The not-so-evil Spanish Inquisition

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I understand where you are coming from but many twist the Inquisition into the most horrible thing in the history of the world. The OP is merely trying to put it into perspective and lowering it to merely a bad thing that happened. There have been worse things that have happened in the history of ever.

Now that doesn’t mean that the Church didn’t make a mistake (although I’ve heard pretty good arguments justifying some of the Inquisition). But I’m pretty sure the OP made tons of qualifications in the original post that have been skipped over.
 
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Thank you very much, that is what I meant with the post. I encourage everyone to please read and understand what is said, if you don’t understand, ask rather than condemn right away.
 
I was under the impression that protestants claimed
Catholics were not real Christians and that they were the real successors to early Christianity
 
I’m not falling for that rhetorical trap. I’m talking about the Church authorizing atrocities, including torture specifically authorized by a pope, burning at the stake, etc. I will not fall for the trick of trying to take the discussion off in another direction. Start another thread on that if you like.
 
At the same time, should we cast almost every nation and society on earth for being an intrinsically evil institution because they at one time approved things such as torture (whether limited or restricted), slavery, or patriarchal society? Because that’s how far some use the Inquisitions to portray the Catholic Church. Should we also hate George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson in the USA, and any and all kings and queens of history prior to some date and time? On some level, we recognize the context of the times. The Inquisitions, set in the context of the times, were more restrained and fair relative to most other authorities in the regional area.

We shouldn’t forget the absolute value, either, but does it make sense to portray the Church as some evil force in the middle ages because it wasn’t “up to snuff” by modern standards even though the system was fairer than most secular governments of the time and was a step in the right direction historically in terms of a system of conducting criminal investigations?
 
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I’m asking because it seems you are saying it is atrocious to allot torture in any way whatsoever, so I wanted to confirm that.
 
I’m asking because it seems you are saying it is atrocious to allot torture in any way whatsoever, so I wanted to confirm that.
BS. I know what you’re doing. I didn’t “just fall off the message board turnip truck.”

Again, I am specifically talking about the Church authorizing horrible atrocities at any time.
 
Well it really only has to do with me answering the other person’s post. He said that Catholics are the only ones who claim apostolic succession so they should have a higher standard. I responded by saying that protestants at the time were calling the pope the anti-Christ and presenting themselves as the true successors of Jesus and his disciples, and are therefore held to an equally high standard
 
I am not sure what you think I am trying to do but whatever floats your boat.
 
Should we also hate George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson in the USA, and any and all kings and queens of history prior to some date and time?
Different issue. They are not in apostolic succession. The credibility of our Church does not ride on them.
 
Actually, because the Ecclesiastical Courts were in fact legal systems, the events were documented well.

The British accusations about the wide use of torture and such, came from what is known by historians as the “Black Legends.” This was the anti-Catholic propaganda the English used to create anti-Catholic sentiments among the people.

Jim
 
Please don’t be so confrontational. We are not denying your claim that it was evil.
 
OH and BTW, this is not to deny that there were evils in the Spanish Inquisition, there were.

When men have absolute power, they become absolutely corrupt.

There was probably manipulation in accusations and arrests, by some who abused their power.

However, the Church as an institution did not sanction the abuses.

Jim
 
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