some of the additional books found in the Ethiopian Bible include 1 Enoch, Jubilees, 1-3 Meqabyan, and the Book of Ezra (not to be confused with the biblical Book of Ezra). These books are considered deuterocanonical by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church but are not included in the Catholic canon.

Overall, while there are similarities between the Ethiopian Bible and the Catholic Bible, the inclusion of these extra books sets them apart.

[temporal1]

France: i’ve been learning about THE CATHARS today.

BBC / “The French fortress of a celibate sect”
Montségur Castle, perched high in the Pyrenees, became the last refuge of the Cathars, a medieval dualist sect which rejected meat and procreative sex and believed in a spiritual love detached from the material world. Persecuted as heretics by the Catholic Church, their beliefs and the myths surrounding Montségur continue to shape Western imagination and thought.
https://www.bbc.com/reel/video/p0n1p9jw/watch

“Why a mysterious 800-year-old sect is still riling the French”
France’s great Cathar castles are in the running for World Heritage status, but their medieval history isn’t quite what it seems
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/dest ... rench-row/

Also, Switzerland ..

“Vatican issues final warning to breakaway traditionalist group attached to the old Latin Mass”
https://apnews.com/article/vatican-pope ... 65294980b5

ROME (AP) — With Pope Leo XIV’s first big crisis looming, the Vatican on Wednesday issued a final warning to a breakaway group of traditionalist Catholics that their planned consecration of bishops without papal consent constitutes a schismatic act that incurs automatic excommunication.

Leo is praying for enlightenment so that the leaders of the Society of St. Pius X “may reconsider the extremely grave decision they have made,” said a statement from the Vatican’s doctrine czar, Cardinal Víctor Manuel Fernández.

The statement appeared to be a last-ditch effort to head off the group’s planned July 1 consecrations of four new bishops. If they go ahead, they will amount to the gravest challenge to Leo’s authority to date, as he seeks to heal divisions with traditionalist Catholics that worsened during the Pope Francis pontificate. ..

.. A traditionalist group formed in opposition to Vatican II
The SSPX, as the group is known, was founded in Écône, Switzerland in 1970 in opposition to the modernizing reforms of the 1960s Second Vatican Council, which among other things allowed Mass to be celebrated in the vernacular rather than Latin.

The group, which celebrates the pre-Vatican II Latin Mass, first broke with Rome in 1988, after its founder, Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, consecrated four bishops without papal consent. The Vatican promptly excommunicated Lefebvre and the four other bishops, and the group today still has no legal status in the Catholic Church.

[temporal1]

i like to keep perspective of how things unfolded, esp wrt the importance of moveable type/the printing press.
https://www.history.com/articles/printing-press

i think of “the Reformation” as INEVITABLE.

ReligiousHistorian / Before Luther: Waldo, Wycliffe, and Hus, the Reformers Before the Reformation / 29+min

“A century and a half before Luther nailed anything to a door,
men were already dying for the ideas he would make famous.

Peter Waldo gave away his fortune in Lyon and commissioned the Bible in the language of the people.
John Wycliffe translated Scripture in Oxford and was condemned, exhumed and burned forty-four years after his death.

Jan Hus walked to the stake in Constance holding to his conscience against an empire.

This documentary tells the story of the reformers before the Reformation, and of the crisis in the medieval Church that made them necessary.

In this documentary:
Avignon, 1309-1377: the papacy in exile and the machinery of church finance

The Western Schism: two popes, then three, and the crisis of authority

Peter Waldo and the Waldensians: the Bible in the vernacular, c. 1173

John Wycliffe: Oxford, the English Bible, and the Lollards

Jan Hus: Prague, Constance 1415, and the safe-conduct that did not save him

Indulgences, simony, and the grievances that would explode in 1517

The thread: how Waldo, Wycliffe and Hus prepared the ground for Luther

A NOTE ON APPROACH
The abuses of the late medieval Church,
the fiscal machinery of Avignon,
the sale of offices,
the indulgence trade,
are documented history, recorded by Catholic reformers as much as by Protestant ones.

This documentary presents that crisis as the context, and the men who challenged it as the story.

It is a history of conscience and reform, not a verdict on a communion of over a billion faithful.

SOURCES:
Malcolm Lambert, Medieval Heresy (Blackwell)
Gordon Leff, Heresy in the Later Middle Ages (Manchester UP)
Anne Hudson, The Premature Reformation: Wycliffite Texts and Lollard History (Oxford)
Thomas A. Fudge, Jan Hus: Religious Reform and Social Revolution in Bohemia (I.B. Tauris)
Euan Cameron, Waldenses: Rejections of Holy Church in Medieval Europe (Blackwell)
Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation (Penguin, 2003)
Council of Constance, acts and safe-conduct documents

ABOUT THIS CHANNEL
Every episode is grounded in primary sources and academic scholarship.
I research and write each one myself;
AI assists with narration and visuals.”

[temporal1]

Why Did Martin Luther Remove 7 Books from the Bible? | The Controversy That Changed History / -29min (repetition)

^^AI? 1 yr ago
Description: Welcome to "PowerOfVerses".
Here, we explore the powerful stories of the Bible in a unique and inspiring way. Through engaging narratives, we aim to bring reflections, teachings, and values that resonate deeply. Our mission is to connect you with the wisdom of the Scriptures in a meaningful and accessible manner. Join us on this journey to uncover the transformative power of these timeless stories!”

Why 7 "Extra" Books of the Catholic Bible? Deuterocanonical Apologetics with Dr Taylor Marshall / -10min

^^7 yrs ago
“This is a free sample class from the New Saint Thomas Institute as taught by Dr. Taylor Marshall.
He explains why Catholics have the FULL Catholic canon with 7 books more than the Protestants
and why these books are left out of certain Bibles. If you'd like to learn more about the New Saint Thomas Institute or sign up for courses visit:” .. newsaintthomas.com