1 Joshua Lumpkin CHHI 301-D01 8 May 2011 The Crusaders and the Church If you need money, its

going to take the involvement of money, so it can be multipliedyoure gonna have to get involved with your money. You take the not enough and give it to Jesus, then he will bless it, and the next time you see it, itll be in the over and the above.1 The preceding quote was from American Word of Faith pastor, Creflo Dollar. This theology, known as prosperity theology, teaches that blessing in the form of money can only be strategically obtained if it is given first, usually to the men and women who teach it. Prooftexting and using Scripture out of context is a common practice of these preachers, leading nominal Christiansthose who recognize biblical passages but may be ignorant of the context to place reliability in their words based on the false credibility of their lavish lifestyles, a form of materialism that Jesus vehemently preached against. While this kind of misuse of power is rampant today, by no means is it the first time it has happened. The same type of abuse was prevalent during the Middle Ages in the time of the Roman popesa time of clutching for power and wealth that in no way honored God but ultimately led to the largest stain on the history of the Christian church, the Crusades. Much of the Catholic Church is shrouded in mystery and ritual, including the events leading up to the Crusades. Because many of its adherents were illiterate and uneducated, from the commoners on up to the knights themselves, the height of biblical knowledge and comprehension came through clerical interpretation of Scripture. For this reason, a large portion of those who would be considered faithful to the Cross of Christ, who were traveling to defend

RINGO4LIFE, If You Dont Give Money, You Dont Get None (Creflo Dollar exposed), YouTube video, 9:22, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtU6bvOqwgA&feature=related (accessed May 9, 2011).

2 their faith and the land out of which it was born, were mislead by the popes who called for these holy wars into thinking that salvation was the reward for any man who attempted such a journey. While some modern scholars, like Jonathan Riley-Smith, claim that popular consensus on the historical understanding of the European crusades is flawed on bases like the lack of Scriptural support and an unwillingness of its opponents to empathize with Western thought, it is more likely that the leaders of the Church themselves are responsible for the negligence that led to such opinions.2 When Pope Urban II called for the First Crusade in 1096, feudal society had been under way for more than 500 years. Summoned to the battle were Christian knights who the pope charged with the defense of the holy land from the conquest of the Seljuk Turks into Asia Minor.3 In order to persuade even the most hesitant of adventurers, Urban II proclaimed the following: I say it to those who are present. I command that it be said to those who are absent. Christ commands it. All who go thither and lose their lives, be it on the road or on the sea, or in the fight against the pagans, will be granted immediate forgiveness for their sins. This I grant to all who will march, by virtue of the great gift which God has given me.4 Guided by Adhemar, bishop of Puy, the crusaders assembled in Byzantiums capital, Constantinople before conquering the former eastern townand current Turkish strongholdof Nicea.5 Afterward, the Christians moved onto Antioch to repel the Muslim invaders. By the time the crusaders reach the holy city of Jerusalem, it had been three years since they had embarked on the journey. Although the Muslims had conquered many cities and seized control of the land at large, their labors, for the most part, were militarily unorganized. Thus, with little effort, the
2 3

Augustine Thompson, Gods war: a new history of the crusades, First Things no. 195 (2009): 57-58. Jerry H. Bentley and Herbert F. Ziegler, Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past, 2nd Ed. (New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2003): 541. 4 Justo L. Gonzalez, The Story of Christianity, Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation (New York, NY: HarperCollins, 1984): 345. 5 Ibid., 346.

3 crusaders, under the new leadership of Godfrey of Bouillon, were able to reclaim much of the holy land. 6 Furthermore, in the summer of 1099, the Christians took control of Jerusalem. This victory set a precedent for all of the crusades that would follow it. Because there was success during this campaign, many more would march to the holy land in seek of riches and in defense of Palestine. At this time, the Christian leaders began to create bordered territories of the land they conquered. While this westernizing of the landin making it representative of feudal Europewas good for morale and normalcy, it may have played a large part in the weakening of the crusaders defenses. In 1144, the Turks regained control over the crusader state of Edessa, and Jerusalem fell in 1187less than one hundred years after the crusaders had seized itto the Muslims.7 A depiction of this seizure of Jerusalem can be found in Ridley Scotts Kingdom of Heaven, a film about the story of Balian (Orlando Bloom), a humble blacksmith and illegitimate son of a Christian knight named Godfrey (Liam Neeson).8 While the film presents a somewhat erroneous representation of both sides (Christians and Muslims), the history is fairly accurate. None of the proceeding crusades was even remotely as successful as the first, and by the end of the thirteenth century, the Holy Roman Empire had launched five consecutive movements toward the Palestinian conquest. 9 After this onslaught, several crusaders abdicated the campaign feeling as though they had fulfilled the charge. Because of this, Godfrey had difficulty defeating the Muslims that marched on Jerusalem with the handful of crusaders left in the wake of their absence.10 Nonetheless, the rhetoric that imbued the consciences of crusaders, the numerous

6 7

Ibid., 348. Jerry H. Bentley and Herbert F. Ziegler, 542. 8 Timothy M. Renick, Crusades revisited: Kingdom of Heaven, Christian Century 122, no. 12 (2005): 11. 9 Jerry H. Bentley and Herbert F. Ziegler, 542. 10 Justo L. Gonzalez, 349.

4 campaigns that marched through Constantinople into the holy land and the power grab characterized by such audacious exploitation in the name of Christ continued for 200 years. Lastly, in an effort to evaluate motives in light of a Christian worldview, we shall compare the movements and the people leading them with the Gospel and the teachings of Jesus. We begin with the call to crusade itself. Some would immediately assert that Palestine is immensely significant to Christianity, and that the defense of Jerusalem and the surrounding areas is paramount to the credibility and survival of the Faith. However, Jesus taught us that the Spirit of Holiness dwells within believers, not within the confines of a piece of real estate.11 Many would concede that because the Catholic Church decided who would have access to Scripture, there was a modern-day conflict of interest and a kind of cartel on the Word of God. Since the Bible was not available to commoners, there was no way for them to refute or invalidate anything the hierarchy dictated. Next, we look at the promise made by the popesthat the reward of salvation would be granted to any who march in the crusade and die as a result. It would be difficult to list the number of theological errors found in the aforementioned promise; in an effort to discern truth, however, we will attempt it. First of all, according to Paul, God elected those he would save before the foundations of the world.12 It would be difficult to argue that those who God elected were the Christian knights wealthy enough to afford to make the journey and then die in the process. Because it seems as though there was no assurance of faith in the Catholic Church, which is absolutely perpendicular to the teachings of the New Testament, this promise made by Pope Urban II is more theologically in line with the Islamic jihadists of the present day theology that, ironically, Christians (including Catholics) everywhere deplore. As a final point, in

11 12

John 14:17 Ephesians 1:4

5 regard to Urbans promise, assurance of faith by martyrdom had nothing to do with Christ, except that the crusades were allegedly fought for and in his name. However, Christ never advocated for his message to be spread by violence and hatred, but by love and service.13 Finally, we must examine the violent atrocities themselves. While Christ taught that a life lived by the sword would end by the same, he never criticized the life of a soldier.14 On the contrary, the Roman centuriona soldier by tradeastonished Jesus with his faith.15 However, both the Christians and Muslims committed against one another the most heinous acts of violence.16 While Muslims then and now not only condone, but encourage and defend these kinds of actions due to their prevalence in the Muslim scriptures, it would be difficult if not impossible to believe that out of the crusades the God of the Bible was honored and glorified.

13 14 15 16

John 13:34-35 Matthew 26:52 Luke 7:9 Timothy M. Renick, 11.

6 Bibliography Bentley, Jerry H. and Herbert F. Ziegler. Traditions & Encounters: A Global Perspective on the Past, 2nd Ed., New York: McGraw-Hill, 2003. Gonzalez, Justo L. The Story of Christianity, Volume 1: The Early Church to the Dawn of the Reformation, New York: HarperCollins, 1984. RINGO4LIFE, If You Dont Give Money, You Dont Get None (Creflo Dollar exposed), YouTube video, 9:22, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtU6bvOqwgA&feature=related (accessed May 9, 2011).
Renick, Timothy M. Crusades revisited: Kingdom of Heaven, Christian Century 122,

no. 12 (2005): 11. http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/pdf viewer? vid=4&hid=125&sid=f8c3e34d-82e7-48a6-8ed9 febeea842013%40sessionmg r110 (accessed May 12, 2011). Thompson, Augustine. Gods war: a new history of the crusades, First Things no. 195 (2009): 57-58. http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.liberty.edu:2048/ehost/pdfviewer/ pdfviewer? vid=3&hid=125&sid=f8c3e34d-82e7-48a6-8ed9-febeea842013%40sessionmgr110 (accessed May 12, 2011).