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Those who wish to bash the Catholic Church do not hesitate to bring up the "Crusades" and the "Inquisition" as evidence of tainted Church history. It's the common non-catholic apologetic against the Church, and it comes with the admonition: "History proves that organized religion is bound to pillage and plunder the innocent."
Do these people have the facts on their side? Or, do they merely parrot bigotted misinformation they were taught from the time of their youth? Does it go deeper than that? Perhaps they wish to believe the accusations against the Church, be they true or false, in order to justify a sinful life that is in rebellion against Church doctrine!
Did those who lived during the times of the Crusades and shortly thereafter regard the Crusades as necessary and something of virtue? Has the average man on the street with an axe to grind against the Church embraced myths of revisionism without realizing it? Muslims had more respect for Christians during the times of the Crusades than do revisionists in our day. They regarded Christian soliders as worthy adversaries who fought with piety.
So then, where does the revisionist view of Church history come from?
What if it came from none other than Martin Luther? He'd already waged his war against Church indulgences, doctrine and Papal Supremacy. He was the first within Christianity who argued in a forcible way that to fight in the Crusades as a Christian would be the same as fighting Christ Himself. He believed that Christ had sent the Turks to punish the Church for its infidelity to God, but his claim lasted only until Austria was invaded and his own territory had become endangered. He decided it would be "permissable" to fight in the Crusades, but he had to maintain the Crusades were evil in order to save face. For the next two centuries people viewed the crusades through the bigotry of Martin Luther, and Protestants in our day have picked up his banner against the Church.
We also have men like Voltaire who felt that medieval Christianity was nothing more than vile superstition. For him, and others like him, the Crusades represented a time of mindless barbarians who allowed themselves to be driven by the fanaticism of religious belief that was fueled by greed and lust.
So then, what are the facts behind the real story of the Crusades? Were they unprovoked wars of aggression against a muslim world that was at peace in its own lands?
Is it true that Crusaders wore "Crosses" on their clothing to cover the shame of what they did? Was their piety false? Or, were the soliders of the Crusades like a solider in our own day, proud of his country and duty, but longing to return home to peace?
This trial will ferrot out the revisionists of Church history.
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Roger, thank you for explaining why non-Catholics (especially evangelical groups like the Calvary chapel crowd) relish their bashing of the Catholic Church by using the Crusades and the Inquisition(s) - among other favorite topics.
ReplyDeleteOn one side of the debate they despise modern Islam, swearing that Allah is a false god, and not the same God of the Jews, but they find equal joy and delight in bashing the Catholic Church for preventing the take over of Europe - all in the same breath. The Crusades is just another lie of the RCC meant to drag their members down the pathway to hell.
I am one of few Catholics remaining in my family. It is so tiresome to continually have to endure the misconceptions of what is now being touted as Christian truth. It is futile to offer real, unbiased Catholic history as truth for any type of rebuttal.
It is insulting to be told repeatedly that anything related to the Catholic Church repulses a member of a Calvary congregation. It doesn't make any difference if the twisted information is coming from the Reformation era or modern day hate dialog. And yes it can be quite hateful disguised as being truthful in the attempts to save our vulnerable and lied to souls.
It is hurtful to hear the despical things said about Pope John Paul II and now Pope Benedict XVI - that they are not credible spiritual men of God.
How do these people who claim to have Jesus in their heart 24-7 think they are Christian in any sense of the word because they despise so many things, the Catholic Church being the top of their priority list???
It is very difficult to remain un-impassioned and objective when fending off the barage of evangelical rhetoric meant to free us from our Catholic spiritual chains.
I will read non-Catholic liturature if presented in the proper historical framework, but I refuse to read slanted, biased information, subtle or otherwise, that demeans and detracts from the Catholic Church - the red flags that appear are like red hot pokers piercing thru their pages of biblical rhetoric.
Thank you for offering the readers something of substance from a Catholic point of view.
Sincerely, LJW, Texas
Hello LJW,
ReplyDeleteYou are right on spot.
In reality, Protestantism is the equivalent of Miriam who rebelled against Moses, the "one man", like a Pope, who was commissioned by God to lead His people.
She tried to claim authority and inspiration to speak for God saying:
"Who is Moses that he speaks for us all, don't we all have a voice?"
She wanted everyone to claim the inspiration of God and the authority to speak for him against the only man commissioned by God. This is identical to Protestantism. And for it, Miriam, his blood sister (his separated brethren) received leprosy.
Sola Scriptura is leprosy in the sight of God.
Wow, awesome illustration with Miriam's rebellion against Moses. Yes, Protestantism in general is leprosy in God's eyes - whatever Christian doctrines they have come out of the Catholic Church, the rest is their own doing.
ReplyDeletePax Christus,
ReplyDeleteYes, actually, Protestant doctrine is the very doctrine condemned by Paul as the "doctrine of men". This is covered in the 1st book in the trial series.
God Bless
unbeleivable that fellow christians can be so insulting of protestantism, i could never hate catholicism and refuse to speak ill of it....the things that divide us are nothing compared to the things that bind us....King Richard the 1st is my personal hero....and if i am to be honest i would willingly go on a crusade right now...Muslims are the enemy not fellow christians!!!
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeleteI could not disagree with you more. Consider that Protestantism as a concept is a rejection of Christ and what He established.
Also, make the distinction between the person and the error of belief found in Protestantism. It's the same as hate the sin but not the sinner. Protestantism, as a concept, is of Satan. In the world of the Bible alone, since all aherents reject any authority outisde of the Bible, it is impossible to determine who is correct in that world of division that is spawned by private interpetation of Scripture. In fact, there is not even agreement about who Jesus is in the world of the Bible alone. Some say Jesus is God, some say He is Son of God but not God by nature, some say He is one person, some say He is two persons, some say He is part divine part man. It is likely you don't know which of those answers is correct without googling, and even then you might not know what position to take.
No my friend, Protestantism is insulting to Christ, and in principle, we are not bound in belief for the reasons that you think. Lacking an internal assent to the definitive teachings of the Catholic Church, though you may say the same thing externally as a Catholic says, you are free to change your mind tommorrow on what you say today. What you fail to see is that He who made the inside of the cup made the outside, too. Protestant doctrines are the doctrines of men which are condemned by the Apostle Paul.
God Bless
I know you not. You will burn in eternity lest you repent sowing discord among your brothers in my name.
ReplyDeleteHello Again Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteThat is all you have to say? Threats of burning in eternity? Careful what you wish for lest you find yourself in hell before all those you think deserve hell. And, by the way, how about 1st Peter 3:15 which says "Be ready with a REASON for the hope within you." You have neither reason nor Scripture on your side.
For all of your bravado you have nothing to say. Repent, believe, and embrace the only Church established by Jesus Christ which is, in fact, the Catholic Church.
Part 1
ReplyDeleteHello,
It is easy to make a comment anonymously. Unfortunately you do not believe in objective truth in matters of doctrine.
You, as a Protestant, hold to the notion that the Bible is the only authority. You cannot be so ignorant of the fact that there are many Protestants like yourself who believe the Bible is the only authority.
You believe there is no authority outside of the Bible so who among you decides which Protestant from the 41,000 different "Christian Denominations" is right?
Who's Holy Spirit is lying?
Are you going to say you are not right the Bible is right?
Are you going to say you are not right that Jesus is right?
Are you going to say you are not right the Holy Spirit is right?
You Protestants all make the same claims as to why each of you thinks you are right but in the end you are still divided. No matter what reasons you claim as to why you think you are right I can stuff it right back down your throat and ask you why the other Protestant is wrong and why you are right?
Get real!!! You are not here to say you have only an opinion. You are claiming to guided by the Holy Spirit when you interpret Scripture which is the very thing you reject in the Papacy, namely, infallibility. You are claiming to be infallibly guided by the Holy Spirit to speak for all with the very Authority of God Himself. You are blinded by pride.
Furthermore, the moment you say anyone who disagrees with you is wrong in the way they interpret the Bible about anything in Christianity you go against your own claim that there is no authority outside of the Bible. You think YOU are the authority outside of the Bible to tell everyone what it definitively means. You think YOU are the pope the moment you tell anyone you disagree with that they are wrong. Protestants are a bunch of little wannabe popes, but all of you intuitively know there can only be ONE MAN to speak for all. You simply want to be that man. Like Adam, by rejecting the Papacy you grasp at Divinity because the Church that Christ established is a Divine Institution through which Christ saves souls.
Part 2
ReplyDeleteIn your pitiful world view of Christianity it is impossible to say which Protestant is right by any objective measure which ultimately makes Protestants a herd of agnostics. Protestantism reduces Christianity to a state of lacking anything that is true for all people. As a principle, Protestantism is agnosticism in terms of Christian doctrine because it lacks the means to determine who is right about anything. Protestants cannot know with certainty if they are right or wrong, when they are right or wrong, or why they are right or wrong about anything in Christianity. What they hold for belief today can change tomorrow and they cycle starts all over again because they cannot escape the fact that they cannot know if they are right or wrong. They cut themselves off from religious objectivity which in the case of Christ is truth as person.
You, Mr. Anonymous, are Satan's ball boy dividing the Kingdom of God using Scripture against the Church which Christ established every bit as much as when Satan quoted Scripture to Christ Himself in the desert to try and trip Him up. Satan's very name means to divide and you Protestants do a dang good job of it.
In reality, you mock the prayer of Jesus when He prayed that we be sanctified in the truth and that all may be one in the truth. In the end, in practical terms Protestants are atheists and thieves trying to claim authority that they do not have, nor have they been given. In fact, Protestantism blasphemes someone's Holy Spirit because someone's Holy Spirit is lying. No Sir, you are resisting the Holy Spirit by rejecting Catholicism and you are in fact following another spirit and you don't even see who it is, but it is not the Spirit of God.
I repeat what the Apostle James said to the dissidents in Scripture, "You IGNORAMUS."
How dare you come here to call Catholics hypocrites. Protestantism is the embodiment of hypocrisy. Stop sowing seeds of division among the brethren with the doctrine of men that comes from Protestantism.
Roger, out of curiosity and friendly debate, not discord, how do you know that your Pope is the proper authority to follow? Protestants may have many that they follow, and you only have one, but mere numerical differences do not make your beliefs correct. Is there a reason you believe the Pope is right, and Protestant leaders are wrong?
ReplyDeleteAnd moreover, why do you feel you need a human leader when CHRIST says that He is the High Priest and that none shall come to the Father except through Him, never mentioning human leadership?
(Again, I hope to keep this peaceable, I'm not trying to bait you.)
Hi Jordan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for taking the time to write.
How do you say the 10 commandments? "Honor thy *BLANK" and thy mother?"
Clearly, you have not understood what the Lord was telling us!
The title of "father" is used in Scripture 1126 times, in fact the Lord himself uses the title of "father" to the Jews saying "If Abraham our father ... ", etc., etc. The Apostle Paul says he is the "Father of those he begot in the faith." All the apostles speak of those they begot in the faith as their children even though they are not their "biological children."
There is also the fact that God indwells in the faithful, but ontologically in the priest in a unique way in that the very person of the priest is the continuing priesthood of Christ in this world. The title of "Father" when speaking of the priest is a recognition of Jesus in them when he said to the Apostles, their successors, and the presbyters "He who hears you hears ME, he who rejects you rejects ME, he who rejects me rejects HIM (the Father) who sent ME."
Christ was telling us there is only one Father of mankind in whom we are adopted in Christ Jesus.
By the way, did you ever call your own father "father", or "dad", or "Papa"? They mean the same thing!
Regarding Protestants, as I said in one of my other blogs ...
The only question I would pose to you is this. There are literally tens of thousands of Non-Catholic Christians who believe the Bible is the only authority and accept no authority outside of the Bible.
Among these groups there is division over every single doctrine in Christianity, including who Jesus is and what is His nature. And, with each person who has a different interpretation of the Bible you will hear the claim that they are guided by the Holy Spirit, that they have put on the mind of Christ, that they have rightly divided the Word of God, that they have compared Scripture verse to Scripture verse, that they have understood what is essential for salvation.
But, the fact is, for each person who makes these claims they must allow the other person who believes in the Bible alone the same right and authority to make the claims that tell them that they are right, Juan, and that you are wrong. What makes you right and them wrong, or them right and you wrong? Then, multiply that times as many people who believe in the Bible alone as you do, and now you have the same problems times as many people as believe that the Bible is the only authority in Christianity.
Now, since none of you accept an authority outside of the Bible, who or where is the authority to determine which of you is the right one? It is IMPOSSIBLE for you to determine that, and that actually aligns your understanding of Christianity with agnosticism which denies that anything in Christianity can be known with certainty. Yours is a position of religious relativism and that is all that it is.
So then, when you speak of being a humble follower of Christ, and preaching His message of love and salvation to the world, whose interpretation of His message, and according to who's understanding of loving with the TRUTH since you cannot determine who is right to begin with?
Without the Catholic Church there is no such thing as Christianity.
We can go into this in much greater detail, but what I have stated should suffice to bring home the fundamental point.
If you wish to understand your plight and the nature of the Catholic Church in more detail, I would suggest you obtain the 1st book in my trial series. You can find it at:
http://catholicseries.com
God Bless
ROGER, GREETINGS FROM A DIE HARD ROMAN CATHOLIC WHO SIMPLY ENJOYS CATHOLICISM TO THE FULLEST MORE THAN EVER AS WELL AS MY CHURCH AND ITS AUTHORITY AS I AM JUST A HUMBLE SERVANT. GOD BLESS YOU BROTHER, KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK AND MAY GOD CONTINUE TO GIVE YOU THE LIGHT TO GUIDE SO MANY SOULS OUT OF DARKNESS. REMEMBER, BE FIRM BUT GENTLE. AS YOU KNOW, THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL TAKE CARE OF THE REST. DEUS BEATUS.
ReplyDeleteJesuit Catholicism has violated every Law of GOD starting with Emperor Constantine when he changed the Sabbath Worship to conform to Catholics worship of the Sun GOD on Sunday. Catholicism has even attempted to replace GOD (just like your leader Satan) by stealing the name holy father...they refuse to follow even the basic laws of GOD just like Satan..
ReplyDeleteCORINTHIANS 11:3 But, I would have you know that the HEAD of CHRIST is GOD, the head of man is CHRIST, and the head of woman is man! But Catholics worship WOMEN just like Satan
MATTHEW 23:9 Call no man your FATHER on this earth; for one is your Father which is in Heaven… MATTHEW 6:9 And in this manner you should therefore pray: OUR FATHER which are in Heaven, HALLOWED be your name. there is no name of pope in the Bible
It is a disgrace to suggest that Simon Peter would follow any group that violates the LAWS OF GOD...Deceit and blood thirtsy murder have now put Jesuit Catholics in total control of America's Supreme Court and where is the Law ...with Jesuit Catholics like Obama and Clinton
In a very short time YOU would cause the same thing that caused GOD to bring the Great Flood...only a blind man would NOT see that!
Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteI must say, your rant is among the most bigoted anti-catholic hatred. However, I must attribute ignorance, at least in part, due to your blind misguided zeal that is peppered with deep pride, as to why you hate Catholicism, and apparently Catholics as well.
Let me educate you a bit, and trust me, this is a mere tad of what can be said in response to your diatribe.
In the Old Testament the word "Father" is used 695 times. In the New Testament "Father" is used 326 times. That is a grand total of 1,021 times. Let me give you just 2 instances from the New Testament:
Matthew 4:21 "And going on from thence, he saw other two brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their FATHER, mending their nets: and he called them."
Matthew 4:22 "And they forthwith left their nets and FATHER, and followed him.
So, unless you wish to retract your condemnation of Catholics for the use of the word "Father" you are now saying that Scripture itself misleading and tempting men to do the same when it gives us examples of calling earthly men their "Father."
Furthermore, didn't you ever learn the 10 commandments?
The fact is, your blind condemnation of Catholicism trips you up there as well!!! You don’t think so? Well, let me prove my point, once again by asking you a question.
How do you recite the Ten Commandments without a violation of your twisted understanding of Scripture? Will you force yourself to say "Honor thy FATHER and thy Mother?". Or, are you going to be consistently ignorant and say "Honor thy BLANK BECAUSE I CANNOT USE THE WORD FATHER and thy Mother?"
Better yet, what do you do with the Apostle Paul who called himself "FATHER" to those he begot in the faith? As a matter of fact, in Scripture we see that …
the other Apostles refer to those whom they beget in the faith as their "children."
According to your bogus litmus test, what right did the Apostles have to take the place of God who is the only Father of His children by referring to those they begot in their faith as THEIR "children?"
ReplyDeleteAnd remember, those whom the Apostles begot in the faith were not their biological children, yet we see in Scripture itself that the Apostles consider themselves "Father" to those they begot in the faith. When Catholics refer to priests as Father they are actually obeying Scripture which gives us the example of referring to them as “Father.”
Furthermore, there is the consubstantial union that Christ has with us in the indwelling among the faithful. If you do not believe that you are not a Christian.
In the case of a priest, however, there is an ontological change in his very person where his person becomes the continuing priesthood of Christ who dwells in them in a singular way in time and place. In light of the indwelling of the Trinity in the faithful, and in particular in the ordained, as such, Christ said “He who sees ME sees that FATHER. In light of this recognition must be given to the indwelling Christ who is one with His Father (He who sees Me sees the Father) and the Holy Spirit indwelling in the person of the priest in a singular way that is not present in those who are not ordained to the priesthood.
The use of the title of “Father” is recognition of the Father in the indwelling of the Trinity and the priesthood of Christ where He brings us to the Father via His own Priesthood of Christ in the person of the Priest. Hence, it is appropriate to recognize the indwelling Father in the priesthood of Christ in the person of the priest.
Be it bigotry, ignorance, or whatever it may be, your hatred of Catholicism has blinded you to reality. You have no standing to say there is a prohibition to calling a man FATHER. You WANT it to be that Catholics imply there is another “Father” by calling a man “Father”, but reality needs to crush your pride before you will see reality. And you must attack the Apostles themselves for doing the same.
Also, Constantine did not change the Sabbath. You need to stop going to Jack Chic and Jack in the Box for that little pamphlet to learn history my friend. The Apostles themselves celebrated the Sabbath on Sunday, as a matter of fact, they celebrated the Sabbath every day of the week as you will find in Scripture, if you would only drop your blinders. Once again, your history and knowledge of the facts is totally bogus.
And your references to pagan celebrations shows that you are parroting from sources you do not know about much less understand. Rev. Hislop and Ralph Woodrow are your sources. Woodrow became the heir of Hislop and published all the pagan accusations against Catholicism that you can find. His was the bible of charges about paganism in Catholicism. But, guess what? Woodrow recanted of all of his charges and said that all of his accusations were baseless. Let me give you an example.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever eat at a McDonalds? I am sure you have, and that makes you a pagan idolator and blasphemer. Do you know why? Because in ancient Babylon there was a pagan city that had a devotion to Golden Arches!!! So, you pagan, don't ever eat at a McDonalds again (You might want to consider the cholesterol at the very least). So, how does it feel to be a pagan?
Don't forget about "Christmas". If you took the time to learn about that, it was the Romans that changed their pagan feast day to the day Christians celebrated Christmas to try to stamp out the day Christians celebrated the birth of Christ. Perhaps sometime I will go into detail for you on that.
But, suffice it to say, you are a very sad example of one whom claims to be a Christian (remember, Christians are to love one another) but your hatred of Catholicism is satanically inspired.
Among the most ignorant of your diatribes is the claim that Catholics worship Mary. It is pitiful that you think such a thing. I suggest you read my book, "Trial #3, Scripture Alone vs. the Virgin Mary". There is just tooooooo much to say in response to your accusations on this blog.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Peter and Christ as the head of the Church. Yes, of course, Jesus is the head of the Church, but what do you do with these words of Christ to Peter and His Apostles: "He who hears YOU hears ME, he who rejects YOU rejects ME, he who rejects ME rejects Him who sent ME"? For this, you need to read my first book "Scripture alone vs. the Catholic Church.
I wish I had the time to educate you but I cannot rewrite my books on this blog.
They are available at http://www.catholicseries.com
You will also find them on the left column on this page. If you go to my homepage at Catholicseries.com you will find they are available in softcover, as well as e-books at both Barnes & Noble and Amazon Kindle.
God Bless you.
By the way, Catholics do not hate you or people like yourself. We pray for you, but do not be mistaken to think that you are going to make arrogant, ignorant statements without a response. We are not going to be fools or doormats for you to run roughshod over in your ignorant zeal.
Just one last thing ... among the most laughable thing you've said is your reference to the Jesuits ;-)
Who do protestants continue to bash the teachings of the Catholic Church after they discover their false beliefs about the Catholic Church were all wrong. It's like it's hard for them to let go of their hatred of the Catholic Church even after all their reasons for hating our church are gone. It's like it's hard for them to break the emotional attachments they have embraced for years, even though intellectually and spiritually they know they are offending God and the one true church he gave to all of us. They can't sever there emotional attachment to the false church that used to make sense to them and they can't break the hate relationship for the true church that they had always believed was led by satan.
ReplyDeleteEw... no doubt there's a special place in hell for you sir. above all Christ (and every other doctrine the so-called Christians such as yourself borrowed his story from)says, (paraphrased)"Love thy neighbor/brother as thyself". You never once convey or exemplify this most important teaching anywhere in this miserable, hateful,immature diatribe. Instead, it's loaded with hypocracy,misquotes, and heresy to Our Lord. You do not speak for or like any Catholic I've ever met. You're as coherent as Rush Limbaugh & on the same par. I hope you don't think anyone takes you seriously or that anyone is fooled by the "support" you write in for yourself under false names. Peace and blessings to you on your Journey... it's going to be a very long one. Michael Joseph Alexius Palaia
ReplyDeleteMr. Michael Joseph Alexius Palaia ... First of all I must thank you for your note. I must say there is a distinct entertainment value in what you wrote.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, your comment that I give myself support under false names ranks at the top of the humor. I speak openly and freely under my own name as can be clearly seen from my own writing. If I have an argument to make I do not need another to stand in for me, nor do I really care what you think in that regard.
Secondly, you are confused as to what it means when Christ said "Love they neighbor as thyself." He is God, he is not just another "man." You also need to be educated on the distinction between what it means to love thy neighbor as to the Natural Law vs. Divine Revelation in this matter.
I detect a radical jealousy in what you wrote, in fact, you said nothing at all of substance. Rather, your diatribe is filled with insecurity at every level.
Furthermore, I reject your "paradigm" of what it means to hate. To the liberal mind, such as yours, absolutes are a matter of hate, but that is because your mind is like concrete, thoroughly mixed up and permanently set.
There is also a maxim you should pay attention to. Whenever anyone threatens hell on another they will be the first one there.
Listen up, budd. You have nothing to say worth hearing in what you wrote.
God Bless you.
Goodness. I just came here to read a commentary on the Crusades, but I must say I am unsurprised to see the vicious back and forth between professing Christians - each accusing the other of hateful comments but being blind to their own. Sad.
ReplyDeleteHello Anonymous,
ReplyDeleteTruth is not relative, nor is history of no account. Your comment regarding Christians is rooted in your lack of understanding that there was only one Church founded by Jesus Christ and that is the Catholic Church which is demonstrably provable. The rest are established by men and they are the ones that Paul the Apostle "accused" of creating the doctrines of men. Christ said he came to divide with truth. I am sorry you do not understand the full import of what he said because such things must come to pass.
Roger, God Bless You a true man of faith. I was raised Lutheran but for many years I have attended both Lutheran and Catholic churches. I agree that the Catholic Church is the one and only church which Christ started. As I am sure you are aware Martin Luther never intended to start another church. He was pointing out some of the wrongs in the Catholic Church at the time. I don't understand all the arguing. I'll just continue being a Catheran for now.
ReplyDelete