Protestantism has Fallen! The Jesuits have been able to stop reform!

Undoing the Reformation from within.

Throughout Christianity Protestantism was menaced by formidable foes. After the first triumphs of the Reformation, Rome summoned new forces, hoping to end it. It was then born Jesuit order, which was to be the most cruel, the least scrupulous and most formidable of all the champions of the papacy. Free from all earthly ties and human interest, insensitive to the voice of natural affection, deaf to the arguments of reason and the voice of conscience, no law recognizing the members, no more restraint than his order, and had no concern that extend its power. The Gospel of Christ had enabled its adherents to face the dangers and endure suffering, undismayed by cold, hunger, work, poverty, and sustain with courage the banner of truth in front of the rack, the dungeon and the stake. To combat these forces, Jesuitism inspired his followers such fanaticism that enabled them to carry similar risks and oppose the power of truth all the weapons of deception. For them no crime was too great, no lie too vile, no disguise too difficult to bear. Bound by vows of perpetual poverty and humility, studied the art of appropriating the wealth and power to consecrate the destruction of Protestantism and the restoration of papal supremacy. 

To be known as members of the order, were presented with an air of sanctity, visiting prisons, ministering to the sick and the poor, professing to have renounced the worldand bearing the sacred name of Jesus, the One who walked doing good. But under thisfeigned humility, often concealed criminal and deadly purposes. It was a fundamental principle of order, that the end justifies the means. According to this principle, lying, theft, perjury and murder, were not only forgivable, but worthy of being recommended. seewhere the interests of the church. Under various disguises the Jesuits in the offices of state, rising to the counselors of kings, and shaping the policy of nations. They becameservants to become spies for their masters. Established schools for the children ofprinces and nobles, and schools for the people and the children of Protestant parentswere led to see the Roman rites. All the outward pomp displayed in the worship of the Church of Rome was applied to confuse the mind and imagination obfuscate and deceive, for children to betray that liberty for which their parents had worked and bled.The Jesuits rapidly spread throughout Europe and wherever they went, were able to revive the papacy.

To give them more power, a bull was issued re-establishing the Inquisition. Despite the general hatred he inspired, even in Catholic countries, the terrible tribunal was revived by the rulers obedient to the pope, and too terrible for many atrocities committed in the light of day again perpetrated in secret and dark dungeons. In many countries, thousands and thousands of representatives of the cream of the nation, the purest and noblest, the most intelligent and cultured, the most pious and devoted pastors, the more patriotic and industrious citizens, the brightest writers, artists most talented and most skilled artisans, were killed or forced to flee to other lands. (C.S. pp. 249-250)
"With the flight of the Huguenots left France mired in general decline. Flourishing manufacturing cities were ruined, the most fertile districts returned to become vacant, the intellectual torpor and decay of morality followed the remarkable progress that prevailed before. Paris was turned into a vast asylum: ensuring that just before the outbreak of the Revolution two hundred thousand homeless people dependent on relief from the king. Only the Jesuits in the nation prospered fading, and infamous ruled with tyranny over churches and schools, prisons and the galleys. " (C.S. p. 322) 

The counter stimulates contrary interpretations .-

The charge virtually unanimous that the papacy is the antichrist of prophecy accusation by all Protestant groups in all countries, led the Roman Catholic leaders to seek to deflect the finger of blame, and to put out the attention of Protestants of the medieval Catholic system. In this achieved much success. Francisco Ribera and Luis de Alcazar XVI century Spanish Jesuits, rose to the challenge, making interpretations seem reasonable, but contrary to those of the Reformation. Bank argued that the Antichrist was an individual yet to appear, a wicked ruler of Jerusalem who execute their designs the end of time in three years and a half literal. In this had the full support of the great Catholic controversialist, Cardinal Robert Bellarmine. This interpretation places the antichrist in the future, receive fairly futuristic name. This futuristic idea soon became the Roman Catholic usual interpretation as the Antichrist, and is now the most popular among Catholics.
Moreover, Fortress held what was called Preterism, which states that almost all prophecy ended with the fall of the Jewish nation and the destruction of pagan Rome and that the Antichrist was a Roman emperor as Nero, Domitian or Diocletian. The enunciation of these two views, Futurism and Preterism-showed the anomalous spectacle of two opposite and mutually exclusive explanations that emerged from the Catholic Church itself, but achieved their purpose: to confuse the Protestant prophetic interpretation. (CBA Volume 4 p.. 44)

The counter denies that Rome has fallen .-

The pressure of the charge unanimous all Protestant groups, that the Catholic Churchwas the prophesied Antichrist, was keenly felt by the papacy, and resulted incontradictory interpretation of the prophecies during the Counter Reformation andbeyond. Cardinal Bellarmine (d. 162l), the ablest debaters of the Jesuits, to remove from the minds that this prophecy applied to the church of Rome, he argued, based onDan. 2 that the Antichrist could not appear, according to the prophetic claim, until the splitting of the Roman Empire.

He insisted that inspired specification had not yet done, saying the two legs of the giantmetal represented the Eastern Rome and Western Rome, and that when Western Romefell, the leg [part] East still continued, and when he succumbed Eastern Roman Empirein 1453 by then West leg had been restored in the form of the Holy Roman Empire.Therefore, Rome, as he always had a leg to stand, and Rome was divided before the appearance of the antichrist. Thus he insisted that the papacy was the antichrist. (CBAVolume 4 p.. 49)

Conflicts of the Counter Reformation and the post-reform time .-

conflicting interpretations formulated, designed by the Jesuit Francisco Ribera (159l m.) and Luis de Alcazar (c. 1613), which sought to restrict the antichrist to a single individual instead of a system, individuals would dominate for 1,260 literal days instead of 1,260 years. For Bank Antichrist was a future unbelieving Jew, not a Christian, to reign in Jerusalem and not Rome. Bank originated the first Catholic counterattack that became the traditional Catholic position. But in the meantime that Bank projected the antichrist in the future, Alcazar him away into the past, making it an ancient pagan Roman emperor.Ribera was strongly supported in their efforts by Cardinal Robert Bellarmine (d. 1621), who attacked the principle of "days per year", and cut the little horn of Daniel only to the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes, a theory supported over a thousand years before by Porfirio pagan critic. In the post-Reformation times, between 1603 and 1797, there were numerous speakers in Britain, Germany, France and Switzerland. The interpretation of Dan. 7, in accordance with the historical school, the four empires, the ten divisions of Rome, the papacy, symbolized by the little horn, and increasingly precise location of the 1,260 years, was predominant. And those exegetes included some of the most illustrious men of his time, bishops, kings, professors, scientists and theologians. For most of them, no doubt, the papacy was the little horn. (CBA Volume 4 pp. 54-55) 

During the Reformation, which is commonly considered that began in 1517 when Lutherplaced the Ninety-five Theses, "the papal power was removed from large areas ofnorthern Europe. Efforts to combat the Reformation papacy were achieved through thecreation of the Inquisition, the Index and the organization of the Jesuit order. The Jesuitsbecame the intellectual and spiritual army of the church for the extermination of Protestantism. For nearly three centuries the Roman church conducted a vigorousstruggle gradually lost against the forces that fought for civil and religious liberty. (CBAVolume 4 p.. 864)

The Catholic Counter-Reformation - The Jesuits .-

Protestantism forced the Catholic Church to redefine its theology, to reorganize as a church and to evaluate new methods of action. The Jesuits, the result of Spanish Catholicism, were more active instrument in the Counter. The Catholics had developed a tremendous patriotic and religious fanaticism in its fight against the Moors. In the sixteenth century Spain had become the most important nation in the world and sought to establish the Spanish royal absolutism in politics and religion.

Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) was particularly active and effective in pursuing the latter goal. The founder of the Jesuit order began as a soldier. He was wounded in 1521 at the Battle of Pamplona, abandoned his military career, he decided to become a soldier dedicated to the pope and specialize in the elimination of enemies of the church. After experiencing the anguish of infighting, the pope offered his services to spread the Catholic faith and suppress heresy. He founded the Society of Jesus in Montmartre, Paris, in 1534. This was approved by Pope Paul III in 1540, by the Bull Regimini militantis Ecclesiae. The Jesuits pronounce the customary monastic vows, and do a particular vote of obedience to the pope. The order was founded on the principle of a complete renunciation of individual opinion and acceptance of military discipline. Loyola wrote a treatise, Spiritual Exercises, which indicates how the individual's will can and must undergo and how each person should submit completely to the will of his superior, which portrays Christ. This principle is opposed to the Protestant idea that the individual should only obey their conscience enlightened by the Scriptures, which are the supreme authority in matters of faith.

The Jesuits were able to restore the confidence of German Catholics. Infiltrating  schoolsand took the lead in all major companies. Statesmen also influenced by a Machiavellian opportunism and fostered the idea of mental reservation. Should be considered asinstigators of many actions against the Protestants, as the Massacre of St. Bartholomew and the great crisis in Germany that culminated in the Thirty Years War(1618-1648). The Jesuits proved to be an army that made it possible for the Church apply their methods of absolute authority and centralize all power in the papacy.

The Council of Trent .- 

The pope feared that meet a council of the church, but the Emperor Charles V urged himto convene a council, it still had the ambition to achieve political and religious unity. The council, which was organized in 1542 in Trento, Italy imperial city, met intermittently from 1545 to 1563. The council should have taken place before, many areas had requested such a meeting, and even Luther at the beginning of her reform had asked for aconvening of that class. When Pope Paul III convened the council, had feared that political pressure, it was reassuring to the precedent of the reforming councils of the fifteenth century. But the Jesuits offered effective assistance. Charles V, hoping that the problem of German unity was solved, called princes had a representation of Protestants and Catholics. But the pope from the beginning was interested only in doctrines that it wished to define as opposed to Protestant views set forth in the Augsburg Confessionin 1530.

In the first period (1545-1547) defined the Catholic doctrine as a response to Protestant views. At first dominated by Spanish Dominicans, disciples of Thomas Aquinas, butwere soon displaced by the Jesuits. He decreed that the source of truth is in the Bible and also in the tradition. This empowered the church to interpret the Bible any way. In the definition of justification is confirmed divine grace as basic education, but also retained the doctrine of the merit of good works. It taught that man cooperates with God's grace by free will, but the good works increase the possibility of justification. The justification,he said, depends on the sacraments, which are means of salvation, and begins with baptism, the first of the sacraments. Increases with the confirmation and the Eucharist,and if lost, may recover by penance and auricular confession.

In the second session of the council (1551-1552) the emperor demanded that the protesters involved in the discussions, but Protestant influence was so weak in the first phase of the council was not taken into account, however, when Pope Julius III opened this council, it seemed that there could be a basis of agreement between the two faiths.But the emperor's desire to have union was unexpectedly canceled by the retirement of Maurice of Saxony, who left the emperor to serve the Protestant cause. This forced theruler away suddenly from the Council of Trent and also ended any involvement of Protestants in the council.

The Council of Trent resumed its activities after ten years of interruption, and entered itsthird period (1562-1563). Meanwhile, Protestantism was firmly rooted in Germany and had been officially recognized in the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. In the Catholic sectorJesuits had re-emphasized in the methods of the Inquisition, and much discussed the sensitive issue of episcopal power. From then on it was established that the main dogma is the church hierarchy divinely instituted and divinely preserved. The ordinary Catholic priest should be allowed to be his guide, his "spiritual guide. " An influential leader, Cardinal Borromeo in Milan, specializing in religious education, urged seminaries were founded.

The council said religious institutions, especially the following basics: (1) the pope, inwhose hands lies the power of the church, as vicar of Christ, (2) the only text in the Bible that was accepted was the Latin text (the Vulgate ), but not within reach of the laity, (3)the seven sacraments. In addition to be built seminaries, and established the Congregation of the Index to examine all printed materials to protect Catholic orthodoxy against harmful publications. (CBA Volume 7 pp. 69-70)

The Jesuits were prominent in the art of transforming the so-called deadly sins into venial sins carried to the extreme "mental reservation" and using confusing language (amphibological). Went so far as to say that one can go against their conscience while you are at your disposal a "probable opinion." The Master of probability was the Spanish Jesuit Antonio de Escobar (1589-1669). Even the papacy condemned his ideas, and, therefore, in 1687 Escobar formally repudiated his own teachings on the probabilistic approach, but continued teaching them otherwise. The most serious enemies of the Jesuits were the Jansenists, who returned to the Augustinian notion of salvation by grace. The founder of Jansenism was a Dutch professor of Louvain, Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638). Closely followed the teachings of Augustine, whose works he had read thirty times. Jansen was particularly attracted to the teaching of Augustine on grace that he had written in their fight against the Pelagians. In his book Augustinus, Jansen taught that the grace of God is the only means of salvation. He supported the doctrine of double predestination: men are predestined to either salvation or damnation. But the Jesuits insisted on the doctrine that man through his free will cooperate in their own salvation and redemption makes its own greatly. The center of Jansenism in France was PortRoyal Abbey, near Paris, where they lived in accordance with the ideas of Jansen a number of notables as Nicole, the Arnauld, Du Vergier, the prior of San Cyrano, and especially the brilliant physicist and mathematician Blaise Pascal (1623-1662).

Pascal was proposed to stigmatize and to reveal the fallacious reasoning of the casuistry of the Jesuits. In his Provincial Letters (the first of which appeared in 1656),published in sixty editions by his brilliant and somewhat ironic invective, Pascal deftly refuted the Jesuit system. He also began writing a defense of Christianity from the perspective of a scientist, but death surprised him while he was still relatively young. His notes and annotations for this work were published as Pensées (Thoughts), which has remained a master of fine and apologies of Christianity.

As for the Jesuits, their activities included many fields. They did so even suggesting Machiavellian methods in public finance, trade and politics. The result was a deepresentment, and soon the Jesuits felt the opposition of several governments. This religious order was expelled from Portugal in 1759, France in 1764, and Naples in 1767. In 1773 Pope Clement XIV suspended the order, but his successor was quick torestore. (CBA Volume 7 pp. 76-77)

Ecumenism promoted by the Jesuits, an achievement that Protestants make their views on Prophecy.

The Protestant Reformers argued that the papal system was the prophesied Antichrist, described by the many symbols of the little horn of Daniel, the man of sin and the mystery of iniquity of Paul and the beast and the harlot Babylon described by John, etc. .Two wily Jesuits opposed the argument that the Antichrist was not a system that pretended to be Christian and covering the Middle Ages, but a single individual.According to Francisco Ribera, the Antichrist was a Jew in the distant future, to reign in Jerusalem. Or, as Luis de Alcazar, a last pagan Roman emperor who ruled during the early centuries. In this way the Catholic Church completely eliminated the Antichrist in the Middle Ages. The acceptance of either view, effectively counteract the prevailing concepts of Protestantism.
Over time, these interpretations were adopted by the vast majority of Protestants who probably did not know this background Jesuit. Most fundamentalists have adopted the argument Bank futuristic: the beast, the Antichrist is a vicious tyrant and atheist who will appear and perform their you date in Jerusalem at the end of time in a span of 3 l / 2 literal years. Futurism thus places most of the book of Revelation in the "end times." But the modernists largely accepted the preterist view of Alcazar, identifying the Antichrist as a beast tracker Roman emperor in a distant past, and apply all the book of Revelation to the early Christian era. So that modern Protestantism has abandoned generally divided the clear teaching of the Protestant reformers as the Antichrist, and accepted interpretations based on either of these two views, which are mutually exclusive and were sponsored by the Catholic Counter . (CBA Volume 7 p.. 109)