The Violent Chapters of the Church UPDATED

Critics of the Church often bring their case over the chapters of violence in Church history. They point to The Crusades, The Inquisitions, and other violent campaigns as signs of corruption, and so seek to defame the institution of God's Kingdom on these grounds. I have endeavored to answer the violent chapters of the church through analysis and explanation of the motives, thinking, and reasoning behind them. It is not my endeavor to approve or disapprove of the wars of religion, nor make a case for or against sanctioned violence. Rather my goal is to give some explanation for these episodes of violence, and shed some light on why the Church participated in fighting. It is my hope to make my case without bias, although to be honest all history is biased, and usually written by the victor. The Church has been involved in violence from  5th century to 16th Century when the Christian Byzantine Empire waged wars against Muslims, Christians, and other groups. From the 7th century to 18th century A.D. Roman Catholics under the authority of the Roman Catholic Church waged wars in form of The Crusades and conquests of Europe, The Baltics, and the Middle East. In the 14th Century to 16th Century both Catholic and Protestants from kings to peasants fought against the Ottomans Turks and their invasion of Europe in the Hasburg Wars, Battle of Lepanto, and the Siege of Malta. Then there were the wars between Roman Catholics and Protestants in 17th century known as The Thirty Year's War, which began as tensions of piety but evolved into political struggles for power, authority, and land. The British Empire in the 19th Century waged a campaign to conquer and colonize the world for Christ, which did bring the Gospel to India, Sahara, and reestablished the State of Israel fulfilling the prophecies of the Prophet Ezekiel (Ezekiel 36).  It is clear that the results of these conflicts have positive and negative results. Let us then begin with the first major shifting from more pacifistic views in the church to pitched battles.

The Early Church versus The Medieval Church

The Church of Christ and the Apostles, 33-80 A.D., was vastly different than Church of Middle Ages. The Apostles taught that as Christians we must suffer for Christ (Romans 8:17, 2 Timothy 3:12) and that it is paramount to make disicples (Matthew 28:19), share the Gospel (Mark 16:15, 2 Timothy 4:2), and love your enemy (Matthew 5:43-48, Luke 6:27-36). The converts and prostlytes of the Early Church were Jews, Romans, Greeks, Scythians, Samaritans, Egyptians, Phrygians, and more (Galatians 2:8-9, Acts 2:7-41) all of which could read and write in Greek, so they could read the whole New Testament which is written in Greek and understand it. All of these believers were taught to move in Spirit of God (Romans 8:14, 2 Peter 1:21), and their aim was to share the Gospel and live out their faith as community (Acts 4, Acts 5, 1 Corinthians 12). In contrast, the Church of Middle Ages was long departed from Apostles, roughly 400 A.D. to 1500 A.D., and the converts were warring tribes such as the Goths, Saxons, Anglos, Welsh, Celts, Picts, Scots, Franks, Norsemen (Normans), and more whose cultures were forged in iron and bloodshed. The Apostles of Christ's time were dealing with the bloodthirsty Romans, but their primary audianece was Greeks, who were thought focused, loved ideas, and philosophical in nature, and the Romans aspired to be like the Greeks, even using their language along with Latin. The Greek Language was a detailed language that allowed for subtlties, parables, allegory, and analogy to play out, in contrast the Barbaric tribes of Europe weren't ignorant or unintelligent, but they weren't philosophically minded, they were practically minded, to put it bluntly, the time of Jesus and the Apostles was one of ideas, the time of the Popes and Medieval people was one of iron. It was this dramatic change of audience that made the Church not only come to accept militancy and violence, but sanctioning it. The problem of Christian warriors was not one the Apostle Paul or Peter had to challenge, the war as Paul put it was not against people but spirits, "For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places," (Ephesians 6:12) and " For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,  casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,  and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled./We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. And after you have become fully obedient, we will punish everyone who remains disobedient." (2 Corinthains 10:4-6, NKJV and NLT). In contrast, the time of the Popes was full of waring hordes and people who were Christians holding professions of violence and murder such as the knightly class. To answer the problem of "thou shalt not kill [in Hebrew its murder, which is premediated in revenge]," (Exodus 20:13) men like Abbot Cluny and Pope Gregroy sought the wisdom of Cicero and St. Augustine of Hippo who taught Just War and Just Cause, which essentially give violence a blessing if it is to aid an ally in Christ or neighbor being besieged, or defensive warfare. Dealing with people forged in the mindset of war and vendettas, legends like Beowulf reminding barbarians to seek revenge, Cluny and Gregory discovered they could redirect the barbarous ideal of filial vegence, seeking revenge for kin that were killed and apply it to the church, if the church be harmed then should not Christians rise up and defend her? The Crusades were thus conceived, but not achieved until Pope Urban II found the right audience, the right time period, and the right situation in Europe and the Holy Land. The Church was able to take the instinct of wielding iron and fighting and make it an institution of the church, and even offer indulgences (papally sanctioned absolutions for pennace, in English: eternal life if you die fighting the enemy).

This serious shift from an idea audience to an iron audience changed how Christians viewed persecution and suffering. The Apostle Peter applauded the churches that suffered persecution, "But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. So don't worry or be afraid of their threats. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name," (1 Peter 4:13-14), "But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it," (1 Peter 3:14), and, "So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin." (1 Peter 4:1). While in contrast the Church of St. Peters (Roman Catholic Church) applauded Christians persecuting the enemies of God in holy war (see The Crusades: A New History, Thomas Abridge, 1905-1291 A.D.). It is quite bizarre that the Roman Church and Reformed Christian ignored the following words of Jesus Christ,"Put your sword back in its place," Jesus said to him, "for all who draw the sword will die by the sword," (Matthew 26:52), "But I say to you who hear: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you,  bless those who curse you, and pray for those who spitefully use you. To him who strikes you on the one cheek, offer the other also. And from him who takes away your cloak, do not withhold your tunic either. Give to everyone who asks of you. And from him who takes away your goods do not ask them back. And just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise. But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them.  And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. And if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive back, what credit is that to you? For even sinners lend to sinners to receive as much back. ³⁵ But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil. Therefore be merciful, just as your Father also is merciful," (Luke 6:27-36), "But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also, if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well, (Matthew 5:39-40), "If anyone is to go into captivity, into captivity they will go. If anyone is to be killed with the sword, with the sword they will be killed. This calls for patient endurance and faithfulness on the part of God's people." (Revelation 13:10),
and "Why do you ask Me about what is good?” Jesus replied, “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” Which ones?” the man asked. Jesus answered, “‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness,  honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as yourself." (Matthew 19:18-19). The Roman Catholics perhaps fond some justification for violence, particularly defense, in the words of Jesus, "He said to them, "But now if you have a purse, take it, and also a bag; and if you don't have a sword, sell your cloak and buy one." (Luke 22:36). Turning the other cheek

was not going to be easily accepted by waring Goths, Saxons, Anglos, Normans, and Franks whose entire cultures were steeped in the sword and familial vendettas. They were like the son of Cain, Tubal-Cain who made weapons, "And Zillah, she also bore Tubal-cain, the forger of every cutting instrument of brass and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah." (Genesis 4:22 JPS Tankh 1917). The Roman Church which often alters it stance on doctrine to win converts (see St. Xavier and Chinese Controversy, Church History in Plain Language 4th Edition, Chapter 28), did so to please these powerful barbarians who overthrew the Western Roman Empire. In order to get these Franks on the side of faith, the Roman Church turned Jesus into a warlord, even using images from Revelation to inspire and support violence, even though the Jesus of Revelation is at end of days, with Word of God intiating the bloodshed after giving everyone a chance to believe (read Revelation 19:23-40, 1 Timothy 2:4, 2 Peter 3:9). The Roman Church could not resist the opportunity to make the Vikings, Celts, Saxons, and Franks come into the fold, even though it would mean altering the faith and creating gospel of violence rather than the Gospel of Vindication (Ephesians 2:4-6). The Pope and Church of Rome told Crusaders a new gospel, that they would be saved and enter paradise if they died in the crusading venture. The precedence of corrupting the gospel wasn't uncommon to even the Apostle Paul who addresses the problem several times, "For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear," (2 Timothy 4:3), "But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed.  As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed," (Galatians 1:8-9), and "But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed." (2 Corinthians 11:3-4). This exactly what the Roman Church did, they created a new gospel of sacraments instead of holding fast to salvation by Christ's sacrifice alone (1 John 2:2). The violence of the Saxon, Celt, Frank, and tribes of Europe was encouraged, long as it did not challenge the authority of the church. Abbot Cluny's Chivalry and Pope Gregory VIII and Urban II's Crusade became the two blades upon which barbarians could be made perfect through penitential warfare. The Roman Church had chosen what would be popular to the pagans, than preserve the purity of the Gospels.


The Politics of Piety: Protestant Power Asserted

It becomes clear how violence became considered blessed under the Roman banner, but how did it creep into Protestantism? The answer is politics and pious zeal. The German Peasant Revolt of 1524-1525 [involving tensions between class structure and iconoclasm, destroying images in what became Karsadt's Radical Reformation], The Thirty Year's War, Protestant Oliver Cromwell Wars (Puritan Wars), all of these were Protestant wars and majorly political. The average Protestant brother or sister in Christ will claim they were wars of defense against the antichrist church (Roman Catholic Church), and reprisals for genocide by Mary I of England "Bloody Mary" (killing 600 Protestants in her purge of England over course of 20yrs), The St. Bartholomew Day Massacre [which happened in an interim period of Thirty Year's War, a peace period],  and more. But how did people who finally had access to the Scriptures in their language and reading Christ's words "do not resist the evil doer," make peace with violence? The answer is persecution and pious zeal combined with politics and flirting with the Kingdom of This world. There are two kingdoms, The Kingdom of Heaven which Jesus told us to seek first (Matthew 6:33) and which is found only through Him (John 14:6), and there is Kingdom of This World which we told we have been called out of (John 15:19, John 17:16, Romans 12:2). Politics is the affairs of this world, as we are told by St. John the Apostle, "Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him," (1 John 2:15), "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God," (James 4:4), "Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world," (James 1:7), "Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God's will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect," (Romans 12:2), and, "If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you."(Jesus Christ, John 15:19), "I have given them Your word and the world has hated them; for they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world." (John 17:14); finally the kingdom of world is ruled by its prince, Satan, "No longer will I speak much with you; for the ruler (prince) of this world comes, and in Me he has nothing." (John 14;30). And yet somehow both Catholic and Protestant ignored these verses and found some loophole where they could serve the Lord and their lusts, "For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world [Most known version: For everything in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--comes not from the Father but from the world]." (1 John 2:16). What happened is the Protestants firstly were motivated by pious resolve to respond to injustice in form of persecution. Reformed believers (Protestants of all denominations) were subjected to severe persecution under Roman Catholics, Lutherans, and even Anglican kingdoms-countries like England. However, the worst persecutions came from Catholics, for example most Protestants were less violent than Catholics, "If French Protestants were militant so were Catholics crowds and they were generally more murderous: where Protestants smashed images, Catholics butchered people." (The Reformation, Diamand McCulloch, pg 308). In France, a group known as The Huguenots became the object of severe persecution. The Huguenots believed in the Gifts of Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:4-11) and that miracles and healings could happen through ordinary Christians by the laying of hands and more. French Catholics feared both the swift growth of Huguenots, and their practices, and so the French Catholic rulers began a genocidal campaign, and as result the Huguenots raised an army and fought back, actually winning in long run in what became known as the Thirty Year's War. The Huguenots were contrasted by why happened in England, where Protestants being persecuted broke into two sects. The Two sects that emerged during English persecutions were militant and pilgrim, those who were to stay and fight the oppression took the name of Puritans (purify the church), and those who fled the persecution took the name The Pilgrims (pelegrin, holy wanderer) who fled to the New World in search of creating a civilization and society where their reformed beliefs and would be free of reprisals and persecution. The Puritan cause was built on defending their piety but it later devolved into a proxy, combining politics with piety, seeking power under auspices of protecting the faithful. Many Puritans not wanting to get involved in wars lead by Oliver Cromwell (who lead a revolt against the Catholic King of England Charles I and had him executed, dissolved Parliament for twenty plus years and took Radical Protestantism to its zenith) and others decided to follow the footsteps of Pilgrims and establish a Puritan State in the Americas. In short the Puritans in England had found their own just war, and justification for holy war. Certainly the Reformed Christians waging these wars of religion were truly pious and even loved the Lord, their motives being to end undeserved persecution (in contrast to Early Church of 100-333 A.D.) but there were also those in their ranks who loved power, palaces, and land as well. As Jesus did forewarned, "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." (Matthew 6:24), and  a lesson neither Protestant nor Catholic had learned. The goal was to end severe persecution of Protestant Christians in Europe, but sadly it did in certain instances became a way to legitimize land grabbing via the Lord, to gain some approval from the Almighty to make their cause seem right in  the sight of all. This was nothing new, the Roman Catholics had been doing it for centuries, again this political movement under guise of piety violated the Holy Bible, the Gospels and Jesus' own words, who said, Jesus replied, "Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head," (Luke 9:56), "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." (Matthew 6:19-20),"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life," (Matthew 19:29), and "Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Matthew 19:21). Alas, Protestants and Catholics alike ignored the Savior's advice, and made war on each other for their parcels of land and positions of leadership and authority. Much of the grief and confusion in Protestant Wars of Religion can be chalked up to people trying to serve God and Money, and "good intentions pave the way to hell."

Protestants in Europe discovered  the same old oil machine of politics and religion. In fact, part of reason there is distance between Church and State in The United Sates of America, is that in England and rest of Europe the wars of religion and persecution of minorities like the Anabaptists,  Puritans and Pilgrims lead to many fleeing to America for refuge. This is why Thomas Jefferson said, "separation of church and state, there shall not be state church, the Church of America." What Jefferson was aiming at was not eliminating the voice of the Church and its influence in State affairs, but rather to keep from any church asserting primacy over the country and persecuting all others, as had happened in European Wars of Religion, in fact many of the Founder Fathers were well versed in what happens when religion and politics gets to intermingled, and so they sought to preserve religious liberty (1st Ammendment) but refrain from allowing wars to be waged over religion and allow churches to assert political power over people as the Papacy had for centuries. The dangers of theocracy were altogether on minds of the Founding Fathers, and so they did their best to balance liberty of the church and keeping it from becoming overtly political and using its power as Papists and Radical Reformers had done in times past.

In the end, the Protestant Wars of religion had two faces. In case of Huguenots it was a fight for survival, in case of Puritans of England it was a combination of being persecuted, fear and desire to assert the dominance they would never know under Queen Elizabeth I of England. The Protestant Wars of Religion are thus a strange mixture of trying to end persecution and getting too involved in politics. On one hand, as in case of Huguenots it was bear arms to stop themselves from being annihilated, a closer equivalent to Huguenot crises would be the Jews fighting the Nazis in World War II, and in case of Puritans it was persecution via politics (example Catholic King James II wanted Protestants to put Catholic images in their churches) and a response that was militant and ended in Puritan Oliver Cromwell killing the king and dissolving English Parliament. While it is easier to understand the Huguenots, fighting to stay alive, the Puritan Wars comes across as doctrinal dispute that turned into holy war that had just as much of political focuses as pious ones.

Constantine The Great's Contribution

Violence truly crept into the church at the advent of Constantine's Christian Empire. After The Battle of Milvan Bridge [in fact the idea of making Christianty miltant and violent began with Constantine seeing In Hoc Sig natius, and believing that seeing the cross in sun or in vision had crosses painted on the shields of his warriors and won the battle, making Iesu his Baal {war god), when Jesus is not Baal, see my post Jesus is Not Baal), Constantine took over the Church, and imperialized it. Constantine, a Roman with a Greco-Roman society introduced pan-Christian paganism, merging for his subjects sake Sol Invictus and Jesus Son of God. Thus the precedence of Roman Catholic Church changing itself to appease potential proselytes (converts) is something found earlier in the Constantine's Church, the Roman Church having been part of Constantine's Church until 1054 A.D. Constantine's leadership of the Church, the idea of an Emperor ruling both the State and Church would be unique until Henry VIII when he became both leader of the Church of England and Sovereign of England itself. This model of imperialism not only changed the Church in profoundly bad ways (see my posts The Church of Imperialism versus The Church of Intimacy and Constantine The Great antichrist}, but it brought an element altogether alien to the church. For three centuries, the Church had not resisted with violence, Christians had suffered severely under the Caesars such as Nero, Caligula, Diocletian, Domitian, and more; the witness of Christians being fed to lions, burning at stake, and being crucified en masse without resisting and even praising Christ moved the Romans, and lead to evangelization of the last emperor to rule the whole of Roman Empire, Theodosius I. The legacy of Christianity for 300yrs had been one of suffering, and result was salvation for the Romans, arguably the most violent people ever to live and who invented crucifixion (nailing a person to cross and killing them via affixation or suffocation), dead man (tying a dead corpse to a person and letting them be eaten alive by the maggots), and more. The Church had listen to the Apostles who urged, "Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus," (2 Timothy 2:3), "Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory," (Romans 8:17), "So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin." (1 Peter 4:1), "And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through his own blood. Let us, then, go to him outside the camp, bearing the disgrace he bore," (Hebrews 13:12-13), "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. 4Allow perseverance to finish its work, so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." (James 1:2-4), and Christ's own urging, "pick up your cross and follow me," "Then Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me," (Matthew 16:24), "Then he said to them all: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me," (Luke 9:23),  "Then Jesus called the crowd to Him along with His disciples, and He told them, "If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me." (Mark 8:34), and "And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple." (Luke 14:27). The result of obeying these Scriptures was reaching the Roman Empire for Emmanuel (Jesus). When Constantine took over the church, the suffering ended and instead imperialism was imposed; the wooden cross was taken from Christians and they were given cruciform swords and shields with crosses on them, and they marched to forge the Byzantine Empire (Eastern Roma, Roman Empire). How bizarre, Christianity spread in Rome because Christians suffered as Christ did, following His example, but then the empire adopted Christianity and destroyed suffering and armed Christian soldiers not with spiritual weapons (2 Corinthians 10:4), but with iron swords. This dramatic change of events in the Church birthed a movement, Monasticism, and self inflicted suffering (abasement, penance) and would lead to the Middle Ages in the Western world. What irony, resisting to be violent and allowing violent men to kill them, Christians reached the most violent empire in history of world through "turning the other cheek," (Matthew 5:39) and "not resisting the evil person." (Matthew 5:39). Then that empire took those same peaceful Christians and armed them to be centurions and later crusaders. Alas, it is evident that Constantine not only corrupted the theology and doxology of the Church (see The Church of Imperialism versus The Church of Intimacy) but also Constantine came against the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles that we should suffer, make disciples, and not resist evil people.

The Inquisitions of Rome and Spain

Perhaps the most famous evidence of militancy and violence in the history of church would be the Roman and Spanish Inquisitions. The Inquisitions queerly began as an outreach to Spanish Jews, to explain the faith to them, but swiftly it mutated into a police state within Spain that scrutinized peoples spirituality. The Inquisitors goal was to devise when people converted to Catholicism if their conversion was genuine, in case of Muslims who had lost in Reconquista and who converted, they were labeled Moriscos, and all others Conversos, which were titles of suspicion of wither they converted authentically or to save their lives. The Inquisition had reason for suspicion, for Muslims have a practiced called Taqiyya, where they may lie about their faith and pretend to be Christians when they still are in fact Muslims, it is this practice that allows them to infiltrate kingdoms like Spain. Undoubtly, the Spanish Inquisitors were aware of this practice since Spain was more familiar with Islam than the rest of Europe and their scrutiny cannot be said to be without merit. Unfortunately, that scrutiny passed to Catholics, Protestants and Jews. The Inquisition of Spain even became a threat to Catholics, many prominate Catholic scholars and clergy were imprisoned, persecuted, and even slain by inquisition. The firey zeal of the Grand Inquisitor and His Dominican Monks reached pitch fever when all Jews were deported from Spain in what became known as The Great Despora, which is ironic since the Inqusition began as an outreach to the Jews. King Phillip II of Spain, former brother in law to Queen Elizabeth I of England, fully supported the Spanish Inquisition and sought to bring it to England with his infamous Spanish Armada. Philip of Spain was such patron of the Inquisition that his court was an image of ghastly sepulcher and dungeon inside his palace, it literally was green and creepy as seen in the movie Elizabeth The Golden Age (see The Reformation, Diamand McCulluch, Chapter).

The Inquisition's violent temper towards both Protestants and Catholics is remembered in scenes of people burning at stake, secret prosecutions and trials in dark cellars and dungeons, torture devices, and etc. The Inquisition was suppose to be institution for protecting the 'orthodoxy' of Catholic faith, but as with Teutons (Teutonic Knights, Crusading Military-Monastic Order of Knights who conquered the Baltic near Prussia and made a mini-empire) it grew in political power until it had its own state or kingdom within the kingdoms of Spain.  The term, "damned if you do, damned if you don't," probably came from the Inquisition, because no matter how well you danced in their doctrines, they could find cause to doubt a person's fervor and subject them to further antagonism. While Inquisition in Spain became its own entity and state, the Roman Inquisition's fire ebbed and flowed, its ferocity was much dictated by who was Pope and its brands of fire usually selective than absolute as in case of Spanish counterpart. The Inquisition is considered one of the dark chapters in the Catholic Church's history. It is bested summed up in the words of Robert Wilson, "hell is paved with good intentions."

The Messianic and Apocalyptic Prophecies

Another reason the Church sanctioned violence comes from its parent Judaism. Joshua, King Saul, King David, and Maccabees were all warriors. They forged empires in name of Lord in Israel and Judea. Even the prophecised messiah, the Christ was said to rule from Seat of David (2 Samuel 7:3-53)., however the Jews failed to understand the Messiah must first become Suffering Servant and Sacrificial Lamb for all sin (Isaiah 53:1-12). Crusaders and other miltant churchmen took comfort from the old prophets and kings who were warriors, and they looked upon the Apocalypse as final war rather than its true meaning in Greek which means "Unveiling," that of unveiling a bride (Revelation 19:7-9 KJV). Crusaders and Barbarians in Europe saw the coming of Christ and his wrath as incentive for holy violence. In fact, many crusaders saw their war and capture of Jerusalem in 1099 A.D. as fulfilling the words in Revelation, the Apocalyptic Final Book of the Holy Bible. Because the Medieval Crusaders and warriors of Europe were illiterate, they could not derive that the context of Christ's wrath and using sword against the wicked can only happen when Christ decides to come, "Then I saw heaven opened, and a white horse was standing there. Its rider was named Faithful and True, for he judges fairly and wages a righteous war. His eyes were like flames of fire, and on his head were many crowns. A name was written on him that no one understood except himself. He wore a robe dipped in blood, and his title was the Word of God. The armies of heaven, dressed in the finest of pure white linen, followed him on white horses. From his mouth came a sharp sword to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod. He will release the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty, like juice flowing from a winepress. On his robe at his thigh was written this title: King of all kings and Lord of all lords. Then I saw an angel standing in the sun, shouting to the vultures flying high in the sky: “Come! Gather together for the great banquet God has prepared. Come and eat the flesh of kings, generals, and strong warriors; of horses and their riders; and of all humanity, both free and slave, small and great.” Then I saw the beast and the kings of the world and their armies gathered together to fight against the one sitting on the horse and his army. And the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet who did mighty miracles on behalf of the beast—miracles that deceived all who had accepted the mark of the beast and who worshiped his statue. Both the beast and his false prophet were thrown alive into the fiery lake of burning sulfur. Their entire army was killed by the sharp sword that came from the mouth of the one riding the white horse. And the vultures all gorged themselves on the dead bodies." (Revelation 19:11-21). A warrior cannot call Christ to come and bear arms, because Christ waits and hopes for as many to be saved (2 Peter 3), and Jesus even said, "But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Matthew 24:36), "For you know quite well that the day of the Lord's return will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night," (1 Thessalonians 5:2), "But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be dissolved in the fire, and the earth and its works will not be found," (2 Peter 3:10), "Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you," (Revelation 3:3), and, "Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed." (Revelation 16:15). The Apostle Peter even went further for why Christ delays His return, "Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created. They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed. But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him—speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction." (2 Peter 3:1-16). Had the Crusaders been able to read and understand the Scriptures, they would have known how rebellious it was to believe they could urge God to come and bring about the last war of Armegeddon (Revelation 16:16, Revelation 20:7-10). Also it seems the Crusaders ignored the following Bible verses, "Because you have obeyed my command to persevere, I will protect you from the great time of testing that will come upon the whole world to test those who belong to this world./Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come on the whole world to test the inhabitants of the earth." (Revelation 3:10), "Then the beast was permitted to wage war against the saints and conquer them, and it was given authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation, Anyone who is destined for prison will be taken to prison. Anyone destined to die by the sword will die by the sword. This means that God's holy people must endure persecution patiently and remain faithful." (Revelation 13:7, 10), and "This means that God's holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus. And I heard a voice from heaven telling me to write, "Blessed are the dead--those who die in the Lord from this moment on." "Yes," says the Spirit, "they will rest from their labors, for their deeds will follow them." (Revelation 14:12-13). 


Final Thoughts

The reason we abhor the violence of the Middle Ages and Renaissance is that we have moved from Age of Iron back to the Age of Ideas. The Classical Learning that came from Enlightenment (return to Greek learning) has reshaped our sensibilities, the Europeans and Americans have through the Renaissance and Reformation become like the Greeks of the Apostle's Times. Our minds are more like St. Peter and St. Paul, better to suffer for the faith and win souls, than to raise swords and taint the Source (God). We have returned to the sources, to the Holy Scriptures, and understand that we must live out Christ's and His Apostles words which do not advocate, endorse, or even defend violence. We aren't pacifsts, but rather recognize raising the sword in name of religion is useless unless Christ first appears in sky (Revelation 1:7) and lead the campaign against the wicked (Revelation 19:23-40). We are more contextual people, wheras Europeans of Middle Ages and Reformation chose causes and then supported them with Christian works, we instead seek out the context --what is truly meant should be discovered before acting upon it. The Men of Iron were men of action and then later reflection (shoot first, ask questions later, which is understandable, in their age danger lurked everywhere), we are Men of Ideas who introspect, reflect, and ruminate before applying action; we know the consequwnces of hastiness and how it leads to blunders like the Horns of Hattin. In truth we are closer now than ever to the thinking of Christ and the Apostles, who did not wage crusades and conquests in name of Christ, but rather we wage a war of words, chiefly the Gospel, and our weapons are love, peace, and hope of eternal life (Titus 1:2).  In fact, it perhaps is a harginer and sign we are in end times that our thinking and views are now in tune with Christ and His Apostles, so that the Church shall be at end as it was in the beginning, Christ centered (Philippians 3:8), Gospel preaching (Mark 13:10, Mark 16:15, 2 Timothy 4:2), and making disciples (Matthew 28:19).

The Violent chapters of the Church come from plethora of reasons. Some where justified in case of repelling the Ottoman Turks to protect Christianity and Western Civilization, others were misguided zeal and paranoid feelings as in case of the Inquisitions, some were because of bad theology combined with zeal to help other Christians as in case of The Crusades, and other cases were for political expediency as in case of Puritan Wars. Perhaps the best explanation for the more perverted examples of violence in church history can be summed up in these words, "power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely."(John Dalberg-Acton, English Catholic Historian, politician, and writer). The problem is that the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of This World are in opposition of each other, and when the Church endeavors to serve both problems inevitably present themselves. There is just cause to defend the helpless and protect the innocent, as is happening now in war with ISIS, but much of turbulent and violent chapters of the church stem either from a genuine desire to protect Christendom or the political path to power. As Jesus said, "No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money." (Matthew 6:24). There are two opposing paths, "Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments," (Matthew 22:37-40) and "For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world." (1 John 2:16). Upon examination of the violence in church history there becomes no clear black and white judgement to make. In some cases it was justified, the Muslims had invaded Europe in 600's and taken all of Spain, in response in 1095 Crusaders sought to right this wrong and restore the lands to the Christians who owned them as well as go to aid of Eastern Christians in Byzantium and liberate the Holy Land. Unfortunately the Pope attached bad theology and doctrines to the Crusades and there were misguided massacres such as Rhineland massacres, had the Crusades just been a love thy neighbor campaigns we probably would be championing them in Church History. Like the Crusades, violence in the history of the church is complex, sometimes for good reasons like protecting innocent people and other times for political gain, often times a mix. We should not be hasty to judge, for good intentions sometimes get best of us all, and only in hindsight do we realize some of our good ideas pave the path to hell. I have given my explanations for what I believe motivated violence, but in the end God will be judge.