Return of the dark side – Part 2
TimeWatch Editorial
December 12, 2015
It might surprise you to know that the Papal persecutions of the past will be repeated. Those persecutions are clearly described in the historical record. The specificity of the horrors perpetrated, the arrogance of exceptionality, the finality of the punishments meted out, continue to terrorize to this day.
Some historians seek to soften the despicable depravity of the Papal Inquisition, by attempting to alter history. Listen to what Hellen Ellerbe says:
Historians have often diminished Christian responsibility for the Inquisition by dividing the Inquisition into three separate phases: the medieval, the Spanish and the Roman. The greater secular influence of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella is thought to separate the Spanish Inquisition from the medieval. Yet, the Spanish Inquisition's most influential leader, the Dominican Tomas de Torquemada, was appointed Inquisitor General by Pope Sixtus IV. Jews were expelled from Spain, not from a profit motive (there was little money to be made in banishing a large community whose taxes were paid directly to the crown), but from the fear that Jews contaminated Christian society.50 - Hellen Ellerbe, The Dark Side of Christian History, Page 86.
What is revealing on the above paragraph is the fact that the continuing existence of the persecutions was motivated and driven by the same desire for control. In every case the violence was based upon religious prejudice and the goal was coercion of the conscience. Notice how Ms. Ellerbe continues to describe the actions of the Papacy.
The Inquisition often targeted members of other religions as severely as it did heretics. The Inquisition now lent its authority to the long-standing Christian persecution of Jews. Particularly during the Christian Holy Week of the Passion , Christians frequently rioted against Jews or refused to sell them food in hopes of starving them.46 At the beginning of the thirteenth century, Pope Innocent III required Jews to wear distinctive clothing.47 In 1391 the Archdeacon of Seville launched a "Holy War against the Jews."49 By 1492 the Inquisition in Spain had become so virulent in its persecution of Jews that it demanded either their conversion to Christianity or their expulsion. Hellen Ellerbe, The Dark Side of Christian History, Page 84.
It is by no means difficult to establish these facts of history, since there are so many detailed records available. What is little known is that these actions will be repeated. Former Roman Catholic priest Richard Bennett, in an article entitled:Systematic Murder of Believers: the Untold History of the Inquisition, on page 8 of the article, in a section entitled: Twentieth Century Inquisition in Croatia, Richard Bennett describes the actions of the Catholic Church during World War II in the State of Croatia. Ante Pavelic was the head of the state of Croatia, along with the Roman Catholic Archbishop Stepinac. These two put in place a convert-or-die policy that saw the killing of hundreds of thousands of Greek Orthodox and Jews. Listen to former Catholic Priest Richard Bennett:
“During Pavelić's four-year reign, he and Roman Catholic Prelate, Archbishop Alois Stepinac, pursued a ‘convert or die’ policy among the 900,000 Greek Orthodox Serbs, Jews, and others in Croatia. 200,000 were converted; the 700,000 who chose to die were tortured, burned, buried alive, or shot after digging their own graves.
“The mutilations were horrific, the tortures vicious, and the savagery terrible. The Catholic Church did not leave the execution of a religious war to the secular arm. She was there herself, openly ignoring precautions and bolder than she had been for a very long time. Wielding the hatchet or dagger, pulling the trigger, organizing the massacre, the Roman Catholic priests became their own instruments of the Inquisition....”20 former Catholic Priest Richard Bennett: Systematic Murder of Believers: The Untold History of the Inquisition, page 8
It is clear then, that the warning given in the book Great Controversy, on page 581 should be heeded.
God's word has given warning of the impending danger; let this be unheeded, and the Protestant world will learn what the purposes of Rome really are, only when it is too late to escape the snare. She is silently growing into power. Her doctrines are exerting their influence in legislative halls, in the churches, and in the hearts of men. She is piling up her lofty and massive structures in the secret recesses of which her former persecutions will be repeated. Stealthily and unsuspectedly she is strengthening her forces to further her own ends when the time shall come for her to strike. All that she desires is vantage ground, and this is already being given her. We shall soon see and shall feel what the purpose of the Roman element is. Whoever shall believe and obey the word of God will thereby incur reproach and persecution. {GC 581.2}
To be forewarned is to be forearmed.
Cameron A. Bowen
