by Rev. C. A. Salmond, M.A.,
Edinburgh, 1890
"It was a life of great simplicity both in purpose and in habit. Spent mostly
at the desk, or rather at the desk and mantlepiece on which a great part of his writing
was done, it was varied by two regular daily 'constitutionals,' at daybreak and in
the afternoon, when he was at home, and by an occasional excursion to one or other
of the historic lands of Europe, in the intervals of his class work. The day was
ordinarily crowned by an hour or two of cheerful converse by the hearth. Those favoured
with his intimate friendship will bear the writer out in saying, as he has already
done elsewhere, that to be with Dr. Wylie at such times, and to listen to his rich
and sparkling conversation, on whatever subject might come up, meant both education
and enjoyment.
Men spoke of him sometimes as a 'fanatic;' but if his utterances on the Papacy were
strong, his detestation of the system was equalled by his tenderness for its unhappy
votaries. To virile strength he united a woman's sensibility. It was a profound mistake
to fancy in him an acrid, self-assertive, one-idead controversialist. He was one
of the best informed, most genial, and sympathic of men, and his deep unaffected
humility was one of his greatest charms. You could not be long with him without perceiving
in him a lover of Christ and of all good men, and his mellow unostentatious piety
gave an unmistakable savour to all his life."
A Voice from the Philadelphian Church
Age
Author of "The Papacy," "Daybreak in
Spain," &c.
"Protestantism, the sacred cause of God's Light and Truth
against the Devil's Falsity and Darkness." -Carlyle
Cassell & Company, Limited:
London, Paris & New York.
1878
LIBRARY COMPLETE
Preface
by Tom Stewart
James A. Wylie: Earnest Contender for the
Faith (1808-1890)
James Aitken Wylie was born in Scotland in 1808. "The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD" (Psalm 37:23). His collegiate preparation was at Marischal College, Aberdeen (a
North Sea port city and industrial center of northeastern Scotland) and at St. Andrews
(Fife, East Scotland). "It is good for a man that
he bear the yoke in his youth" (Lamentations
3:27). Though we could find no account of his conversion,
he entered the Original Seccession Divinity Hall, Edinburgh (Scotland, the land of
John Knox) in 1827, and was ordained to the Christian ministry in 1831; hence, the
name "Rev. J. A. Wylie" is affixed to most of his written works. "And that from a child thou hast known the Holy Scriptures,
which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ
Jesus" (2Timothy
3:15).
His disposition to use the pen as a mighty "Sword
of the LORD" (Judges
7:18) is evidenced by his assumption of the sub-editorship
of the Edinburgh "Witness" in 1846. "My
tongue is the pen of a ready writer" (Psalm 45:1). In 1852, after
joining the Free Church of Scotland-- which was only inaugurated in 1843 (Dr. Chalmers
as moderator), insisting on the Crown Rights of King Jesus as the only Head and
King of the Church-- Wylie edited their "Free Church Record" until
1860. "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith
Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage" (Galatians 5:1). The Protestant Institute appointed him Lecturer on Popery in 1860.
He continued in this role until his death in 1890. "Casting
down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge
of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ" (2Corinthians 10:5).
Aberdeen University awarded him an honorary doctorate (LL.D.) in 1856. "Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my LORD: for whom I have suffered the loss of all
things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ"
(Philippians 3:8).
His travels took him to many of the far-flung places, where the events of Protestant
history transpired. "So, as much as in me is,
I am ready to preach the Gospel to you that are at Rome also"
(Romans 1:15).
As a prominent spokesman for Protestantism, Dr. Wylie's writings included "The
Papacy: Its History, Dogmas, Genius, and Prospects"-- which was awarded a prize
by the Evangelical Alliance in 1851-- and, his best known writing, "The History
of Protestantism" (1878). "Beloved, when I
gave all diligence to write unto you of the Common Salvation, it was needful for
me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the Faith
which was once delivered unto the Saints" (Jude 3).
It is a solemn and sad reflection on the spiritual intelligence of our times that
J. A. Wylie's classic, "The History of Protestantism" went out of publication
in the 1920's. "Little children, it is the
Last Time: and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many
antichrists; whereby we know that it is the Last Time"
(1John 2:18).
But-- "we are not of them who draw back unto perdition;
but of them that believe to the saving of the soul"
(Hebrews 10:39).
And, we continue to "look for Him" (Hebrews 9:28) to come for us to cause us to "escape
all these things" (Luke
21:36) in a Pre-Tribulation Rapture, while we intently
"occupy" (19:13) for Him in the Gospel fields, which are "white
already to harvest" (John
4:35). "Even so, come [quickly], LORD Jesus" (Revelation 22:20).
Amen, and Amen.
"Wylie's 'The History of Protestantism' is
the best history extant.
I welcome its republishing. Read it. Study it. Circulate it.
And by so doing you will help to dispel the dark cloud
of priestly superstition, popish idolatry and papal tyranny
encircling our land."
--Ian Paisley
---New Window
Photocopies of
"The History of Protestantism" (3 volumes, 1878) by J. A. Wylie
advertised as available at:
STILL WATERS REVIVAL
BOOKS ---New Window
http://www.swrb.com/catalog/W.htm
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HOW TO NAVIGATE "THE HISTORY OF PROTESTANTISM"
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Listed below is an ABBREVIATED
Table of BOOK Links
that briefly describes the 3 volumes of 24 books,
which comprise Wylie's monumental work.
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- The ABBREVIATED Table of BOOK
Links will direct you
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from here ->to
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the QUICK VIEW Table
of CHAPTER Links
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(which describe all of the chapters
in that specific book).
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- The QUICK
VIEW Table of CHAPTER Links will
direct you
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->to
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the Actual Text of that
chapter
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Book Links -> Chapter Links
-> Text
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ABBREVIATED
Table of BOOK Links:
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VOLUME FIRST
The following
BOOK Links will direct you from
here-> to the QUICK
VIEW Table of CHAPTER
Links
for in-depth chapter overviews with chapter links to the actual text.
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Book First  ---New Window
PROGRESS FROM THE FIRST TO THE FOURTEENTH
CENTURY
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Book Second ---New Window
WICLIFFE AND HIS TIMES, OR ADVENT OF PROTESTANTISM
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Book Third ---New Window
JOHN HUSS AND THE HUSSITE WARS
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Book Fourth ---New Window
CHRISTENDOM AT THE OPENING OF THE SIXTEENTH
CENTURY
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Book Fifth ---New Window
HISTORY OF PROTESTANTISM IN GERMANY TO THE
LEIPSIC DISPUTATION, 1519
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Book Sixth ---New Window
FROM THE LEIPSIC DISPUTATION TO THE DIET
AT WORMS, 1521.
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Book Seventh ---New Window
PROTESTANTISM IN ENGLAND, FROM THE TIMES
OF WICLIFFE TO THOSE OF HENRY VIII.
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Book Eighth ---New Window
HISTORY OF PROTESTANTISM IN SWITZERLAND
FROM A.D. 1516 TO ITS ESTABLISHMENT AT ZURICH, 1525.
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Book Ninth ---New Window
HISTORY OF PROTESTANTISM FROM THE DIET OF
WORMS, 1521, TO THE AUGSBURG CONFESSION, 1530.
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J A. Wylie: St. Patrick: Apostle of Ireland ---New Window
A Ten Chapter Excerpt (Chapters 9-18) from "History
of the Scottish Nation"
"In entering on the story of Succat, whom our readers
will more familiarly recognise under his later and better known appellative of St.
Patrick, we feel that we tread on ground more stable and reliable than that which
we had to traverse when relating the earlier evangelization of Whithorn. St. Patrick,
it is true, has not wholly escaped the fate which has usually befallen early and
distinguished missionaries at the hands of their monkish chroniclers. Unable to perceive
or to appreciate his true grandeur as a humble preacher of the Gospel, some of his
biographers have striven to invest him with the fictitious glory of a miracle-worker.
No monk of the Middle Ages could have imagined such a life as Patrick's. These scribes
deemed it beneath their heroes to perform, or their pens to record, whatever did
not rise to the rank of prodigy. Humility, self-denial, deeds of unaffected piety
and benevolence, discredited rather than authenticated one's claim to saintship.
Boastful professions and acts of fantastic and sanctimonious virtue were readier
passports to monkish renown than lives which had no glory save that of sterling and
unostentatious goodness.
We can trace the gradual gathering of the miraculous halo around Patrick on the pages
of his successive chroniclers. His miracles are made to begin before he himself had
seen the light. His story grows in marvel and prodigy as it proceeds. Each successive
narrator must needs bring a fresh miracle to exalt the greatness of his hero and
the wonder of his readers. Probus in the tenth century outdoes in this respect all
who had gone before him, and Jocelin, in the twelfth, outruns Probus as far as Probus
had outrun his predecessors. Last of all comes O'Sullivan in the seventeenth century,
and he carries off the palm from every previous writer of the "Life of St. Patrick."
The man who comes after O'Sullivan may well despair, for surely nothing more foolish
or more monstrous was ever imagined by monk than what this writer has related of
Patrick.
So rises this stupendous structure which lacks but one thing-- a foundation. But
happily it is easier in the present instance than in most cases of a similar kind,
to separate what is false, and to be put aside, from what is true, and, therefore,
to be retained. Before the monks had any opportunity of disfiguring the great evangelist
by encircling him with a cloud of legends, Patrick himself had told the story of
his life, and with such marked individuality, with such truth to Christian experience,
and with such perfect accordance to the age and the circumstances, that we are irresistibly
led to the conclusion that the life before us is a real life, and must have been
lived, it could not have been invented. The confessions here poured forth could come
from no heart but a heart burdened with a sense of guilt; and the sorrows here disclosed
with so simple yet so touching a pathos, authenticate themselves as real not ideal.
They are the experiences of the soul, not the creations of the imagination. Succat
the first name of the man who has taken his permanent place in history as Patrick
or St. Patrick was born on the banks of the Clyde..."
--J. A. Wylie
The following ten chapter excerpt (chapters 9-18)
from J. A. Wylie's "History of the Scottish Nation":
CHAPTER
9. PATRICK. ---New Window
With Patrick comes a second commencement of Scotland's History-- The
Patrick of the Monkish Chroniclers-- The real Patrick-- His Birthplace-- His Parentage--
His Boyhood and its Pleasures-- His Conscience asleep-- A terrible Calamity befalls
him-- Carried captive to Ireland-- Sold for a Slave.
CHAPTER 10.
PATRICK IN IRELAND. ---New Window
A veiled Actor-- Unpitied Anguish-- The timing of Patrick's Calamity--
Patrick in Adversity's School-- The son of Calpurnius a Swineherd-- He sees himself--
His past Life as seen by him a thing of Guilt and Horror-- An Ulcer in the Soul--
The Tempest within makes him insensible to the Tempest without-- Terror of God--
His Cry for Pardon-- End gained by his prolonged Distress.
CHAPTER 11.
PATRICK FINDS PEACE. ---New Window
A Hand put forth to Heal-- An old Truth with a new Meaning -- Patrick
enters into a new Life-- His Joy-- His preparation for his lifework thorough-- He
begins to have Dreams of Deliverance from Captivity-- He flees-- Finds a Ship and
is taken on Board-- Returns Home.
CHAPTER 12.
PATRICK AGAIN AT HOME. ---New Window
Spiritual Greatness through Agony-- Illustrative examples -- Luther
etc.-- Patrick at his Father's Door-- Again amid the Scenes of his Youth-- His old
Companions around him -- Ireland the land of his second and better Birth-- His Heart
still in it-- Hears Voices in his Sleep calling him to return to it -- Resolves to
give himself to the Conversion of Ireland-- His purpose opposed by Parents and Presbyters--
Patrick's Preparations and Equipments as a Missionary-- His Anointing not of Man.
CHAPTER 13.
PATRICK GOES TO IRELAND. ---New Window
Sets out for Ireland-- Opportuneness of his Mission-- Arrives in Ireland
A.D. 405-- Was Palladius or Patrick the first to arrive in Ireland-- Medieval chroniclers
make Palladius the first to arrive-- Proofs that the Mission of Patrick did not follow
but preceded the Mission of Palladius-- Palladius sent by the Pope to counteract
Patrick-- Hence rejection of Palladius by the Scots.
CHAPTER 14.
PATRICK'S MINISTRY IN IRELAND. ---New Window
Patrick's following-- Disembarks at mouth of Slany, Ulster -- His
first Sermon-- Simplicity of his Preaching-- Effect upon his Hearers-- The first
Seal of his Commission.
CHAPTER 15.
PATRICK'S EVANGELISTIC TOURS. ---New Window
Patrick's Barn-- Monkish Caricatures of Patrick-- The Confessio the
one true Portrait-- Tours in rural Villages-- His Sermons-- Visits the Towns-- A
better Sacrifice than that of the Druid-- Change of his converts-- His Labours and
Perils -- Patrick's real Miracles-- Efforts on behalf of Slaves-- Was Patrick ever
at Rome-- His Anointing by the Pope a Fable.
CHAPTER 16.
DAY OF TARA. ---New Window
Patrick and Luther, Columba and Calvin, Patrick's first Congregation--
Extension of His Mission-- Rumours of a Great Advent-- Festival of Tara-- Patrick
goes thither-- His Fire on Hill of Slane-- Brought into Presence of King-- His Address
to King Logaire-- Converts of High Rank-- Patrick enters Meath-- The Games interrupted--
Goes Westward-- Arrives at Wood of Focloid-- Evangelises in Leinster and Munster--
Ireland Christianised.
CHAPTER 17.
THREE HUNDRED AND SIXTY-FIVE CHURCHES. ---New Window
Sum of Patrick's Labours in Ireland-- Three hundred and sixty-five
Bishops-- Were these Diocesan or Congregational Bishops?-- Picture of Roman Church
in Third Century, as drawn by Hippolytus-- In Third Century a Congregation, a Pastor,
and Elders formed a complete Church-- Elders a Teaching and Ruling Body-- How the
Cardinalate arose -- After Council of Nice great Changes-- Picture of Cyprianic Church
in Africa-- Down to Middle of Third Century Bishop and Pastor were the designation
of the same Church-Officer -- Patrick's Bishops not Diocesan but Village Bishops--
His Monasteries and first Churches-- His Death.
CHAPTER 18.
SCHOOLS OF EARLY IRELAND. ---New Window
Glory of Times succeeding Patrick-- Ireland a Land of Scholars and
Pastors-- Historic Testimonies of this Fact-- Its Schools richly Endowed-- Malachy
the first to introduce Monks and Monkery into Ireland-- Number of Students in Irish
Schools -- Resorted to by Foreign Youth-- Church and School in every Tribe-- Send
Forth Band after Band of Pastors and Missionaries-- Vast Physical and Moral Change
in Ireland -- Seven Centuries of Peace.
In addition
to the complete works of "The History of Protestantism":
Research
Index ----New Window
A feature of our version of "The History of Protestantism"
is an index to the entire 24 books
of J. A. Wylie's prodigious account of Christianity's remonstrance against the errors
of the Church of Rome. The index will assist you in finding the location of KEY words
in the text, so that you may research Wylie's library without the time and difficulty
of reading every single book.
"These were more noble than those in Thessalonica,
in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures
daily, whether those things were so" (Acts 17:11).
Related Topics:
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A WStS Prologue of
J.A. Wylie's "The History of Protestantism"
by Tom and Katie Stewart
"Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants
of men"
(1 Corinthians 7:23).
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Or, Roman Catholicism Examined in Light of
the Scriptures
by Tom Stewart
"We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed:
forsake her"
(Jeremiah 51:9).
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"And upon her forehead was a name written, MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER
OF HARLOTS
AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH" (Revelation 17:5).
by Tom Stewart
(Part 1) The Purpose and History of Babylon the Great -------New Window
Any attempt to describe the final destruction of
Babylon the Great-- "THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH"--
demands an identification of that system, i.e., its purpose, history, as well as
present and prophetic future.
(Part
2) The Reformation and the Church of Rome
-------New Window
By Divine Authority, the Apostle John was directed
to align Nimrod's Babylon with the finally destroyed Babylon of Daniel's 70th Week
(Daniel 9:27),
which indicates a clear line of succession for Babylon the Great.
(Part
3) The Ecumenical Movement and the Church of Rome -------New Window
It has been an historic dogma of the Catholic Church
that "outside the
[Catholic] Church there is no salvation". "They could not be saved who,
knowing that the Catholic Church was founded as necessary by God through Christ,
would refuse either to enter it or to remain in it"
(from "The Catechism of the Catholic Church" [1992], paragraph 846). This
was intended by the Papacy to place the world in universal need of coming
to Rome to receive the benefits of their ecumenical salvation...
(Part
4) Come Out of Her, My People -------New
Window
Or, Love Alone Will Cause Us to Obey the Command
to Separate From Babylon the Great
"Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers
of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues"
(Revelation 18:4).
(Part
5) Billy Graham: Christianity's Modern Balaam -------New Window
"Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love
them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD"
(2Chronicles 19:2).
(Part
6) The Final Judgment of the Great Whore ---New Window
"He hath judged the Great Whore, which did
corrupt the Earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of His servants
at her hand"
(Revelation 19:1-2).
The whole world knows there was a Reformation.
They've just forgotten why.
They're going back to Babylon
and the LORD is ANGRY.
The following men each have their own sub-index:
Charles
Grandison Finney ---New Window
(1792-1875)
Charles
Haddon Spurgeon ---New Window
(1834-1892)
Jonathan
Edwards ---New Window (1703-1758)
James Aitken Wylie
(1808-1890) (this
page)
Andrew
Murray ---New Window (1828-1917)
E.
M. Bounds ---New Window (1835-1913)
A.
T. Pierson ---New Window (1837-1911)
D. L.
Moody ---New Window (1837-1899)
Section Index for Voices
of Philadelphia
Holy Bible
