Christianity in the founding of America is not confined to the early settlers in the 1600′s. Christopher Columbus in 1492 declared his purpose to be led by the Holy Spirit. The Word of God was his foundation he said. God sent him as a forerunner to prepare the way for those who were to possess the land. Here is a delightful essay that tells the story:
“No one should be afraid to take on any enterprise in the name of our Savior if it is right and the purpose is purely for His holy service.” (Fols. 4-6 of Book of Prophecies by Christopher Columbus)
As a young boy, Columbus trusted Christ as his Savior and discovered the Ways of God. He felt that God wanted him to explore the world and find new land and people so that Christ could be proclaimed. He became an excellent sailor and businessman and overcame many problems with God’s help, even mutiny and being bound in chains.
“All those who heard of my plan disregarded it mockingly and with laughter. . … Who would doubt that this (idea for sailing west) . . . came from the Holy Spirit . . .” In Columbus’ own writing, the “Book of Prophecies,” we have evidence that “the Bible was the principal source of inspiration for the great Columbian enterprise.” (Christopher Columbus: His Life and Discovery in the Light of His Prophecies by Kay Brigham. Libros CLIE, Spain, 1990 p. 53)
The Scripture that Columbus read and believed were the inspiration for his journey around the world. In a written statement from Columbus’ own hand, he testified that it was from reading the book of Isaiah that he discovered that the world is round. Isaiah 40:22 “It is (God) that sits upon the circle of the earth.” At a time when most believed that the earth was flat, it was the Scriptures that inspired Christopher Columbus to sail west. He wrote (from his diary, in reference to his discovery of “the New World”): “It was the Lord who put it into my mind. I could feel His hand upon me … . . there is no question the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit because He comforted me with rays of marvelous illumination from the Holy Scriptures.” (Ibid) [1]
[1] Publisher’s Blog, Guest Essay by James Rose, American Christian History Institute, achipa.com
END NOTE: Christopher Columbus Discovers America, 1492 at: http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/columbus.htm ; Eye Witness to History, 2004, offers a short summary of Columbus arriving in America.
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Christian writers via omission fail to describe the true Columbus: Columbus did not set out to liberate or to convert the native clientele solely for the benefit of the Universal Roman Catholic Church, but to enslave them and reap the financial benefits for the Church, and himself, “[W]e bestow suitable favors and special graces on those Catholic Kings and Princes… Athletes and intrepid champions of the Christian faith… To invade, search out, capture, vanquish, and subdue all Saracens and Pagans whatsoever, and other enemies of Christ whosesoever placed, and… To reduce their persons to perpetual slavery, and to apply and appropriate… Possessions, and goods, and to convert them to … their use and profit …” ~Christopher Columbus: Two Kinds of Beings: The Doctrine of Discovery And Its Implications for Yesterday and Today by Robert Francis.
Christopher Columbus, a former trader of African slaves, is best known as the ‘So-called’ discoverer of America, and in his personal log, Columbus writes that, his main purpose in seeking undiscovered worlds is, “To bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the heathens.” ~Christopher Columbus’ Book of Prophecies.
Christian explorers follow their faith as throughout their travels they remember the words of Augustine, “The first cause of slavery, then is sin. That one man should be put in bonds by another, this happens only by the judgment of God, in whose eyes it is no crime.” ~Saint Augustine, City of God.
The Christian: Christopher Columbus: Authorized to either exterminate the native clientele and replace their culture, as the natives are either killed or enslaved. The good Catholic thinking Columbus commented in this regard, that the natives “Ought to be good servants… And would easily be made Christians.”
God’s Will(?): because Columbus saw his affairs as the “Fulfillment of prophecies in Isaiah.” To any objections from the natives, Columbus responded with, “…With the help of God, we shall … Make war against you in all ways and manners that we can, and shall subject you to the yoke and obedience of the Church and of Their Highness. We shall take you and your wives, and your children, and shall make slaves of them.”
Eyewitnesses recall, “Once the Indians were in the woods, the next step was to form squadrons and pursue them, and whenever the Spaniards found them, they pitilessly slaughtered everyone like sheep… So they would cut an Indian’s hands and leave them dangling… Some Christians encounter an Indian women, and since the dog they had with them was hungry, they tore the child from the mother’s arms and flung it still living to the dog…” “After all, the Indians were only infidels.” ~Christopher Columbus, Excerpt of the Requerimiento.
Christopher, the diary of Columbus that I’ve read does’t have the language you’re referring to above… Perhaps we should look at what actually happened during this period? I don’t recall hearing about Columbus the slaughterer, or Columbus the conqueror. Even the writing style and language you’ve used above is grossly different.
But to give you the benefit of the doubt, if he had actually written those comments, it would have been values and character that are contrary to the Christian faith, for which he would have been admonished by God.