christains and the history of christianity?

Question

i've always wondered what the modern christain POV is about the christain crusades, "the burning times", the inquisition and so on. to me, if a religion that caused for centuries, so much carnage and misery to non-believers, how can the believers have faith in something that destructive?

Answer 1

There is a lot of good out there but, unfortunately, a lot of the "negative" gets the most publicity.

Christian & Jewish martyrs say; "I will die for what I believe". A Muslim martyr says; "You will die for what I believe".

Views vary on the history of Christianity, just as views vary on the history of Islam and its expansionism at the expense and cost of innocent blood.

Hundreds of years before the crusades, the prophet Muhammad (he said that God told him to do it) slaughtered tens of thousands of innocents, in the name of religion and Muslim/Islam expansionism.

Unfortunately, many PEOPLE hide behind the proverbial mask of their RELIGION, in order to fulfill their lusts and greed for more power and land.

When many (regardless of their religion) said that God told them go here or to go there, and to conquer and kill in the name of God, really, God had nothing to do with it. They went for the riches, power, and fame, and JUSTIFIED it in the name of their God.

Answer 2

I do believe that all of those things occurred. The inherent thread that runs and will continue to run through history, whether it be religious or non-religious, is man's inhumanity to man. All of this is for whatever reason he has at the moment and whatever he can rationalize and deem appropriate action. Remember that just because you go to a church each Sunday or Saturday, or Friday, does not mean that you are born again. It is the born again experience that progressively changes you year after year. You may ask how to I get this change into my life? One word only = believe. Believe in the power of your Savior, Lord, and Master, Jesus Christ to save you from your sins of the past, present, and future. Keeping a daily walk with Him will help keep you from sinning. What is a daily walk = praying and reading your Bible. Don't try to be a "good person" on your own strength, for the Word of God says that our hearts are wickedy deceptive, but rather let Christ work through you. Submit your life to Him daily and ask what He wants you to do this day. Remember that there, but by the grace of God, go I. (Meaning it's only by the grace of our God that we are kept from doing such harm or encountering such harm.)

Answer 3

They are in denial. They believe that "true" chrisitans wouldn't do that, and therefore that they themselves should not be blamed for the actions of a few million bad apples.

Answer 4

My short answer is -- make sure you have the FULL picture.

a) What do you actually know about the harm people HAVE done 'in the name of Christianity'. Was that really their reason? And DID all these things happen, and happen the way you've heard? (Beware. Many popular portraits are distorted or overblown by caricatures due to ignorance, and sometimes, sadly due to anti-Christian agendas).

b) What do you know of the noble and selfless things done in the name of Christ (as well as other accomplishments that have helped humanity that have been rooted in Christian convictions)

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I will not pretend such things as those you list have not happened. But that's not the whole of the story, and in fact, that telling often includes major mistakes about these events as well.. and CARICATURES not well-supported by what we know. So note the following:

* the numbers and extent suggested for people killed in
"burning times" (i.e., burning of witches) and by the various inquisitions is seriously off. These were actually quite limited in time and scope, as was the use of torture of any kind..

* the purpose of the Inquisition, for example, was NOT to kill unbelievers. It was actually not aimed at unbelievers at all, but at Christan heretics feared to be spreading dangerous teaching to OTHERS in the Church. And it's first goal was to bring BACK believers thought to have strayed into heresy.

* in keeping with this goal, the vast majority of those brought before courts like the inquisitions were NOT punished, but called on to 'recant' (and again, rarely under any kind of 'torture'), that is, to correct their teaching. (Not saying there were not errors and excesses in all this... only that it was NOT set up to be a means of controlling people by means of or threat of physical harm.... and fell into that far less often than its critics think)

* incidentally, the Inquisition was under the authority of the STATE, not the Church (even though the two were SUPPOSED to work together); hence, the POLITICAL agendas of state leaders could come into play. (This is an example of how religion can end up being an EXCUSE used to justify political leaders' own agenda, efforts to consolidate and protect their own power, etc)

* there were clear excesses in the course of the Crusades --as in MANY wars. These actually came on BOTH sides (despite the benign view some paint of the Muslim leaders). Do keep in mind that the FIRST Crusade began with a genuine concern for what Christian brothers in the Holy Land were suffering.

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The pictures painted by critics do not just tend to highlight (and DISTORT the available facts about) wrongdoing 'in the name of' the Christian religion'. They also tend to completely overlook anything on the OTHER side of the ledger, such as:

* the courage and compassion of early Christians in the Roman Empire. Indeed in the early centuries (pre-Constantine) one o the things that won people over to this new faith was the way the Christian COMMUNITY cared for the broken, sick, etc.. They adopted children abandoned to die (in a time when infanticide by exposure was common), and in plague times did not flee but stayed, at risk of their own lives, to minister to the sick and dying.

* ending of slavery among the Romans (often forgotten fact -- the vast majority of people under the Roman Empire were SLAVES)

* beginning of many vital institutions -- from HOSPITALS to care for people to schools and eventually the UNIVERSITY system (No, the church was NOT anti-intellectual... indeed it was this system that laid the foundation for the scientific revolution(s) and other advances in thought NOT despite the faith, but precisely AMONG very committed Christians)

* holding things together when the Roman Empire fell apart...

Again, none of this is meant to deny serious failings and abuses along the way, corruption in the church government (and in state governments under "Christian" monarchs), but looking at the WHOLE picture, I do not believe it justifies the claims that the Christian religion is "destructive"
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It would also be useful for you to look at the fruits of the Christian religion in the world SINCE the times you mention, and to compare/contrast what . Again, there will be many stains and failures. But I think/hope you will also see things such as:

1) the modern anti-slavery campaign and abolition of slavery in the West was begun by and successfully brought; Consider also that slavery long preceded Christianity and that there is STILL much slavery in the world TODAY. So the question is, WHY and how have these Christians done something others did not and do not do to END such human abuse?

2) the massive killings of the 20th century carried out by brutal dictators from Stalin to Mao to Pol Po .in the name of ATHEISTIC IDEOLOGIES (not much different than a religion).

3) in the midst of such shameful episodes asf the holocaust --as well as horrors of other brutal modern regimes-- though I am saddened that many Christians did not do enough to oppose them there WERE a great many brave Christians who risked and gave their lives to oppose these things.

(A story often missed is the opposition to Hitler in the CHURCH -- indeed the ONLY professional group in German society that did NOT support Hitler was the clergy!! --including the fact that, faced with early opposition from church leaders, Hitler used the 'state-church' apparatus to get RID of these leaders and replace them with his puppets! Nor do we generally hear how many devout Christians who, because of their faith, would NOT go along with Hitler, and were sent to their death in the camps)

4) again, the main leadership in the struggle AGAINST repressive Communist regimes after WW II (esp in Eastern Europe) came from CHRISTIAN leaders acting as such.

Frankly, though I am saddened by many episodes hypocrisy and failings, i am not totally surprised at Christians -- like others throughout human history -- mistreating their fellow man. But I am often AWED at the many believers who have risked and sacrificed and GIVEN their lives for the sake of OTHERS, all BECAUSE they took their faith seriously (including the teaching that this is precisely the sort of thing Jesus Christ did for US).
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A place to start for correcting many of the caricatures, as well as seeing "the other side" of Christian history, esp. the early church and medieval periods is a couple of books by social historian Rodney Stark which should be in a library near you --

* The Rise of Christianity: How the Obscure, Marginal, Jesus Movement Became the Dominant Religious Force
* For the Glory of God: How Monotheism Led to Reformations, Science, Witch-Hunts, and the End of Slavery