The inspiration of Archbishop Gaspare Ricciulli at the Council of Trent

To those who don't know the story behind the failure of the Reformation against the Church of Rome I have copy/pasted from the website listed below. This says something about Revelation 13:3,

"And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his deadly wound was healed."

Today we are seeing the final developments of that council far flung in space and time, in the 500th anniversary of the Reformation this coming October 31st. Soon afterward we will see the end of the above verse, "...and all the world wondered after the beast."

http://biblelight.net/bssb-1443-1444.htm

Archbishop of Reggio's Sermonto the Council of Trent on the Power of the Church:
By Our Authority The Sabbath Was Changed To Sunday!

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THE JESUITS CAPTURE THE COUNCIL OF TRENT

    This Society of Jesus proposed to subordinate the Holy Scriptures and in their place substitute the interpretations of the Bible by the ecclesiastical writers of the first centuries whom they called the “fathers.” All the errors and vagaries of the allegorizers who confused and darkened the first three centuries were selected. The first great papal council which assembled after the Reformation, the Council of Trent (A. D. 1545-1563), was dominated by the Jesuits. This assembly laid down the law, and no papal authority has dared since to dispute it.
    In assembling this church council, Emperor Charles V gave the order that only the abuses in the church, not doctrine, should be considered. He was distracted to behold his realm divided between two contending churches, and it mattered little to him which creed prevailed. He only wished some general assembly to remedy conditions. The emperor desired Lutherans and Catholics to sit together in a general council, and he fondly believed Europe again would be united.
    The influence of the Jesuits was immediately seen when the pope ignored the imperial command to notify the Reformers. Weeks passed, and finally the council organized itself and accepted the following as its first four decrees: (1) The Vulgate was the true Bible and not the Received Text which the Reformers followed and which had been the Bible of the Greek Church, the Church of the east, and the true churches of the West through the centuries; (2) tradition was of equal authority with the Sacred Scriptures; (3) the five disputed books found in the Catholic Bible, but rejected by Protestant scholars, were declared canonical; (4) the priests only, and not the laity, were capable of rightly interpreting the Scriptures.⁷
    When the emperor learned that the Protestants had not been called to the council, he was enraged. Uttering severe threats, he demanded that his original plan be executed. Though the pope reluctantly and with long delay obeyed, the decrees already passed irrevocably compromised the situation. The Lutherans refused to accept the insulting notifications. In the meantime the pope had died and his successor advocated Jesuit policies. The deliberations proceeded as they had begun. Decree after decree was proclaimed; doctrine after doctrine was settled. Repeatedly the emperor was misled until he expressed his anger strongly to the Roman pontiff over the deceitful maneuvering.
    How were the church prelates to defend these doctrines which had no scriptural authority?
    Hours, weeks, and months; yes, many sessions went by with this anxious question in their hearts. Then, one morning, January 18, 1562, the archbishop of Rheggio hurried from his room and appeared before his confreres to proclaim that he had the answer. Protestants, he urgently reasoned, never could defend Sunday sacredness,⁸ If they continued to offer as their authority “the Bible and the Bible only,” it was clear that they had no Bible command for the first day of the week. According to Pallavicini, papal champion of the council, the archbishop said, “It is then evident that the church has power to change the commandments,” because by its power alone and not by the preaching of Jesus it had transferred the Sabbath from Saturday to Sunday.⁹ Tradition, they concluded, was not antiquity, but continuous inspiration. None could continue to fight the acceptance of tradition when the only authority for Sunday sacredness in the church was tradition. This discovery nerved the council to go forward with its work.
    All the doctrines against which the Reformers had protested were thus again formulated and strengthened by Rome. All the rites and practices which the Church in the Wilderness had straggled to escape were incorporated more strongly than ever into papal tradition by the twenty-five sessions of the council between 1545 and 1563.
    Henceforth, the Papacy was to have only one mission in the world, namely, to command nations and men everywhere to submit to the Council of Trent. The new slogan now invented, which must go reverberating throughout the earth, was, “The Council of Trent, the Council of Trent, the Council of Trent.”
⁷ Froude, The Council of Trent, pp. 174, 175; Muir, The Arrested Reformation, pages 152, 153; also M'Clintock and Strong, Cyclopedia, art. "The Council of Trent."
⁸ Holtzman, Kanon und Tradition, page 263. (see 1444 below)
⁹ Pallavicini, Histoire du Concile de Trent, vol. 2, cols. 1031, 1032.

Source: Truth Triumphant, the Church in the Wilderness, By Benjamin George Wilkinson, Pacific Press, 1944, reprints 1994, Teach Services, Inc., ISBN 0-945383-85-1, pgs. 317-318, and 2004, Hartland Publications, ISBN 0-923309-32-2, pgs. 308-310.

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1443. Sabbath, Change of, Cited as Proof That Tradition Is Above Scripture

Source: Gaspare [Ricciulli] de Fosso (Archbishop of Reggio), Address in the 17th session of the Council of Trent, Jan. 18*, 1562, in Mansi SC, Vol. 33, cols. 529, 530. Latin.  [ Gian Domenico Mansi,''Sacrorum Conciliorum nova et amplissima collectio"]

[col. 529] Such is the condition of the heretics of this age that on nothing do they rely more than that, under the pretense of the word of God, they overthrow the authority of the church; as though the church, His body, could be opposed to the word of Christ, or the head to the body. On the contrary, the authority of the church, then, is illustrated most clearly by the Scriptures; for while on the one hand she recommends them, declares them to be divine, [col. 530] offers them to us to be read, in doubtful matters explains them faithfully, and condemns whatever is contrary to them; on the other hand, the legal precepts in the Scriptures taught by the Lord have ceased by virtue of the same authority. The Sabbath, the most glorious day in the law, has been changed into the Lord’s day. Circumcision, enjoined upon Abraham and his seed under such threatening that he who had not been circumcised would be destroyed from among his people, has been so abrogated that the apostle asserts: "If ye be circumcised, ye have fallen from grace, and Christ shall profit you nothing." These and other similar matters have not ceased by virtue of Christ’s teaching (for He says He has come to fulfill the law, not to destroy it), but they have been changed by the authority of the church. Indeed, if she should be removed (since there must be heresies), who would set forth truth, and confound the obstinacy of heretics? All things will be confused, and soon heresies condemned by her authority will spring up again. [See No. 1444.]

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Sed tempus est, ut ad illius auctoritatem (unde digressi sumus) revertamur : & in ea insistendum est; talis enim est hujus ævi hæreticorum conditio, ut in nullam rem magis incumbant, quam ut sub prætextu verbi Dei ecclesiæ auctoritatem evertant : ac si verbo Christi corpus ejus ecclesia, vel corpori caput posset adversari; quinimo auctoritas ecclesiæ tunc a scripturis maxime illustratur, dum eas commendat, divinas esse [530] declarat, nobis legendas exhibet, in dubiis fideliter exponit, & eis contraria condemnat, dum legalia in scripturispræcepta a domino eadem auctoritate cessarunt. Dies sabbati in lege celeberrimus transiit in Dominicam : circumcisio Abrahæ & semini ejus ea sub comminatione ordinata, ut cujus præputii caro circumcisa non fuerit, deleretur de populo suo : sic sublata est, ut apostolus obtestetur, si circumcidamini, excidistis a gratia, & Christus nihil vobis prodest. Hæc, & his similia non Christi prædicatione cessarunt (ait enim se venisse implere legem, non solvere) sed auctoritate ecclesiæ mutata sunt : etenim si ea tolleretur (cum oporteat hæreses esse ) quis ostendet veritatem, & hæreticorum confundet pertinaciam ? erunt confusa omnia, redeuntibus mox hæresibus illius auctoritate damnatis.

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* As noted in the decree issued the first day of the 17th session of the Council of Trent, January 18 was the Catholic festival of the chair of St Peter at Rome (Cathedrae Romanae S. Petri). Pope Paul IV had in 1558, in the midst of the Reformation, and the Council of Trent convened to deal with it, established this feast day to celebrate the power and authority of the Bishop of Rome and the Holy See; particularly his magisterial authority in proclaiming doctrine ex cathedra, (from the chair of Peter), which is to say with infallibility. In 1962 Pope John XXIII moved the feast to February 22, combining it and the feast of the chair of Peter at Antioch, though some traditionalist Catholics continue to observe separate feasts. At the Vatican, on the feast of the chair of St. Peter, now Feb. 22, and the feast of St. Peter and St. Paul on June 29, the enthroned bronze statue of Peter near the altar of St. Peter's basilica is customarily dressed in vestments and a papal triple tiara placed on its head in celebration of the authority of the papacy.
The full Latin text of de Fosso's sermon, given at St. Vigilio Cathedral on Sunday, Jan. 18, 1562, to the Council of Trent, is also found online in:
Monumentorum Ad Historiam Concilii Tridentini Potissimum Illustrandam Spectantium Amplissima Collectio: Complectens Conciones, Volume 1, Josse Le Plat, 1781.pgs. 309-318.

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1444. Sabbath, Change of—Cited in Council of Trent as Proof that Tradition Is Above Scripture

Source: Heinrich Julius Holtzmann, Kanon und Tradition ("Canon and Tradition") (Ludwigsburg: Druck and Verlag von Ferd. Riehm, 1859), p. 263. German.

The Council [of Trent] agreed fully with Ambrosius Pelargus, that under no condition should the Protestants be allowed to triumph by saying that the council had condemned the doctrine of the ancient church. But this practice caused untold difficulty without being able to guarantee certainty. For this business, indeed, ‘well-nigh divine prudence’ was requisite—which the Spanish ambassador acknowledged as belonging to the council on the sixteenth of March, 1562. Indeed, thus far they had not been able to orient themselves to the interchanging, crisscrossing, labyrinthine, twisting passages of an older and newer concept of tradition. But even in this they were to succeed. Finally, at the last opening [see editors’ note] on the eighteenth of January, 1562, all hesitation was set aside: [Gaspar de Fosso] the Archbishop of Reggio made a speech [see No. 1443] in which he openly declared that tradition stood above Scripture. The authority of the church could therefore not be bound to the authority of the Scriptures, because the church had changed circumcision into baptism, Sabbath into Sunday, not by the command of Christ, but by its own authority. With this, to be sure, the last illusion was destroyed, and it was declared that tradition does not signify antiquity, but continual inspiration.

[Editors’ note: This "last opening" of the Council of Trent was not the last day, but the opening of the 17th session, the first meeting of the last series of sessions that was opened, after a lapse of time, under a new pope. The council was in session for longer or shorter periods over a series of years.]

Source for entries 1443, 1444: Neufeld, Don F.,  Seventh-day Adventist Bible Student’s Source Book, Don F. Neufeld and Julia Neuffer.—Washington, D.C., Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1962, pgs. 887-888.

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Adonque conforme alla presa deliberazione, venuto il di diciotta, si fece la Processione di tutto 'l Clero della città, de' Theologi, & Prelati, che, oltrei Cardinali, erano cento dodici mitrati, accompagnati dalle famiglie loro, & guardati da molti paesani armati, caminando dalla Chiesa di San Pietro alla Catedrale; dove il Cardinale di Mantoua cantò la Messa dello Spirito Santo: & Gasparo dal Fosso, Arcivescovo di Reggio, fece l'orazione: Hebbe per soggetto trattar dell'autorità della Chiesa, del Primato del Papa, & della potestà de' concilii; disse l'autorità della Chiesa non esser minore di quella della parola di Dio; che la Chiesa ha mutato il Sabbato, da Dio già ordinato, nella Domenica, & levata la Circoncisione, già strettamente dalla Maestà divina commandata; che questi precetti, non per la predicazione di Cristo, ma per autorità della Chiesa sono mutati. Rivoltosi anco a' Padri, gli conforto ad adoperarsi constantmete contra i Protestanti, con certezza che, si come lo Spirito Santo non puo errare, cosi eglino non possono ingannarsi.
Therefore in conformity with the resolution, when the eighteenth day was come, a procession was made of the whole clergy of the city of the divines and prelates, who besides the cardinals were one hundred and twelve that wore the mitre, accompanied by their families and guarded by many of the country people armed, going from St. Peter's Church to the Cathedral; where the Cardinal of Mantoua sang the Mass of the Holy Ghost and Gasparo dal Fosso, Archbishop of Reggio, made the sermon: His subject was the authority of the Church, the primacy of the Pope, and the power of Councils: he said that the Church had as much authority as the word of God and that the Church had changed the sabbath ordained by God into Sunday, taking away the Circumcision formerly commanded by the divine Majesty, and that the precepts are changed, not by the preaching of Christ, but by the authority of the Church. Turning himself unto the fathers, he exhorted them to labour constantly against the Protestants, being assured, that, as the Holy Ghost could not err, so neither could they be deceived.

Source: Historia del Concilio Tridentino, Second Edition, Book 6, 1629, by Paolo Sarpi (Pietro Soave Polano), pgs. 479 - 480.
Another 1629 printing online at Google Books.
An 1858 printing.

The great falling away, twice told

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves… having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof.” (2Tim. 3:1,2,5).

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron.” (1Tim. 4:1,2).

As in ages past, the introduction of pagan doctrines into the chosen people is again on the upsurge and soon to overcome those who have held the truth in righteousness. The Trinity has no foundation in scriptures, according to the SDA-publication, The Trinity, Understanding God’s love, His plan of salvation, and Christian relationships. “While no single scriptural passage states formally the doctrine of the Trinity, it is assumed as a fact….” The Trinity. And the Vatican states that the Trinity is the foundation for all other “Christian” dogma.

“The holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months. And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth. These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth…. And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them.” (Rev. 11:2-4,7).

“And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days…. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Rev. 12:6,17).

“   Thousands were imprisoned and slain, but others sprang up to fill their places. And those who were martyred for their faith were secured to Christ and accounted of Him as conquerors. They had fought the good fight, and they were to receive the crown of glory when Christ should come. The sufferings which they endured brought Christians nearer to one another and to their Redeemer. Their living example and dying testimony were a constant witness for the truth; and where least expected, the subjects of Satan were leaving his service and enlisting under the banner of Christ. 

     Satan therefore laid his plans to war more successfully against the government of God by planting his banner in the Christian church. If the followers of Christ could be deceived and led to displease God, then their strength, fortitude, and firmness would fail, and they would fall an easy prey. 

     The great adversary now endeavored to gain by artifice what he had failed to secure by force. Persecution ceased, and in its stead were substituted the dangerous allurements of temporal prosperity and worldly honor. Idolaters were led to receive a part of the Christian faith, while they rejected other essential truths. They professed to accept Jesus as the Son of God and to believe in His death and resurrection, but they had no conviction of sin and felt no need of repentance or of a change of heart. With some concessions on their part they proposed that Christians should make concessions, that all might unite on the platform of belief in Christ. 

     Now the church was in fearful peril. Prison, torture, fire, and sword were blessings in comparison with this. Some of the Christians stood firm, declaring that they could make no compromise. Others were in favor of yielding or modifying some features of their faith and uniting with those who had accepted a part of Christianity, urging that this might be the means of their full conversion. That was a time of deep anguish to the faithful followers of Christ. Under a cloak of pretended Christianity, Satan was insinuating himself into the church, to corrupt their faith and turn their minds from the word of truth. 

     Most of the Christians at last consented to lower their standard, and a union was formed between Christianity and paganism. Although the worshipers of idols professed to be converted, and united with the church, they still clung to their idolatry, only changing the objects of their worship to images of Jesus, and even of Mary and the saints. The foul leaven of idolatry, thus brought into the church, continued its baleful work. Unsound doctrines, superstitious rites, and idolatrous ceremonies were incorporated into her faith and worship. As the followers of Christ united with idolaters, the Christian religion became corrupted, and the church lost her purity and power. There were some, however, who were not misled by these delusions. They still maintained their fidelity to the Author of truth and worshiped God alone. 

     There have ever been two classes among those who profess to be followers of Christ. While one class study the Saviour’s life and earnestly seek to correct their defects and conform to the Pattern, the other class shun the plain, practical truths which expose their errors. Even in her best estate the church was not composed wholly of the true, pure, and sincere. Our Saviour taught that those who willfully indulge in sin are not to be received into the church; yet He connected with Himself men who were faulty in character, and granted them the benefits of His teachings and example, that they might have an opportunity to see their errors and correct them. Among the twelve apostles was a traitor. Judas was accepted, not because of his defects of character, but notwithstanding them. He was connected with the disciples, that, through the instruction and example of Christ, he might learn what constitutes Christian character, and thus be led to see his errors, to repent, and, by the aid of divine grace, to purify his soul ‘in obeying the truth.’ But Judas did not walk in the light so graciously permitted to shine upon him. By indulgence in sin he invited the temptations of Satan. His evil traits of character became predominant. He yielded his mind to the control of the powers of darkness, he became angry when his faults were reproved, and thus he was led to commit the fearful crime of betraying his Master. So do all who cherish evil under a profession of godliness hate those who disturb their peace by condemning their course of sin. When a favorable opportunity is presented, they will, like Judas, betray those who for their good have sought to reprove them. 

     The apostles encountered those in the church who professed godliness while they were secretly cherishing iniquity. Ananias and Sapphira acted the part of deceivers, pretending to make an entire sacrifice for God, when they were covetously withholding a portion for themselves. The Spirit of truth revealed to the apostles the real character of these pretenders, and the judgments of God rid the church of this foul blot upon its purity. This signal evidence of the discerning Spirit of Christ in the church was a terror to hypocrites and evildoers. They could not long remain in connection with those who were, in habit and disposition, constant representatives of Christ; and as trials and persecution came upon His followers, those only who were willing to forsake all for the truth’s sake desired to become His disciples. Thus, as long as persecution continued, the church remained comparatively pure. But as it ceased, converts were added who were less sincere and devoted, and the way was open for Satan to obtain a foothold. 

     But there is no union between the Prince of light and the prince of darkness, and there can be no union between their followers. When Christians consented to unite with those who were but half converted from paganism, they entered upon a path which led further and further from the truth. Satan exulted that he had succeeded in deceiving so large a number of the followers of Christ. He then brought his power to bear more fully upon these, and inspired them to persecute those who remained true to God. None understood so well how to oppose the true Christian faith as did those who had once been its defenders; and these apostate Christians, uniting with their half-pagan companions, directed their warfare against the most essential features of the doctrines of Christ. 

     It required a desperate struggle for those who would be faithful to stand firm against the deceptions and abominations which were disguised in sacerdotal garments and introduced into the church. The Bible was not accepted as the standard of faith. The doctrine of religious freedom was termed heresy, and its upholders were hated and proscribed. 

     After a long and severe conflict, the faithful few decided to dissolve all union with the apostate church if she still refused to free herself from falsehood and idolatry. They saw that separation was an absolute necessity if they would obey the word of God. They dared not tolerate errors fatal to their own souls, and set an example which would imperil the faith of their children and children’s children. To secure peace and unity they were ready to make any concession consistent with fidelity to God; but they felt that even peace would be too dearly purchased at the sacrifice of principle. If unity could be secured only by the compromise of truth and righteousness, then let there be difference, and even war. 

     Well would it be for the church and the world if the principles that actuated those steadfast souls were revived in the hearts of God’s professed people. There is an alarming indifference in regard to the doctrines which are the pillars of the Christian faith. The opinion is gaining ground, that, after all, these are not of vital importance. This degeneracy is strengthening the hands of the agents of Satan, so that false theories and fatal delusions which the faithful in ages past imperiled their lives to resist and expose, are now regarded with favor by thousands who claim to be followers of Christ.” Great Controversy, p. 42-46.