Dissent and Reformation: Remembering the Martyrs
Now that we have passed the recent and much deserved recognition of the Reformation anniversary a few months ago, it is important that we recognize as Christians another important view of our Christian roots that extend back far before Luther and the rest of the Reformers. Although Luther and other Reformers helped establish some clear doctrinal tenets that remain fixed features of biblical Christianity today, they were certainly not alone in their efforts to stand for Biblical truth in the face of a morally and doctrinally corrupted church. In brief terms, Christendom has historically been plagued by two opposing views of the church. One is that of historical Catholicism and the Reformers, which believed that the Church and the State co-exist to support and extend each other in perpetuity. This union began with the Roman emperor Constantine who believed that God had given him and Rome victory over his enemy by seeing the sign of the cross of Christ in a vision at the battle of Mi