This guy:
Not this guy:
Posted on 07/18/2010 6:04:05 AM PDT by Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus
So many names to remember to say my prayers to.
So many statues to honor.
So many rings on the fingers of "alter Christus" to kiss.
So many supplications to a "co-redeemer."
No, thanks. God has saved me from that misstep.
Spain had a compulsory tax of 10% on all agriculture goods and agricultural assets (including animals) which the state collected for the Roman Catholic Church from every member of the Roman Catholic Church.
This amounted to a huge amount of money the Romans Catholic Church collected from the people via the State.
This is why they fought to keep their subject in the dark , this why they forced conversions as they could only collect it from Catholics. This is why they forced the country to become Catholic.
It was about power and money .
It’s hard for Americans to imagine this because the founders of this country were wise enough to make state sanctioned religion illegal.
In Europe if you belong to a church in many places to this day the states takes a percentage out of your pay check and gives it to that church.
NL did say that “ Dr. Edward Peters,Inquisition Henry Charles Lea Professor of History at the University of Pennsylvania and a prominent historian in the field” not another namesake
And, of course you must be referring to the Calvinist excerpted Bible, which excerpts out texts and tracts for the raving Calvinist cult masses to refer to instead of a real, complete Bible, right?
No, not really. Your side argues that rocka stands for Christ not +Peter.
" 17Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter,[c] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[d] will not overcome it.[e] 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[f] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[g] loosed in heaven." 20Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.." You conveniently left that out, right?
Greek scholars—even non-Catholic ones—admit, the words petros and petra were synonyms in first century Greek. They meant "small stone" and "large rock" in some ancient Greek poetry, centuries before the time of Christ, but that distinction had disappeared from the language by the time Matthew’s Gospel was rendered in Greek. The difference in meaning can only be found in Attic Greek, but the New Testament was written in Koine Greek—an entirely different dialect. In Koine Greek, both petros and petra simply meant "rock." If Jesus had wanted to call Simon a small stone, the Greek lithos would have been used. The missionary’s argument didn’t work and showed a faulty knowledge of Greek. (For an Evangelical Protestant Greek scholar’s admission of this, see D. A. Carson, The Expositor’s Bible Commentary [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1984], Frank E. Gaebelein, ed., 8:368).And, you need to note that though the gospel was written In Greek, it was spoken in Aramaic. in Paul’s epistles—four times in Galatians and four times in 1 Corinthians—we have the Aramaic form of Simon’s new name preserved for us. In our English Bibles it comes out as Cephas. That isn’t Greek. That’s a transliteration of the Aramaic word Kepha (rendered as Kephas in its Hellenistic form). The word Kepha means a rock, the same as petra. (It doesn’t mean a little stone or a pebble. What Jesus said to Simon in Matthew 16:18 was this: ‘You are Kepha, and on this kepha I will build my Church.’
Oh, not to Calvinists, but to Pente-costals with their Arminian philosophy and their kumbajah singa-longs
The Malleus Maleficarum (review)
by Jenny Gibbons
The Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches) is a detailed and accurate guide to how the Inquisition ran a Witch trial. Written by two respected inquisitors and enthusiastically endorsed by the Pope, the Malleus lay on the bench of every Witch hunter in Europe. Its detailed descriptions of sabbats and covens spread the fear of Witches throughout Europe, dramatically increasing the number of Witch trials.
Not!!!
That's the common view of the Malleus, but every sentence in that first paragraph is dead wrong.
The Malleus Maleficarum is indeed one of the most influential Witch-hunting manuals of all times. And since it's easily available in modern English translation, it's still influential, the darling of amateur historians today. But it's not a reliable guide to the Burning Times: it's a duplicitous text with a checkered past, a book you simply can't take at face value. So most of this review will focus on common misconceptions about the Malleus -- things you ought to know if you want to use it in your research.
#1: The Author and His Motivation
Almost all of the Malleus was written by one man: Heinrich Kramer (aka Henry Institoris). A German inquisitor of the late 15th century, Kramer was not a well-respected man. His views on Witchcraft were considered weird and extreme by most of his fellow clergymen, who continually opposed and hindered his trials. For instance, Kramer ran a large trial in Innsbruck in 1485, where 57 people were investigated. Nobody was killed. The bishop of Innsbruck became so irritated with Kramer's fascination with the Witches' sexual behavior that he shut down the trials, claiming that the devil was in the inquisitor, not the Witches.
Kramer wrote the Malleus to win the cooperation of his peers. The book isn't -- as some assume -- a guide to what most 15th century Christians believed about Witches. It's a minority opinion, written to convince the populace at large of the dangers of Witchcraft.
#2: The Endorsements
The Malleus is usually circulated along with a papal bull "Summis Desiderantes", which rails against Witches and the people who oppose Kramer and his co-author, Jacob (or James) Sprenger. In the 15th century, there was also a little recommendation from the Faculty of Cologne (the Inquisition's top theologians). Both of these endorsements are misleading.
Pope Innocent had actually never read the Malleus when he wrote "Summis Desiderantes". Kramer complained to the Pope about the poor reception he was receiving from other priests, and the Pope (who was very superstitious and feared Witches greatly) obligingly gave Kramer this bull. He also asked a respected Dominican scholar, Jacob Sprenger, to help Kramer write the Malleus. Kramer treated the bull as if it was a full endorsement of his book, but it wasn't.
The recommendation from Cologne is an out-and-out forgery. When they were finished writing, Sprenger presented the Malleus to the Faculty, asking for its approval. Instead, the Inquisition resoundingly condemned the book. It said that the legal procedures it recommended were unethical and illegal, and that its demonology was not consistent with Catholic doctrine. Undaunted, Kramer forged an enthusiastic endorsement. As you might expect, the Faculty discovered this quickly and was enraged! Kramer and Sprenger parted on bad terms, and the Inquisition condemned Kramer in 1490, just four years after the Malleus was published.
#3: The Impact of the Malleus
The Malleus wasn't an immediately influential book. Most Church and Inquisitorial courts ignored it, probably because of the Faculty's condemnation. Civil courts, unfortunately, gave it more weight. Fooled by the forged recommendation and the out-of-context bull, many non-religious judges believed that the Malleus had the approval of the Church. Many used it, though it did not -- as some authors say -- lie on the bench of every judge.
It publication did not increase the number of Witch trials. In fact, it came at the beginning of a slight lull, when the steady rise in trials stalled for a few decades. But when the major panics of the Burning Times hit in the mid-16th century, the Malleus came into its own. It was the most detailed discussion of Witchcraft around. Many civil courts were handling Witch trials for the first time. They had no idea how to proceed, and so they latched onto the Malleus' recommendations gladly. By the end of the 16th century, other Witch hunting manuals eclipsed the Malleus. But at the beginning of the crazes, it did have an enormous impact.
#4: The Theories
You also have to take the Malleus' theories with a grain of salt. As I've said, Kramer's views were condemned by the Inquisition. They certainly don't represent the official view of the Church of the 15th century.
If you compare the Malleus to other Witch-hunting manuals, you can see how unique its theories are. Kramer's sexual hang-ups shine through like a super nova. I mean, there are seven entire chapters on all the awful things Witches can do to penises, and Kramer apparently thought that it was quite common for men to wake up and discover that their Virile Member had walked off in the middle of the night... The book's sexism is also extreme. Most manual profer sexist explanations for why the majority of Witches are women. But none are as virulently misogynist as the Malleus.
The theology is also primitive. Read the Malleus closely, and you'll notice that many of the "traditional" bits of Witch lore are missing. There are no sabbats. No covens. No Witches' marks. Many of the Witchcraft stereotypes we're familiar with developed in the 16th century. By comparing the Malleus (1484) to, say, the Compendium Maleficarum (1608), you can see how much beliefs changed during the height of the panics.
************
That's the history of the Malleus, in brief. Now for a review:
The Malleus is dreadfully dull reading. It's long, confusing, and dry, "enlivened" only by occasional shocking bits of misogyny and bigotry. So before you read it, I encourage you to ask yourself why you're bothering.
Is it to learn what Witch hunting was like? Well, the Malleus won't tell you. You're better off reading trial records or pamphlet accounts of individual trials. (Which you can find in books like _Witchcraft in England_ by Barbara Rosen, or Alan Kors' _Witchcraft in Europe, 1100 - 1700_.)
Do you want to learn what the Church taught about Witches? Again, the Malleus won't help you. You need to read tons of material to understand the Church's responses (or, more sensibly, you can read scholarly summaries of the debate).
The Malleus will help you if:
a) You want to get a feel for what a Witch hunting manual was like. b) You want to understand the origins of some of the later stereotypes. c) You want some shocking quotations (the Malleus is chock-full of them...)
The big thing to remember, however, is that the Malleus does not give an accurate picture of what Witch hunting was like. It's an extreme, radical text, and gives a very distorted view of life in the Burning Times.
17Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter,[c] and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades[d] will not overcome it.[e] 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be[f] bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be[g] loosed in heaven." 20Then he warned his disciples not to tell anyone that he was the Christ.and here's the KJV version:
17And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.and the KJV goes on to say
18And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
19And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.
20Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man that he was Jesus the Christ.
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