Although the two highest commandments in Christianity are to love God and "love your neighbor as yourself," some institutions and individuals have acted violently and attempted to justify themselves through Christian writings. The relationship between Christianity and violence is a subject of controversy because some have used or interpreted its teachings to justify violence, while others maintain that it only promotes peace, love, and compassion. Heitman and Hagan identify the Inquisition, Crusades, Wars of Religion and antisemitism as being "among the most notorious examples of Christian violence". To this list, J. Denny Weaver adds, "warrior popes, support for capital punishment, corporal punishment under the guise of 'spare the rod and spoil the child, ' justifications of slavery, world-wide colonialism in the name of conversion to Christianity, the systemic violence of women subjected to men." Christian violence includes "forms of systemic violence such as poverty, racism, and sexism." Miroslav Volf says that Christianity is intrinsically nonviolent, but has suffered from a "confusion of loyalties". He proposes that "rather than the character of the Christian faith itself, a better explanation of why Christian churches are either impotent in the face of violent conflicts or actively participate in them derives from the proclivities of its adherents which are at odds with the character of the Christian faith." He states that "(although) explicitly giving ultimate allegiance to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, many Christians in fact seem to have an overriding commitment to their respective cultures and ethnic groups." This book discusses the history of violence in Christianity. The purpose of this series of books on religion, mythology and theology is designed to emphasize our common humanity and spirituality and eliminate the divisiveness that exists within the ongoing religious struggles. This book is designed to be a state of the art, academic reference work and provides an overview of the topic and gives the reader a structured knowledge of the topic at the most affordable price possible. The accuracy and knowledge is of an international viewpoint. The edited articles represent the inputs of many knowledgeable individuals and the most current knowledge on the topic, based on the date of publication.
About the Author: The editor has been studying theology, theosophy, hermeneutics, eschatology, comparative religions and has traveled extensively around the world studying world religions, cultural mythology and cultural anthropology. He has degrees from the University of Michigan and has worked in the corridors of power in Washington, DC and has informally studied the influence of belief systems on politics. The purpose of this series of books on religion, mythology and theology is designed to emphasize our common humanity and spirituality and eliminate the divisiveness that exists within the organized religions. This book is designed to be a state of the art, academic reference work and provides an overview of the topic and gives the reader a structured knowledge of the topic at the most affordable price possible. The accuracy and knowledge is of an international viewpoint. The edited articles represent the inputs of many knowledgeable individuals and the most current knowledge on the topic, based on the date of publication.