Reason for The Crusades explained

[Matthias]

 

[rockytopva]

The ”You are not a follower of Jesus if you aren’t armed, ready to kill“ is not in the bible and is a man made phrase. It is one of the sea of manipulations by men who knew enough about Christianity to be dangerous, but not enough of it to do anybody any good.

 

[Wrangler]

The ”You are not a follower of Jesus if you aren’t armed, ready to kill“ is not in the bible and is a man made phrase. It is one of the sea of manipulations by men who knew enough about Christianity to be dangerous, but not enough of it to do anybody any good.

Not really. It's just a way to express commitment to what Jesus commands - not just in theory but practice.

You are not a follower of Jesus if you don't X, ready to Y. I've met many professing Christians who say they forgive (in theory) but show they don't in practice. We cannot truly believe this is the way. So it is with all our Lord commanded.

Buy a sword means to be armed. As I've said, the purpose of acquiring this armament is not to collect dust. As a Christian man, my goal is to be peaceful this is far different from being harmless. Our Lord commanded us, under certain circumstances, to poke our eye out and cut off our hand. This shows a commitment to the fact that violence solves problems and always will in this world. The words of Scripture do no shy away from this truth; they embrace it! What are the wages of sin again?

Animals did not merely die to cover the shame Adam and Eve had from sin. They were sacrificed. Killed. It’s a point you could not miss in Scripture.

Real faith is not lip service. Real faith is action, fully committed. Enemies of Christ call this fanatical. We're either IN or OUT. What's it going to be for you? As far as me and my house, we serve the Lord.

 

[rockytopva]

Not really. It's just a way to express commitment to what Jesus commands - not just in theory but practice.

You are not a follower of Jesus if you don't X, ready to Y. I've met many professing Christians who say they forgive (in theory) but show they don't in practice. We cannot truly believe this is the way. So it is with all our Lord commanded.

Buy a sword means to be armed. As I've said, the purpose of acquiring this armament is not to collect dust. As a Christian man, my goal is to be peaceful this is far different from being harmless. Our Lord commanded us, under certain circumstances, to poke our eye out and cut off our hand. This shows a commitment to the fact that violence solves problems and always will in this world. The words of Scripture do no shy away from this truth; they embrace it! What are the wages of sin again?

Animals did not merely die to cover the shame Adam and Eve had from sin. They were sacrificed. Killed. It’s a point you could not miss in Scripture.

Real faith is not lip service. Real faith is action, fully committed. Enemies of Christ call this fanatical. We're either IN or OUT. What's it going to be for you? As far as me and my house, we serve the Lord.

I do believe in the... The U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment that protects the right to keep and bear arms, stating, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed".

But I would caution on the possibilities of shedding what the bible calls innocent blood, in which if it cries out to God.... Will gain the ears of the almighty Father which is in heaven.

 

[Big Boy Johnson]

There are. And there are Christians in military and police forces throughout history who have been “armed, ready to kill”. I find the squeamish, revisionist history among the over-spiritualized today humorous and decidedly not serious.

On the other hand a person is free in the Lord to follow their conscience so if they choose to not be “armed, ready to kill” that does not mean they go to hell just because they are not “armed, ready to kill”

There is no mention in the New Testament of any repercussions for those who are not “armed, ready to kill” so because of this we know it's not an actual commandment or requirement to the entire Body of Christ and you cannot prove that it is seeing that there is no mention in the New Testament of any repercussions for those who are not “armed, ready to kill”

Having to kill someone in self defense should be a last resort kinda thing and only considered in extreme circumstances.

Those taking joy in being “armed, ready to kill” who just can't wait to be able to whack someone are the trigger happy nutjobs that are the ones who go out and become the next mass shoot that we hear about in the news.

So, if we turn on the evening news one night and hear the announcement, "Gunman who calls himself Wranger shoots 15 kids at a Toys R Us Store claiming they were all unbelievers who were going to grow up and do evil anyway" - we'll know that itchy trigger finger finally got the best of you.

 

[Big Boy Johnson]

I would caution on the possibilities of shedding what the bible calls innocent blood

If one uses deadly force in a self defense situation then they are shooting someone who needs to be shot and as such would not be shedding innocent blood.
So the moral of the story is only shoot people who need to be shot!

 

[Wrangler]

I do believe in the... The U.S. Constitution's Second Amendment that protects the right to keep and bear arms, stating, "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed".

But I would caution on the possibilities of shedding what the bible calls innocent blood, in which if it cries out to God.... Will gain the ears of the almighty Father which is in heaven.

At the same time, none of us are innocent. But I know what you mean.

The LORD loves justice. Psalm 37:28. It is challenging to achieve balance, too easy to not go far enough or too far. Yet, that remains our goal.
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice
Micah 6:8

We can debate whether the Crusades did not go far enough or too far but Christians should know the reasons FOR the Crusades and not apologize for our Christian brothers in times past, presuming all action was in error.

 

[Big Boy Johnson]

At the same time, none of us are innocent.

I'm innocent.

The Blood of Jesus washed me clean and the Lord leads me to abide in Christ walking after the Spirit as to not live in sin anymore.

 

[Matthias]

”You are not a follower of Jesus if you aren’t armed, ready to kill” vs. Christian history

”In the first three centuries of the faith … to be a follower of the Prince of Peace meant minimally that one refrained from killing human beings or even being indirectly involved in the killing of other human beings … using violence for any reason whatsoever, under any circumstances whatsoever, was simply not on the radar, was simply off the table for any faithful Christian. That shift [from pacifism to violence] in the early fourth century then was a sea change in the way Christians would henceforth look at the world and their role in it.”

(Father Kerry Walters, “When Christianity Went Imperial: From Pacifism to Violence”)

Father Walters mentions Lactantius in his short video. I’m providing a link to Lactantius’ seven volume work, The Divine Institutes, for those who may be interested in reading it. It’s available online at no cost.

CHURCH FATHERS: Divine Institutes, Book I (Lactantius)

Featuring the Church Fathers, Catholic Encyclopedia, Summa Theologica and more.

www.newadvent.org

***

AI overview -

“Lactantius demonstrated a notable shift from absolute pacifism in his early work, to an acceptance, and even advocacy, of violence when perpetrated by the Christian state in his later writings, a change closely tied to the rise of Emperor Constantine.”

The followers of Jesus were faithful to his teaching and the teaching of the apostles for three hundred years. Church history documents when the shift from nonviolence to violence occurred.

”You are not following Jesus if you aren’t armed, ready to kill” -> the mindset of people following Constantine; not the mindset of people following Jesus and the apostles.

 

[Matthias]

“It has been a profoundly sad and ironic history. In the interest of effectively accomplishing what it thought was an immediate and discernable good thing, the church often forsook its kingdom-of-God call. As a result, it frequently justified doing tremendously evil things. The moment worldly effectiveness replaces faithfulness as the motive for an individual’s or institution’s behavior, they are no longer acting on behalf of the kingdom of God but are participating in the kingdom of the world. The so-called good end will always be used to justify the evil means for those thinking with a kingdom-of-the world mindset, and in doing this, the church succumbed to the very temptation Jesus resisted.”

(Gregory A. Boyd, The Myth of a Christian Nation, p. 80)

 

[Matthias]

“… Christians in both the West and the East slaughtered each other in Jesus’ name as ruthlessly as they slaughtered Muslims. Terrible atrocities were carried out on Jews … The church of resident aliens had become a horde of savage warlords. …

The militant, Constantinian mindset carried into the Protestant Reformation. So long as they remained a persecuted minority, Reformers generally decried the use of violence for religious purposes. But once given the power of the sword, most used it as relentlessly as it had previously been used against them. Indeed, with the exception of the Anabaptists, every splinter group of the Reformation in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries spilled blood. Lutherans, Calvinists, Anglicans, and other Protestant groups fought each other, fought the Catholics, and martyred Anabaptists and other ‘heretics’ by the hundreds.“

(Gregory A. Boyd, The Myth of a Christian Nation, p. 79)

It wasn’t just the Catholics. Protestantism also has a violent and bloody history.

The Christianity of the first three centuries looks, and is, very different from the history of Catholicism and Protestantism.

 

[Matthias]

“This tragic history has to be considered one of Satan’s greatest victories, and the demonic ironies abound. In the name of the one who taught us not to lord over others but rather to serve them (Matt. 20:25-28), the church often lorded over others with a vengeance as ruthless as any version of the kingdom of the world ever has. In the name of the one who taught us to turn the other cheek, the church often cut off people’s heads. In the name of the one who taught us to love our enemies, the church often burned its enemies alive. In the name of the one who taught us to bless those who persecute us, the church often became a ruthless persecutor. In the name of the one who taught us to take up the cross, the church often took up the sword and nailed others to the cross. Hence, in the name of winning the world for Jesus Christ, the church often became the main obstacle to believing in Jesus Christ.”

(Gregory A. Boyd, The Myth of a Christian Nation, p. 81)

”You are not a follower of Jesus if you aren’t armed, ready to kill.”

It’s the enemy of Messiah and his followers, the devil, who wants the followers of Jesus to kill one another and the worldly.

 

[Matthias]

“No version of the kingdom of the world, however comparatively good it may be, can protect its self-intersts while loving its enemies, turning the other cheek, going the extra mile, or blessing those who persecute it. Yet loving our enemies and blessing those who persecute us is precisely what kingdom-of-God citizens are called to do. It’s what it means to be Christian.”

(Gregory A. Boyd, The Myth of a Christian Nation, p. 54)

The followers of Jesus lived as “kingdom-of-God citizens” for the first 300 years of church history. The followers of Jesus in every century are called to do the same.

Conversely, ”You are not a follower of Jesus if you aren’t armed, ready to kill” is living like “kingdom-of-the-world citizens”.

 

[Matthias]

“Jesus said, ‘Stop! No more of this.’”

(Luke 22:51, EXB)

For three hundred years his followers listened to and obeyed him. Then came a “sea change” (Father Kerry Walters) in the fourth century.

”Stop! No more of this.“ vs. ”You are not a follower of Jesus if you aren’t armed, ready to kill.”

 

[Matthias]

Origen of Alexandria responds to the ”You are not a follower of Jesus if you aren’t armed, ready to kill” teaching.

”We do not arm ourselves against any nation; we do not learn the art of war; because, through Jesus Christ, we have become the children of peace.”

Voice of the Day: Origen of Alexandria

"We do not arm ourselves against any nation; we do not learn the art of war; because, through Jesus Christ, we have become the children of peace." - Origen of Alexandria

sojo.net

 

[Wrangler]

In today's devotional reading, I came across this and will add it to my signature.
But the LORD is with me like a dread warrior.
Jeremiah 20:11

 

[Matthias]

In today's devotional reading, I came across this and will add it to my signature.
But the LORD is with me like a dread warrior.
Jeremiah 20:11

”We [followers of Jesus] do not use the weapons of the world.” - Paul

Those are the one’s whom Yahweh is with like a dread warrior.

 

[Wrangler]

Nice vid

 

[Matthias]

Nice vid

“The crusades were brutal and evil.”

What Were the Christian Crusades?

The crusades were attempts by "Christians" in the 10th through 12th centuries A.D. to reclaim land in the Middle East that had been conquered by Muslims / Arabs. The crusades were brutal and evil. Many people were forced to "convert" to Christianity. If they refused, they were put to death. This...

secure.cbn.com

Stop apologizing for brutality and evil done by Catholics a thousand years ago. It’s already been done.

Don’t practice brutality and evil. Don’t defend it.

***

Look to Jesus and the apostles. Genuine Christianity is neither brutal nor evil.

 

[Wrangler]

This vid points out many amazing facts. One being the Crusades were the only time the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church united in common cause since the Great Schism.