The Churches of the Valley of Peimont

Frogman · May 31, 2003

THE CHURCHES OF THE VALLEY OF PEIMONT

By Samuel Morland

Note from Pastor Burke: Please forgive any errors in the text of this book that you may find. Our copy of this book is a photocopy of the original, and therefore it did not scan very well. Additionally, the original was written in Old English and we have updated the text to a more modern form. We trust that we haven’t lost any of the author’s original meaning in the process, but the original was very difficult to read. As time permits we hope to add more chapters until the work can be completed. I believe that you will find this book to be most interesting and informative about the history of the Baptists.

I thought it would be good to post a link to this book on-line:

http://cbclibrary.homestead.com/files/Piemont/PiemontContents.htm

Hope you will read this, or if you have already we can discuss it.

God Bless.
Bro. Dallas Eaton

Frogman · May 31, 2003

Below I have placed in bold some significant statements by Mr. Morland.

Hope you enjoy reading this portion of the introduction.

God Bless
Bro. Dallas Eaton

This is that, O ingenious reader, this is that which I am bold to present thee with at present, and that out of a real affection to thy immortal soul (though it's possible thy principles and mine may be different) hoping that the undoubted truths herein contained, may prove as a precious eye salve to anoint thine eyes, that so thou mayest see and discover the many remarkable passages of divine providence towards his poor church militant in this world, and likewise that it may persuade thee in this thy day of visitation, to come out of Babylon, that so thou mayest not be partaker of her sins, nor receive at length of her plagues; I mean that generation of vipers, who by their barbarous and unheard-of cruelties, have plainly discovered themselves to be the firebrands of hell it self, and fiends of infernal darkness. There is a vast difference between butchery and godliness, neither has truth any concord with violence, or cruelty with righteousness, as Lactantius elegantly expresses himself upon this subject. Believest thou this, O tender-hearted Reader? I know that thou dost believe it, and therefore it is that I am desirous to lay before thee the ensuing history, beseeching the God of truth and righteousness to remove all the stumbling-blocks, and prejudicial thoughts, which either the frailty of the author’s understanding and youth, or the seeming inconsiderableness of the poor people of the valleys, who are the subject of his discourse, may at the first sight suggest unto thee.

The truth is, if thou regarded the outside only of these poor wretches, and the form of their countenance, thou wilt be ready to cry out, Lord, what are these men, that thou shouldest be mindful of them? Or their posterity, that thou shouldest have any regard unto them? As likewise, if thou visitest their ancient houses and habitations in so dark and blind a corner of the world (being as it were divided from the rest of the habitable earth) in deserts and solitary places, among the craggy rocks and snowy mountains; they may seem unto thee to have been lightly esteemed by the great Creator of the world, as the most inconsiderable part of his handy-work; but when thou shalt enter into the sanctuary of God, and consider seriously the manner of these peoples life and conversation, together with their principles and practice of religion, in all ages and generations, and that from the ample testimony of their professed enemies; when thou shalt consider their loyal submission to their sovereign Prince, their Christian patience and magnanimity in their afflictions, and the redoubling of their heroic zeal in the deepest of their tribulations, (as not esteeming the same worthy to be compared with the joys which are to be revealed) when likewise thou shalt consider on the other side, how the Lord has many times chosen these foolish things to confound the wise: and these weak things to confound the mighty, and these base things, and things which were despised, yea, and which in a manner were not, to bring to naught things that were; when thou shalt have seen how they have been always preserved as lambs among wolves, though they have been oft times most furiously assaulted by the Anakims and sons of violence, insomuch that neither the deliverance of the Israelites in the Red Sea, nor of Jonah in the whales belly, nor of Daniel in the den of lions, nor of the three Children in the fiery furnace, was ever more miraculous, I say when thou shalt have well considered and laid to heart all these things, then it may be thou wilt conclude with me, that these are not the people that have been represented to thee by their black-mouthed enemies, and that they have not in any wise deserved to be so cruelly handled by their persecutors. Thou wilt then conclude with me, that all the bitter accusations both of their doctrine and manners, are no other than mere impostures. And that the description of this late massacre hath fallen very short of what it ought to express the rage and horror of the same, as likewise that subtlety hath not been wanting in any kind of artifice, nor is there any contrivance of falsehood, nor passionate part of fury, which the court of Rome and their adherents have not devised and acted for the total extirpation of Christian religion: which should be a strong motive for us to unite our selves the better to resist their bloody force, and countermine their stratagems; then also thou wilt conclude with me, that the All-wise Creator did certainly from the beginning, design this remote and obscure part of the world, to hide and lock up therein some rich and inestimable treasure; that this is the desert whither the woman fled when she was persecuted by the Dragon with seven heads and ten horns. And where she had a place prepared of God, that they should feed her one thousand two hundred and sixty days: That here it was that the church fled, and where she made her flocks to rest at noon, in those hot and scorching seasons of the nine and tenth centuries; then it may be thou will begin to believe with me, that it was the clefts of these rocks, and in the secret places of the stairs of these Valleys of Piedmont, that the dove of Christ then remained, where also the Italian foxes then began to spoil the vines with their tender grapes, although they were never able to utterly to destroy or pluck them up by the roots, according to that excellent character which the learned Beza gives of them in his treatise of the famous pillars of learning and religion, in these following words:

“As for the Waldenses, give me leave to call them the very seed of the primitive and purer Christian church, being these who have been upheld (as is clear and manifest) by the admirable providence of God, that neither these infinite storms and tempests whereby the whole Christian world has been shaken for many ages together, and at length the Western parts so miserably oppressed by that Bishop of Rome, falsely so called, nor those horrible persecutions which have been directly raised against them, were ever able so far to prevail upon them, as to mike them bend or yield a voluntary subjection to the Roman tyranny and idolatry.”
Here thou shalt find, besides the arguments which may be drawn from the ancient confessions of faith, and several other authentic manuscripts, which have been in former times so miraculously preserved from the flames during their hottest persecutions, I say, besides all these, thou shalt find even the most eminent and the most bitter of their professed enemies, to have let fall many seasonable passages in those their very writings, which were directly composed against these poor faithful ones, whereof some by a manifest deduction, others in plain terms avow the antiquity of their religion under the name of heresy, even from the Apostles time, so that now what need we any further witness? We have heard themselves speak, and justify sufficiently what we assert.

They will certainly henceforward blush, and be ashamed to upbraid us as formerly, by demanding of us where our religion was before the days of Calvin and Luther? If they do, we call Jonas Aurelianensis, Prior Rorenco, Samuel do Cassini, Rainerius Sacon, Belvedere, Bellarmin, and other most renowned Catholics, to witness for us, that it was in the Valleys of Piedmont. Yea, I am bold to proceed and affirm (as before) that it is very probable that this was the place prepared of God for the perfected woman and the remnant of her seed in those dark and gloomy days, when the smoke out of the bottomless pit had so darkened the face of the universe, that it was not easy to distinguish with the eyes of fleshly reason the little flock of Christ Jesus , and when that great Red Dragon, and old serpent called the Devil and Satan, had power given him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them, and to compel all both small and great, rich and poor, bond and free, whose names were not written in the book of life, to receive a mark in their right hand and in their foreheads.

The truth is, if we had no other light to guide us in this dark and cloudy night, yet the fires wherewith those cadmeans or generation of vipers have burnt the bodies of the saints, would serve us as so many torches to keep us from losing our way between the days of the Apostles, and those of Calvin and Luther.
Click to expand...

Samuel Morland

Bible Student · Jun 2, 2003

Bro. Dallas,

Thanks

Bible Student · Jun 2, 2003

Bro. Dallas,

I have just finished reading the three chapters and all I can say is what a wonderful work of church history.

Richard

R. Charles Blair · Jun 4, 2003

Bro. Dallas - I very much appreciate your posting the info from the "valley of Piedmont." That is very important information.

Frogman · Jun 11, 2003

I am glad that you brethren have been blessed by the posting. The pastor of Calvary Baptist in Ashland tells me they intend to post the entire work online as they have opportunity. As new portions are posted I will let you guys know.

God Bless
Bro.Dallas Eaton

The Churches of the Valley of Peimont

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