The Martyrdom of a People

A Christian History and Martyrology: Henry Fliedner's work offers a concise history of those known as the Vaudois or Waldensians - Christians of the pre-Reformation era. Fliedner traces their Bible only (Sola Scriptura) faith, and the horrific persecutions they endured, from ancient times to the early 1900's. "'They often travelled on horseback in different countries as hawkers, and, thanks to their bales of goods, obtained access to the rich and poor. . . . While the merchant was doing business, he would observe the character of his customers, and when, at the end, they asked if he had anything else to sell, he would reply, "Certainly, I have treasures much more precious than those which you have seen. . . . a jewel which shines with such brightness, that it enables one to see, and to come to the knowledge of God." . . . The merchant then drew out of his pocket, or from a secret drawer of his travelling chest, a Gospel, and commenced to read. ' . . . In this way the Vaudois found a means of spreading the Word of God more and more. . . . What wonderful results might this seed-time have produced, if the storm of persecution had not broken out, reducing almost to naught the people of God." Henry Fliedner