Is there a difference btw the Catholics from the Spanish Inquisition and the Muslim terrorists now?

Answer 1

Modern historians have long known that the popular view of the Inquisition is a myth. The Inquisition was actually an attempt by the Catholic Church to stop unjust executions.

Heresy was a capital offense against the state. Rulers of the state, whose authority was believed to come from God, had no patience for heretics. Neither did common people, who saw heretics as dangerous outsiders who would bring down divine wrath.

When someone was accused of heresy in the early Middle Ages, they were brought to the local lord for judgment, just as if they had stolen a pig. It was not easy to discern whether the accused was really a heretic. The lord needed some basic theological training, very few did. The sad result is that uncounted thousands across Europe were executed by secular authorities without fair trials or a competent judge of the crime.

The Catholic Church's response to this problem was the Inquisition, an attempt to provide fair trials for accused heretics using laws of evidence and presided over by knowledgeable judges.

From the perspective of secular authorities, heretics were traitors to God and the king and therefore deserved death. From the perspective of the Church, however, heretics were lost sheep who had strayed from the flock. As shepherds, the pope and bishops had a duty to bring them back into the fold, just as the Good Shepherd had commanded them. So, while medieval secular leaders were trying to safeguard their kingdoms, the Church was trying to save souls. The Inquisition provided a means for heretics to escape death and return to the community.

Most people tried for heresy by the Inquisition were either acquitted or had their sentences suspended. Those found guilty of grave error were allowed to confess their sin, do penance, and be restored to the Body of Christ. The underlying assumption of the Inquisition was that, like lost sheep, heretics had simply strayed.

If, however, an inquisitor determined that a particular sheep had purposely left the flock, there was nothing more that could be done. Unrepentant or obstinate heretics were excommunicated and given over to secular authorities. Despite popular myth, the Inquisition did not burn heretics. It was the secular authorities that held heresy to be a capital offense, not the Church. The simple fact is that the medieval Inquisition saved uncounted thousands of innocent (and even not-so-innocent) people who would otherwise have been roasted by secular lords or mob rule.

Where did this myth come from? After 1530, the Inquisition began to turn its attention to the new heresy of Lutheranism. It was the Protestant Reformation and the rivalries it spawned that would give birth to the myth. Innumerable books and pamphlets poured from the printing presses of Protestant countries at war with Spain accusing the Spanish Inquisition of inhuman depravity and horrible atrocities in the New World.

For more information, see:
The Real Inquisition, By Thomas F. Madden, National Review (2004) http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/madden200406181026.asp
Inquisition by Edward Peters (1988)
The Spanish Inquisition by Henry Kamen (1997)
The Spanish Inquisition: Fact Versus Fiction, By Marvin R. O'Connell (1996): http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/history/world/wh0026.html

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

The Spanish Inquisition was institutionalized and approved of by the Spanish Government. Muslim terrorists are an underground group and have mixed blessings from different governments. Other than that, I don't see much difference.

Answer 3

Spain and its non muslim population were under severe oppression bythe Muslim occupation. Finally the tables turn ed around and they lashed back at them in a very severe way.

What has hapened in 9/11 has no bearing on the Spanish inquisition.
It Basically relates a deep hatred of Israel. That has been the root of our woe which has just had a begining in sept 11,2001. The Date of the Attack was purposely picked out from a date in the Quran 9:11,which indicated a similarity of the Situation.

There will be no End. For the forces of the AntiChrist will continue to be a thorn on the Side of the Lion which is the USA. This country in Unison prayed and because of that it has not been worse. However It does not means that its not going to happen again.

Answer 4

The muslim terrorists use more advanced weapons than they had in the Inquisition.

Answer 5

The Catholics at that time were not following what Jesus taught and did. The Muslim terrorists are following what Muhammad taught and did.

Answer 6

the the Catholics from the Spanish Inquisition were Catholic and Spanish.

The Muslim terrorists now call themselves Muslim and come from all around the world.

Answer 7

Yes, the Spanish inquisition was limited to a single geographic area (though the conquistadors tried to destroy the natives in South America).

Islamic radicals want to destroy the world, institute Islamic governments everywhere, and to kill themselves in the process or murdering civilians.

Answer 8

Where do you think the Muslims learned to kill so effectively? The genocidal Vatican and catholics have killed more people than any group in history.

Catholics are not saved Christians.

Answer 9

Muslim terrorists are like pirates.

If entire nations were supporting them you would know it.

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Answer 10

Yes. Inquisitors didn't kill themselves.