It was a hideous blot on church history no matter how it’s looked at. Jewish, Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, agnostic, almost anything. Only the devil could love it.
“To be fair” on a secular level, its death toll shrinks to microscopic size when compared with Islamic atrocities, or even worse, official atheist atrocities (i.e. Communism).
But these murders were not the worst murders it committed. The worst murders were its murders of soul. These were people with no excuse not to know the gospel — and they treated it as their selfish cudgel, until it could not be identified as gospel anymore. Forget Mary — Don’t you think JESUS wept?
I’ve heard that there was a bad infiltration of Islamists into the church at that point in history, which led to its hideous torture practices. Maybe there was. However we still have a church asleep at the wheel, permitting it. A church that at this point in time mostly worshiped itself.
Why was there any Christianity at all going on in it, it is to be wondered. Well if it weren’t for the Lord’s promise to keep the church alive, there wouldn’t be any. However it showed how hideous the church can get, and it should serve as a warning to all churches today of any denomination. May it be the “NEVER AGAIN” of Christendom.
“It was a hideous blot on church history no matter how it’s looked at. Jewish, Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, agnostic, almost anything. Only the devil could love it.”
Same could be said about the Protestant Revolution.
“But these murders were not the worst murders it committed.”
They weren’t murders.
“The worst murders were its murders of soul.”
Which is a natural result of heresy - heresies like Protestantism.
“These were people with no excuse not to know the gospel — and they treated it as their selfish cudgel, until it could not be identified as gospel anymore.”
Wow, Protestantism again.
“Forget Mary — Don’t you think JESUS wept?”
No. He’s in Heaven. There’s no weeping there. And that is our hope for the end of time: Revelation 21:4.
“I’ve heard that there was a bad infiltration of Islamists into the church at that point in history, which led to its hideous torture practices.”
No. Torture ALWAYS existed. And none of the tortures used by inquisitors - which was quite rare and much more rare that what was used in the usual state criminal cases - were “Islamic”. Torture was for information alone, and even then that information could not be used against the suspected person in the legal proceedings as we might think. No permanent harm was to come to the person tortured. No bones were to be broken, no skin was to be broken, etc. A torture session was only supposed to be for 15 minutes and was to only happen once and not repeated. Think of the U.S. government’s water boarding of terrorists. It was similar.
“Maybe there was. However we still have a church asleep at the wheel, permitting it.”
Not asleep at all.
“A church that at this point in time mostly worshiped itself.”
No, actually entirely focused on the worship of the Trinity.
“Why was there any Christianity at all going on in it, it is to be wondered.”
It’s not to be wondered. Christ established the Church among men.
“Well if it weren’t for the Lord’s promise to keep the church alive, there wouldn’t be any. However it showed how hideous the church can get, and it should serve as a warning to all churches today of any denomination. May it be the “NEVER AGAIN†of Christendom.”
No, the “NEVER AGAIN” of Christendom - which no longer exists thanks to Protestantism - would be either:
1) another wave of Islamic conquest of Christian peoples. In terms of tragedy the Islamic conquest of North Africa - which was entirely Christian - was a tragedy many thousands of times worse than all inquisitions combined.
0r, 2) another Protestant-like revolt which would destroy millions and millions of souls with heresy, lead to wars as it did in Germany (one-third of Germany was wiped out in the Thirty Years’ War), and a weakened West open to Islamic conquest (just as it left Europe in the 16th and 17th century).
Which is totally irrelevant.
Worst crimes can rightfully be laid at the feet of Satan.
These crimes were committed in the name of Christ, besmirching the good name of Jesus in a horrific way that nothing else could have.
The issue isn't that worse crimes were committed, but rather that they did something in the name of Jesus that He would never have condoned in the least. Nothing that Jesus ever taught could ever have been taken as to imply that any mistreatment of any kind of someone who rejected him was in order.
It's GOD'S NOT man's responsibility to deal with those who reject Christ.
We are to pray for those who reject Him. Nowhere is anyone authorized to use physical force, torture, or threats of death to intimidate or coerce anyone into a relationship with Jesus.
I don't think this is so. It's the reverse. Since the time that Catholicism became the religious organ of the state, extinguishing its opposition by forceful persecution rather than by loving persuasion has been its choice method of gaining preeminence.
It is imitation of Catholic methodology that gave Mohammed power, not vice versa, IMO.