What can we learn from the Spanish Inquisition? Sectarianism and Party Spirits

Copyright 2024 Joseph Shulam adapted from a sermon in August 1988.

Civilized men have a hard time understanding the German Nazi phenomena. Christian philosophers have a hard time coping with the fact that Germany is the land of the protestant reformation and also the birthplace of Nazi racism. But what can we do? These are the facts - Germany, the birthplace of the protestant reformation, which Martin Luther made against the Roman Catholic Church at the end of the 16th century, is also the land that proposed the "Final Solution" for the Jewish people. The World repudiated the racist doctrines of Nazi Germany and united to fight World War II with the idea that political racism is evil from the pits of Hell.  

However, in the beautiful Spanish land of the Flamenco and Bullfights, the pages of history have been stained under the shadow of the crucifix with the liquid of religious prejudices and torture that were no less evil than the scalpel of Dr. Josef Mengele'.

What this lesson will attempt to do is teach post-Holocaust Christians about the problems of Religious prejudice and self-righteousness.

The Roots of the Spanish Inquisition.

 Columbus discovered America in 1492. The same year, the King and Queen of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella, issued the infamous Edict of Expulsion, which made more than 100,00 Jews homeless. The Catholic Church in Spain forced Jews to undergo "Christian" indoctrination and to profess their faith on the point of the pain of dreadful persecution. The Inquisition was one of the most horrible experiences in Western History. 

The Catholic Church took away the Christian World's right to free thought and the freedom that Jesus gave his disciples. It put men at the head of the church, and these men were without mercy and love. They wanted to preserve and keep the "truth ." and not allow "heresy" to take over the "pure" church of our Lord.  

In Spain, the Catholic church was dominated by fear and ignorance. Priests were hungry for power and inherited the dominion over the State from the time of Charlemagne and the Holy Roman Empire. The church did not want to give up that power. It dominated the crowd by fear of heresy and torture. Jews were easy prey and a unifying factor as the scapegoat.  

The first record of Jews in Spain is from 644 AD. Charlemagne ordered Haroun El Rashid to send a learned Jew to Narbonne and open a seminary for Jews.  

During the Moorish period, the Jews in Spain enjoyed one of the great eras of Jewish history. They produced some of the most famous writings of the World and, from Spain, shaped the story of the West. Such noted people like Rabbi Eben-Shiprut, a great Bible scholar who published the definitive work on the contradictions between the New Testament and Christianity. Abraham Eben-Ezra and Maimonedes are the great commentators of the Bible. Rabbi Benjamin of Todela first wrote the travels of Rabbi Benjamin that later became the source for Servantes Don Quixote.  

When the Christians conquered Spain, the Jews were needed as a transition bridge from the rich Moorish culture and Art to the austere Christian resurrection in culture. However, when the Jews would not bend to the financial pressure and limitations that the church put on them, the church did all that was possible to force the Jews to convert, even at the pain of death. Of course, I would love for all the Jewish people to become believers in Yeshua, but can a person become a Christian by Law, by pressure, or by administrative measures? No!

Christianity is not a success. The church of Christ can grow and even take over the World. If we give every person in Israel five dollars to be baptized, we could baptize as many people as we have bills to give out. New Testament Christianity has to be right with God and Man. We can only do this if we take some measures to prevent the church from falling into a trap to the base elemental spirits of the flesh. Here, we will examine some of the sins of the flesh that have to do with these aspects of history to learn from them. 

Sectarianism and Party Spirits

Galatians 5:20,  idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, 21 envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like; of which I tell you beforehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

These are among the sins Paul mentions to warn that "those who do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."These grave sins are in the same class as idolatry and prostitution. How many of you would like to have a minister of the Gospel preaching in your congregation who has committed adultery? But, we have tolerated in the pulpits of the churches of Christ many who are divisive and sectarian with party mentality and have split churches - all under the guise of protecting the "Divine Truth" and conservatism. 

What are these sins? How can we recognize them? What shall we do to stop them? 

Sectarianism is translated in the RSV as Dissension. The Greek word is"Dixostateo" = Standing apart. In Hebrew, the concept is of cutting ourselves from the community.

What is the source of Dissension?

Spiritual pride: The Idea that We possess the whole truth. We are the source and channel of God's divine truth.  

Power Struggle: Charismatic leaders often drive their following through fear and dissent from other groups because they fear losing power.  

Insecure faith: People who cannot adjust to new ideas or cannot defend their ideas with the scriptures. 

What shall we do about this sin in ourselves?

Recognize the sin and stop the practices that accompany it. Learn to distinguish the essential "Gospel" from personal deduction and opinion. Understand the true meaning of Grace—and stop acting as if salvation is by "Christian Works." Many Christians need help understanding the Biblical concept of Grace. They believe that a person cannot be saved through "Jewish works of the Law." They think the "Christian Works of Grace" are the way to salvation. One must agree with the principles of "faith" that the church has devised or written into a creed. 

See Yeshua as a person to share with all and not as a Person to protect. Sometimes, we feel that Yeshua is helpless and needs our protection from strange characters and heretics. We forget the teaching of Yeshua that "whoever is not against me is for me!" We have several teachings in the Gospels and Acts that show us that the church's attitude in the first century was not a protective, exclusive attitude but embracing and inclusive. We have nothing to fear if we are sure that the truth is in us. 

Love those who believe in Yeshua and are honestly attempting and willing to learn. There are many people who really desire to do God's will and have deep faith in Yeshua but have just not heard about the restoration movement. When they hear about it, they will accept.

Stop crowning men as unquestionable leaders of God's people. All leaders can and are fallible. No man has all the truth or authority in the church.

The dangerous things in Christian history are not a one-time occurrence. These moments are capable of being repeated even again in our lifetime.

The churches of Christ do not have the centralized government of the Catholic church, but we are raising people who are hungry for power and who do not shrink from the use of opinionated teachings of their own to achieve their goals. We need to learn that Separatism and Party Spirits are grievous sins that might keep people away from God's heaven. We need to create safeguards against these much too often recurring phenomena in Church History.