THE
REFORMATION
We might go back and review the
events that brought these little bands of Pilgrims to America because if the
Lord moved Columbus and others, as Nephi said, so also did He move Luther and
Calvin and Knox and many other good and great men to perform their separate
missions in the accomplishment of His purpose.
These reformers gathered out of
the choicest spirits from among the people around them, and as their ideas and
ideals were opposed by the ruling classes in their separate countries, they
became unwelcome dwellers in their own lands, but a place of refuge had been
prepared and many of them came to America where they could worship God as they
pleased. Thus, we see how the Catholic colony settled in Maryland, Puritans in
Massachusetts, the Baptists in Rhode Island, etc. All these people held
different views as to their religion. They could not agree, and yet they were
faced by a common enemy. They had to unite to defend themselves against
oppression. In uniting they were obliged to form a constitution that was
liberal enough to include them all, which they did. The principal article of
this document forbade the government to interfere with any person or sect in
their religious beliefs or practices. Thus, we see how the ground was prepared
for another great even that was to come. (William Ray, Laman Manasseh
Victorious: A Message of Salvation and Redemption To His People Israel First to
Ephraim and Manasseh [Idaho Falls, 1931], 95-96)