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Protestantism: Historic Persecution & Intolerance

Last updated on: June 16, 2025 at 1:02 pm by Dave Armstrong

Fire

Photograph by Hans [Pixabay / CC0 public domain]

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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I. INTRODUCTORY / OVERVIEW

II. CATHOLIC MARTYRS OF THE ENGLISH “REFORMATION”

III. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT (ON THE CONTINENT) FOR HAVING DIFFERENT BELIEFS

IV. PLUNDERING AND THEFT OF CATHOLIC CHURCH PROPERTIES

V. OPPOSITION TO CO-EXISTENCE WITH CATHOLICS AND THE MASS (“ANTI-ECUMENISM”)

VI. ANTI-CATHOLIC PENAL LAWS

VII. ICONOCLASM (DESTRUCTION OF ART AS “IDOLATRY”) / EDUCATION

VIII. PROTESTANT INTOLERANCE AND PERSECUTIONS

IX. GERMAN PEASANTS’ REVOLT (1524-1525)

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I. INTRODUCTORY / OVERVIEW

Protestant Inquisitions: “Reformation” Intolerance & Persecution [June 1991; rev. 10-31-03, 3-7-07, 9-14-17]

Luther Film (2003): Detailed Catholic Critique [10-28-03; rev. 3-6-17]

Luther’s Attitudes on Religious Liberty (Roland H. Bainton) [2-16-06]

Was Luther “Bloodthirsty” & Violent? (James Swan & I Agree!) [8-29-17]

Armstrong vs. Collins & Walls #13: “Reformed” Censorship & Intolerance [10-26-17]

Protestantism: Historical Cause of Religious Toleration? [7-27-22]

Refuting Lucas Banzoli’s “Catholic Slanders of the Reformation” [9-20-22]

II. CATHOLIC MARTYRS OF THE ENGLISH “REFORMATION”

[1375 martyrs of Protestant tyranny documented in four papers]

St. Thomas More: Noble Heroism Amidst Treachery and Madness [1991]

Luther on the Deaths of Zwingli, St. Thomas More, & St. John Fisher [11-30-07; rev. 10-31-17]
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430 Catholic Martyrs Murdered by Henry VIII (1534-1544) [2-6-08]

312 Catholic Martyrs & Confessors Under “Good Queen Bess” (Queen Elizabeth: r. 1558-1603) [2-8-08]

189 English Catholic Martyrs & Heroic Confessors: 1603-1729 [2-16-08]

444 Irish Catholic Martyrs and Heroic Confessors: 1565-1713 [2-27-08]
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Discussion on Whether the English Revolution (aka “Reformation”) was a “Terrorist” Campaign [Facebook, 9-16-14]

Elizabeth I and 512 Catholic Martyrs (vs. Lucas Banzoli) [3-4-23]

III. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT (ON THE CONTINENT) FOR HAVING DIFFERENT BELIEFS

Luther Favored the Death Penalty for Anabaptists [2-24-04]

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Philip Melanchthon: Death for Denying the Real Presence (He Later Denied the Real Presence Himself) [5-23-06]

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Lord Acton: Philip Melanchthon Persecuted Eucharistic Heretics [5-29-06]

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Luther: Death Penalty for Anabaptists & 1525 Peasants’ Revolt (Critique of James Swan’s Misrepresentation on the Radio Show, Iron Sharpens Iron, with Chris Arnzen) [11-6-07]

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John Calvin’s Advocacy of Capital Punishment and Persecution of Those Whom He Considers “Blasphemers” or Heretics (Catholics, Anabaptists, Etc.) [6-1-09]

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Protestant “Reformer” Martin Bucer: Death for Adulterers! [9-18-09]

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John Calvin: Torment of an Inept Execution “Special Will of God” [3-23-10]

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John Calvin Mocked Servetus’ Reaction to His Death Sentence [3-25-10]

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Calvin Supports Death Penalty for Heresy After Servetus [11-6-11]

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Reply to Reformed Luther Apologist James Swan’s Request for Documentation of Executions of Anabaptists Sanctioned by Luther, in the 1530s [8-17-14]

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Calvin the “Destroyer” of Servetus: James Swan Misses Forest for Trees [8-24-17]
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Protestants Executed Peaceful Anabaptists (vs. L. Banzoli) [6-20-22]

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Reply To Gavin Ortlund: Albigensian Crusade [2-6-24]

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Reply To Gavin Ortlund: Catholic Inquisitions; Hus [2-7-24]

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How to Understand Past Attitudes Toward Violence (past Catholic and Protestant religious persecution) [National Catholic Register, 2-16-24]

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Luther Favored Execution of Heretics (vs. Jordan Cooper) + Good & Bad Protestant & Catholic Apologetics & Historical Revisionism & “Twisting” [3-21-24]

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James Swan Rationalizes Luther’s Intolerance Again [11-22-24]

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Luther: Execute Frigid Wives; Torture & Burn Witches: Including Two Examples of Luther’s Espousal of Capital Punishment for Wrong or Aberrant Behavior Prior to 1530 [4-7-25]
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DOCUMENTARY: Did Martin Luther Support the DEATH PENALTY for Heretics? [Lux Veritatis, 5-1-25]

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John Calvin’s 1554 Defense of the Execution of Heretics [6-9-25]
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Luther, Melanchthon, & Lutherans: Death to Anabaptists! [6-11-25]

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Huldrych Zwingli (1484-1531) on the Execution of Heretics [Facebook, 6-11-25]

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Calvin’s Successor Theodore Beza & Execution of Heretics [6-16-25]

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IV. PLUNDERING AND THEFT OF CATHOLIC CHURCH PROPERTIES

Dialogue w Lutheran Historian on 16th-Century Intolerance [2-15-06]

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16th Century Theft of Church Properties (vs. Lutheran Historian) [2-22-06]

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16th c. Calvinists vs. Lutherans: Who Suppressed Catholics [3-21-07]

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“Reformation” Theft of Thousands of Catholic Churches [4-12-08]

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“Reformation” Anti-Catholic Theft: Apologetic “Blind Spot”? [4-20-08]

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V. OPPOSITION TO CO-EXISTENCE WITH CATHOLICS AND THE MASS (“ANTI-ECUMENISM”)

The Real Diet of Augsburg (1530) vs. the Protestant Myth [3-3-04]
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Regensburg (1541) & Poissy (1561): Protestant “Ecumenism”? [4-27-04]

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Is Lutheranism Officially Anti-Catholic? [4-26-05]

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Word “Protestant” Stemmed from Intolerance of Catholic Worship [2-8-06]

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“Moderate” Heinrich Bullinger: “Reformation” Anti-Catholicism [1-16-07]

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Lutheran View of the Mass / Catholics & Lutheran Worship [11-19-07]

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Armstrong vs. Collins & Walls #13: “Reformed” Censorship & Intolerance [10-26-17]
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VI. ANTI-CATHOLIC PENAL LAWS

Anglican Persecution of Catholics: 1559-1829 [3-10-08]

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Persecution of Catholics in Scotland Up Till 1829 [3-10-08]
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English Persecution of Irish Catholics: 1536-1829 & Beyond [3-10-08]
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Penal Laws Against American Catholics: 1606-1789 [3-10-08]

VII. ICONOCLASM (DESTRUCTION OF ART AS “IDOLATRY”) / EDUCATION

Early Protestant Antipathy Towards Art (+ Iconoclasm) [1991]

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Astonishing Hostility to Higher Education in Early Protestantism [1991]
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John Calvin, Early Calvinism, & Violent Iconoclasm [7-4-04]
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16th c. Calvinists vs. Lutherans: Who Suppressed Catholics [3-21-07]

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Dialogue on Jihadist & 16th Century Calvinist Iconoclasm (vs. David Scott) [10-7-13]

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VIII. PROTESTANT INTOLERANCE AND PERSECUTIONS

Sacramentarian Controversies (Calvin vs. Luther vs. Zwingli) [3-29-04]

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Eucharistic Real Presence: Luther’s Magnificent Defense [6-21-04]

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“Absurd” Protestant Divisions: Calvin’s Revealing Lament to Melanchthon [2-6-06]

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Philip Melanchthon’s Agony Over Protestant Sectarianism [2-8-06]

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Melanchthon in 1530 Longed for Return of Catholic Bishops [11-30-07]

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Luther on the Deaths of Zwingli, St. Thomas More, & St. John Fisher [11-30-07; rev. 10-31-17]
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Zwingli, Bucer, Oecolampadius: Luther & Lutherans Not Christians [1-10-08]

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Quiz on Early Protestant / “Reformation” Eucharistic Harmony [8-23-09]

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John Calvin Rebukes Lutheran “Beasts” and “Evil”, Calls Luther an Idolater [Facebook, 3-23-10]
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Melanchthon’s Agonized Tears Over Early Protestant Divisions [6-15-11; rev. 10-11-17]

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Early Protestant “Unity”: Calvin vs. Westphal vs. Luther [11-6-11]

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Armstrong vs. Collins & Walls #13: “Reformed” Censorship & Intolerance [10-26-17]

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16th Century Calvinist, Lutheran, & Zwinglian Intolerance [7-29-22]

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Reply To Gavin Ortlund: Albigensian Crusade [2-6-24]

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Reply To Gavin Ortlund: Catholic Inquisitions; Hus [2-7-24]

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IX. GERMAN PEASANTS’ REVOLT (1524-1525)

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Martin Luther’s Inflammatory Rhetoric and the Peasants’ Revolt (1524-1525) (+ Part II) [10-31-03]

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Luther: Death Penalty for Anabaptists & 1525 Peasants’ Revolt (Critique of James Swan’s Misrepresentation on the Radio Show, Iron Sharpens Iron, with Chris Arnzen) [11-6-07]

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Did Luther Cause the 1525 Peasants’ Revolt? (vs. Banzoli) [6-20-22]

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Last updated on 16 June 2025

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