If Christianity was a religion of love, then why were there crusades?

[Willowwww]

Read the title☹️

[XHopelessRomanticX]

To give a brief rundown, the crusades were attempts in the 11th through 13th centuries A. D. to reclaim land in the Middle East that had been conquered by Muslims. The crusades were brutal and evil. Many people were forced to “convert” to Christianity. If they refused, they were put to death. The idea of conquering a land through war and violence in the name of Christ is completely unbiblical. Many of the actions that took place in the crusades were completely antithetical to everything the Christian faith stands for.

The crusades should not be referred to as the “Christian crusades.” Most of the people involved in the crusades were not truly Christians, even though they claimed to be. Should the unbiblical actions of supposed Christians hundreds of years ago still be held against Christians today? Do you want to be held accountable for the actions of everyone who claims to represent your faith?

[Willowwww]

The Crusades were supported by Popes and religious leaders of that time, who were seen as spiritual authorities by millions of Christians. Were they all misunderstanding the Bible? If Christianity was a religion of love, how could such brutal actions be justified in its name? Also, saying 'they were not true Christians' feels like a way to avoid responsibility. How can we separate 'true' from 'false' Christians when those actions were endorsed by the official Church?"
And the Catholic church still continues. In this case, should I choose Protestantism as a denomination?

[XHopelessRomanticX]

Martin Luther, leader of the Protestant Reformation, was critical of many practices of the Catholic Church. The Crusades were fairly recent in his day. He was suspicious of the motives of the Church, thinking that many of the church leaders were warmongers, rather than fighting war out of injustices. The Catholic Church, at the time, was also practicing simony; the act of buying and selling spiritual favors (indulgences) for money. This was also something the Bible considered a sin.
Catholicism is not a bad thing nor a bad denomination, but the leaders of the church at the time, were doing bad things in the name of Christ.
How were they getting away with it? One of the ways, was that they primarily preached the Bible in Latin. Medieval peasants generally did not understand Latin; it was considered the language of the educated elite, primarily the clergy, and was not widely spoken or understood by the peasant class who lacked formal education. It’s very easy to manipulate a people for personal gain, in the name of religion, if the people are unable to read or understand the text of that religion.

[Anonymous]

Because it's not a religion of love, it's one of power. The love aspect has only been highlighted since the 1960s, as a way of recruiting people.

[strateguy632]

Wow! Very ignorant of the "core text" of Christian the new testament.
You knew you planned to lie so anon!

[ChicoFromThe305]

Cause people didn't know how to behave back then, like anything else, Christianity has evolved from some pretty twisted ways, there was even sacrifices as well from what I remember, people are to blame for the way they behaved tho, not the religion, Christianity never justified such behavior, people justified it.

[strateguy632]

1, Christianity was, n is, a religion of love.

2, if so why war? Several causes.

Due to pope. Not due to the religion. not any "religious war".

Crusade violence may have been justified but we are too long after it to know the details.

3, inversely, war also can't erase the bible of love.

[docster]

Because the crusades were perpetrated by the Roman Catholic Church (RCC), which is NOT Christian. Roman Catholicism formed between 200 and 400 A. D. and drove true Christianity underground through severe persecution. Christianity came back above ground in the 1500's during the Reformation. The RCC is to blame for the crusades, not Christianity.

[Willowwww]

So which denomination is correct for you?

[mandyfire98]

None are correct. They're all bullshit and hypocritical.

[docster]

A Bible-believing one such as The Evangelical Free Christian Church in America (EFCA) and a Baptist church associated with the American Baptist Convention (ABC).

[ClassicDropout]

I mean if you don't try to overcomplicate it, the teachings of Jesus say nothing about crusading and committing acts of violence. If you take the pretentious route then sure, lots of people that claim Christianity did terrible things. It's almost like the Bible warns us about the wicked nature of men even under the guise of religion.

[jshm2]

It never was a religion, let alone of "love".

It was a series of cults and movements. One managed to get into the halls of power and systematically eliminated all others, and wrote the "rules". Placing itself in the centre and making it's faulty premise the yardstick.

The rest is history, as they say.

[Dargil]

They wanted their land back. Most of the Middle East was Christian before Saracens invaded it.

[Anonymous]

because you have simplistic understanding of "love" which is just tolerance even for bad stuff

[Agape93]

Because it isn't a religion of love.

[LiamJHayden]

People can corrupt and misuse anything.