Reading through the linked list, I see what bellasbane correctly described as “snippets, devoid of all historical context.”
And some of this is specifically revisionist history, meaning the presentation of falsified historical data in order to bolster a modern author’s personal opinion about past events. For example, among the article’s cited references is John Cornwell’s Hitler’s Pope, which has been refuted a number of times. But as far as this article is concerned, Cornwell is a credible historian.
But let me play “devil’s advocate” for a moment and assume that everything in that article is 100% correct, and that historical context need not have any bearing on the information. What exactly does this prove?
That there are sinners within the Christian religion?
That after people get baptized they are still susceptible to the temptation to sin, and that many will exercise their gift of freewill to sin as a result?
That Christians can be hypocrites because we often fall short of the living the gospel life that we profess to believe in?
Since when did Christians ever claim anything different? As the saying goes, “Christians aren’t perfect, only saved.”
And what is the purpose of the linked article? It doesn’t really say, but it seems the idea is to suggest that Christianity is somehow detrimental to society. But to do that the article can only give examples of Christians acting contrary to the gospels, not because of them.
And what do we see when we examine society in terms of Christians who are honestly striving to act in accordance with the gospels? We see soup kitchens and hospitals. We see emergency volunteer workers in places struck by natural disasters. We see missionaries providing education and medical assistance in the poorest areas of the world. We see the various monks who labored throughout history to record and preserve classical literature. We see St. Vincent Societies helping people in need. We people like St. Katherine Drexel (whose feast day was earlier this week) who founded the first university in the United States for African Americans. We see people like Archbishop Romero who was shot and killed for speaking out against social injustice. We see people like St. Francis, St. Patrick, St. Pio of Pietrelcina, Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, and so on and so on.
Let Christianity be judged by its saints, not its sinners.
