:)

Personal Change Diary 5 - world events
result in changes, reflecting sanctification,
within the Church itself.

:)

Personal Change Diary 5 paul nipperess 22082006

Change, when related to historical
events and theology may well reflect
sanctification in the church as a whole,
rather than considering the Holy
Spirit’s Work, as only targeting
individuals, like us ...???

Monumental changes in political and
religious attitudes, gradually became
apparent through the eighth-to-thirteenth
centuries, as church officials sought to
gain more influence over the people.

Through the mass hysteria of the
Christian Crusades, the influence of
the Christian Church was strengthened,
with the Popes and their legion
of fanatical, religious zealots.

While, Peter the Hermit may be credited
with the idea of saving God’s interests
in Palestine by way of support from
Christian pilgrims and soldiers, it was
religious and social leaders , like Pope
Urban II and Robert Guiscard, that
motivated the masses in Europe for the
First Crusade.

In contrast to the First Crusade, the
Second Crusade met with a series of
defeats, which also brought its most
prominent promoter, Bernard of Clairveaux
(a Cistercian monk) into disrepute,
especially in his own country.

One particular change brought about by
St Bernard was his guidance for The
Knights Templar to live both chivalrous
and monastic lives ... this was the
first time, that Christian soldiers
would live as clergy !~!

By the end of the thirteenth century,
there had been no less than 10 crusades,
in the name of Christianity, that had
varying degrees of success in military
terms, yet many of them resulted in
profound changes in how the religious
leaders of the day dealt with the
people, at all levels.

An estimated 2 million Christians were
slaughtered during the Crusades, which
failed to secure Palestine anyway, so
the price paid was very high.

But, as a result of the violent
Christian Crusades, the seeds for
further change were sown, as the
subsequent age of Reformation came
to hand.

So out of the horrors and evils of the
Crusades came the happiness and God’s
Grace, afforded by another new age, in
His Plan for the changed world.