-teri
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Excepts from Forward, by Dave Hunt (pp. v-vii)
Edmund Hamer Broadbent (1861-1945) lived at a time when documents and books--many of them now lost or very rare--which told the true story of the Christian church could still be found. His scholarship isattested to by the scores of books in several languages available in his day, which he drew much of the vital information he has passed on to us...
The earliest groups of whom he writes were not "Protestants" (a disparaging epithet which only came into existence at the Reformation), but simple Christians who sought to follow God's Word as their final authority. They did not submit to the Roman papacy, which by force of arms imposed an "official Christianity" upon the entire known world at that did their best to destroy the truth concerning the beliefs and practices of their victims. The lies of the inquisitors told about these martyrs became part of "official church history," and are to this day maintained in the most popular and available sources. For that reason, we are deeply indebted to Broadbent for his diligence in searching out the truth and passing it along to us.
In addition to the story of these early Christians, Broadbent includes also the chronicle of those who came out of the Roman Catholic Church as a result of the Reformation. And he brings the history of the Pilgrim Church into the early 1900's. This is not an account of denominations, but of the Christian faith and those who sought to adhere to Scripture in their practice of Christianity, not only independently of Rome but of Protestant authorities as well. Their failures are faithfully recorded along with their triumphs...
In the course of preaching the gospel and establishing groups of Christian converts who sought to follow Scriptures independently of the state churches which had come out of the Reformation, Broadbent had contact with many believers whose ancestors had been part of the very Pilgrim church of which he wrote. He also had firsthand experience of the persecution which for centuries those who never been a part of "official Christianity" had endured...
Broadbent's passion for adhering to strictly to Scripture was evident in the many independent churches which he was priviledged to found nearly everywhere he went. Another of his great joys was to discover throughout his travels groups of believers who, while unaware of thousands of similar groups around the world, held in common the desire to follow the Lord and His Word alone rather than a man or organization. Thus he had firsthand contact with the Pilgrim Church of which he wrote and saw what he considered to be biblical Christianity in practice in a wide variety of settings and cultures.
While some readers may consider the author's convictions concerning separation from all humanly organized religions a bit extreme, he does not attempt to force his views upon his audience. Nor does he embrace the exclusivism of some of the offshoots of the early Brethern movement. Instead, in reporting upon that movement as part of the Pilgrim Church, he accurately portrays its problems and divisions, just as he does for the other elements in the body of Christ throughout history.
Ours is a day of ecumenism which seeks to establish an unbiblical unity denying the very separation from error for which the Pilgrim Church suffered and died. Leading evangelicals would have us believe either that the Roman Catholic Church's doctrine of salvation has changed, or that it has always been biblical, in spite of its official declarations (consistently for centuries and still today) to the contrary and its persecutions ofthose who adhere to biblical truth...
The Pilgrim Church sets the record straight. It is a volume which we
have
longed to see back in print after being unavailable for some years.
It is
all the more needed now than when it was first published more than
60
years ago. We comment it to readers as an accurate account and one
which
we hope and pray will open eyes to the truth of the gospel of Christ
and
the necessity of standing upon that truth without compromise for the
sake
of the eternal destiny of souls. It is our hope and prayer too, that
this
volume will inspire all of us to a deeper love for our Lord and His
Word
and a renewed commitment to go "into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature."
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