The
Inquisition...
The
Inquisition: It is a most mis-understood term,
of which persecutors of the Church that Jesus Christ founded like to bring
up all the time. It would be better if these detractors would first check
their facts, and get them straight before making their accusations. I intend
to show this subject to be Biblical, and so before I begin, I ask all detractors
who love GOD, and who claim to follow what Holy Scripture teaches, to open
their Bibles and please read,
Acts 9:4, 1Cor 10:32, 1Cor 11:22, 1Cor 15:9, Gal 1:13, Gal 1:23, Gal 4:29,
Eph 3:8, 1Tim 1:13.
Inquisition,
what does the word mean?
Here is how one dictionary defines it.
1. It is the act of inquiring into a matter; an investigation.
2. A tribunal formerly held in the Roman Catholic
Church and directed at the suppression of heresy.
Anyone found guilty of heresy was called a 'Heretic'.
Are
there Biblical precedents for Inquisitions
designed to root out heresy?
There certainly are:
Ex 32:1-35, This is the story of Moses and the Golden Calf incident. I
will paraphrase instead of recounting this lengthy story. Moses came down
from the mountain with the stone tablets (15) and found that his people
had made for themselves a Golden Calf and they were worshiping it (19).
They had become Heretics.
Moses asked who was still loyal to the Lord and the Levites responded (26).
Then Moses commanded the Levites to slay the ones who were not loyal to
the Lord, and they did (27-29). This chapter is a clear message to ferret
out Heretics from
the midst of believers.
Deut 13:5-12, "The Lord, your GOD, shall you follow, and Him
shall you fear; His commandment shall you observe, and His voice shall
you heed, serving Him and holding fast to Him alone. But that prophet or
dreamer shall be put to death, because, in order to lead you astray from
the way which the Lord, your GOD, has directed you to take, he has preached
apostasy from the Lord, your GOD, who brought you out of the land of Egypt
and ransomed you from that place of slavery. Thus
shall you purge the evil from your midst.
If your own full brother, or your son or daughter, or your beloved wife,
or your intimate friend, entices you secretly to serve other gods, whom
you and your fathers have not known, gods of any other nation, near at
hand or far away, from one end of the earth to the other: do
not yield to him or listen to him, nor look with pity upon him, to spare
or shield him, but kill him. Your hand shall be the first raised to slay
him; the rest of the people shall join in with you. You shall stone him
to death, because he sought to lead you astray from the Lord, your GOD,
who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
that place of slavery. And all Israel, hearing of it, shall fear and never
again do such evil as this in your midst."
Deut 13:13-16, "If any of the cities which the Lord, your GOD,
gives you to dwell in, you hear it said that certain scoundrels have sprung
up among you and have led astray the inhabitants of their city to serve
other gods whom you have not known, you must inquire
carefully into the matter and investigate it thoroughly. If you find that
it is true and an established fact that this abomination has been committed
in your midst, you shall put the inhabitants of that city to the sword,
dooming the city and all life that is in it, even its cattle to the sword."
Deut 17:2-7, "If there is found among you, in any one of the
communities which the Lord, your GOD, gives you, a man or a woman who does
evil in the sight of the Lord, your GOD, and transgresses His covenant,
by serving other gods, or by worshiping the sun or the moon or any of the
host of the sky against My command; and if, on being informed of it, you
find by careful investigation that it is true and an established fact that
this abomination has been committed in Israel:
you shall bring the man (or woman) who has done the evil deed out to your
city gates and stone him to death. The testimony
of two or three (a tribunal. See definition
2 above) witnesses is required for putting
a person to death; no one shall be put to death on the testimony of only
one witness. At the execution, the witnesses
are to be the first to raise their hands against him; afterward all the
people are to join in. Thus shall you purge
the evil from your midst."
Deut 19:18-19, "...And if after a thorough
investigation the judges find that the witness is a false witness and has
accused his kinsman falsely, you shall do
to him as he planned to do to his kinsman. Thus
shall you purge the evil from your midst."
Est 2:23, "And when Inquisition
was made of the matter, it was found out;
therefore they were both hanged on a tree: and it was written in the book
of the chronicles before the king."
Wisdom 1:9, "For Inquisition
shall be made into the thoughts of the ungodly, and the hearing
of his words shall come to GOD, to the chastising
of his iniquities.
Isa 54:17, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper, and
every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment, THOU SHALT CONDEMN.
This is the inheritance of the servants of
the Lord, and their justice with Me, said the Lord."
I realize that in the Old Testament, GOD was much harsher in His
punishment of the man who was disobedient. However, the Old and the New
Testaments are one continuous story. Remember, "The New Testament
lies hidden in the Old, and the Old Testament is revealed in the New."
Matt 18:15-18, Jesus Christ Himself, told us to make Inquisition
of a questionable person, and to a tribunal
of persons, and look where He delegated the
final authority, His Catholic Church.
"But if your brother sin against you, go and show him his fault (the
Inquisition first
pointed out the error of the person being questioned), between you and
him alone. If he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does
not listen to you, take with you one or two
more so that on the word of two or three witnesses (a
tribunal) every word may be confirmed. And
if he refuse to hear them, appeal to the Church, but if he refuses to hear
even the Church, let him be to you as the heathen and the publican."
Heathens were people who did not acknowledge
the GOD of Judaism or the GOD of Christianity. Publicans were Jewish tax
collectors who worked for the Romans. Consequently, they were hated by
the Jews and were viewed as sinners. Another word to use for both is 'Heretic'.
Acts 20:28-31, "Take heed to yourselves
and to the whole flock in which the Holy Spirit has placed you as Bishops,
to rule the Church of GOD, which He has purchased with His own blood. I
know that after my departure fierce wolves will get in among you, and will
not spare the flock. And from among your own selves men will rise speaking
perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them. Watch,
therefore, and remember that for three
years night and day I did not cease with tears to admonish every one of
you."
1Cor 5:13, "For those outside GOD will judge. Expel
the wicked man from your midst."
Tit 3:10-11, "A factious man avoid after
a first and second admonition, knowing that such a one is perverted and
sins, being self-condemned."
Now
when you speak of the Inquisition,
you have to be specific as to which Inquisition
you are referring. There were several of them which were spread over several
countries of Europe, and which spanned a time frame of just over six centuries.
Each was formed to counter a serious heretical
threat to the Catholic
Church. In order to properly understand the
purposes of the convening of the Inquisitions,
you should transport your thinking back to the times in which they began.
You should be mindful of the customs of the people, know a little of their
history, sense the pressures they were under, and understand the threats
that were being made to the Church. You should also be aware of the history
of the Catholic
Church, of which,
since its very foundation by Jesus Christ, has been (and is to this very
day) under constant attack by heretics.
The Church remembers
well, the damage done by past heretics such
as Montanus, Novatians, Manicheans, Donatists, Arians, Pelagians, Nestorians,
Waldenses, Albigenses, Catharists, and literally hundreds more.
Every Christian, regardless of sect, owes a debt of gratitude to the Catholic
Church for repressing
these heresies in
the past, and
for preserving Christianity for all. Jesus Christ certainly has fulfilled
His word when He told us in Matt 16:18, that the gates of hell will NOT
prevail against His Church. He will keep His word forever as we all know.
Name another organization that has withstood the slings and arrows of thousands
of attacks over a period of almost 2000 years, and yet has grown and prospered
as has the Catholic
Church?
"What
then shall we say to these things? IF GOD IS FOR US, WHO IS AGAINST US?"
Romans 8:31
"For if this plan or work is of men,
it will be overthrown;
but if it is of GOD, you will not be able to overthrow it.
ELSE PERHAPS YOU MAY FIND YOURSELVES FIGHTING EVEN AGAINST GOD."
Acts 5:35-36
Since the Catholic
Church has existed
for almost 2000 years, and it certainly has been tried by Heretics,
Jews, Romans, Protestants, the French Revolution, Hitler, Communism, and
a whole host of others to overthrow it, then we are left with only two
logical conclusions.
Either the Catholic Church is of GOD, or GOD's Word in Acts 5:35-36 is
simply not true.
It is not my intention to
present a comprehensive history of the various Inquisitions
here, as it would take many pages for each of them.
(1) Medieval... 1233
This was considered to be the first of the Inquisitions.
It was convened specifically to combat the Albigensian heresy. This was
a cancerous heresy which threatened the very foundations of the Church.
(2) French....1306
This Inquisition was called again to combat
the Albigensian (or Cathari) heresy.
(3) Spanish.....1478-1834
This is the Inquisition of which most detractors
refer. It was initiated by the secular governments of France and Spain
and with the approval of the Church at the beginning. Be it known that
Spain had been under fierce attack from Moslems for over 700 years. (Read
about the Spanish hero, El Cid, for more on these Moslem and Moor conquests).
The Moslems were determined to convert Catholic Spain into a Moslem state
by force of war. The purpose of the Inquisition
was to ferret out Moslems and Jews who were causing social havoc by posing
as faithful Catholics. Some were even masquerading as priests and bishops
and they were attempting to lead the faithful away from the Church. Non-Catholics
who admitted they were non-Catholics were not persecuted by the Inquisition.
Several Popes condemned the Inquisition, which
had come under the control of the Spanish civil authorities, when it was
brought to their attention that civil justice was giving way to cruel abuses.
It was this insistent condemnation by the Popes which finally put an end
to the Inquisitions.
No one knows the exact figures for sure, but it is estimated that there
were less than 60,000 cases spread over a 356 year period until the Spanish
Inquisition was finally abolished in 1834.
This averages to less than 169 cases per year. Of this number, the vast
majority were exonerated. According to modern scholars, approximately 2000-6000
from the Spanish Inquisition alone*,
and a total of 5000-9000 from all Inquisitions
combined, for over the entire six century period were turned over to secular
authorities for punishment or execution, but only after a second trial
for a repeated offence. It is to be noted that the highest figure of 9000
is far lower than the total number of executions by the civil authorities
of those countries which held Inquisitions
in this same time frame. Not surprisingly, Protestant estimates of the
numbers killed by the various Inquisitions
are far higher (of course) with a range of as high as 300,000 to an astronomical
95,000,000**.
That last figure, of course, is highly ridiculous, as that number is far
higher than the entire population of all of Europe at the time. Records
recovered from this era, support the figures of less than 60,000 cases
total for all Inquisitions, as I have shown
above, and there have been no authentic records found which support anywhere
near the Protestant charges of hundreds of thousands, or millions of cases.
Go here for much more detail than I have recounted here: The
Spanish Inquisition
* "Research
has shown that about four thousand deaths occurred at the hands of the
Spanish Inquisition
during almost three centuries." Radio Replies 1:1069, Rumble and Carty.
**A
Protestant book, "The Mystery of Babylon Revealed".
(4) Roman.......1542
This Inquisition was convened to combat the
Protestant heretics soon
after the start of the reformation. We all know the story of the censure
of Galileo from this Inquisition
in 1616. Pope John Paul II has recently declared Galileo's censure,
and therefore his persecution by this Inquisition,
to be in error. He has apologized for the part the Church had played in
it.
To those who enjoy needling Catholics over this subject, I must remind
you to look in your own backyard before doing so. I am reminded of the
phrase, "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones."
The Protestant history of persecutions, especially of Catholics, is not
pretty. I have presented good reasons for the Inquisitions
here. There seems to be no valid reasons for Protestant persecution of
Catholics except for their desire to totally annihilate them. Here are
a few examples...
King Henry VIII is responsible for the deaths of over 70,000 Catholics
including hundreds of priests and Bishops. He had St. Thomas More executed
in 1535. He even ordered the destruction of most of the uncorrupted bodies
of saints in England. The only bodies that were not destroyed are the ones
taken by Catholics and hidden from the persecutors.
John Calvin, one of the Protestant reformers, viciously persecuted Catholics
as heretics. He persecuted others as well, and had a rival critic, Michael
Servetus, burned alive in October 1553.
Queen Elizabeth I, had thousands of Catholics put to death in England.
She ordered that Catholic Mary Queen of Scots be executed in 1587. She
had thousands more killed in Ireland.
Oliver Cromwell is responsible for starting the English civil war and the
subsequent beheading of Catholic King Charles I, and for the killing of
thousands of Catholics in that war of 1642-1649.
Thousands of Catholics were murdered in Ireland by the English in the 19th
century simply because they attended the Catholic Mass. The Protestant
English redcoats were also responsible for confiscating the food from the
Irish people and for leaving them only with potatoes which were blighted
and unfit to eat. In the mid 19th century this caused the deaths by starvation
of an estimated 1-1.5 million Irish Catholics, and the emigration of about
2 million more. It was a case of either leave the country or die of starvation.
How many thousands of women were burned at the stake after witch trials,
by Protestant witch hunters, over several centuries, and throughout Europe
and America? It is estimated that 30,000 went to their deaths in Britain
alone, and another 100,000 in Protestant Germany***.
Interestingly, the Protestant mind-set in those
times was that if the woman survived the burning, she was considered not
to be a witch. Now just how many innocent women, do you think, survived
this horror?
*** "Isabella
of Spain", by William Thomas Walsh.
"The Golden Century of Spain", by R. Trevor Davies.
Isn't it strange that those who accuse the Catholic Church of convening
Inquisitions, which I have shown to be Biblical
and therefore were legitimate, never mention these Protestant atrocities,
most of which when taken separately, far surpass the total numbers of deaths
due to all of the Inquisitions combined?
Interestingly, in this writing, I have recounted an apology from the Catholic
Church for the injustice which was done to
Galileo. I have yet to see any Protestant apology for any of the injustices
they have perpetrated against Catholics. The Catholic
Church does not persecute Protestants, however,
Protestants continue to persecute Catholics, as evidenced recently by Britains
refusal to allow Catholics to ascend to the Monarchy. Protestant bigotry
has lasted much longer than Catholic persecution has.
The deaths attributed to the Inquisitions
pale immeasurably to the 1.2 million humans killed by abortion every year
in the United States alone. Add to this figure the many more millions aborted
from all of the other countries of the world. To those of you who attack
the Catholic Church
over the Inquisitions, I must ask, "Since
it seems that you are concerned about human life, who is the most outspoken
in the whole world in combating this 'culture of death' in which we live
today?"
It is none other than the Catholic Church.
How can anyone who is so concerned about the value of human life of the
past, not be concerned at all about human life in the present?
I would suggest that you should not be so concerned about something that
happened hundreds of years ago, of which neither you nor I can do anything
about, and channel your energy to join in attacking an evil of the present
day, an evil that you can do something about, an evil going on right now,
in your lifetime, and right before your very eyes. Join with the Catholic
Church and funnel your energies to protest
this present day genocide.
It is the greatest evil conceived by man since the Crucifixion.
©
Compiled by Bob Stanley, January 7, 2000
Updated May 16, 2001
A special thanks to Tim Brennan and Eric Ostmann for their historical input.
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