Was Christopher Columbus a Mass
Murderer, Serial Killer, Lascivious Plunderer, and Slaver responsible for the
deaths, rape and torture of over 3
million indigenous tribes between
1494 and 1508 in the Americas, as is claimed by so many today?
Should today be called “Indigenous peoples’ day” as the Seattle
school board has unanimously declared?
Or
is there more to the story?
It
is true that Spanish and Portuguese explorers who followed Columbus' voyage
greedily sought gold, not God, in the New World. They significantly mistreated
the indigenous peoples here, especially in South America. But should all the
blame be laid at the feet of the Genoan sailor?
Listen
to what Columbus himself wrote to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabelle of Spain on
February 15, 1493, during his return voyage: "I forbade that they [the
Indians] should be given things so worthless as pieces of broken crockery and
broken glass, and lace points . . . . I gave them a thousand good, pleasing
things which I had bought, in order that they might be fond of us, and
furthermore might become Christians and be inclined to the love and service of
Their Highnesses and of the whole Castilian nation [Spain], and try to help us
and to give us of the things which they have in abundance and which are
necessary to us."
In
1505, he finished writing his Book of Prophecies, where he laid out the
Christian motivation of his enterprise. He viewed his voyage as helping to
hasten the Second Coming. He took to heart these words of Jesus Christ:
"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a
witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come" (Matthew 24:14).
Although
a sinful man like all of us, why did he persevere for at least seven years
requesting funding for his voyage? Why did he suffer
west
into unknown waters?
He
tells us in
repeated
rejections of his proposal and even ridicule? Why did he defy death and risk
mutiny to sail his own words: "It was the Lord who put into my mind
(I could feel His hand upon me) to sail to the Indies. All who heard of my
project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me. There is no question that the
inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because He comforted me with rays of
marvelous illumination from the Holy Scriptures."
Under
Columbus' leadership, the sailors on the three ships began each day of the
voyage with a prayer: "Blessed be the light of day, / And the Holy Cross,
we say; / And the Lord of Verity / And the Holy Trinity. / Blessed be th'
immortal soul / And the Lord who keeps it whole / Blessed be the light of day /
And He who sends the night away."
Columbus
named the places he landed in a way reflective of his Christian faith. These
include the first island (in the Bahamas) "San Salvador," i.e.,
"Holy Savior." Other lands he named are "Trinidad," i.e.,
"Trinity;" "Vera Cruz," i.e., "True Cross;" "Navidad,"
i.e., Christmas.
**The
Above is excerpted from an article by Jerry Newcombe
For
more:
follow on Twitter @jefflampl
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