Rome's Counter-Reformation Tactics #6 Indoctrination - Baroque Art

Over the centuries, since 1517, Rome has employed many different tactics and strategies. Sometimes she has been like a ravenous wild beast devouring all before her. At other times she has been as subtle as the devil himself in administering the wine of her fornication to deceive gullible Protestants. All with the aim of destroying and reversing the Protestant Reformation.

Strategy Six - Indoctrination - Baroque Art.
Romanism decided at the time of the Council of Trent that the 'Arts' should be employed to combat the spread of Protestant truth. Included in the degrees of the Council of Trent were pronouncements on the use of the 'Arts' for religious purposes. After all, the Catholic Church was a leading 'Arts' patron across much of Europe. Areas where Catholicism predominated, such as, architecture and painting, and to a lesser extent music, would be used to reflect Counter-Reformation goals.

The 'Arts' it was degreed should therefore propagate the beliefs and practices of the Church. To the fore in this strategy were individuals such as Ignatius of Loyola, Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, Francis de Sales and Philip Neri.

'Catholic Biblical Art' was therefore developed to highlight the theological differences between Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, by focusing on the mysteries of the faith, as well as the roles of the Virgin Mary and the Saints.

Rome's Counter-Reformation Tactics #5 Insurgence Part 3

Over the centuries, since 1517, Rome has employed many different tactics and strategies. Sometimes  has been like a ravenous wild beast devouring all before her. At other times she has been as subtle as the devil himself in administering the wine of her fornication to deceive gullible Protestants. All with the aim of destroying and reversing the Protestant Reformation.

Strategy Five - Insurgence - cont'd

Part Three - The Catholic Conspiracies Against Queen Elizabeth I

Queen Elizabeth I was possibly England’s greatest monarch. She came to the throne of a country deeply divided, economically bankrupt and devastated by the persecutions and oppression of her half sister, Bloody Mary Tudor.

Rome's Counter-Reformation Tactics #5 Insurgence Part 2

Over the centuries, since 1517, Rome has employed many different tactics and strategies. Sometimes she has been like a ravenous wild beast devouring all before her. At other times she has been as subtle as the devil himself in administering the wine of her fornication to deceive gullible Protestants. All with the aim of destroying and reversing the Protestant Reformation.

Strategy Five - Insurgence -

Part Two - The Netherlands and England up to the days of Bloody Mary.

The Netherlands - Reformation truth had come down the Rhine from Germany in those heady days of Luther and was received with great fervour by the people. Later it was Calvinistic doctrine that was believed and practiced more than Lutheranism.

Rome's Counter-Reformation Tactics #5 Insurgence Part 1

Over the centuries, since 1517, Rome has employed many different tactics and strategies. Sometimes she has been like a ravenous wild beast devouring all before her. At other times she has been as subtle as the devil himself in administering the wine of her fornication to deceive gullible Protestants. All with the aim of destroying and reversing the Protestant Reformation.

The tactics and strategies which Rome has employed over the centuries are:

#5. Insurgence - To counter the Protestant Reformation Rome turned to the use of political and military force. Where natives in new lands in South America or people in European nations needed "convincing" to become Catholic or to return to Catholicism, Catholic rulers such as Phillip II of Spain and later the Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II, used political and even military coercion, either to enforce Catholicism on all in a given area or to force those who wanted to remain Protestant to leave altogether. 

There were the religious wars in Europe, including what was known as The Thirty Years war. There were numerous Catholic Conspiracies against Protestant nations including England and particularly Queen Elizabeth I, 1558–1580. 

Across Europe from 1560-1715 there was the Age of Religious Wars. It is reckoned that between 1560 and 1715, Europe witnessed only thirty years of any semblance of peace. Romanism was being threatened on every hand, not only by the doctrines of Lutheranism but also by those of Calvinism. Biblical truth was spreading even into Catholic nations and Rome was not happy. Her answer was to wage war to the death upon Protestants, in Germany, Bohemia, France, Netherlands, England and Scotland.

Rome's Counter-Reformation Tactics #4 Invention - The Index of Forbidden Books

Over the centuries, since 1517, Rome has employed many different tactics and strategies. Sometimes she has been like a ravenous wild beast devouring all before her. At other times she has been as subtle as the devil himself in administering the wine of her fornication to deceive gullible Protestants. All with the aim of destroying and reversing the Protestant Reformation.

The tactics and strategies which Rome has employed over the centuries are:

#4. Invention - In seeking to combat the spread of Reformation teaching the Papacy created the ‘Index of Prohibited Books’, known in Latin as the ‘Index Librorum Prohibitorum’.  This index listed the books which Romanism would not allow to be read or circulated, wherever she had any influence. Included on this list of forbidden books, as you can imagine, was the Bible in the common language of the people.

The aim of the list of forbidden books was to protect the faith and morals of the faithful by preventing the reading of theologically, culturally, and politically disruptive books.

The Index of Prohibited Books existed for over four hundred years. The index was only cancelled by Pope Paul VI as recently as 14th June 1966.

In addition to the Inquisition, the Catholic Church tried to find other ways to stop the spread of the Protestant movement. Much to the dismay of the Church, Gutenberg’s printing press had made Luther’s criticism and so-called heretical statements more readily available. 

To a great extent it was due to the fact that Luther’s 95 Thesis, having been initially written in Latin, were taken down and translated into German and then printed and circulated widely that made the Protestant ideas so very difficult to contain. Rome greatly feared the outcome if the circulation of the Truth continued.

Rome's Counter-Reformation Tactics #3 Intransigence - The Council of Trent

Over the centuries, since 1517, Rome has employed many different tactics and strategies. Sometimes she has been like a ravenous wild beast devouring all before her. At other times she has been as subtle as the devil himself in administering the wine of her fornication to deceive gullible Protestants. All with the aim of destroying and reversing the Protestant Reformation.

The tactics and strategies which Rome has employed over the centuries are:

#3. Intransigence

Pope Paul III initiated The Council of Trent as an act of intransigence and defiance to the teaching of the Reformers. The Council of Trent [depicted] has been described as the embodiment of the Counter-Reformation. It met over the years 1545 - 1563. It actually sat in session during the years 1545-1547, 1551-1552, 1562-1563.

Its purpose was to reaffirm Catholic teaching. In doing so the Council of Trent issued condemnations of what it defined to be ‘heresies’ committed by Protestantism. In addition key statements and clarifications were issued stating the Church's position on various doctrines including that of Scripture, the Canon of Scripture, Sacred Tradition, Original Sin, Justification, Salvation, The Sacraments, The Mass and the Veneration of Saints.

Rome's Counter-Reformation Tactics #2 Inquisition

Over the centuries, since 1517, Rome has employed many different tactics and strategies. Sometimes she has been like a ravenous wild beast devouring all before her. At other times she has been as subtle as the devil himself in administering the wine of her fornication to deceive gullible Protestants. All with the aim of destroying and reversing the Protestant Reformation.

The tactics and strategies which Rome has employed over the centuries are:

#2. Inquisition - The office of the Inquisition was re-established in 1542. Its purpose was to persecute, even unto death, those who disagreed with the doctrines and traditions of the Roman Church. The Inquisition was a bloody attempt to crush the faith of Protestants. Ten of thousands of Protestants were put to death as a result of the Inquisition.

The use of the Inquisition is one of the more infamous methods used to stop the spread of Protestantism. The Inquisition was a tribunal, or court hearing, designed to suppress heresy. These heresy trials had begun in Spain in 1479, under Ferdinand V and Isabella.

Pope Paul III established the Roman Inquisition in 1542 at the suggestion of Cardinal Caraffa, who had witnessed the effectiveness of the Spanish Inquisition in suppressing dissent. Thus a new agency of obedience was created, namely the Roman Inquisition.

Rome's Counter-Reformation Tactics #1 Institution - The Jesuits

Over the centuries, since 1517, Rome has employed many different tactics and strategies. Sometimes she has been like a ravenous wild beast devouring all before her. At other times she has been as subtle as the devil himself in administering the wine of her fornication to deceive gullible Protestants. All with the aim of destroying and reversing the Protestant Reformation.

The tactics and strategies which Rome has employed over the centuries are:

#1 Institution - The Jesuits
The Order of the Jesuits was instituted in 1540 to counter the teachings and influence of Protestantism. The Jesuits were the Gestapo of Rome. They form the secret army of the Papacy. Their purpose is quite simple. The Jesuits seek to convert the world to Roman Catholicism. And in order to achieve this goal, they have not hesitated to use every means, both fair and foul. They have not hesitated to lie, cheat, commit murder, or use revolution, if need be, to further their aims. At the very top of their priorities has always been the destruction of Protestantism.

The Jesuits were founded by a Basque nobleman called Ignatius of Loyola. He was a soldier who turned to be a priest after a French cannonball mangled his leg in Pamplona in 1521. They were first known as ‘the Company of Jesus’ from 1534. It was not until 1540 that the society secured papal approval. Ignatius of Loyola and six of his students took vows of poverty and chastity. They wanted to travel to the Holy Land but as this was not possible because of the Turkish wars, they travelled to Rome and offered their services to the pope for apostolic work. At Rome Ignatius [pictured] knelt at the feet of the Pope in September 1540 and received from Pope Paul III the charter of the Jesuits. The Jesuits would combine the ideas of traditional monastic discipline with a dedication to teaching, preaching and proselyting.

The Jesuit order went on to play an infamous role in the Counter-Reformation and eventually succeeded in converting millions around the world to Catholicism.

Rome's Counter-Reformation Tactics

Rome’s response to the Protestant Reformation was swift, brutal and lasting. Instead of acknowledging the truth of what Luther and others were saying about the corruptions and false teaching prevalent in the Roman Church, the Church hierarchy responded with what has become known in history as ‘The Counter-Reformation’. ‘The Counter-Reformation’ was a long and bloody war waged against the truths rediscovered by the Reformers and against those who received and taught these truths.

This Counter-Reformation is usually understood to have begun during the papal reign of Pope Paul III, who held the office of the Papal See from 1534-1549. This Counter-Reformation continued on for years, and in truth is still continuing at the present time in various guises. Romanism, to this day, is still working to counter the effects of the Protestant Reformation.

Over the centuries, since 1517, Rome has employed many different tactics and strategies. Sometimes she has been like a ravenous wild beast devouring all before her. At other times she has been as subtle as the devil himself in administering the wine of her fornication to deceive gullible Protestants. All with the aim of destroying and reversing the Protestant Reformation.

The tactics and strategies which Rome has employed over the centuries are: