Christian apology for the Crusades

Christian apology for the Crusades:

The Reconciliation Walk

"But when have Christians demonstrated this love to Muslims or Jews? We have gone to them with swords and guns. We have gone to them with racism and hatred. We have gone to them with feelings of cultural superiority and economic domination. We have gone to them with colonialism and exploitation. We have even gone to them with the Gospel cloaked in arguments of superiority. Only a few have ever gone with the message of Calvary...We must do more than carry the message, we must be the message." Reconciliation Walk

About the Crusades and their legacy of hatred:

The mid 7th century to the mid 10th century CE saw the gradual expansion of Islam. Half of the Christian world was conquered by Arab armies; this included countries in which Christianity had been established for centuries, such as Egypt, southern France, southern Italy, Sicily, Spain, Syria, Turkey, etc. 4

By the late 10th century, Europe and the Middle East were divided into Christian and Muslim spheres of influence. Christian pilgrims from Europe regularly visited Muslim-controlled Jerusalem in reasonable safety. Such pilgrimages were very popular. The were believed to be one of the major acts by which a person could reduce their exposure to the tortures of purgatory after their death.

By the middle of the 11th century, Christianity had formally split between the Roman Catholic Church and the Byzantine Empire: The Emperor/Bishop of Constantinople and the Bishop of Rome had mutually excommunicated each other. In 1071, the Turks defeated the latter at the Battle of Manzikert. This left Constantinople exposed to attack from Muslims. Meanwhile, Christians were being ambushed during their pilgrimages to Jerusalem.

Emperor Alexius asked Pope Urban II for assistance. On 1095-NOV-27, the Pope called on Europeans to go on a crusade to liberate Jerusalem from its Muslim rulers. "The first and second wave of Crusaders

murdered, raped and plundered their way up the Rhine and down the Danube as they headed for Jerusalem." 1  The "army" was primarily composed of untrained peasants with their families, with a core of trained soldiers. On the way to the Middle East, they decided that only one of their goals was to wrest control of Jerusalem from the Muslims. A secondary task was to rid the world of as many non-Christians as possible - both Muslims and Jews. The Crusaders gave the Jews two choices in their slogan: "Christ-killers, embrace the Cross or die!" 12,000 Jews in the Rhine Valley alone were killed as the first Crusade passed through. Some Jewish writers refer to these events as the "first holocaust."  Once the army reached Jerusalem and broke through the city walls, they slaughtered all the inhabitants that they could find (men, women, children, newborns). After locating about 6,000 Jews holed up in the synagogue, they set the building on fire; the Jews were burned alive. The Crusaders found that about 30,000 Muslims had fled to the al Aqsa Mosque. The Muslim were also slaughtered without mercy. 

The Roman Catholic church taught that going to war against the "Infidels" was an act of Christian penance. If a believer was killed during a crusade, he would bypass purgatory, and be taken directly to heaven. By eliminating what might be many millennia of torture in Purgatory, many Christians were strongly motivated to volunteer for the crusades. "After pronouncing a solemn vow, each warrior received a cross from the hands of the pope or his legates, and was thenceforth considered a soldier of the Church." 3

These mass killings were repeated during each of the 8 additional crusades until the final, 9th, crusade in 1272 CE. Both Christians and Muslims believed that they were fighting on God's side against Satan; they believed that if they died on the battlefield they would be given preferential treatment in the Christian Heaven or the Muslim Paradise. Battles were fought with a terrible fierceness and a massive loss of life. Over a 200 year period, perhaps 200,000 people were killed. The Muslim warrior Salah a-Din subsequently recaptured Jerusalem from the Christians.

By the end of the crusades, most European Christians believed the unfounded blood-libel myths -- the rumor that Jews engaged in human sacrifice of Christian children. A long series of Christian persecutions of the Jews continued in Europe and Russia into the 20th century. They laid the foundation for the Nazi Holocaust. 

The result of centuries of conflict among followers of the three main Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) was a "deep mutual hatred" and mistrust among the three faiths. Memories of these

genocides still influence relationships among Jews, Christians and Muslims to the present time.

Among many Jews and Muslims, the term crusade evokes visions of genocide, mass murder, and mass extermination of innocent people. However, among many Christians it has become a positive term, frequently used to refer to mass rallies and campaigns to win converts - as in the Billy Graham Crusades. Out of respect for the victims of the "first holocaust," we recommend that the term be only used to refer to the wars of the Middle Ages.

The Reconciliation Walk:

"The Reconciliation Walk is an interdenominational grassroots movement of Western Christians,...retracing the route of the First Crusade, apologizing to Muslims, Jews and Eastern Christians for the atrocities of the Crusades -- foremost among them, the misuse of the name and message of Jesus."

The organizers of the Reconciliation Walk are unaware of any previous, " serious effort to repair this damage" caused by the crusades. The first crusaders set off for Jerusalem in 1096-APR, from the cathedral in Cologne. Exactly 900 years later, on Easter Sunday, about 150 walkers departed from the same cathedral. Their first stop was a Turkish Mosque and teaching center. Their leader explained that the walkers had come to apologize for the atrocities committed in the name of Christ during the Crusades. Then they read a letter of apology in German, Turkish and English. They were "greeted with loud, sustained applause." The Imam responded: "When I heard the nature of your message, I was astonished and filled with hope. I thought to myself, 'whoever had this idea must have had an epiphany, a visit from God himself.' It is my wish that this project should become a very great success." 

During the Crusades, the entire Jewish population of Cologne was destroyed. In remembrance of this, the walkers went to the local synagogue. Since it was a Jewish holy day, the walkers did not go inside; they prayed and moved on.

Individual walkers joined the group for as few as 10 days or as much as many months at a time. Following the ancient routes of the Crusades, one team passed through France, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, Slovenia Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia and Greece. A second team set out from Germany and passed through Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. The teams met at Istanbul, Turkey on 1996-OCT-10. The Deputy Mufti of Istanbul, the Chief Rabbi, the Representative of the Ecumenical Patriarch (head of the Orthodox church) and the Deputy Mayer welcomed the team with warmth and appreciation. "In towns and villages, people spilled out of their houses and applauded the team as they passed." They visited countless cities, towns, and villages in Turkey during 1996 and 1997.

In mid-1998, a team arrived in Antakya, Turkey (once called Antioch) on the 900th anniversary of the conquest of that city.  By 1998-SEP, they had reached Syria and Lebanon. About 500 participants reached Jerusalem on 1999-JUL-15, the 900th anniversary of the killing of about 60,000 Jerusalem residents and the destruction of the city. 

About 2,000 Christians from 27 countries have participated in this walk. Most are Evangelical Protestants. They have worn T-shirts and caps that say "I apologize" in Arabic or Hebrew.

The Reconciliation Walk statement of apology reads:

"Nine hundred years ago, our forefathers carried the name of Jesus Christ in battle across the Middle East. Fueled by fear, greed and hatred, they betrayed the name of Christ by conducting themselves in a manner contrary to His wishes and character. The Crusaders lifted the banner of the Cross above your people. By this act they corrupted its true meaning of reconciliation, forgiveness and selfless love.

On the anniversary of the First Crusade we also carry the name of Christ. We wish to retrace the footsteps of the Crusaders in apology for their deeds and in demonstration of the true meaning of the Cross. We deeply regret the atrocities committed in the name of Christ by our predecessors. We renounce greed, hatred and fear, and condemn all violence done in the name of Jesus Christ.

Where they were motivated by hatred and prejudice, we offer love and brotherhood. Jesus the Messiah came to give life. Forgive us for allowing His name to be associated with death. Please accept again the true meaning of the Messiah's words:

'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the

captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.' "

References:

1. "Reconciliation Walk: The Crusades," at: http://www.reconciliationwalk.org/crusades.htm 

2. David Sharrock, "Nine  hundred years later, a Christian apology for Crusades," The Guardian. Reprinted in The Globe and Mail, Toronto ON, 1999-JUL-5.

3. "The Catholic Encyclopedia: Crusades," at: http://www.csn.net/advent/cathen/04543c.htm 

4. "[Gwynne Dyer,] Historian: Reconciliation walk has bad sense of history," Maranatha Christian Journal, at: http://www.mcjonline.com/news/news3274.htm

THE  "HOLY"  CRUSADES

"murder, rape, cannibalism,incest, torture, and bloodshed -All in The Name of "Christ"

Does  the end Justify the Means ?

Some religions of Christendom praise the "Holy" Crusadesas a wonderful means by which "Christianity" was spreadaround the world.   The Crusades were known for the extreme violence and blood shed that "Forcefully" gainedconverts to the Newly adoped Church of Rome.

But what kind of Faith was spread ?  Would Christ haveapproved of this wholesale slaughter in his Name ? 

How completely opposite was this method of conversionthan that of Christ and the Apostles.

Did the end Justify the Means ?

The Clergy of "Apostate" Christendom - Sent and Empoweredthe Crusaders to Fight, Murder, and Plunder - under the Signof the Cross -

"The name crusade (from Latin, "cross",the emblem of the Crusaders) was also applied, especially in the 13th century, to wars against pagan peoples, Christian heretics, and political foes of the papacy."--History of ByzantiumCrusades - Hypocrisy of Western Nations

"A crusade was originally meant to be a war where all leaders and men fought under the banner of the church. The "call" for a crusade was made by the Pope."--The Crusades - An Overview"The Shield and Sword"Newsletter Archive

"The men who fought these wars under the church's banner would take a vow before the Pope or his priests and they would receive a cross to wear. Some called it "taking the cross". It also bestowed upon them a few "indulgences" or temporal privileges, such as not having to obey civil laws, as well as their lands, property and persons being safe from seizure. They only had to obey the laws

of the church."--The Crusades - An Overview"The Shield and Sword"Newsletter Archive

"The men who fought these wars under the church's banner would take a vow before the Pope or his priests and they would receive a cross to wear. Some called it "taking the cross". --The Crusades - An Overview"The Shield and Sword"Newsletter Archive

"The Crusaders were also granted a plenary indulgence from sin by the Pope; and at thevoice of their pastor, the robber, the incendiary, the homicide, arose by thousands to redeem their souls by repeating on the infidels the same deeds which they had exercised against their Christian brethren. They also enjoyed temporal privileges."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"During the time that a crusader bore the cross, he was free from suit for his debts, and the interest on them was entirely abolished; he was exempted from taxes, and placed under the protection of the Church, so that he could not be pleaded in any civil court."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"The First Crusade (1095 - 1101)It was decided that Pope Urban II should call for a crusade. Each man who took the vow received a red cloth cross to wear on his shoulder.

Four great armies as well as many small groups went forth, ill–equipped but ready to fight for God, and they would kill Jews, pillage and plunder along the way."--The Crusades - An Overview"The Shield and Sword"Newsletter Archive

"Pope Eugnius IV called for a crusade, at Christmas time in the year 1145."--Medieval Sourcebook: Odo of Deuil: The Crusade of Louis VII

"The Jews were the first victims of the Crusaders plunder. The Crusaders -Considering themselves as enlisted in the service of Christ, concluded that they were fully warranted to take vengeance on his murderers, and they, therefore, put to the sword without mercy such as refused to be baptized, seizing their property without the smallest regard to the rights of justice. In Bavaria alone twelve thousand Jews were massacred, and many thousands more in the other provinces of Germany."--The History of the Christian Church  By William JonesFirst Edition 1812 - London

"These pious robbers, having tasted the sweets of plunder, and being subject to no military regulations, began of course to pillage without distinction, till the inhabitants of the countries through which they passed rose in defense of themselves and their families."--The History of the Christian Church  By William JonesFirst Edition 1812 - London

"The Crusades began formally on Tuesday, November 27, 1095, in a field just outside the walls of the French city of Clermont-Ferrand. On that day Pope Urban II preached a sermon to crowds of laypeople and clergy attending a church council at Clermont. In his sermon, the pope outlined a plan for a Crusade and called on his listeners to join its ranks." --History of ByzantiumCrusades -Hypocrisy of Western Nations

"THE CRUSADES - the most signal and most durable monument of human folly that has yet appeared in any age or nation."--[Robertson’s History of Charles V. vol. 1. Appendix, Note 13.]

"The Crusades....this subject forms a prominent feature in the history of the Antichristian APOSTASY..."--History of England, volume 1, chapter 5

"During the Crusades - The brave were not protected by arms, nor the timid by submission; neither age nor sex were spared; infants perished by the same sword that pierced the supplicating mother. The streets of Jerusalem were covered with heaps of slain;

and the shrieks of agony or despair resounded from every house, when these triumphant warriors, glutted with slaughter, threw aside their arms, still streaming with blood, and advanced, with naked feet and bended knees to the sepulcher of the Prince of Peace! They thensung anthems to that Redeemer who had purchased their salvation by his death, while deaf to the cries of distress from their fellow-creatures."--The History of the Christian Church  By William JonesFirst Edition 1812 - London

"The fourth Crusade issued from England, France, Flanders and Lorraine. Mills calls them "another herd of wild and desperate savages." Their leaders were a goat and a goose, who were thought to be inspired by the Holy Ghost. They took to murdering the Jews, a crime which gratified at once their avarice and their fanaticism. Cologne was the first city they stained with blood. Thousands of Jews were massacred and pillaged in the towns on the banks of the Rhine and Moselle. Seven hundred were slaughtered at Mayence, The infernal multitude, as Mills calls them, "hurried on to the south in their usual career of carnage and rapine;" They pursued them with such slaughter that the waters of the Danube were for some days red with their blood."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"Carrion was openly dressed," says Mills, "and human flesh was eaten in secret. Cannibalism was carried to a great extent by the lowest of the low and the camp-followers made a virtue of it.  They liked nothing so well to eat as the roasted flesh of their enemies." --Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"The papal chair was then filled by Pope Clement III, who ordered a Crusade to be preached throughout all the countries of Christendom.--The History of the Christian Church  By William JonesFirst Edition 1812 - London

"Crusaders - their more appropriate title would have been that of wolves; for, wherever they came, they robbed and pillaged without either regard to justice or mercy..."--The History of the Christian Church  By William JonesFirst Edition 1812 - London

"Persuaded that heretics, or those who dissented from the Roman church, deserved the punishment of death, he favored the tribunal of the Inquisition; and the same turn of thinking led him to ascribe merit to a war against Infidels - the Crusades."--The History of the Christian Church  By William JonesFirst Edition 1812 - London

"THE Crusades form one of the maddest episodes in history. Christianity hurled itself....in expedition after expedition for nearly three centuries. Millions perishedin battle, hunger, or disease; and every atrocity the imagination can conceive disgraced the warriors of the Cross."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"Religious fanaticism gave birth to the Crusades. Modern apologists of Christianity have assigned other causes...But these are the excuses of a later age and a more timid faith. Hallam remarks that the Christian cry, "It is the will of God," proves the motive with which the Crusades were undertaken." --Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"The men who fought these wars under the church's banner would take a vow before the Pope or his priests and they would receive a cross to wear. Some called it "taking the cross". It also bestowed upon them a few "indulgences" or temporal privileges, such as not having to obey civil laws, as well as their lands, property and persons being safe from seizure. Tey only had to obey the laws of the church."--The Crusades - An Overview"The Shield and Sword"Newsletter Archive

The Crusaders - "Thence they marched to Constantinople...and the emperor supplied them with provisions, and as soon as they recovered strength they repaid his generosity by deeds of flagitiousness on his people. Palaces and churches were plundered to afford them means of intoxicationand excess. Michaud says that they committed crimes which made nature shudder. They killed children at the breast, scattered their limbs in the air, and carried their ravages to the very walls of the city of Nice."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"The Third Crusade - a devotion to brutal license of rapine, prostitution and drunkenness. According to Michaud, they gave themselves up to intemperance; in tumultuous scenes of debauchery, and pillage, violation, and murderwere everywhere left as the traces of their passage. At Mersburgh they committed horrible outrages. On a trifling quarrel they impaled a young Hungarian in the market place."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"The Crusaders - The army of the cross,

as they called themselves, next fell upon Constantinople. They entered the city without much resistance, putting every one to the sword who opposed them, and gave themselves up to all the excesses of avarice and fury. The booty alone, was valued at four hundred thousand marks of silver: the very churches were pillaged. The church of St. Sophia, after having robbed the altar they drenched the city in blood! Thus was this noble city, in that age the most flourishingin the Christian world, for the first time taken and sacked by Christians. One consequence of this was, that the pope gained, for a time, the whole Eastern church; a huge acquisition."--The History of the Christian Church  By William JonesFirst Edition 1812 - London

"During the Crusades -The moral fabric of Europe, says Mills, was convulsed; the relations and charities of life were broken; society appeared to be dissolved." --Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"Peter the Hermit led the second crusadeof forty thousand men, women and children, of all nations and languages. Arriving at Malleville they avenged their precursors by assaulting the town, slaying seven thousand of the inhabitants, and abandoning themselves to "every species of grossness and libertinism." According to Mills "virgin modesty was no protection," and "conjugal virtue no safeguard" against these sanctified soldiers of the cross."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"When the leaders of the crusading army arrived in Europe, the pope wrote a severe letter to the emperor, accusing him of having sacrificed the interests of Christianity by so long delaying the performance of his vow, and threatening him with immediate excommunication,if he did not instantly depart with an army into Asia."--The History of the Christian Church  By William JonesFirst Edition 1812 - London

"Religious fanaticism was the chief motive of this Crusade, but it was mixed with others. The east was thought to abound in riches; the wealth gleamed on the imagination; and sensuality was allured by the fabulous flavor of oriental wines and the magical beauty of Grecian women. Avarice, ambition, and lust, co-operated with faith."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

Among the early French poems on the Crusades is one entitled 'The Leaguer of Antioch', of which Von Sybel gives an abbreviated translation about them eating the human fleshof those they had slain:

"More than ten thousand, where in heaps the Paynim lay about.They hewed the corpses limb from limb, and disembowelled clean,And there was sodden meat and roast, to blunt their hunger keen:Right savory fare it seemed there; they smacked their lips and spake,--Farewell to fasts: a daintier meal than this who asks to make?'Tis sweeter far than porker's flesh, or bacon seethed in grease.Let's make good cheer, and feast us here, till life and hunger cease.'"--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"In Jerusalem, walls and fortifications were being torn down to prevent the Christians from using them for defense if they should reach the city and take it...Fearing a repeat of the bloodbath during the First Crusade...."--The Crusades - An Overview"The Shield and Sword"Newsletter Archive

Concerning the Crusaders it was said -"the rudeness and ferocity of the soldiersof Christ....the zeal of the Christian sects was embittered by hatred and revenge; and in the kingdom of a suffering Messiah, who had pardoned his enemies, they aspired to command and persecute their spiritual brethren." --Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"Such was the conquest of Jerusalem by the bloody warriors of the cross. There is no blacker chapter in the world's history; and justice condemns the expedition as wicked and insane, and truth brands alike the soldiers and their religious chiefs as the vilest horde of pious savages that ever polluted the earth."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"The Third Crusade - Like other Crusades, this one was marked by the grossest debauchery.They indulged in the worst excesses. Three hundredwomen arrived from Cyprus and the Greek islands, and prostituted themselves in the Christian camp, while the Saracens beheld the spectacle with disgust.  Michaud sums up the depravity of the soldiers of the cross by saying that all the vices of Europe and Asia had met in one spot."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"Constantinople was the capital city of a Christian empire, but the Crusaders sacked it as though it were inhabited by Saracens. The Crusaders put to the sword every Greek they met with on entering the city. "It was a horrible spectacle," says old Villehardouin.--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"The scenes of female violation," says Mills, "need not be described." According to Gibbon, "the deeds of darkness, fornication, adultery, and incest, were perpetrated in open day; and noble matrons and holy nuns were polluted by the grooms and peasants of the Catholic camp.What a spectacle! How proudly the bannered cross must have floated over the scene! "--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"Europeans, by this time, were only interested in Crusades that served their own purposes.Charles tried to take advantage of the vacancy of the Holy See to attack Constantinople but was not able to, due to the negotiations of the Pope with Michael Palaeologus of Constantinople for religious reunion."--The Crusades - An Overview"The Shield and Sword"Newsletter Archive

"Pope Innocent IV, tried to call another crusade but to no avail since no leader of France would step forward. Pope Innocent IV's problems with Frederick II were another reason for the failure."--The Crusades - An Overview

"The Shield and Sword"Newsletter Archive

"The Sixth Crusade (1228 – 1229 AD)Frederick II, who was supposed to lead the great crusade, kept asking the Pope for delays. In 1227, after Gregory IX became pope, he called Frederick to do his duty and set off for Palestine. Frederick II soon turned back however and Pope Gregory IX, fed up, ex–communicated him."--The Crusades - An Overview"The Shield and Sword"Newsletter Archive

"Nearly a million soldiers of Christ, of all ages and conditions, and of both sexes, had perished in less than two years; to say nothing of those who fell victims to their cruelty and fanaticism. So many crimes and so much misery have seldom been accumulated in so short a space as in the three years of the first expedition."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"in the short space of a month, the character of the Christian soldiers before Jerusalem had become as immoral as it had been in the long and painful siege of Antioch.  After a procession round Jerusalem, in the fashion of the ancient circuit of Jericho, led by barefooted priests carrying crosses and shouting "Deus id vult," a fresh assault was made on the city, which was at length successfully stormed on Good Friday. They erected their banners on the walls of Jerusalem. Instead of making the "holy hour" an occasion for mercy, the Crusaders acted like wild beasts, and turned the city of the sepulchre of Christ into a hell of rapine, murder and lust. The Christians abused the victory by filling Jerusalem with blood and carnage."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"A bloody sacrifice was offered by the crusadersto the God of the Christians: neither age nor sex could mollify their implacable rage. They indulged themselves three days in a promiscuous massacre; and the infection of the dead bodies produced an epidemical disease. Even the harmless Jews had been burnt in their synagogue."

--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"The Saracens were massacred in the streets and in the houses by the crusaders. Nothing was heard but the groans and cries of death; the victors trod over heaps of corpses in pursuing those who vainly attempted to escape. Raymond d'Argiles, who was an eye-witness, says that under the portico of the mosque the blood was knee-deep and reached the horses' bridles."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"Such was the carnage of Omar, that the mutilated carcasses were hurried by the torrents of blood into the court; dissevered arms and hands floated into the current that carried them into contact with bodies to which they had not belonged. Ten thousand people were murdered in this sanctuary. It was not only the lacerated and headless trunks which shocked the sight, but the figures of the victors themselves reeking with the blood of their slaughtered enemies. No place of refuge remained to the vanquished, so indiscriminately did the insatiable fanaticism of the conquerors disregard alike supplication and resistance. Some were slain, others were thrown from the tops of the churches and of the citadel." --Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"After paying their devotion to Christ, and worshipping on the various spots that were hallowed by his presence, the Crusaders resumed the murder of his enemies. Three hundred prisoners, to whom Tancred had promised safety, were perfidiously massacred.  Neither the tears of women, nor the cries of little children, nor the sight of the place where Jesus Christ forgave his executioners, could mollify the victor's passion"--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"The subjugated people were therefore dragged into the public places, and slain as victims. Women with children at the breast, girls and boys, all were slaughtered.  The squares, the streets, and even the uninhabited places of Jerusalem, again were strewed with the dead bodies of men and women, and the mangled limbs of children, No heart melted into compassion or expanded into benevolence." --Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"Crusades were also the result of ambitious popes who sought to extend their political and religious power. Crusading armies were, in a sense, the military arm of papal policy."--History of ByzantiumCrusades - Hypocrisy of Western Nations

"historians have pointed to the...fact that the Crusades offered an outlet for the ambitions of land-hungry knights and noblemen. The expeditions are also seen as offering rich

commercial opportunities known as "plundering"to the merchants of the growing cities of Italy,particularly the cities of Rome, Genoa, Pisa, and Venice."--History of ByzantiumCrusades - Hypocrisy of Western Nations

"After the end of the Fourth Crusade it became apparent to many that the soldiers had just plundered goods from abroad rather than gain any long term success. Many Christians had never even reached the Holy Land."--The Crusades - An Overview"The Shield and Sword"Newsletter Archive

"Amid the pursuits of piety and murder, the Crusaders did not neglect to enrich themselves. Each soldier became the owner of any house at whose portal he set his buckler. The treasures of the mosques were devoted to the Christian Church."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"Carrion was openly dressed," says Mills, and human flesh was eaten in secret. Cannibalism was carried to a great extent

by the lowest of the low and the camp-followers made a virtue of it.  They liked nothing so well to eat as the roasted flesh of their enemies." --Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"Gibbon also says of the Crusaders that "in the dire necessity of famine, they sometimes roasted and devoured the flesh of their infant or adult captives.They slew some Turkish prisoners and roasted them publicly. Cannibalism was also resorted to at the siege of Marra. One chronicler dryly says there is nothing surprising in the matter, and wonders that they sometimes ate dogs in preference to Saracens."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"Mutilation of the dead was indulged in as a sportby the crusaders. The heads of two thousand Turks, who fell in a sortie from Antioch, were cut off; some were exhibited as trophies, others were fixed on stakes round the camp, and others shot into the town. On another occasion they dragged theirvictims corpses from their sepulchres, and exposed fifteen hundred heads to the weeping Turks."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"Fighting for Christ did not keep the Crusaders chaste. During the siege of Antioch they gave the rein to their passions, and seldom does the history of profane wars display such scenes of intemperance and prostitution as did the Crusades.  A neighborhood once devoted to the worship of Venus and Adonis, spread license and corruption among the soldiers of Christ." --Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"All the vices of the infamous Babylon prevailed among the tents of the Crusaders.Voluptuousness formed a hideous union withimpure love, an unbounded passion for play, with all the excesses of debauchery mingled with the images of death."--Crimes of Christianity

Chapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"The dignity of age, the helplessness of youth, and the beauty of the weaker sex, were disregarded by the crusading savages and their cruelty.  The number massacred on this night was at least ten thousand."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"The passion for plunder had been stilled by the thirst for blood:  When, however, every species of habitation, from the marble palace to the meanest hovel, had been converted into a scene of slaughter, when the narrow streets and the spacious squares were all alike disfigured with human gore, and crowded with mangled carcasses, then the assassins turned robbers, and became as mercenary as they had been merciless." --Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"The Crusaders ate, drank, and indulged in the wildest debauchery. Unbounded license was given to every passion.  They slaughtered all the inhabitants at Marra, and devoured their flesh; and it is even said that human flesh was publicly exposed for sale in the Christian camp.  The streets ran with blood until theirferocity was tired."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"Fighting and backstabbing went on for another 21 years. So it would be truthful to say that while there were 8 called crusades, there was in reality only one long crusade lasting almost two hundred years from 1095 to 1291."--The Crusades - An Overview"The Shield and Sword"Newsletter Archive

"Besides the incalculable evils they directly caused, the Crusades led to the slaughter of the Northern innocents, the massacre of the Albigenses, and the other wholesale cruelties with which the Papacy afterwards desolated Europe."--Crimes of ChristianityChapter IX - The CrusadesG W Foote & J M Wheeler

"Enough, and more than enough, has been said to convince the reader of the deplorable state of darkness and superstition which reignedthroughout Europe, to say nothing of Asia and Africa, during this period. The Crusades being conducted under the immediate protection of the Roman church....the Venetians and Genoese, thereby acquired immense sums of money, and at the same time opened to themselves a new source of wealth, by importing into Europe the plundered commodities of Asia. The cities of Italy grew rich and powerful, and obtained extensive privileges."-- Hume’s History of England,

vol. 1, ch. 5. Robertson’s Charles V. vol. 1, APPENDIX. Russel’s History of Modern Europe, vol. 1, LETT. 25, 27, 30, 31, 32, 34.]

Constantine's Influenceon Christianity

Constantine's Influenceon Christianity

Constantine's reign as Roman emperor (A.D. 306-337) dramatically changed the direction of Christianity. This grew out of his strategy for unifying his empire by creating a "catholic"—meaning universal —church that would blend elements from many religions into one.

The "Christianity" Constantine endorsed was different from that practiced by Christ

and the apostles. The emperor accelerated the change by his own hatred of Jews.

Constantine himself said, "Let us then have nothing in common with the detestable Jewish crowd." -(Eusebius, Life of Constantine 3, 18-19, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, 1979, second series, Vol. 1, pp. 524-525).

For example, at the Council of Nicea (A.D. 325), church authorities essentially replaced the biblical Passover with Easter, a popular holiday rooted in ancient springtime fertility celebrations.

British historian Paul Johnson summarizes how Constantine's approach of merging religious practices produced a corrupted Christianity that meshed paganism with biblical elements.

When we consider the vast differences between the mainstream Christianity of today and the original Christianity of Jesus Christ and the apostles, we can trace much of that change to Constantine and the religious system he put into power.

"Constantine corrupted and perverted Christinaitymore than he aided it.  He was an ambitious andsuperstitious Emperor who murdered his own kindred (his wife and son) while promoting Christianity.  He paganized Christianity while using it as a political tool to solidify his Empire."-Paganism Surviving in Christianity   By Abram Herbert Lewis"The Control of Christianity by the StateUnder Constantine and his Successors"  Chapter X;   pg. 203

"The opening of the Fourth Century marks a new era in the process by which paganismpoisoned Christianity. Constantine turnedChristianity into a piece of politicalmachinery." -Paganism Surviving in Christianity   By Abram Herbert Lewis"The Control of Christianity by the StateUnder Constantine and his Successors"  Chapter X;   pg. 208

"Soon after the so-called conversion ofConstantine...the Church entered on itsApostasy from the primitive simplicity and purity which marked its earlierhistory.  Pagans in vast multitudespressed into the Christian Fold, bringing with them old practices and customs, and filling the places of Christian worship with the pageantry and ornaments which characterized the worship of the gods in heathen temples.  These unconverted millions became only nominally Christian, impressing the doctrines, rites, and forms of paganreligion upon the Christian Church."-The Old Catholic Churchby W.D. Killen D.D.;  pp.70-72Edinburgh;  1871

"From the time of Constantine onward,the worship of the Roman Catholic Church,in its forms and ceremonies, has been more clearly identified with the paganismof Ancient Rome, than with the religion of the New Testament.  The customs of pagan religion were only baptized with Christian names."-Paganism Surviving in Christianity   By Abram Herbert Lewis"The Control of Christianity by the StateUnder Constantine and his Successors"  Chapter X;   pg. 210

"Constantine turned Christianity into a piece of political machinery."

 "Constantine turned Christianity into a piece of political machinery." -Paganism Surviving in Christianity   By Abram Herbert Lewis"The Control of Christianity by the StateUnder Constantine and his Successors"  Chapter X;   pg. 208

Constantine -A Blood-thirsty Leader

"Constantine had no respect for human life, and as emperor he executed his eldest son, his own second wife, his favorite sister's husband and 'many others' on doubtful charges.He was also responsible for wholesale massacres in north Africa."- History of Christianity  Johnson; (p.68)

"Constantine had a father-in-law, whom he commanded to be hung; he had a brother-in-law, whom he ordered to be strangled; he had a nephew twelve or thirteen years old, whose throat he ordered

to be cut; he had an eldest son, whom he beheaded; he had a wife, whom he ordered to be suffocated in a bath."-Voltaire Philosophical Dictionary, article "Constantine".

These atrocious crimes were perpetrated after Constantine declared himself to bea Christian.   This is the man who becameleader of the Holy Roman Catholic Church.This is the man who "legalized" Christianityin the Roman Empire.  This is the leaderwho voted for and established many of thedoctrines taught in the churches today.

Constantine presided at Church councils and worshipped the divinity of Christ,as a doctrine that was decided upon bythe councils of Nicea that were political efforts to cement the pagans with the last vestiges of believing Christians.

It cannot be doubted that the character of Constantine deteriorated rather than improved under the influence of his formof Christianity.

"Constantine pursued the great object of his ambition through the dark and bloody paths of war and policy; and, after the victory, he abandoned himself, without moderation, to the abuse of his fortune. He declined in the practice of virtue; and the same year of his reign in which he convened the Council of Nice was polluted by the execution, or rather murder, of his eldest son."  -The History of the Decline and Fall       of the Roman EmpireBy Edward Gibbon, 1887, Chap. xx.

"Constantine never actually accepted Christianity...Constantine never totally abandoned Paganism...and was known to continue to worship pagan gods.Even after his conversion, Constantine was well known for his brutality."-Constantine - The Making of a Saint    by Andras Nagy

Constantine and The "Trinity"

"Christians claim to follow the teachings of the one they call Jesus Christ, but their traditions today are radically different than the original teachings of that man. The process of the development of Christianity is a long and complicated one, but there are a number of key influential figures who played a crucial role in it. While most are familiar with the names of the 12 apostles, they are usually unfamiliar with the one who claimed to be the 13th, Constantine the Great, the first Holy Roman Emperor."-The Thirteenth DiscipleConstantine and The Trinityby Nozrem ha Brit

"It was Constantine who changed the day of worship from Saturday to Sunday, despite the fact that Jesus, and all of the apostles strictly observed the Sabbath on Saturday. His decision was influenced by the fact that Sun-Day was the Roman dayof worship of the Sun-God, Apollo."-The Thirteenth DiscipleConstantine and The Trinityby Nozrem ha Brit

"Constantine decided that God was three-in-one based on the theologians Tertullian, Cyprian, and Augustine. Constantine convened the council of Nicaea in 325, in which the Creed outlined his version of the relationship between Jesus and the Father. It is unfortunate that the relationship of Constantine and his own son could not be so close, as while he was in the West he had his eldest son and friend, Crispus, and his wife, Fausta, executed for reasons that remained a mystery. All other forms of Christianity that did not comply to this Creed, were labeled as heretics and were to be eliminated. To this day, Constantine’s Nicean Creed is used as the basis for determining who is a Christian, which is why Jehovah’s Witnesses, are still labelled as heretics today."-The Thirteenth Disciple

Constantine and The Trinityby Nozrem ha Brit

"The effects of pagan influences on Christian traditions can most clearly be seen in its’ celebrations, for every single one has a pagan celebration as its origin. One festivity that was personally initiated by Constantine was All Saint’s Day, quite appropriate as the mythology of pagan traditions were transferred to the stories of the Saints."-The Thirteenth DiscipleConstantine and The Trinityby Nozrem ha Brit

"Between Constantine and cohorts, the entire foundation of modern Christianity was developed. Yet perhaps we should ponder if it would have been better for Yeshua’s (Jesus')teachings to have disappeared than to have them so utterly corrupted and perpetuated as his own."-The Thirteenth DiscipleConstantine and The Trinityby Nozrem ha Brit