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Nevertheless, it seems indisputable that the Roman Catholic Church saw the growing Protestant movement as a major challenge to its political dominion and that this challenge gave impetus to the numerous campaigns of persecution in which thousands were put to death. The century from 1550 onwards was characterised by warfare between Catholic and Protestant monarchs, and in some realms (e.g., France) by civil war between Protestant and Catholic. Generally Catholic institutions had to retreat, and the process culminated in the abolition of the Holy Roman Empire and the loss of the Pope's remaining temporal power in the nineteenth century. (178:1) Protestants were so embittered by these persecutions that, not surprisingly, they thought these trials to be no less than what had been prophesied in the Scriptures. What developed was a simple interpretation that was to have a lasting effect. They argued that the 'tribulation' (Matt.24:29) was what they had suffered at the hands of the Pope, whom they regarded as the Antichrist. Moreover, such dark events, they reasoned, could be nothing less than evidence that they were living in the end times and that the Second Advent must be fast approaching. As Guinness has pointed out, the advocates of this interpretation revived the pre millennial hopes which had characterized Christian thinkers in the early centuries before Augustine wrote his City of God. (178:2) Not all Protestants, however, accepted that these events suggested the imminent return of Christ, nor would some of the previous interpretations of the Bible be abandoned quickly. Many remained ardent proponents of the post-millennial theory. Consequently, numerous books took up this subject for debate. Perhaps one of the most noteworthy and influential nineteenth-century books in this debate was Dr David Brown's Christ's Second Coming, Will it be Premillennial? (1876). (178:3) While Christian scholars and ministers continued to dispute these issues, they also continued to preach about prophecies in general. It was a time in which people everywhere were filled with anticipation. The belief that they were living in the end times dominated popular religious thought. These beliefs were reinforced during the early 1800s by the extraordinary changes and developments that were occurring. The European nations were expanding both technologically and intellectually. Through the use of this new technology and learning, these nations sought, and were able to secure, other parts of the world as colonies. Explorers sought new territories for their monarchs, and missionaries sought new souls to convert from among the so-called 'heathen' races. As this process of colonization grew, a few European nations envisioned control of the whole world.
(178:4)
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