Page 51 - History of Christianity I - Student Textbook

The First Crusades – Part 1

Peter Waldo founds the Waldensians 1173

Before the Reformation, some groups of Christians objected to the path the Catholic Church was
taking. One of these was the Waldensians, founded by a French merchant who was
discontented with the medieval church.

Peter Waldo responded to a story he heard about ministering to those who are poor and
liquidated his estate and gave it away to meet physical needs. Waldo and his followers – who
referred to themselves as the Poor Men of Lyons – believed Jesus wants his teachings put into
practice by all. Going out two by two, they visited the marketplaces, teaching the New
Testament to the common people.

The contrast between their actions and the church was so apparent that the archbishop of Lyon ordered them to
stop. “We must obey God rather than men!” was their reply. As a result, they were excommunicated by the
archbishop and eventually by Pope Lucius III in 1184. Many French and Italian Christians turned to the
Waldensians, who taught the priesthood of all believers. They rejected relics, pilgrimages, paraphernalia such as
holy water and clergy vestments, saints’ days and other feast days, and purgatory. Communion was not an
every-Sunday affair, and the Waldensian preachers spoke to the people and read the Bible to them in their own
language.

In 1211 Pope Innocent II condemned them as heretics and called for their suppression. The Inquisition did its
best to stamp them out! Despite this, the Waldensians continued and eventually blended with the Reformation,
warmly embraced by the Protestants. They are living reminders that, despite the dark moments in the history of
the church, new corrective movements always seem to arise from within.

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