Via Jason Riley (Wall Street Journal):
Month: December 2014
INGLORIOUS AMBASSADORS ~ Jon Stewart
“Hands Up, Don’t Shoot” ~ Founding A Movement on Lies
Some Good Commentary By Good Black Men — Role Models
Also, see Zo’s commentary: The Mike Brown Outrage Is About As Genuine as a Stolen Hair Extension
The Spanish Inquisition Was Bad, and Yes, Mostly Secular
This post is to just get on record some numbers about the Spanish Inquisition. A good summary is this one via Strange Notions, take note of the last bullet point:
Okay, the Catholic Church didn’t suppress science from Galileo, they didn’t kill him either, he died of old age. And in 350 years of the Spanish Inquisition, they killed about 3,000-to-5,000 people people due to it. here is this better understood history used in a debate between atheist
The above will play into another aspect of this story as well… that is, this was largely a secular movement. Continuing. The years in which the Inquisition was extremely active was between 1480 and 1530. Henry Kamen estimates about 2,000 executed, based on the documentation of the autos-da-fé, the great majority being conversos of Jewish origin. He offers striking statistics: 91.6% of those judged in Valencia between 1484 and 1530 and 99.3% of those judged in Barcelona between 1484 and 1505 were of Jewish origin. (WIKI, and Kamen’s book).
Here is Kamen’s commentary on the death toll:
Dennis Prager Comments on “Religious Violence” Via Prager’s “Masters Program.” (DAILY WIRE)
This is KEY!
Using Kamen’s numbers, about 6[-] people were killed a year by the Spanish Inquisition over its 350-year long stretch. If you use the high numbers, you get about 14[+] people killed a year. Below is Dinesh D’Souza referencing this information in a debate with an atheist
Dennis Prager makes a point that one of the common traits with the mass shooters is that they are never regular church goers. They are more likely to be secular… not taking into account the Judeo-Christian concept of God and the ethics that follow such a belief.
Not only that, the inquisition was largely secular. Ahhh, too bad history has a way of proving pop-theories of history and peoples use of misconception to tarnish the church when it was mainly secular authorities that did these horrible acts.wrong:
“The Inquisition had a secular character, although the crime was heresy. Inquisitors did not have to be clerics, but they did have to be lawyers. The investigation was rule-based and carefully kept in check. And most significantly, historians have declared fraudulent a supposed Inquisition document claiming the genocide of millions of heretics…. But the grand myth of thought control by sinister fiends has been debunked by the archival evidence….. he approach is purely historical, and therefore does not delve into ecclesial issues surrounding religious freedom. But perhaps this is proper. Because the crime was heresy, the Church is implicated, but the facts show it was a secular event……
…Sixtus IV promulgated a new bull categorically prohibiting the Inquisition’s extension to Aragon, affirming that,
▼ many true and faithful Christians, because of the testimony of enemies, rivals, slaves and other low people—and still less appropriate—without tests of any kind, have been locked up in secular prisons, tortured and condemned like relapsed heretics, deprived of their goods and properties, and given over to the secular arm to be executed, at great danger to their souls, giving a pernicious example and causing scandal to many.
In 1482 the pope was still trying to maintain control over the Inquisition and to gain acceptance for his own attitude towards the New Christians, which was generally more moderate than that of the Inquisition and the local rulers….
(Two different sources: Catholic Education Resource Center, and, Wiki [which is well referenced for further review].)
All this is to note the idea that skeptics have a distorted view of history precisely BECAUSE this view fits their presupposition that the “Church” (Christianity) is bad. Keep in mind it was still bad, Kamen notes right after the toll numbers: “The final death toll may have been smaller than historians once believed, but the overall impact was certainly devastating for the cultural minorities most directly affected.” We must keep in mind many were displaced and peoples faith were shaken as well as honed in trial and tribulation.
This is merely a side note and has nothing to do with the Spanish Inquisition as much as merely pointing out another time in history that is often overblown. Sensationalized in the aspect that mob mentality will quickly spread rumors and innuendo and act on IT rather than truth (ahem, Furguson), as was the case for the beginning of the Frech Revolution… which was opportunism taken by radicals in that society.
Dennis Prager interviews Ann Coulter in regards to her new book, Demonic: How the Liberal Mob Is Endangering America. Ann points out a fact that I wasn’t aware of in regards to the mob mentality that set the standard for the French Revolution. Much like the misunderstanding in regards to the Crusades, the witch trials, and the like, numbers are not the forte of the left… nor is putting into context meaning behind them.
For more clear thinking like this from Dennis Prager… I invite you to join Pragertopia: http://www.dennisprager.com/
Charles Barkley Slams Ferguson Looters As Scumbags! (Plus More)
Mundane Monday ~ Dr. Daniel Wallace (Canon & Early Christianity)
See more on the Canon here.
Did the Ancient Church Muzzle the Canon?
Is What We Have Now What They Wrote Then? Part 1 & 2 ~ Biola Chapel
MUST SEE video presentation over at WINTERY KNIGHT by Dr. William Lane Craig.
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