Protest of the Princes: The origin of the term Protestant dates back to the Diet of Spiers in 1529 where a collection of Princes led a Protest. The courage and faith of these men provided for others liberty of thought and conscience at a time when the crisis hitting the church could have had a negative impact.

<p>Protest of the Princes: The origin of the term Protestant dates back to the Diet of Spiers in 1529 where a collection of Princes led a Protest. The courage and faith of these men provided for others liberty of thought and conscience at a time when the crisis hitting the church could have had a negative impact.</p>

Lineage Journey

Adam Ramdin

The Great Controversy

01 The Destruction of Jerusalem

02 Persecution in the First Centuries

03 An Era of Spiritual Darkness

04 The Waldenses

05 John Wycliffe

06 Huss and Jerome

07 Luther’s Separation from Rome

08 Luther Before the Diet

09 The Swiss Reformer

10 Progress of Reform in Germany

11 Protest of the Princes

12 The French Reformation

13 The Netherlands & Scandinavia

14 Later English Reformers

15 The Bible & The French Revolution

16 The Pilgrim Fathers

17 Heralds of The Morning

18 An American Reformer

19 Light Through Darkness

20 A Great Religious Awakening

21 A Warning Rejected

22 Prophecies Fulfilled

23 What is the Sanctuary?

24 In the Holy of Holies

25 God’s Law Immutable

27 Modern Revivals

28 Facing Life’s Record

29 The Origin of Evil

30 Enmity Between Man and Satan

31 Agency of Evil Spirits

32 Snares of Satan

33 The First Great Deception

34 Can Our Dead Speak to Us?

35 Liberty of Conscience Threatened

36 The Impending Conflict


The First Day of the New Testament Episode 1 The First Day of the New Testament In 1529 the Second Diet of Spires convened right here. The first was in 1526, which gave each state full liberty in religious affairs. In 1529 all the German princes gathered here, along with representatives of the church. The church's desire was to crush out the heresy of the Reformation, first by peaceable means, but using full force if needed. How did the Reformation work?

1 thing that was proposed was a halt on conversion. The states that sided with the Reformation would stay that way, and the ones that did not would stay as they were. If this edict was to be enforced, then the Reformation could not be extended where it was not yet known, neither could it be established on a solid foundation where it had started. The key issue at stake was liberty of conscience. As they met to discuss what they would do with this proposal, key issues for the world lay on the table.

Did Rome have the right to coerce conscience and forbid free inquiry? Why did they do this? As they looked back at the recent history and saw the great sacrifice that many had made to get to this point, and they contrasted this with the major restriction on civil liberties that was proposed, the princes said, "'Let us reject this decree. In matters of conscience, the majority has no power.'" [♪ music ♪ They saw the state's role was to protect liberty of conscience, and that this was also the limit of its role in religious matters. In their response they used the word protest, and it's from here where we get the term Protestantism today.

But it's important for us to understand the background of that term to know what a Protestant truly is. What is Protestantism? They said that the principles contained in this protest contained the essence of Protestantism. They opposed the abuse of man in 2 areas of faith. Firstly, the intrusion of the civil magistrate, and secondly, the arbitrary authority of the Church.

Instead of this, Protestantism puts the power of the conscience above the civil magistrate and the authority of God's Word over the visible Church. They rejected civil power in divine things, encouraging people, as in the Book of Acts, to obey God rather than men. They understood that it was the role of the state to protect civil liberties and not to prescribe religious actions to the masses. In our day and age, there is a wide departure from this great Protestant principle, the Bible and the Bible only as the rule of faith and duty. There is a need for us to have the same unswerving adherence to the Word of God as was manifested at this crisis of the Reformation.

Had these princes buckled under pressure and sought to enjoy the success they had achieved thus far in order to secure favor with the authorities, the movement would have been destroyed. They understood that there were greater issues at hand, and believers around the world since that time have enjoyed the benefits of their resolute stand. While the name of Martin Luther is well known throughout the world and the name of these princes is much less known, their place in history is nonetheless vital. May we truly understand what it means to be a Protestant, the authority of God's Word, and the power of the conscience in religious matters. ♪♪ ♪♪ You you

Series

The Great Controversy

11 Protest of the Princes

Description

Parent Series

Sponsor

Recorded

Other Teachings in Series

01 The Destruction of Jerusalem

02 Persecution in the First Centuries

03 An Era of Spiritual Darkness

04 The Waldenses

05 John Wycliffe

06 Huss and Jerome

07 Luther’s Separation from Rome

08 Luther Before the Diet

09 The Swiss Reformer

10 Progress of Reform in Germany

11 Protest of the Princes

12 The French Reformation

13 The Netherlands & Scandinavia

14 Later English Reformers

15 The Bible & The French Revolution

16 The Pilgrim Fathers

17 Heralds of The Morning

18 An American Reformer

19 Light Through Darkness

20 A Great Religious Awakening

21 A Warning Rejected

22 Prophecies Fulfilled

23 What is the Sanctuary?

24 In the Holy of Holies

25 God’s Law Immutable

27 Modern Revivals

28 Facing Life’s Record

29 The Origin of Evil

30 Enmity Between Man and Satan

31 Agency of Evil Spirits

32 Snares of Satan

33 The First Great Deception

34 Can Our Dead Speak to Us?

35 Liberty of Conscience Threatened

36 The Impending Conflict

Sound Doctrine