It’s become popular for protestant groups to claim some earlier historical status than the Reformation. In reality, all of the current protestant sects come from the Reformation and simply broke off further at one time or another. But this isn’t satisfying, is it? So these churches try to claim a much earlier birth that makes them seem older and more long-lasting.
In my Southern Baptist days I had a pastor who would claim that the early church was exactly like the Southern Baptist church (we were restoring how church should be). Of course, even a surface reading of the Acts will tell you that that is clearly not true. The newest claim I’m hearing goes back to the twelfth century and a group called the Waldenses (earlier claims that they were formed during the reign of Constantine have been proven false). This is from a Christian school in my area:
Our logo, the open Bible, the lighted candle and the seven stars above is inspired by and gives tribute to an early group of Christian "faithful ones" known as the Waldenses. They were what we might call pre-Reformation Protestants who were seeking to be pure or faithful to the Lord in the practice of their faith. Tradition tells us of their existence and struggles before the 1100's in the northwestern Italian Alps, but certainly by the 1100's they are present as witnessed by their Confession of 1120 called "the Noble Lesson", and the coming of a lay leader Peter Waldo of Lyon around 1170 from whom they derive their present name. In their effort to be faithful they were compelled to reject a number of practices of the Roman Catholic Church, and adopt others more consistent with their understanding of the Bible. These changes were similar to what the later reformers would make but many years ahead of them, which gives their present relatives reason to claim that "the Waldensian Church is the oldest evangelical church in existence, predating the Reformation by at least 400 years". However, because of this and possibly due to their nearness to Rome they became targets of cruel and unrelenting "mass persecutions, which began in the 1200s and continued intermittently for the next 500 years, up to the 1700s. The Waldensian population was almost totally exterminated during those terrible years". It was not until 1848 that they were granted religious and civil liberties.
Sounds exciting, doesn’t it? A church that predates the Reformation by 400 years.
Who were the Waldenses?
Of course, if you claim to be part of a group, you should accept the groups teaching, right? So it’s important to understand what the Waldenses taught so we can know whether they really were “pre-Reformation Protestants” as the text claims. What did the Waldenses believe?
Started by a man named Waldes in northern Italy, the Waldenses focused on Matthew 19:21 as a way to heaven (“If thou wilt be perfect, go sell what thou hast, and give to the poor.”). He sold everything and took a vow of poverty and soon attracted followers. The issue with the Waldenses begins here: they began preaching publicly and they weren’t teaching Christianity. They had no theological training and were not well educated, so they had a tendency to pull single passages from Scripture and use them to create doctrine (some suggest that the Waldenses only had a portion of the New Testament translated for their studies, so they didn’t have the whole of Scripture to understand some of the issues raised). Among other things, they believed:
- Lying was a very serious sin
- You should never take an oath
- War was always wrong
- Purgatory did not exist
- Marriage was bad (those who entered the Waldenses dissolved their marriage immediately)
- The Sacraments depended upon the holiness of the minister
This last one I want to point out in particular. Catholics believe that the Sacraments come from God, not man. So they man performing the Sacrament, once he is ordained by God, cannot negatively affect the Sacrament’s functioning in your life. The Waldenses believed that a priest who was a sinner (which all are) has imperfect Sacraments, so you should seek the holiest priest you could find.
The Waldenses outside of the above mirrored the Catholic church and clergy. They did believe in the Sacraments, although they limited the Eucharist to once a year. They also strongly emphasized the need for good works as part of our personal salvation. In fact, this is their profession of faith:
In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and of the Blessed and Ever-Virgin Mary. Be it noted by all the faithful that I, Valdesius, and all my brethren, standing before the Holy Gospels, do declare that we believe with all our hearts, having been grasped by faith, that we profess openly that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are three Persons, one God....We firmly believe and explicitly declare that the incarnation of the Divinity did not take place in the Father and the Holy Spirit, but solely in the Son, so that he who was the divine Son of God the Father was also true man from his Mother.
We believe one Church, Catholic, Holy, Apostolic and Immaculate, apart from which no one can be saved, and in the sacraments therein administered through the invisible and incomprehensible power of the Holy Spirit, sacraments which may be rightly administered by a sinful priest....
We firmly believe in the judgment to come and in the fact that each man will receive reward or punishment according to what he has done in this flesh. We do not doubt the fact that alms, sacrifice, and other charitable acts are able to be of assistance to those who die.
And since, according to the Apostle James, faith without works is dead, we have renounced this world and have distributed to the poor all that we possess, according to the will of God, and we have decided that we ourselves should be poor in such a way as not to be careful for the morrow, and to accept from no one gold, silver, or anything else, with the exception of raiment and daily food. We have set before ourselves the objective of fulfilling the Gospel counsels as precepts.
We believe that anyone in this age who keeps to a proper life, giving alms and doing other good works from his own possessions and observing the precepts from the Lord, can be saved.
We make this declaration in order that if anyone should come to you affirming that he is one of us, you may know for certain that he is not one of us if he does not profess this same faith. - Giorgio Tourn, The Waldensians : The First 800 Years
As you can see, the Waldenses actually considered themselves Roman Catholic, despite the differences in dogma. Note that some of the heresies they proclaimed cropped up after this initial Confession of Faith (like the issues with Sacraments and sinful priests).
Do Protestants come from the Waldenses?
After looking at the Waldenses, it is clear that modern protestants share almost no similarity in belief other than a few points here and there. In fact, the Waldenses are more Catholic than protestant in their beliefs. Among problems protestants should have claiming a Waldenses history:
- Their focus on good works
- Their acceptance of the Sacraments
- Their believe that marriage was not good and could be invalidated
- Their adherence and claim to be Catholic
So it seems a bit silly for protestant groups to claim this history. Unless they assume no one will really look into it – and that the date of origin improves their brand of protestantism.
God bless,
Jay
