"Inquisition Update"
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SO OPENLY CORRUPT did the fallen church become in the Middle Ages, we can readily understand why in many places men rose up in protest. Many were those noble souls who rejected the false claims of the pope, looking instead to the lord Jesus for salvation and truth. These were called 'heretics' and were bitterly persecuted by the Roman Catholic church. One of the documents that ordered such persecutions was the inhuman "Ad exstirpanda" issued by Pope Innocent IV in 1252. The document stated that heretics were to be "crushed liked venomous snakes." It formally approved the use of torture. Civil authorities were ordered to burn heretics. Says The Catholic Encyclopedia The aforesaid Bull 'Ad exstirpanda' remained thence forth a fundamental document of the Inquisition, renewed or reinforced by several popes, Alexander IV (1254-1261), Clement IV (I265-1268), Nicholas IV (1288-1292) , Boniface VIII (1294-1303), and others. The civil authorities, therefore, were enjoined by the popes,