The French Revolution was the first time that a major nation declared that God did not exist and formally rejected the Bible. The impact of this has reverberated around the the world since. Who or what a individual or society accepts as the foundation for truth and the basis of authority is the bigger issue that still impacts us today.

<p>The French Revolution was the first time that a major nation declared that God did not exist and formally rejected the Bible. The impact of this has reverberated around the the world since. Who or what a individual or society accepts as the foundation for truth and the basis of authority is the bigger issue that still impacts us today.</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 Protestant Reformation Chapter 4 The First Crusade During the 16th century the Protestant Reformation made great strides in various countries in Europe such as Germany, Switzerland, England, Scotland, and across Scandinavia, but here in France it struggled to get going. There were great reformers who were French, such as John Calvin, but by and large the Catholic Church was able to stay as the dominant power and throughout the 15th, 16th, and 1700s the Protestants were persecuted. 1 example of this is St. Bartholomew's Massacre, where many thousands of Protestants were killed. How did the population grow?

Throughout the early 1700s Europe's economy expanded, which also led to population growth with it almost doubling during this time. The French population grew the most, going from 16 to 28 million, meaning it was the largest and most populated country in Europe at the time. However, by the end of the 1700s the French economy took a hit. There were several factors to these. Among them was a crop failure and also a financial drain from France's heavy and prolonged involvement in the American Revolution.

How did the French get involved in the American Revolution? Another contributing factor was the departure of the Huguenots in 1685 after many of their rights as citizens were taken away. These persecuted Protestants contributed significantly to the economy and their absence was a huge loss. At the time, Protestants and Jews were denied full state rights. Unemployment was also at an all-time high, and the gap between the rich and the poor continued to widen.

Distrust in the church was also very high, and with a huge disparity between the classes, it eventually exploded into a full-on revolt against all those in authority, both the ruling classes and also those in religious authority. What is the age of enlightenment? The Age of Enlightenment and the scientific revolution led by men like Voltaire, Descartes, and Rousseau, among others, led to a suspicion of the Church and distrust in religion in general. This was because France, more than any other country during the Reformation, was able to suppress the reading of the Bible. The Catholic Church retained a stranglehold on French society that the Reformation never had the chance to break.

How did the Bible break? The suppression of the Bible in France during the French Revolution was prophesied in Revelation chapter 11, which says that the 2 witnesses, which contextually are the Old and New Testament, will be clothed in sackcloth, a reference to the Bible being sidelined and disregarded. Revelation 11 goes on to say that a beast would ascend out of the bottomless pit. In Bible prophecy, a beast means a nation or a kingdom, and this 1 would arise at the end of the 1260-year prophecy around the year 1798. Revelation 11 goes on to say that the great city is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt.

Why is Egypt called Sodom and Egypt? Egypt is a common reference to atheism in the Bible, for no other nation so blatantly defied God. Exodus 5 verse 2 says, Who is Jehovah that I should obey him? Sodom is a common reference to sexual immorality. We see both of these characteristics come to pass here in France when starting in 1793, for the first time an assembly of educated men governing 1 of the largest nations in Europe, sitting in the building behind me, unanimously renounced belief and worship of a deity.

Every nation has had their fair share of atheists, but France stands alone as a state which declared there is no God. 🎵 Music 🎵 Worship of the deity was abolished by the National Assembly. Bibles were collected and burned. An attempt was made to abolish the seven-day weekly cycle, which goes back to creation, and replace it with a ten-day week in 1793. This, however, did not work.

The revolution officially started in 1789 with the storming of the Bastille on July the 14th. The Bastille used to stand here, but was destroyed during the revolution as the old regime was overthrown. [♪ music ♪ During the revolution, the National Convention was the government that formed in place of the monarchy and was the first French government organized as a republic replacing the monarchy altogether. The long-standing King and Queen of France at the time, King Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, were killed along with thousands of others here in this square, the Place de la Concorde. They were killed by the guillotine.

The church and the monarchy were rejected and religious views were replaced by reason and scientific thought. Church lands were expropriated and given to the church. Priests were either killed or forced to leave the country. A festival of reason was held in Notre Dame, which was renamed the Temple of Reason. [♪ music ♪ The French Revolution is a vivid episode of history where we see the great controversy between Christ and Satan, good and evil, play out.

The legacy of the French revolution lives on, with atheistic belief common here in Europe and around the world. But in contrast, the legacy of the Bible lives on. As the Bible was outlawed and sidelined here in France, the French philosopher Voltaire proclaimed, I am tired of hearing people repeat that 12 men established a Christian religion. I will prove that 1 man may suffice to overthrow it. [♪ music ♪ Many have lived and died since him.

Millions have joined the war against the Bible, but it still stands strong today, and the gospel lives on. May we remember the words of Isaiah 54, No weapon formed against me shall prosper. And Isaiah 40, verse 8, The word of our God shall stand forever. The Bible has long outlived the French Revolution and its relevance is still paramount today across ages, societies, and cultures. May we treasure it and let its light shine in our lives and in our communities that Jesus may be uplifted and seen.

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Series

The Great Controversy

15 The Bible & The French Revolution

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Parent Series

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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

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