verga: I think we need to be very careful when we judge the actions of groups or individuals in the past based on mores of our time.
The Catholic Church has maintained that we hold the fullness of faith and that inherent in that is a duty to protect others from falling into heresy.
Further the Catholic Church has also always viewed itself as the "Body of Christ" and Christ did instruct His followers to take up the sword to defend themselves: Lukle 22:35 He said to them, “When I sent you forth without a money bag or a sack or sandals, were you in need of anything?” “No, nothing,” they replied.
36 He said to them,* “But now one who has a money bag should take it, and likewise a sack, and one who does not have a sword should sell his cloak and buy one.
37 For I tell you that this scripture must be fulfilled in me, namely, ‘He was counted among the wicked’; and indeed what is written about me is coming to fulfillment.”
38 Then they said, “Lord, look, there are two swords here.” But he replied, “It is enough!”*
At the time these heresies were viewed as direct assaults on the Church, the Body of Christ.
Well, you have to read it to believe it. Catholics STILL defending and excusing the use of the sword, (IOW, murder and torture and imprisonment aka - the INquistion) against those who the Catholic church considers heretics, guilty of the *crime* of heresy against the church.
With Christ's approval surely!.....”because Lord, we're doing powerful works in your name!”
The reading of this situation depends very heavily on whether one takes a fundamentally grace view or whether you take a fundamentally damnation view.
I used to take much more of a damnation view than I thought. Now I take more and more of a grace view, as the Lord has shown ME more and more grace. Yes, the Roman organization went wrong when it EVER thought that resistance to the gospel per se must be met with the sword. That’s not what those swords were for. They were for physically defending the lives of their fellows and family in extremis, where even a martyrdom clearly did not make sense because they were dealing with not a possible gainful witness case, but pure concentrated obdurate evil murderers.
Anyhow that’s my read. YMMV but don’t forget that your fundamental world view DOES color your reading of the gospel. Be careful!
Also... Christians of all ages SO, so badly forget the lessons of the first gospel churches. That gospel sold itself!! You didn’t have to haul in secular measures to bolster it!!
Dear Christians where EVER your worship congregation may be: your God is as big as you are willing to believe. If you believe your God needs heavy secular help, your God will be very attenuated and weak. But if you believe your God is omnipotent and can push past any barrier that man has erected (beyond the individual obdurate refusal to believe all one’s life, which constitutes the ultimate blasphemy), and you come to your Heavenly Father asking for this power in love and in trust like a child... then you will get POWER like... crazy! COUNT ON IT! GOD HAS PROMISED!
And what a stretch and misappropriation of scripture to apply that passage to killing people who disagree with the Catholic Church. Christ was plainly talking about self protection for those who were carrying the money. He was not talking about offensively attacking anyone who disagreed.