By centuries the Roman Catholic kept the world in obscurantism while keeping the Bible closed to lay people. God worked through outstanding theologians to let the people know the truth. Luther, Zungli, Tyndle, and Calvin among others gave the people the blessing to read the Bible in their own languages and to understand clearly God's message of Salvation by faith in Jesus Christ. God chose many people of the northern countries of Europe to become a Spiritual Israel after the time of the Reformation. For centuries, northern Europe has been a stronghold of Christianism.