medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Good day, all!
At the risk of re-igniting a fire-storm, I'd like to point
out something about the medieval inquisition that has
escaped mention, if not notice.
The inquisitors went about their task on behalf of the
eternal welfare of the souls of the people in the area
where they served. They did not possess the open-
mindedness of today's society concerning how one
was to escape eternal damnation. They did not
subscribe to the idea that "we are all on the way to
the same paradise; we merely travel by different
routes." They were convinced that there was one,
and only one, route to eternal life; and they were
also convinced that the established Roman church
of their day knew that correct path and had a duty
to keep people from straying from it. If persons
sought to entice others from that single right path,
the enticers must be disuaded. If that disuasion
involved the enticer's demise after serious attempts
at his/her correction, so be it.
This sounds barbarious to our ears. By our standards,
it is. It sounds intolerant. It was. But for the church
then, toleration of false teaching (e.g. witches) would
compare to the toleration of over-the-counter sale
of anthrax spores today, with the medieval churchman
seeing the latter practice preferable to the former.
I suspect the great majority of the list is delighted
to live in the 21st century and not the 12th or 13th.
That is all well and good; I, too, am a fan of central
heating and indoor plumbing. But it seems to me that
we may run the risk of evaluating medieval practices
by modern standards, a very natural but a rather
unfair thing to do.
As a Lutheran dogmatician, I believe that Exsurge
Domini was a mistake. However, I also can understand
why Leo X thought it was the right thing to do. Yes,
condemning a person to death for being Lutheran
does not fit well with this list, including me. But there
was a time when thoughtful people, after sober
consideration, believed it the appropriate course
of action. Wrong? Yes. Cruel and insensitive?
I doubt it very, very much.
(Yes, I know; it was the Diet at Worms, not the Pope
that banned Luther, making it fatal to be him.)
Were ALL the inquisitors nice, sincere, well-meaning
chaps? Probably not. But then, neither am I, so I
hope that is not just cause for disapprobation.
Regards to all,
Frank
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