Rev. David Holwick Illustrations #615, 1790, 2330
First Baptist Church
Ledgewood, New Jersey
October 11, 1992
Isaiah 60:9
THE VOYAGE OF THE CHRIST-BEARER
I. The many faces of Christopher Columbus.
A. "Discoverer" of the Americas.
1) Most know "in 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue."
2) His claim to "discovery" is widely challenged:
Comedian Dick Gregory:
"If Columbus could discover a country that was already
occupied, I can go into the parking lot and discover your
car - with you in it." #2330
3) Tried to prove world was round? (Educated people knew.)
B. Motivated by glory and greed.
1) Sought huge profit of direct route to spices and gold of Asia.
2) Yet so domineering, his crews mutinied, and then his colonies.
C. Few realize he was a man of intense faith.
1) Scholars have studied this aspect only in last 40 years.
II. Christopher Columbus as devout Christian.
A. Religion was the center of his life.
1) In 1501 Columbus wrote:
"I am only a most unworthy sinner, but ever since I have
cried out for grace and mercy from the Lord, they have
covered me completely."
2) His son Ferdinand said Columbus was so strict in matters of
religion people might think he was a monk.
a) Whenever he faced trouble, he made vows to God.
b) At least three times he had visions of God speaking to him.
3) His very name means "Christ-bearer", after a legendary man
who carried Jesus on his back across a river.
B. He saw his journeys to the Americas as missions from God.
1) Columbus felt that Almighty God had directly brought about
his journey:
"With a hand that could be felt, the Lord opened my mind to
the fact that it would be possible ... and he opened my
will to desire to accomplish that project....
The Lord purposed that there should be something miraculous
in this matter of the voyage to the Indies."
2) He saw the Americas as the "new heaven and new earth" and
thought his discovery laid the way for the end of the world.
a) In his "Book of Prophecies" he argues from Isaiah 60:9
and other verses that his voyage was destined by God.
b) "Who can doubt that this fire was not merely mine, but
also the Holy Spirit who encouraged me with a radiance
of marvelous illumination from his sacred Scripture,
... urging me to press forward?"
c) Columbus even used the Bible to plot his course.
[1992 National Geographic?]
C. Motivated by a desire to evangelize Asia.
1) Recent student who wrote this on an essay was marked wrong.
2) But Columbus himself wrote:
"It was the Lord who put it into my mind to sail from here
to the Indies.
The fact that the Gospel must be preached to so many lands
in so short a time, this is what convinces me." #615
3) Columbus wanted to personally witness to the Great Khan of
China about Jesus.
D. He dreamed of using his profits to reconquer the Holy Land.
1) It bothered him that Moslems controlled the Holy Land.
2) He wanted gold to fund a new crusade to liberate it, just as
Spain had liberated itself from the Moslems.
3) This was not a sidelight, but a central concern of his life.
III. Columbus as a man of great faults.
A. His greed and arrogance.
1) So ambitious, some scholars have doubted his religion.
a) He constantly sought honor and attention.
b) He jealousy guarded his personal fortune.
2) Rigid abuse of crews and colonists led to several mutinies.
a) On his final voyage he was sent back to Spain in chains.
B. Slavery and slaughter of Indians.
1) Columbus was the first to enslave the Indians.
a) When he landed, there were 400,000 Taino Indians.
40 years later, there were 0.
b) About 70% of all Indians (up to 35 million) were killed
by disease or bloodshed in 150 years.
2) The brutality of the Spaniards caused many Indians to reject
Christian beliefs, a trend that continues to today.
When a Caribbean Indian chief named Hatuey was burned at the
stake, a Catholic monk warned him of the torments of hell
if he did not convert to Christianity.
Hatuey asked, "Do Christians go to heaven?"
"Yes," replied the monk.
"Then I don't wish to go there, but rather to hell so as not
to be where Spaniards are, nor to see such cruel people."
#2330
3) William Rogers, early Baptist, was one of few bright spots.
a) Learned language and religion of Indians.
b) Believed America belonged to them, not King of England.
IV. What we can learn from Columbus.
A. One person can make a difference.
1) Our age has belittled the individual. We are all cogs.
2) Yet one man - Columbus - opened up a new age.
3) We too can make a difference.
B. Columbus attempted great things, against great odds.
1) He took hold of a great idea and wouldn't let it go.
a) Columbus' life was centered on a vision.
b) If we don't have a destination, we'll never get there.
2) Columbus had to persevere to succeed.
a) Convincing Ferdinand and Isabella took years.
1> Most experts ridiculed his ideas.
2> On first voyage, all three crews mutinied. He calmly
asked for a few more days. Land was sighted.
b) Anything worth having will take energy and risk.
C. Even Christians have flaws.
1) Genuine faith can coexist with sinful nature.
a) Our motives and desires are ALWAYS impure.
2) Do we have faults we are blind to?
3) Those who see them may turn from gospel.
*********************** NOTES *************************
I. Christian History, Issue 35 (XI:3), August 1992. (Main theme)
"What Happened When Columbus & Christianity Collided with the
Americas?"
