The European Mindset 1492: The Crescent or the Cross?
That's the title of chapter three of a book I have in my possession, which I purchased around the year 1994 I think. The book is written by John Eidsmoe, and is entitled Columbus and Cortez, Conquerors for Christ...
Incidentally, years ago I was given a number of tracts which my great grandfather, whom dad and I were both named after, had developed as apologetic materials for the local Christian church he had founded. While I won't delve into the content of these tracts generally, there was one in particular which I found then to be quite interesting, and quite illuminating. This particular tract (and if I can locate a copy of it I will add the contents to this post) dealt with the discovery of the New World by Columbus, up through the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. In other words, it recognized the hand of Providence in America's founding, tracing back in the chain of events, Columbus's discovery of the New World, and beyond. This used to be a common theme in educational circles, The Chain of Christianity Moving Westward.
The reason I mention this tract is because at the time I was given a copy by one of my relatives, the tract itself had already been removed from the body of tracts offered by the church in question to its members, and its visitors. In fact, I was in my early twenties when I first realized that such a tract existed, authored by my Great Grandfather, and I was raised in this church. So, if the tract was offered while I grew up in the church, I never knew anything of it. I suspect it was not.
And here is the point of this post. Like the church I was raised in, the national memory of the actual historical events which surrounded Columbus's discovery of a route to the West Indies has been all but erased. And this is a sad, as well as a dangerous fact. In Eidsmoe's book, chapter three, he lays out the threat that Christian nations were facing at the time of Columbus's voyage, the threat of Islam. Most traditionalists are knowledgable of this imminent danger, I'm sure, but I would still like to post excerpts from chapter three of the book below this initial entry later on...
Update:
I note that in the second paragraph, I make the statement that "this used to be a common theme in educational circles..." I'm mindful that this may be somewhat confusing for some of you, given that it is written in the context of a religious tract formerly offered by the church of my youth, especially those of you who are unfamiliar with my understanding of what an "educational institution" is. Therefore, I want to clarify the meaning of this statement by defining educational institutions as I mean it.
By educational institutions, I understand that there are three primary institutions tasked with educating, or sharing knowledge, with those under their care or supervision, the home, the church, and the formal schools. By this understanding of education, and the institutions tasked with providing it, one is more equipped to determine, for instance, what has gone wrong (or right) with one or the other group of people, whether you divide them as states, or local communities, or by race, or whatever. An example of this would be something like what is the cause of the disparity between group A's high divorce rate, and group B's comparative low divorce rate. If you look at the three primary educational institutions from whence both groups invariably, and to one degree or the other, derive the bulk of their educations, you will find, again invariably, that in the case of the one, one or more aspects of his/her education has a more positive/negative influence than it/they do for his counterpart. If the three primary educational institutions all tend to agree in some particular, or in some general way for one group, as opposed to, on the other hand, a noticable disagreement between them for the other group, then this serves to explain many of the differences that we see between the two groups. Also, this will account for certain trends that we notice where the gap between the two groups seems to be closing in favor of group A's or group B's philosophy. This is what I mean in paragraph two by "educational circles." There are three of them, and they're always in operation whether, for instance, one attends church on a regular basis or not, and etc.
The excerpts I promised are coming, but there's a further delay which I won't get into here. My apologies.
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