Why has the Church used torture more than any other criminal in history ?

Question

Is there any biblical support for such enthusiastic infliction of pain on those who do not think like they do ?


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Answer 1

Sorry, that doesn't even make sense.

Answer 2

The Church hasn't - the Inquisition (even under Tomás de Torquemada, Inquisidor General of Aragón, Valencia and Catalonia) wasn't a hotbed of torture and burning at the stake. Of course, this doesn't mean that it didn't happen, but that it wasn't as widespread as many believe - particularly when taken in the context of the era. This is somewhat of a case of the pen being mightier than the sword - literally. Recently opened archives at the Vatican indicate that this was a rare occurrence. How accurate the archives are is open to question, but the monks writing the reports had no reason to lie, as they knew that the reports were going to be sealed from the public. People who didn't like the Church, however, wrote massive amounts claiming torture and burnings, and the Church believed that these charges were so far from reality that they didn't wish to lend credibility to these allegations by refuting them. Of course, as history shows, they were wrong - but at the time, they didn't really think that anyone would believe those spurious accusations.

Incidentally, the Etruscans, Egyptians, Romans, Greeks, Moors and Muslims were all big on torture at some point in their histories - in fact, I doubt you could find a religion that wasn't (or country - remember that separation of Church and state is a fairly new idea as far as history is concerned.)

PS: Your phrase "any other criminal in history" implies that the Church is a criminal. Criminals are those who are not sanctioned - otherwise, the army would be convicted as murderers, etc. This is a definition, and in no way implies whether I agree with it or not.

Answer 3

Actually,modern nationalist movements and governments,especially the Communist and Nazi Parties,have far outdone Christian regimes and inquisitions of the past,even when you add Catholic,Protestant and Orthodox together( and let's throw in Muslim and Shintoist/Buddhist regimes as well).
People in the past have quoted Torah and Prophets and the Book of Revelation and even Jesus' Parable of the Wedding feast in which some of the characters were dragged into the Feast. However, there is no New Testament or Apostolic Tradition excuse for persecutions,degradation of "outsiders" and wars which use religious slogans and institutions for justification. Such behaviors and attitudes cannot be compatible with the Beatitudes or the Full Gospel or the Oral Torah.

Answer 4

Because they are so deluded by their beliefs, that they think the end justifies the means. They give up reason and their personal morality and hand it over to the writers of a nonsensical book.

Their god delights in torture and prescribes it and worse:
Those who break the Sabbath are to be executed. Exodus 31:14
Remember the entire proposition relies on murdering good people at the end of time, just because they didn't believe.

God drowns everything that breathes air. This includes newborn babies, pregnant women etc -- all creatures great and small, the Lord God drowned them all. Genesis 7:21-23

They take parenting advice from a murderer, marriage advice from a chauvinist, peace advice from a war mongerer........what else could you expect?

Answer 5

If "the Church used torture more than any other criminal in history," it might be because the church has existed for about 1700 years (25-35 times longer than the average human lifespan) and has spread to numerous nations, cultures and races (probably about a thousand times more popular than most people.)

So. even if the church is one twenty-five Thousandth as evil as the most evil criminal in the world, then they can still be number one. Have you compared it to other religions?

Answer 6

By the Church you mean the Catholic Church. the church used torture because they wanted absolute power over the people whom they deemed too stupid to know anything else. When there was someone who spoke up to their ruthlessness they'd capture them and use them for teaching the other people not to do the same thing. They made those poor souls an example of what not to do. Look at what was done to Jesus. A perfect example.

Answer 7

Why are you so deceived? What church are you talking about?

The only church that I know of that used torture was during the days when Roman Catholics ruled and kings feared them and
people who didn't accept Catholic dogma were tied to stakes
and burnt alive with the approval of the Catholic Heirarchy.
They were brutally tortured and killed in many more ways too by the same people.

Real Christians don't torture anyone. The love them even if the people mock and scorn them. They want to be like Jesus
who prayed God would forgive His tormentors as they spit on Him and mocked Him while He was dying.

Answer 8

No there is not any support for causing the pain they have. And they will never admit how wrong they were neither...it just gets swept under the carpet like it never happened. And Christians still to this day pass judgement on others when it isn't their place to judge...it's gods. God said to go forth and speak of his word...I think he meant to people that wanted to listen. He didn't mean ram it down peoples throats then judge them for not conforming to that belief. And to answer the first girls comment...Has she heard of the Salem Witch Trials? How many women were tortured and burned because the were thought to be a witch. It started with the church.

Answer 9

I hate the bible and this is why...

The lord of that servant will come in a day when he looketh not for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in sunder, and will appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. Luke 12:46-48

If a man beats his male or female slave with a rod and the slave dies as a direct result, he must be punished, but he is not to be punished if the slave gets up after a day or two, since the slave is his property. Exodus 21:20-21

Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. Proverbs 22:15

Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. Proverbs 23:13-14

For example, David was "a man after God's own heart" (1 Samuel 13:14, Acts 13:22) and "did what was right in the sight of the Lord ... save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite" (1 Kings 15:5). Since he tortured the inhabitants of several cities, torture (at least in certain situations) must be okay with God.

And he brought forth the people that were therein, and put them under saws, and under harrows of iron, and under axes of iron, and made them pass through the brick-kiln: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. 2 Samuel 12:31

Answer 10

The church did use torture but not more than Hitler, Stalin or Castro, or Saddam.

Using torture is not a Christian thing..the last pope has apologized for many of the crimes committed by the church in the name of Christianity.

Answer 11

The church has a dark and terrible history. In my opinion the church has no place in true christianity. I could say alot about it, but to keep this short...I would presume that God would never wish to support the violation of his children...so why must the church harbour so many pedophiles? They protect the offenders, and shun their victims.