“The star or angel to the Church of Thyatira was Peter Waldo, a rich merchant of Lyons in southern France. Approximately A.D. 1157 several of the principal citizens of Lyons were conversing together on various matters, as was customary in Italy and France during the summer. Suddenly one of them fell to the ground and expired.

This awful occurrence, an example of the mortality of man and a vivid reminder of the death penalty upon the human race, terrified one of the men, namely, Peter Waldo, a man of great wealth. He began to reflect; impelled no doubt by the Holy Spirit, he resolved to repent, amend his life, and be more diligent in the fear of God. As a result, he started to distribute alms liberally; and when opportunities arose, he discussed goodness with the members of his household and others who came to him, admonishing them to repent and strive for true godliness.

Waldo continued for some time to help the poor and became increasingly zealous to learn as well as teach. As people brought questions to him more and more, he began to expound on the Holy Scriptures in the common French language. Being extremely desirous for the advancement of true piety and Christian knowledge, he employed a priest called Stephanus de Evisa to translate the four Gospels and other books of Holy Writ from Latin into French.

By carefully perusing these sacred books, Waldo realized the religion of the Roman Church differed from that originally inculcated by Christ and his apostles. Struck with the glaring contradictions between the doctrines of the pontiffs and the truths of the gospel, and animated with zeal, he abandoned his mercantile vocation and distributed his riches among the poor (whence the Waldenses were called the poor men of Lyons). He formed an association with other pious men of similar sentiment and devotion, and began to preach publicly and teach the multitude the doctrines and precepts of Christianity, seeking to revive primitive pureness of living in the Church.

The bishop and the prelates, who claimed to have the keys of heaven but did not go in themselves or allow others to enter, were greatly vexed that this “unlearned” and common man should bring the Holy Scriptures into the vernacular language and ex- pound upon them (Matt. 23:13). Already great numbers were gathering at Waldo’s house for instruction and admonition.

Thus, hundreds of years before the Reformation, the Waldenses possessed the Bible in manuscript form in their native tongue. Having the unadulterated truth rendered them special objects of hatred and persecution. However, the purity and simplicity of those who followed “this way,” the innocence that shone forth in their lives and actions, and their contempt of riches and honor were so conspicuous in their conduct and conversation that all who had a true sense of piety and a love for righteousness were sympathetic.

The Waldenses aimed to reduce the form of ecclesiastical government and the manners of both the clergy and the people to the simplicity and primitive sanctity that characterized the apostolic Church. They denied the supremacy of the Roman pontiff and maintained that ministers of the Church were obliged to imitate the poverty of the apostles and procure their own sustenance. To a certain degree, they considered every Christian qualified and authorized to instruct, exhort, and confirm the brethren in their Christian course. At the same time, they affirmed that confession to priests was not necessary, since the humble offender could acknowledge his sins and testify his repentance to any true believer, and thus receive appropriate counsel and admonition (James 5:16).

They maintained that the power of delivering sinners from the guilt and punishment of their offenses belonged to God alone; they claimed that the remission of sins was obtained through the merits of the Lord Jesus only and that indulgences were a criminal invention to satisfy the avarice of a false and greedy Church.

Prayers and other ceremonies instituted in behalf of the dead were regarded as vain, useless, and absurd; the existence of departed souls in an intermediate state of purification was denied. Several of the Waldenses even denied the obligation of infant baptism, and rejected image worship as idolatry.

They resisted the papal doctrines of invocation of saints, worship of the Virgin Mary, transubstantiation, celibacy of the clergy, and the mass; they discountenanced pilgrimages, festivals, the burning of incense, sacred burial, the use of holy water, sacerdotal vestments, and monasticism; and they asserted that the teaching of the sacred Scriptures should be received instead of the traditions and claims of the Church of Rome.

They identified the Church of Rome as the apostate Babylon of the Apocalypse and resisted her corruption at the peril of their lives (Rev. 17:5). Under the pressure of long-continued persecution, some gradually compromised their faith, yielding its distinctive principles; others held fast the truth.

Long before the days of Martin Luther, the faith and works of this people were a stand for reformation and a protest against error. Their doctrines, backed by simplicity and morality, shone out with great luster in contrast to the pompous pride and flagrant immoralities of the then-exalted Papacy.

Waldo and his followers became so obnoxious to the Church of Rome that they were anathematized by Pope Innocent III, who determined to crush out the heresy, to “exterminate the whole pestilential race.” No longer safe in Lyons, the Waldenses took refuge in Alpine mountains and caves. Their doctrines traveled with them, flowing all over Europe. Waldo finally settled in Bohemia, where he died in 1179, the same year in which his tenets were denounced by an ecumenical council. The Waldensian Church was a beacon light on the mountains during the Dark Ages.” (The Keys of Revelation, Page 52-55)

In our next post we will take a look at the Forth Seal.