This workbook documents historical persecution, torture, and martyrdom. The content is necessary to understand Church history and prophecy, but may be disturbing. Parental guidance recommended.
"These things I have spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended. They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service."
— John 16:1-2
Lesson 1
What Was the Inquisition?
Definition and Purpose
The Inquisition was a system of ecclesiastical tribunals established by the Roman Catholic Church to identify, try, and punish those deemed "heretics"—people whose beliefs differed from official Church teaching.
📚 Official Church View
Necessary to protect the faithful from error
A spiritual court concerned with souls
Offered opportunity for repentance
Death penalty was rare and regrettable
Modern critics exaggerate the numbers
✓ Historical Reality
Used torture systematically
Presumed guilt, not innocence
Denied accused basic rights
Thousands executed, many more imprisoned
Terror affected millions over centuries
The Different Inquisitions
Inquisition
Period
Primary Targets
Medieval/Papal
1184-1230s+
Cathars, Waldensians, other "heretics"
Spanish
1478-1834
Jews, Muslims, Protestants
Portuguese
1536-1821
Jews, New Christians
Roman
1542-1965
Protestants, scientists, freethinkers
Duration: Over 600 Years
The Inquisition was not a brief episode—it operated for over six centuries. The Spanish Inquisition alone lasted 356 years. Generations lived under its shadow. This was systematic, institutionalized persecution on a massive scale.
Lesson 2
How the Inquisition Operated
The Process of Persecution
The Inquisition had standardized procedures that made it terrifyingly effective at suppressing dissent.
Step-by-Step Process
Arrival in Region: Inquisitors would arrive and announce a "period of grace" for voluntary confessions
Denunciations: Anonymous accusations encouraged; rewarded with seized property
Arrest: The accused arrested without knowing charges or accusers
Imprisonment: Held indefinitely; prisoners paid for their own imprisonment
Interrogation: Repeated questioning; torture authorized by papal decree
Trial: No defense counsel; accused couldn't face accusers; confession required
Sentence: Penance, imprisonment, property loss, or death
Execution: "Relaxed to secular arm" (handed to state for burning)
Authorized Torture Methods
Pope Innocent IV authorized torture in 1252 (bull "Ad extirpanda"). Common methods included:
Method
Description
The Rack
Body stretched, dislocating joints
Strappado
Hung by wrists tied behind back
Water Torture
Forced water ingestion via cloth
The Wheel
Limbs broken while tied to wheel
Fire/Burning
Applied to feet and body
"Inquisitors are to proceed 'simply and directly, without the noise and form of lawyers and judges.'"
— Pope Boniface VIII, Liber Sextus, 1298
Justice Denied
The accused could not know their accusers, could not have defense counsel, and faced a system presuming guilt. Confession—often obtained through torture—was the goal. Even recanting meant prison or death; not recanting meant the stake. There was no escape.
Lesson 3
The Victims: Who Was Persecuted?
Primary Targets
The Inquisition targeted anyone who challenged Church authority or doctrine:
The Waldensians
Persecuted from 1180s onward
Followers of Peter Waldo who translated Scripture into common languages, preached without Church permission, and rejected papal authority. Subject to crusade (1487-1488) and centuries of persecution. In 1655, the "Piedmont Easter" massacre killed thousands in one campaign.
The Cathars/Albigensians
12th-13th centuries
Southern French Christians who rejected Catholic sacraments. Pope Innocent III launched the Albigensian Crusade (1209-1229). At Béziers, the entire population was massacred. Over one million died in the campaign. The Inquisition was formalized partly to finish what the crusade began.
Jews and Conversos
Spanish Inquisition targets
The Spanish Inquisition particularly targeted Jews who had converted to Christianity ("Conversos"), suspecting them of secretly practicing Judaism. Thousands were executed; many more lost property and lives. In 1492, all Jews were expelled from Spain.
Protestants
16th century onward
After the Reformation, the Roman Inquisition (established 1542) specifically targeted Protestants. In Spain and Italy, Protestant literature was banned and possessors executed. The Netherlands saw mass executions of Reformed Christians.
The Numbers
Exact numbers are debated, but conservative estimates include:
Roman Inquisition: Hundreds of documented executions
Total affected: Millions lived in fear; families destroyed for generations
Lesson 4
Profiles in Faith: The Martyrs
Those Who Counted the Cost
Many believers chose death rather than deny their faith. Their testimonies inspire us today.
Jan Hus (c. 1369-1415)
Czech Reformer
Preached against indulgences and clerical corruption. Promised safe conduct to Council of Constance, then arrested and tried. Refused to recant. Burned at the stake July 6, 1415. His last words reportedly: "In 100 years, God will raise up a man whose calls for reform cannot be suppressed." Luther posted his theses 102 years later.
William Tyndale (c. 1494-1536)
English Bible Translator
Translated the New Testament into English. Hunted across Europe. Betrayed, imprisoned 500 days, then strangled and burned. Last words: "Lord, open the King of England's eyes." Within four years, English Bibles were legal—using his translation.
Anne Askew (1521-1546)
English Protestant
Arrested for denying transubstantiation and possessing Protestant books. Tortured on the rack so severely she had to be carried to her execution in a chair. Burned at Smithfield, July 16, 1546, age 25. She refused to name others even under torture.
Giordano Bruno (1548-1600)
Italian Philosopher
Held views on cosmology and theology that contradicted Church teaching. After eight years of imprisonment, refused to recant. Burned at the stake in Rome, February 17, 1600. When the crucifix was offered, he turned away.
"I die a faithful member of the Catholic Church, yet I abhor the errors into which the court of Rome has fallen... Play the man, Master Ridley! We shall this day light such a candle by God's grace in England as I trust shall never be put out!"
— Hugh Latimer to Nicholas Ridley, as both were burned at Oxford, 1555
"And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death."
— Revelation 12:11
Lesson 5
Theological Justification: How They Defended Persecution
The Arguments Used
The Church developed elaborate theological justifications for persecution. Understanding these reveals how badly Scripture can be twisted.
Justification
Their Argument
Biblical Response
"Compel them to come in" (Luke 14:23)
Force is justified to bring people to salvation
Parable about invitation, not torture; love, not coercion
Protecting the flock
Heretics are wolves; shepherds must kill wolves
Yahusha told Peter to feed sheep, not slaughter them (John 21)
Church authority
"Whatever you bind on earth..." (Matthew 16:19)
Context is discipline, not torture and murder
Old Testament examples
Israel executed idolaters
Israel was a theocracy; Church is not a civil government
Saving souls
Better bodily death than eternal damnation
Faith cannot be coerced; forced confession is meaningless
✓ What Yahusha Actually Taught
"Love your enemies" (Matthew 5:44)
"Put up thy sword" (Matthew 26:52)
"My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36)
"The Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them" (Luke 9:56)
"Let both grow together until the harvest" (Matthew 13:30—about wheat and tares)
"No one should be compelled to embrace the faith unwillingly. For conscience is like a bride; it should be wooed, not ravished."
— Bernard of Clairvaux (12th century)—ignored by later inquisitors
The Fruit of Bad Theology
When the Church gained political power and married it to theological authority, persecution became inevitable. The Inquisition is the logical outcome of believing the Church can use force to enforce belief. This is why many Reformers (and especially Anabaptists) argued for separation of church and state.
Lesson 6
Prophetic Significance
Fulfillment of Biblical Prophecy
The Reformers believed the Inquisition fulfilled specific biblical prophecies about a persecuting religious power.
"And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High..."
— Daniel 7:25
"Wearing Out the Saints"
The phrase "wear out" (Aramaic: בְּלָא, b'la) means to harass, afflict, or mentally exhaust. The Inquisition accomplished this through:
Generations of fear: Six centuries of operation
Constant surveillance: Anyone could be an informer
No safety: Even noble birth gave no protection
Property destruction: Families ruined for generations
Mental torture: Years of imprisonment, uncertainty
Revelation's Imagery
Revelation 17:6
"And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Yahusha..."
The Reformers identified this "woman" (an unfaithful church) with the papal system and the Inquisition as evidence of being "drunk with blood."
Revelation 18:24
"And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth."
The call to "come out of her" (Revelation 18:4) was understood as leaving the persecuting system.
The 1260-Year Prophecy
Daniel 7:25 and Revelation 12:6, 14 speak of persecution lasting "time, times, and half a time" (3.5 prophetic years = 1260 days/years). Many scholars count from 538 AD (establishment of papal supremacy) to 1798 AD (Napoleon's general arrested the pope)—exactly 1260 years of papal political power.
Lesson 7
Modern Implications
Has the Church Changed?
The Catholic Church has expressed some regret about the Inquisition, but has never fully repudiated its theological basis.
"The Inquisition belongs to a troubled phase of church history that the contemporary church regards with a sincere feeling of sorrow."
— Pope John Paul II, March 2000
What Was NOT Said
The Inquisition was sinful and wrong (only "troubled")
The Church was wrong to persecute (only "sorrow")
Papal bulls authorizing torture are hereby revoked
The martyrs are recognized as faithful believers
Patterns That Repeat
The Inquisition model—using institutional power to silence dissent—appears in new forms:
Inquisition Feature
Modern Parallel
Anonymous accusations
Social media mobs, anonymous reporting
Can't face accusers
Shadow banning, algorithmic suppression
Presumption of guilt
"Guilty until proven innocent" in court of public opinion
Economic punishment
Deplatforming, bank account closures, job loss
Thought control
"Misinformation" labels, fact-checkers
The Spirit of Persecution
The Inquisition's methods were physical. Today's persecution of dissent is primarily social and economic. But the spirit is the same: using power to silence those who disagree. Prophecy suggests persecution will return before Messiah's coming (Revelation 13). Understanding the Inquisition helps us recognize its patterns.
Lesson 8
Lessons and Response
What the Inquisition Teaches Us
Power corrupts: When religion gains political power, persecution follows
Truth doesn't need force: True faith spreads by conviction, not coercion
Prophecy is reliable: Daniel and Revelation predicted exactly what happened
Martyrs' testimony endures: Those who died preserved truth for us
Patterns repeat: The spirit of persecution takes new forms in each age
Separation is biblical: Revelation calls believers to "come out" of corrupt systems
Our Response
✓ How We Should Live
Know Scripture: The martyrs died so we could have it—read it
Stand for truth: But with gentleness, not force (2 Timothy 2:24-25)
Never persecute: True believers don't use force for faith
Be prepared: Persecution may return—count the cost now
Honor the martyrs: Learn their stories; share their testimony
Trust Yahuah: He is sovereign over all persecution
"Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you."