What about the Crusades?
When looking at Islamist attacks in our day, some people compare these to the Crusades – a series of conflicts against Muslim-controlled lands during the tenth to fifteenth centuries. Do these medieval conflicts prove that Christianity is violent, or more violent than Islam?
Back to the start...
coming soon Are the Crusades (1095-1492) a good place to start when evaluating the origins of 'religious violence'? »
Muhammad practiced violent conquest.
coming soon The Qur'an did not simply describe violence; its sole revelator, Muhammad, often engaged in violent conflict. »
Jihad was seen as more than a temporary, spiritual struggle.
coming soon Contrary to popular claims today, Muhammad authorised Jihad as a violent struggle which would persist long after his death. »
Islam has always advanced by military means.
coming soon As the Qur'an shows, war was always presumed to be part of the way Islam would expand. »
By contrast, it was 1000 years before Christian leaders were sanctioning religious wars.
coming soon In preceding centuries, few Christians saw their faith as something to be advanced militarily. »
The Crusades were largely a response to Muslim agression
coming soon Rather that something that Christ commanded his people, the Crusades were a political response to the growing aggression Muslim armies »
The Crusades were a late, unpredictable departure from Jesus' teachings.
coming soon Extending over several centuries, the Crusading era was shaped by many different motives, combatants and objectives, and not all were religiously motivated. »
The Crusades were not commanded by Jesus
coming soon The Crusades were a blatant misunderstanding of everything that Christ taught and commanded his followers in the New Testament »
Jihad began with Muhammad, and was sanctioned in the Qur'an.
coming soon The recurring theme of Jihad today is the allegiance of its fighters to Muhammad and his sunnah. »
Jesus is the 'prince of peace'.
coming soon The Bible announces Jesus the Messiah as 'the prince of peace' (Isaiah 9:6), with good reason. »