MOJO-JOJO

The following e-mail is being sent around by the Focus on the Family organization to tell the "real" truth about Christianity's violent history. I have seen many posters on this board discussing what they know about Christianity and it's violent role in history, using it as a reason not to be involved with "such a religion".

What does history REALLY say about Christianity;s violent past?

"THE TRUTH ABOUT CHRISTIANITY

by Matt Kaufman

I hate to start a column by talking about Bill Clinton, because this
column is not about him. But as so often happens, he's provided
an irresistible anecdote to lead into what I do want to talk about.
It happened at Georgetown University in November, when the
ex-president threw in his opinion of why Sept. 11 happened;
America was paying the price for its history of slavery and genocide of the Indians, and
Christendom was paying the price for committing massacres during the First Crusade
some 900 years ago.

Now I'm never one to suggest we can't all use some reflection on our sins, or some
historical perspective on the roots of current events. Trouble is, citizen Clinton has offered
us neither. He's publicly repenting, as he so often does, of other people's sins — vast
groups of long-dead people, at that. And he's radically simplifying history by promoting the
myth that the reason so many Muslims hate Christians is because Christians started the
fight in days of yore.

In fairness, Clinton probably believes the myth, because he went to college in the 1960s.
By then, one admittedly distorted view of Western and American history — taught, as
someone has said, "in the spirit of national self-congratulation" — had been replaced by
one even more distorted, in which Westerners played history's villains, cruelly despoiling
pristine native cultures around the world. And the ultimate villain was Christianity.
Christianity, it was said, launched endless bloody wars ("More people have been killed in
the name of Jesus Christ than any other name in the history of the world," author Gore
Vidal said. Christianity condoned slavery. Christianity fostered Hitler. Christianity
oppressed science (remember Galileo). And so on … and on.

Where does the truth lie? Somewhere between these views, of course — but decidedly
closer to the older view than to the newer one.

Two recent witnesses for the defense are journalists Vincent Carroll and David Shiflett,
authors of the new book Christianity on Trial: Arguments Against Anti-Religious Bigotry
(Encounter Books, 2002). They don't whitewash the offenses committed by Christians
through the centuries. But they bring much-needed perspective to a series of accusations
against Christians, sufficient to warrant, if not total vindication, surely a verdict far more
favorable than the prosecution seeks.

Carroll and Shiflett take 200-plus pages to make their case. Grant me a few paragraphs to
summarize the high points … and bear in mind that the authors are taking on the toughest
case, not just of what Christianity says in theory but of what Christians generally do in
practice.

Is Christianity a religion of conquest? Not for the most part. For the first millennium or so,
despite all the wars raging around them, Christians either resisted participation in warfare
(the first three or four centuries) or accepted it with moral conditions unfamiliar to the
warlike world of the era in which conquest needed no ethical or ideological justification.
Among Christians, force was only justified to counteract evil, and slaughtering
noncombatants was forbidden by the code of chivalry. Soldiers in the Middle Ages were
regularly urged to hate the sin, not the sinner. Even in just wars, soldiers were required to
do penance after battle for giving reign to warrior emotions: "The gospel's tradition of
peace," the authors write, "was too pervasive simply to ignore."

The Crusades changed that for a time, and many Christians did embrace the idea of Holy
War. Yet even those came in response to Muslim invaders who had been overrunning
much of the Christian world for centuries and were driven partly by the political agendas of
secular rulers. What's most significant is that the idea of Holy War didn't stick among
Christians; it went largely dormant for centuries, was resurrected for a time in European
religious wars between Christians and eventually provoked a backlash that began a
Christian movement toward tolerance in Europe and spread to the American colonies.
Looking across history, what strikes the authors isn't that Christians have fought wars, too,
but that they so frequently prevented or mitigated them.

Did Christians justify slavery? Some did, but they didn't invent it — and most important, it
was primarily Christians who, for explicitly religious reasons, opposed it. In a world teeming
with slavery, Paul "insisted on reciprocity in a relationship where none existed in law and
little or none occurred in practice," and urged that masters and slaves (both common in
early Christian congregations) treat each other as brothers equally valuable before God.
Much later, Europeans and Americans bought slaves sold to them by Africans (slavery was
routine in Africa), but even in the worst days of that practice there were many who felt
obliged to teach slaves to read (sometimes in defiance of state law) so they could read the
Bible.

Finally, Christians drove the movements to abolish slavery in Europe and America,
providing the passion and persistence that — in all those places except the United States
— ended the practice peacefully. Without Christians, there's no telling when (if at all) that
would have happened; without Christians, moral opposition to slavery would have been
confined to a tiny handful of people.

Are Christians responsible for Hitler? Not really. It's been said that the Nazi party derived
its anti-Semitism from Christianity, and that churches at best put up little resistance. The
pope of the time, Pius XII, has been called a Nazi flunky, "Hitler's Pope." But the charges
range from drastically oversimplified to outright absurd.

Bill Clinton (yes, him again) said a couple years ago that Hitler "preached a perverted form
of Christianity." In fact, Hitler was no kind of Christian, perverse or otherwise; he was a
pagan who gleefully predicted that "through the peasantry ... we shall really be able to
destroy Christianity because there is in them a true religion rooted in nature and blood."
Virulently anti-Christian attitudes and pagan ceremonies were common among the SS (a
groom would hand his bride a dagger to conclude a wedding).

It's undeniably true that some Christians welcomed Hitler at first, and that many others did
little to stop him. "It is easy for those who do not live under a totalitarian regime to expect
heroism from those who do," the authors note dryly, "but it is an expectation that often will
be disappointed." Yet given the risks of resistance, "it should be less surprising that the
mass of Christians were silent than that some believed strongly enough to pay for their
faith with their lives." Protestants and Catholics alike stood up to the Nazis * hiding Jews,
protesting government policies, seeking Hitler's overthrow. Pius XII issued condemnations
of totalitarianism that avoided mentioning Hitler by name (he feared Hitler would crack down
on Catholics), but also aided many thousands of Jews to escape through the Vatican
refugee program.

* * *

There's much more to Carroll and Shiflett's book. They recount how Christians founded
universities and virtually invented hospitals that would care for anyone, regardless of social
standing. They show that Christians, though sometimes impeding science, have far more
often advanced the discipline based on their religious fascination with God's creation. They
relate the key role Christians have played in promoting racial equality, self-government and
respect for the environment. And they don't neglect to contrast Christians with some of the
peoples whom progressive folk glorify, including many Native American tribes. The Aztecs
and many others, they remind readers, perfected unspeakable tortures and cruelties;
Roman pagans routinely slaughtered their own children if they were defective or — what
they thought much the same thing — girls.

Yet in all this the authors avoid what might be called the spirit of religious
self-congratulation. It's not even clear whether they are Christians. "This book does not
stipulate or assume the truth of the Christian faith," they write. "It is written about
Christians, but not necessarily for them. For that reason, the vast majority of the
authorities cited are historians rather than theologians."

That fact makes this book all the more valuable. A catalogue of good deeds doesn't
establish the truth of Christianity, and the existence of evil deeds by professing Christians
doesn't refute it. (Our understanding of original sin actually predicts it.) But a book like this
shows believers and nonbelievers alike that Christians shouldn't suffer from a moral
inferiority complex. Make no mistake, the most important thing God does through us is to
use us to bring other people into the next world. But He also moves us to make this world
a brighter place while we're in the neighborhood."

bonduca

Er...I guess they're referring to John Cornwell's book, "Hitler's Pope." Has anyone here read it? You must have. It was originally begun as a project by Cornwell, a devout Catholic, in an attempt to clear the name of Pius XII, and lay to rest the rumors regarding his inaction during the Holocaust. It ended as a resounding condemnation (well, darn it).

It has some interesting information about the role Pius XII played in facilitating the adoption of the Reich Concordat, and his role in the destruction of the Catholic Center Party. At the very least, Pius XII is guilty of stepping aside and allowing the Nazi Party free reign to exterminate the Jews, while forbidding Catholic organizations from making any resistance.

Or am I oversimplifying?

Gosh I love "Focus On The (White, Christian, Right-Wing, Bigoted) Family"

RyanS2

"They don't whitewash the offenses committed by Christians
through the centuries. But they bring much-needed perspective to a series of accusations
against Christians, sufficient to warrant, if not total vindication, surely a verdict far more
favorable than the prosecution seeks."

Let's examine this central thesis.

"For the first millennium or so,
despite all the wars raging around them, Christians either resisted participation in warfare
(the first three or four centuries) or accepted it with moral conditions unfamiliar to the
warlike world of the era in which conquest needed no ethical or ideological justification.
Among Christians, force was only justified to counteract evil, and slaughtering
noncombatants was forbidden by the code of chivalry."

Let's stop right here. The Greek monk who wrote the "History of the Martyrdom of Athanasius the Persian", certainly has no time telling us about what the Christians did there. Another inscription speaking of the time period 386 CE, during the period of Maternus Cynegius, encouraged by his fanatic wife, and bishop "Saint" Marcellus with his gangs, scoured the countryside and to sack and destroy hundreds of Hellenic temples, shrines and altars. Among others they destroy the temple of Edessa, the Cabeireion of Imbros, the temple of Zeus in Apamea, the temple of Apollo in Dydima and all the temples of Palmyra. An inscription piece says this about the pillagers:

“The monks say they are making war on the temples, but their warfare is a way of pillaging what little the poor unfortunates do have, the produce of the fields and the cattle they feed.. They grab people’s land, claiming the place is sacred. They who (as they say) give honor to their gods by fasting are getting fat on the wretchedness of others.

And as for those others, the victims of such a sack, if they go to town, to a “Shephard” – he will be called that, though he may not be a good shephard precisely – and tell him, weeping, of their injustices suffered, the shephard will approve of the pillagers, and chase their victims away, saying they should count it a gain that they have not suffered worse.

If they hear of a place with something worth raping away, they immediately claim that someone is making sacrifices and committing abominations, and pay the place a visit”

Ammianus said that “No wild beasts are so hostile to man as Christian sects in general are to one another”.

I suppose if one counts for sacking temples connected to libraries, yes, they were most favorable people. Now we turn to the chivalry.

Joseph McCabe, "Rationalists Encyclopaedia"

"There is no more baseless historical myth than that of a mediaeval Age of Chivalry, yet literary men and editorial writers always refer to it as if it were as solidly established as the French Revolution. Not a single modern authority on the period (about 1100-1400), in either England, France, Germany, Italy, or Spain, recognizes such a development, and the leading works of reference which yield to religious sentiment by including a notice of it (the Encyclopaedia Britannica, the Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, and in this case even the Cambridge Mediaeval History) had to entrust the writing to romantic authors with no historical status whatever. Even Hilaire Belloc, who covers the period in the second volume of his larger History of England (4 vols., 1925), does not deign to mention the myth, and certainly describes no chivalry....

Many, indeed, describe it as, particularly in regard to sex, the worst period in the history of civilization. In the case of England the Catholic historian Lingard (History of England, 14 vols., 1823-31) is as severe as Freeman, Green, Traill's Social England, or (apart from the totally unrepresentative short chapter on chivalry) the Cambridge Mediaeval History (7 vols., 1911-32). The highest authority on France at this time, Professor Luchaire, is even more scathing in his Social France at the Time of Philip Augustus (Engl. trans. 1912) and in Lavisse's large Histoire de France (1901, vol.111). For Germany Giesebrecht (6 vols., 1874), Hauck (5 vols., 1912), Quanter (1925), Prof. J. W. Thompson (Feudal Germany, 1928), and H. A. L. Fisher (Mediaeval Empire, 2 vols., 1898) tell the same story; and the classic works of Symonds, Burckhardt, and Gregorovius give an even worse account of morals in mediaeval Italy. Special authorities (Anglade, Gautier, Méray, Nyrop, Krabbes, Rowbotham, etc.) on the troubadours, writers, and women of the so-called Age of Chivalry are agreed that the period was never surpassed, if ever equalled, in history for its licence of life and literature and the hard aggressiveness of its women (young or matrons). The recent work of D. de Rougemont (Passion and Society, 1940), claiming that the troubadours were pious mystics, is fantastic and negligible.....

The myth was started in the seventeenth century by two French genealogists and sycophants of the nobility, Vulson and Menstrier, and it owes its extraordinary success to its complete falsification of the character of the Catholic period. Undisputed as the facts are, there is not a single work, in any language, to recommend on the true character of the mediaeval knights and their wives and daughters, whose conduct in the overwhelming majority of their class was the exact opposite of what we call chivalry."

Going onward:

"The Crusades changed that for a time, and many Christians did embrace the idea of Holy
War. Yet even those came in response to Muslim invaders who had been overrunning
much of the Christian world for centuries and were driven partly by the political agendas of
secular rulers."

Secular rulers in Islamic society? Blasphemy. Got to love this stuff. Was he eating the disco biscuit when he wrote this?

"What's most significant is that the idea of Holy War didn't stick among
Christians; it went largely dormant for centuries, was resurrected for a time in European
religious wars between Christians and eventually provoked a backlash that began a
Christian movement toward tolerance in Europe and spread to the American colonies."

Umm.. no. The earliest fathers of America, (Washington, Paine, Jefferson, Madison, Adams, Franklin, etc.) all were fervantly against Christianity. The "Treaty of peace and friendship between the United States of America and the Bey and Subjects of Tripoli, of Barbary," most refer to it as simply the Treaty of Tripoli. In Article 11, it states:

"As the Government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion; as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion, or tranquillity, of Musselmen; and as the said States never have entered into any war or act of hostility against any Mehomitan nation, it is declared by the parties that no pretext arising from religious opinions shall ever produce an interruption of the harmony existing between the two countries."

The preliminary treaty began with a signing on 4 November, 1796 (the end of George Washington's last term as president). Thus, this claim holds little weight or substance.

"Looking across history, what strikes the authors isn't that Christians have fought wars, too,
but that they so frequently prevented or mitigated them."

Should I start laughing now or later?

"Did Christians justify slavery? Some did, but they didn't invent it"

Oh thank goodness. We may not have invented it is such a good argument for morality.

" — and most important, it
was primarily Christians who, for explicitly religious reasons, opposed it."

And that is.... 100% wrong. Historians Larry Hise notes in his book, “Proslavery”, that ministers 'wrote almost half of all defenses of slavery published in America.' He listed 275 men of the cloth who use the Bible to prove that white people were entitled to own black people as work animals.

Rev. Parker Pillsbury (Concord, N.H., 1883), states that, "I need not tell you that I have been compelled to excommunicate from my fellowship, MOST OF THE MINISTERS OF OUR LAND for the sin of conniving at American slavery". Rev. Pillsbury wrote this during the Civil War in his book, where he details his excommunication. Again, where do they come up with this bull?

"Finally, Christians drove the movements to abolish slavery in Europe and America,
providing the passion and persistence that — in all those places except the United States
— ended the practice peacefully."

Oh goodness, this is just hogwash.
"The
pope of the time, Pius XII, has been called a Nazi flunky, "Hitler's Pope."

This one's already been answered nicely.

"Hitler was no kind of Christian, perverse or otherwise; he was a
pagan who gleefully predicted that "through the peasantry ... we shall really be able to
destroy Christianity because there is in them a true religion rooted in nature and blood."
Virulently anti-Christian attitudes and pagan ceremonies were common among the SS (a
groom would hand his bride a dagger to conclude a wedding)."

The SS had "God is with us" on their belts, though they did model themselves after the Thugees (sp?) of India, they knew little to nothing of Hinduism, nor did they show any Hinduistic practices or beliefs. Meanwhile, Hitler constantly avows God and the Church. There's a better thread than I can possibly make on this subject, so I'll let you look there.

"There's much more to Carroll and Shiflett's book. They recount how Christians founded
universities and virtually invented hospitals that would care for anyone, regardless of social
standing. They show that Christians, though sometimes impeding science, have far more
often advanced the discipline based on their religious fascination with God's creation."

Did they mention that the Greeks and Romans were far more advanced in medical practices? Did they mention that what little the Christians had of medicine they received from Arabian and Jewish doctors, who in turn, had it from Greek physicians who visited, practiced, and were even trained there? Those are some fairly relevant facts.

"They
relate the key role Christians have played in promoting racial equality,"

Ironic, because "Southern Baptists" were created by a schism in the Church, and the "Southern Baptists" believed that God commanded racism.

"self-government"

Please, stop it. Go do some homework first.

"and respect for the environment."

Meanwhile, in reality.....

"And they don't neglect to contrast Christians with some of the
peoples whom progressive folk glorify, including many Native American tribes. The Aztecs
and many others, they remind readers, perfected unspeakable tortures and cruelties;
Roman pagans routinely slaughtered their own children if they were defective or — what
they thought much the same thing — girls."

I dunno, the Inquisition had something going when it came to tortures. At least in Rome you would receive a fair trial, in front of a judge and jury. (Did they forget whom we model our judicial system after?) Inquisitions you were guilty as charged. I've investigated the origins of human sacrifice, and they are often lacking historical, archaeological, and even common-sense data. For instance, Strabo reports Celtic sacrifices using bow and arrows, but this is somewhat unusual. There's little or no archaeological data to support Celtic use of bows and arrows. Neither are mentioned in the medieval Irish tales, and the Irish words for bow and arrow are borrowed from Latin and Norse. A lot of human sacrifice claims are somewhat flaky and even absurd.

Thus ends my critique. A whole 200 pages? "Holy Horrors" is quite a bit longer than that.

RealityCheck

Originally posted by bonduca:

I just started it today. Although I have read up on WWII history, this is a side I haven't heard much about, even in regard to the holocaust. Thats why I bought it.

No, your post sums it up nicely.

southernhybrid

Let's not forget about the year 1692 in Salem, the Xians known as Puritans, and the 20 young women and children that were executed in the name of religious superstition. Oh, I guess they weren't Xians either.

pug846

I think the e-mail makes at least some senese. I'm shocked s/he didn't claim Hitler was an atheist...And 20 people killed in Saleem? In the course of world history, that's hardly worth mentioning.

DarkDruid

Or the best, depending on who you ask. Andreas Capellanus' Treatise on Courtly Love suggests all sorts of wild things... including the idea that it was acceptable for a man to lust for two women or a woman to lust for two men.

A. Milos

You may find the following information interesting:


(Summarised from Vlasis Rassias' book "DEMOLISH THEM..",
published in Greek, Athens 2000 (2nd edition), Anichti Poli Editions, ISBN 960-7748-20-4)

(All dates "era vulgaris" = Christian Era)


314
Immediately after its full legalisation, the Christian Church attacks the
Gentiles: The Council of Ancyra denounces the worship of Goddess
Artemis.

324
Emperor Constantine declares Christianism as the only official Religion of
the Roman Empire. In Dydima, Minor Asia, he sacks the Oracle of the
God Apollo and tortures the pagan priests to death. He also evicts all the
Gentiles from Mt. Athos and destroys all the local Hellenic Temples.

326
Emperor Constantine, following the instructions of his mother Helen,
destroys the Temple of the God Asclepius in Aigeai of Cilicia and many
Temples of the Goddess Aphrodite in Jerusalem, Aphaca, Mambre,
Phoenice, Baalbek, etc.

330
Emperor Constantine steals the treasures and statues of the pagan
Temples of Greece to decorate Nova Roma (Constantinople), the new
capital of his Empire.

335
Emperor Constantine sacks many pagan Temples of Minor Asia and
Palestine and orders the execution by crucifixion of "all magicians and
soothsayers". Martyrdom of the neoplatonist philosopher Sopatrus.

341
Emperor Flavius Julius Constantius persecutes "all the soothsayers and
the Hellenists". Many Gentile Hellenes are either imprisoned or executed.

346
New large-scale persecutions against the Gentiles in Constantinople.
Banishment of the famous orator Libanius accused as... "magician".

353
An edict of Constantius orders the death penalty for all kind of worship
through sacrifices and "idols".

354
A new edict orders the closing of all the pagan Temples. Some of them
are profaned and turned into brothels or gambling rooms. Executions of
pagan priests.

354
A new edict of Constantius orders the destruction of the pagan Temples
and the execution of all "idolaters". First burning of libraries in various
cities of the Empire. The first lime factories are being organised next to
the closed pagan Temples. A major part of the holy architecture of the
Gentiles turns to lime.

357
Constantius outlaws all methods of Divination (Astrology not excluded).

359
In Skythopolis, Syria, the Christians organise the first death camps for
the torture and executions of the arrested Gentiles from all around the
Empire.

361 to 363
Religious tolerance and restoration of the pagan cults declared in
Constantinople (11th December 361) by the pagan Emperor Flavius
Claudius Julianus.

363
Assassination of Emperor Julianus (26th June).

364
Emperor Flavius Jovianus orders the burning of the Library of Antioch.

364
An Imperial edict (11th September) orders the death penalty for all
Gentiles that worship their ancestral Gods or practice Divination ("sileat
omnibus perpetuo divinandi curiositas"). Three different edicts (4th
February, 9th September, 23rd December) order the confiscation of all
properties of the pagan Temples and the death penalty for participation in
pagan rituals, even private ones.

365
An Imperial edict (17th November) forbids the Gentile officers of the army
to command Christian soldiers.

370
Emperor Valens orders a tremendous persecution of the Gentiles in all
the Eastern Empire. In Antioch, among many other Gentiles, the
ex-governor Fidustius and the priests Hilarius and Patricius are executed.
Tons of books are burnt in the squares of the cities of the Eastern
Empire. All the friends of Julianus are persecuted (Orebasius, Sallustius,
Pegasius etc.), the philosopher Simonides is burned alive and the
philosopher Maximus is decapitated.

372
Emperor Valens orders the governor of Minor Asia to exterminate all the
Hellenes and all documents of their wisdom.

373
New prohibition of all Divination methods. The term "pagan" (pagani,
villagers) is introduced by the Christians to lessen the Gentiles.

375
The Temple of God Asclepius in Epidaurus, Greece, is closed down by
the Christians.

380
On 27th February, Christianism becomes the exclusive Religion of the
Roman Empire by an edict of Emperor Flavius Theodosius, requiring that
"all the various nations which are subject to our clemency and moderation
should continue in the profession of that religion which was delivered to
the Romans by the divine Apostle Peter". The non-Christians are called
"loathsome, heretics, stupid and blind". In another edict Theodosius calls
"insane" those that do not believe to the Christian God and outlaws all
disagreements with the Church dogmas. Ambrosius, bishop of Milan,
starts destroying all the pagan Temples of his area. The Christian priests
lead the hungry mob against the Temple of Goddess Demeter in Eleusis
and try to lynch the hierophants Nestorius and Priskus. The 95 years old
hierophant Nestorius ends the Eleusinian Mysteries and announces the
predominance of mental darkness over the human race.

381
On 2nd May, Theodosius deprives of all their rights the Christians that
return back to the pagan Religion. In all the Eastern Empire the pagan
Temples and Libraries are looted or burned down. On 21st December,
Theodosius outlaws even the simple visits to the Temples of the Hellenes.
In Constantinople, the Temple of Goddess Aphrodite is turned to brothel
and the Temples of Sun and Artemis to stables.

382
"Hellelu-jah" (Glory to Yahweh) is imposed in the Christian mass.

384
Emperor Theodosius orders the Praetorian Prefect Maternus Cynegius, a
dedicated Christian, to cooperate with the local bishops and destroy the
Temples of the Gentiles in Northern Greece and Minor Asia.


385 to 388
Maternus Cynegius, encouraged by his fanatic wife, and bishop ("Saint")
Marcellus with his gangs scour the countryside and sack and destroy
hundreds of Hellenic Temples, shrines and altars. Among others they
destroy the Temple of Edessa, the Cabeireion of Imbros, the Temple of
Zeus in Apamea, the Temple of Apollo in Dydima and all the Temples of
Palmyra. Thousands of innocent Gentiles from all sides of the Empire
suffer martyrdom in the notorious death camps of Skythopolis.

386
Emperor Theodosius outlaws (16th June) the care of the sacked pagan
Temples.

388
Public talks on religious subjects are also outlawed by Theodosius. The
old orator Libanius sends his famous Epistle "Pro Templis" to Theodosius
with the hope that the few remaining Hellenic Temples will be respected
and spared.

389 to 390
All non-Christian date-methods are outlawed. Hordes of fanatic hermits
from the desert flood the cities of the Middle East and Egypt and destroy
statues, altars, Libraries and pagan Temples and lynch the Gentiles.
Theophilus, Patriarch of Alexandria, starts heavy persecutions against the
Gentiles, turns the Temple of Dionysos into a Christian church, burns
down the Mithraeum of the city, destroys the Temple of Zeus and
burlesque the pagan priests before they are killed by stoning. The
Christian mob profanes the cult images.

391
On 24th February, a new edict of Theodosius prohibits not only visits to
pagan Temples but also looking at the vandalised statues. New heavy
persecutions all around the Empire. In Alexandria, Egypt, the Gentiles,
led by the philosopher Olympius, revolt and after some street fights they
lock themselves inside the fortified Temple of God Serapis (The
Serapeion). After a violent siege, the Christians take over the building,
demolish it, burn its famous Library and profane the cult images.

392
On 8th November, the Emperor Theodosius outlaws all the non-Christian
rituals and names them "superstitions of the Gentiles" (gentilicia
superstitio). New full scale persecutions against the Gentiles. The
Mysteries of Samothrace are ended and the priests slaughtered. In
Cyprus the local bishop ("Saint") Epiphanius and "Saint" Tychon destroy
almost all the Temples of the island and exterminate thousands of
Gentiles. The local Mysteries of Goddess Aphrodite are ended.
Theodosius' edict declares: "the ones that won't obey pater Epiphanius
have no right to keep living in that island". The Gentiles revolt against the
Emperor and the Church in Petra, Aeropolis, Rafia, Gaza, Baalbek and
other cities of the Middle East.

393
The Pythian Games, the Aktia Games and the Olympic Games are
outlawed as part of the Hellenic "idolatry". The Christians sack the
Temples of Olympia.

395
Two new edicts (22nd July and 7th August) cause new persecutions
against the Gentiles. Rufinus, the eunuch Prime Minister of Emperor
Flavius Arcadius directs the hordes of the baptised Goths (led by Alaric)
to the country of the Hellenes. Encouraged by Christian monks the
barbarians sack and burn many cities (Dion, Delphi, Megara, Corinth,
Pheneos, Argos, Nemea, Lycosoura, Sparta, Messene, Phigaleia,
Olympia, etc.), slaughter or enslave innumerable Gentile Hellenes and
burn down all the Temples. Among others, they burn down the Eleusinian
Sanctuary and burn alive all its priests (including the hierophant of
Mithras Hilarius).

396
On 7th December, a new edict by Emperor Arcadius orders that
paganism be treated as high treason. Imprisonment of the few remaining
pagan priests and hierophants.

397
"Demolish them!". Emperor Flavius Arcadius orders all the still standing
pagan Temples to be demolished.

398
The Fourth Church Council of Carthage prohibits to everybody, including
to the Christian bishops, the study of the books of the Gentiles.
Porphyrius, bishop of Gaza, demolishes almost all the pagan Temples of
his city (except 9 of them that remain active).

399
With a new edict (13th July) Emperor Flavius Arcadius orders all the still
standing pagan Temples, mainly in the countryside, to be immediately
demolished.

400
Bishop Nicetas destroys the Oracle of the God Dionysus in Vesai and
baptises all the Gentiles of this area.

401
The Christian mob of Carthage lynches Gentiles and destroys Temples
and "idols". In Gaza too, the local bishop (also a.."Saint") Porphyrius
sends his followers to lynch Gentiles and to demolish the remaining 9 still
active Temples of the city. The 15th Council of Chalkedon orders all the
Christians that still keep good relations with their gentile relatives to be
excommunicated (even after their death).

405
John Chrysostom sends hordes of gray dressed monks armed with clubs
and iron bars to destroy the "idols" in all the cities of Palestine.

406
John Chrysostom collects funds from rich Christian women to financially
support the demolition of the Hellenic Temples. In Ephessus he orders
the destruction of the famous Temple of Goddess Artemis. In Salamis,
Cyprus, the "Saints" Epiphanius and Eutychius continue the
persecutions of the Gentiles and the total destruction of their Temples and sanctuaries.

407
A new edict outlaws once more all the non-Christian acts of worship.

408
The Emperor of the Western Empire Honorius and the Emperor of the
Eastern Empire Arcadius order together all the sculptures of the pagan
Temples to be either destroyed or to be taken away. Private ownership of
pagan sculpture is also outlawed. The local bishops lead new heavy
persecutions against the Gentiles and new book burning. The judges that
have pity for the Gentiles are also persecuted. "Saint" Augustine
massacres hundreds of protesting pagans in Calama, Algeria.

409
Once again, an edict orders Astrology and all methods of Divination to be
punished by death.

415
In Alexandria, Egypt, the Christian mob, urged by the bishop Cyrillus,
attacks a few days before the Judaeo-Christian Pascha (Easter) and cuts
to pieces the famous and beautiful philosopher Hypatia. The pieces of her
body, carried around by the Christian mob through the streets of
Alexandria, are finally burned together with her books in a place called
Cynaron. On 30th August, new persecutions start against all the pagan
priests of North Africa who end their lives either crucified or burned alive.

416
The inquisitor Hypatius, alias "The Sword of God", exterminates the last
Gentiles of Bithynia. In Constantinople (7th December) all non-Christian
army officers, public employees and judges are dismissed.

423
Emperor Theodosius B declares (8th June) that the Religion of the
Gentiles is nothing more than "demon worship" and orders all those who
persist in practicing it to be punished by imprisonment and torture.

429
The Temple of Goddess Athena (Parthenon) on the Acropolis of Athens is
sacked. The Athenian pagans are persecuted.

435
On 14th November, a new edict by Emperor Theodosius B orders the
death penalty for all "heretics" and Gentiles of the Empire. Only Judaism
is considered a legal non-Christian Religion.

438
Emperor Theodosius B issues an new edict (31st January) against the
Gentiles, incriminating their "idolatry" as the reason of a recent plague (!)

440 to 450
The Christians demolish all the monuments, altars and Temples of
Athens, Olympia, and other Greek cities.


448

Theodosius B orders all the non-Christian books to be burned.

450
All the Temples of Aphrodisias (City of Goddess Aphrodite) are
demolished and all its Libraries burned down. The city is renamed
Stavroupolis (City of the Cross).

451
New edict by Emperor Theodosius B (4th November) emphasises that
"idolatry" is punished by death.

457 to 491
Sporadic persecutions against the Gentiles of the Eastern Empire.
Among others, the physician Jacobus and the philosopher Gessius are
executed. Severianus, Herestios, Zosimus, Isidorus and others are
tortured and imprisoned. The proselytiser Conon and his followers
exterminate the last Gentiles of Imbros Island, Norheast Aegean Sea.
The last worshippers of Lavranius Zeus are exterminated in Cyprus.

482 to 488
The majority of the Gentiles of Minor Asia are exterminated after a
desperate revolt against the Emperor and the Church.

486
More "underground" pagan priests are discovered, arrested, burlesqued,
tortured and executed in Alexandria, Egypt.

515
Baptism becomes obligatory even for those that already say they are
Christians. The Emperor of Constantinople Anastasius orders the
massacre of the Gentiles in the Arabian city Zoara and the demolition of
the Temple of local God Theandrites.

528
Emperor Jutprada (Justinianus) outlaws the "alternative" Olympian
Games of Antioch. He also orders the execution (by fire, crucifixion,
tearing to pieces by wild beasts or cutting to pieces by iron nails) of all
who practice "sorcery, divination, magic or idolatry" and prohibits all
teachings by the Gentiles ("..the ones suffering from the blasphemous
insanity of the Hellenes").

529
Emperor Justinianus outlaws the Athenian Philosophical Academy and
has its property confiscated.

532
The inquisitor Ioannis Asiacus, a fanatic monk, leads a crusade against
the Gentiles of Minor Asia.

542
Emperor Justinianus allows the inquisitor Ioannis Asiacus to convert the
Gentiles of Phrygia, Caria and Lydia, Minor Asia. Within 35 years of this
crusade, 99 churches and 12 monasteries are built on the sites of
demolished pagan Temples.

546
Hundreds of Gentiles are put to death in Constantinople by the inquisitor
Ioannis Asiacus.

556
Emperor Justinianus orders the notorious inquisitor Amantius to go to
Antioch, to find, arrest, torture and exterminate the last Gentiles of the
city and burn all the private libraries down.

562
Mass arrests, burlesquing, tortures, imprisonments and executions of
Gentile Hellenes in Athens, Antioch, Palmyra and Constantinople.

578 to 582
The Christians torture and crucify Gentile Hellenes all around the Eastern
Empire, and exterminate the last Gentiles of Heliopolis (Baalbek).

580
The Christian inquisitors attack a secret Temple of Zeus in Antioch. The
priest commits suicide, but the rest Gentiles are arrested. All the
prisoners, the Vice Governor Anatolius included, are tortured and sent to
Constantinople to face trial. Sentenced to death they are thrown to the
lions. The wild animals being unwilling to tear them to pieces, they end
up crucified. Their dead bodies are dragged in the streets by the Christian
mob and afterwards thrown unburied in the dump.

583
New persecutions against the Gentile Hellenes by the Emperor
Mauricius.

590
In all the Eastern Empire the Christian accusers "discover" pagan
conspiracies. New storm of torture and executions.

692
The "Penthekto" Council of Constantinople prohibits the remains of
Calends, Brumalia, Anthesteria, and other pagan / Dionysian
celebrations.

804
The Gentile Hellenes of Mesa Mani (Cape Tainaron, Lakonia, Greece)
resist successfully the attempt of Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople,
to convert them to Christianity.

850 to 860
Violent conversion of the last Gentile Hellenes of Laconia by the
Armenian "Saint" Nikon

gravitybow

Matt Kaufman says:
"Is Christianity a religion of conquest? Not for the most part. For the first millennium or so, despite all the wars raging around them, Christians either resisted participation in warfare (the first three or four centuries) or accepted it with moral conditions unfamiliar to the warlike world of the era in which conquest needed no ethical or ideological justification."


Suppose I were to say that the U.S. "resisted participation" in the conquest of the moon for the first six decades of the 20th century. You would probably look at me rather strangely and say, "But the U.S. wasn't capable of going to the moon before then."

For the first few centuries of Christendom, saying they resisted participation belies the fact they were incapable of participating -- good, bad, or indifferent -- until the circumstances allowed. Then, as A. Milos clearly outlines in the post above, once Christendom becomes a reckoning force under Emperor Constantine in the fourth century (Hey, Kaufman even matches the timetable given!), they conducted themselves exactly with moral conditions quite familiar to the warlike world of the era.

The "resistance to participation" almost immediately disappears with the acquisition of ability, doesn't it?

Anunnaki

Do you know where I can get a copy of this book? Amazon and Barnes and Noble have never heard of it. Web searches only turned up exactly what you posted from the book.

BTW....
I was looking at <a href="http://www.askwhy.co.uk/awcnotes/cn5/0550Bookburning.html" target="_blank">THIS</a> and down at the bottom theres a discussion of someone called Bede. Is this the same nut that comes here to hassle us with his twisted logic?

[ January 17, 2002: Message edited by: Anunnaki ]</p>