Baptist History, Heritage and Distinctives – Brief Overview – “Who Were the Albigenses and the Waldenses?”

Thomas E Kresal Admin · 4 hrs April 1, 2020

Baptist History, Heritage and Distinctives – Brief Overview – “Who Were the Albigenses and the Waldenses?”

The Albigenses were Bible-believing Christians who lived in southern France, probably making up the majority of the inhabitants of that region by the 12th century. Both they and the Waldenses were most likely the descendents of the Bible-believing Paulicians. One writer (B.F. Wilkinson) describes the Albigenses as the “western portion of the Waldenses”.

The Albigenses and the Waldenses were initially separate from – and independent of – Papal Rome, and they wanted no part of the immorality, the corruption, and the unscriptural doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church. Alarmed at the rapid growth of these Bible-believing Christians (i.e., the Albigenses and the Waldenses), the Papacy sent army after army to slaughter these innocent Bible-believing Christians (many of whom were farmers), and to loot their property.

The Albigenses were exterminated as a people in southern France by these “papal” armies during the Albigensian Crusades. Frank Chalk and Kurt Jonassohn, co-authors of “The History and Sociology of GENOCIDE” (1990), tell us this on page 115 of their book: “The Albigensian Crusades slash through the history of France and of the [Ed.: Roman Catholic] Church like a gaping wound. From 1208 to 1226 the papacy sent army after army to the South of France to crush the Albigensian ‘heretics’ and to punish their supporters. …They [Ed.: i.e., the Albigensian Crusades] began with a calculated act of terror, the massacre of [Ed.: large numbers of men, women, and children at the French city of] Beziers; they ended with the establishment of the Inquisition, one of the most effective means of ‘thought control’ that Europe has ever known. [Ed: The papal army butchered about 20,000 citizens of this French city populated at that time by many Albigenses.] They [Ed.: i.e., the papal armies] were completely successful: The losing faith, the Albigensian ‘Heresy’, was exterminated. …Their disappearance as a social group was carefully planned and executed with persistent cruelty.”

Continued tomorrow – Who were the Waldenses?

Presented by Thomas E. Kresal from: Darryl Eberhart, Editor of ETI & TTT Newsletters, January 11, 2011

NOTE from Tom: I highly recommend you watch the 3-hour documentary, “A Lamp in the Dark”, by Adullam Films. It is available on youtube .com, Amazon or DVD.