1) God's Blessing Moved from Italy to England

When the Roman Catholic Church did not fulfill its responsibility, God's blessing inevitably had to move elsewhere. When God withdrew His blessing from Rome the Medieval Age became the Dark Age, then the proud Roman Catholic authorities were brought down in the midst of humanistic ideology.

At this time God initiated the new Protestant movement and opened the way for world salvation once again. God bestowed His blessing on the English Protestant movement, centering on Henry VIII, who led the movement to oppose the Catholics and change the constitution of the church. So God's Will left Rome and moved to England, and a new providence for world salvation began.

Thus the small island nation of England, developing its ocean-going capabilities, quickly became a world power. The world said, OThe sun never sets on the British empire."

God did not bless England not for the British themselves, letting them conquer the world and enjoy the cream of civilization just for themselves, but for the sake of world salvation. In other words God blessed England because, upon its world foundation, He wanted to save the world. At that time England should have been aware of God's Will and internally united with the Puritans, who dreamed of an ideal country centered on God's Will. Then England should have spread God's Word throughout the world on the foundation of its colonies. If she had done so, England would surely have been able to unite and save the world.

In reality, what did England do? It was unaware of its mission and colonized other nations for its own interests. It failed to become a nation for the sake of world salvation, and exploited the world for its own sake. The Anglican Church tightened its authority, supported the government and forgot about world salvation, and persecuted the Puritans who advocated new religious freedom. God's Will to save the world centering on England came to a dead end.

The Puritans, who advocated religious liberty, struggled against the authoritarian monarchy. Finally they crossed over to the new continent of America, at the risk of their lives. These Puritans, beyond nationality and beyond denomination, pioneered America centered on God's Protestantism. They strove to build the ideal country of God. They left behind their homeland, which had persecuted and oppressed them for their faith, to save the world and build an ideal world in which they could serve God freely. So they united and pioneered America and laid a religious foundation that matched EnglandOs. Here people were able to establish a world-level-Abel Christian realm, in opposition to the world-level-Cain Christian realm, by uniting the Protestant forces. In this way God began the providence of restoring the Catholics, in the position of the first son, through the Abel Protestants.