Quodlibeta

While waiting for the baby to get to sleep last night, I stumbled upon this paper by Kyle Gerkin which is part of a refutation of Lee Strobel's The Case for Faith. By chance I received an email from an atheist ranting on, by his own admission, in a similar vain about the crimes of Christianity. I would like to write something substantial to show that Christianity has been a vastly good thing despite its very real misdemeanors. My correspondent didn't want to enter into a debate.

So what are the great myths of Christian history. Here's a top ten with links to refutations where possible):

1. Christianity has opposed the rise of science (refuted).
2. The Crusades were uniquely destructive religious wars (refuted).
3. Christianity caused the Dark Ages (refuted).
4. The inquisition killed hundreds of thousands (refuted).
5. Millions of witches were executed (refuted).
6. Hitler was a Christian (refuted).
7. Jesus never existed (refuted).
8. Jesus married Mary Magdalene (refuted).
9. Christians destroyed most ancient literature (refuted) and the Library of Alexandria (refuted).
10. Christianity is supportive of slavery (refuted).

And on the other side? There is no doubt that Christianity has a history of anti-Semitism. Likewise, Christians have been too quick to accept normal standards of women's rights. Both the inquisition and witch trials are certainly wrong even if they are historically explicable and not as bad as often claimed. But in the end, the enormous force for good Christianity has been for two thousand years cannot be denied by anyone familiar with the real history.

Comments or questions? Post them at Bede's dedicated yahoo group.