Thanks for the reviews, all but two where positive. It encouraged me to continue this and I will try to keep it free of condemnation as you said that was one of its best qualities.
On with the story!
"Robin."
Robin looked up from his computer. Megan was at the door with a questioning face.
"Come in Megan, I always have time to talk to you."
She walked in and took a seat. After a bit she began "I was watching a program on the history program. It was concerning some events known as the Crusades. It said that the Christian church authorized them. I was confused; you told me that Christianity was all about peace and Kindness, not war and greed. Kid Flash saw me watching and said that it was all the church's fault and he made fun of Christianity. I am greatly confused as to how you could condone that type of behavior."
Robin sighed as he got a drink of water.
"Well Megan, you've stumbled on an argument people frequently bring up to try and discredit Christianity. They say that how could such a religion that supposedly should be about peace and love be so violent and brutal. Thus they turn away, not understanding the truth."
"And what is the truth?"
"The truth is that many people expect Christians to be perfect and call us hypocrites when we make mistakes. But we don't expect ourselves to be perfect. Many times in history, people have used Christianity as the scapegoat for an evil act. To fully explain the crusades I shall have to explain the Catholic Church."
Megan nodded.
"The Catholic Church was the first large and interconnected Christian church. Like many things it started out well but became decayed over time. In many ways it became like the Jews of Jesus' day who only took positions as Pharisees and other such for the power it gave. The problem that grew was that those in power began saying that they had more and more power. Eventually their leader, the Pope, was said to be able to forgive sins, he was more like a king than anything else. The amount of power he wielded was staggering but that was not how Jesus meant it to be. The system was corrupt; it ruled by fear of Hell and was more about power than what it should've been, saving peoples souls. I don't mean that all of the Catholics where not true Christians, undoubtedly there were and are still great Christians who are Catholics."
Megan nodded "so the Pope ordered the Crusades?"
"Yes, the excuse was that it was a campaign to retake the Holy Land of Israel. Israel had long since been under the occupation of a new religion, Islam. While the excuse was retaking the land in the name of God the real motive was power and the greed of plundering the Holy Land. You see, the "true" Christian's were not the one's who ordered the Crusades, the ones who did where the power-hungry pretenders."
Megan nodded; she was interest in the story. Then she asked "you talk as if someone stood up to the Church, what happened?"
Robin nodded "someone did. The problem came to a head when a person in the Catholic church began basically selling repentance to raise money for the Church."
"Selling repentance?"
"Yes, he called it "Indulgences" and it was basically a free pass allowing the buyer to sin. Basically excusing them from sinning. A German priest named Martin Luther heard about this and was extremely offended. See, he knew that forgiveness was a free gift from God, not something to be bought from the Church. He complained to the man selling the Indulgences, he even took it to the Pope himself but the Pope refused. Thus, over a few years his writings of criticism attracted the attention of the Church, even the Pope demanded that he retract his writings. But he did a very brave thing and refused."
"Why was it so brave?"
"Like I said before, the Catholic Church wielded enormous power at that time. It's leader the Pope was more like a King than anything else. They could do several things, one of the most well know was excommunication, which was to cut someone off from the Church, basically disavow any connection to them. It could be done individually or en masse. As most people thought that they needed the Church for Salvation this was a greatly feared weapon."
"So he got Excomunicated?"
"Yes, when he refused, the Pope probably saw it as either a challenge or a threat to his authority. So he excommunicated him. But instead of backing down and groveling to try and get back into the Church, Luther continued with his works and many people followed him. Those who came to view his ideals as right called themselves Lutherans after him."
Megan now looked thoughtful as she thought about how it must've been like back in medieval times.
"So are you saying that the Lutheran's where right and the Catholics where wrong?"
"Not necessarily, both groups have problems. Luther was probably inspired by Jesus with the strength to defy the seemingly unstoppable power of the Catholic Church but he had faults too. For example, I think later in his life he expressed Anti-Semitic notions, that is racism against Jews. See, even Luther wasn't perfect. I am not saying that Lutherans and Catholics can't be Christians, just that there are problems when you try to set up a Christian system based on control rather than love and kindness. My belief is that many times Christian's are led partially astray and set up denominations when they perceive that they are wronged when not many others follow them. Many of these denominations can have real Christian's in them despite some differing views. We all should stop focusing on the walls we try to put up between ourselves and focus on the thing we all have in common, our love of the lord Jesus Christ."
Megan nodded, it was interesting how she'd come in just wanting to hear about the Crusades and had heard so much more. She'd be sure to ask Robin about it some more some other time. For now, all she wanted to do was think on what she'd heard.
"Thanks for the help Robin, if you don't mind, I'd like to think about this a bit."
"Sure, go ahead, and if you ever have any more questions, feel free to ask me."
Megan smiled and left the room to think about the new information she'd received.
I sincerely hope I haven't offended any of my readers with this chapter. I don't pretend to be an expert on Luther's life, I'm just telling what my parents have told me and what I feel I can divine on my own.
If someone thinks that I am saying that if you're Catholic, you aren't Christian, you're dead wrong. All I am criticizing is the system that the Catholic system uses and some of the teachings.
I hate it when people expect Christian's to be perfect when practically everyone agrees, nobody's perfect.
I hope you like this chapter. Tell me if it is bad and I will try to improve it and repost it one the next chapter. If it was bad, please tell me where I went wrong.
If you want me to continue, review me please. I want to know if I am a good (dare I say it) teacher. All I'm really trying to do is three things, state fact, opinion, and help the Christians who read on this site.
Good Day and God Bless :)
Sincerely, LordGodsServant