Christopher Columbus Attacked
Addressing The Accusations Made Against Him, Then and Today
When examining the lives of those whom God had used to lay the foundation of this nation, we must remember, the Bible is clear, “All have sinned and is short of the Glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) No matter who God has used in the raising up of the United States of America, there is a sad truth, there are character traits which people had not surrendered over to the Lordship of Christ. It is no different in the life of Christopher Columbus. Understanding that a child of God may have faults and weaknesses, does not mean we disregard all their work for the Lord, nor do we allow the enemies of God to miss-lead others, even if they have misread what our founding Fathers have written.
In a letter written to Ferdinand and Isabela around 1500 by Columbus, we read a prophetic sentence which even affects today’s culture. Christopher wrote, “I have now reached that point, that there is no man so vile but thinks it is his right to insult me. The day will come when the world will reckon it a virtue to him who not given his consent to their abuse.” (Christopher Columbus, “Letter of the Admiral to the (quondam) nurse of the Prince John, written near the end of the year 1500,” Select Letters of Christopher Columbus (London: Hakluyt Society, 1870), p.153-154.) Meaning, there are people who consider it their duty to bring into question the value of Christopher’s work, even if it means discrediting his character through false accusations.
The legacy of Columbus finds itself being attacked every Columbus Day where supposed experts, who disregard facts and truth’s, bring up old allegations and present them as new revelations to breed distrust in Christopher’s call, mission and success. The most common one being brought up is sex trafficking of native women, even girls as young as nine to ten years old. Well known sources like Wikipedia, Snopes and The Huffington Post make claims of Christopher Columbus selling native girls into sex slavery. One source claimed, “[Columbus] makes a modern villain like Saddam Hussein look like a pale codfish.” (History of Sexual Slavery in the United States, Wikipedia (accessed October 8, 2018), at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_sexual_slavery_in_the_United_States; Did Christopher Columbus Seize, Sell, and Export Sex Slaves?” Snopes (accessed October 8, 2018), at: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/columbus-sex-slaves/; Eric Kasum, “Columbus Day? True Legacy: Cruelty and Slavery,” Huffington Post (October 10, 2010), at: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-kasum/columbus-day-a-bad-idea_b_742708.html)
Sources like the three mentioned base their claim and charges against Christopher Columbus on a sentence he wrote which they quote out of context, then push their misreading as fact. Miss-understanding sources quote Columbus as condoning and participating in sex slavery. They quote Christopher, “For one woman they give a hundred Castellanos, as for a farm; and this sort of trading is very common, and there are already great number of merchants who go in search of girls; there are at this moment from [the age] of nine [through] ten on sale; they fetch a good price, let their age be what it will.” (Eric Kasum, “Columbus Day? True Legacy: Cruelty and Slavery,” Huffington Post (October 10, 2010), at: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-kasum/columbus-day-a-bad-idea_b_742708.html)
The fact is, when we continue to read the rest of the paragraph Christopher wrote we read that in no way he was saying this was a good thing. According to an article found on Wall-builders, America’s history, in the letter being quoted out of context, Christopher has a list of atrocities mankind was committing. At the close of the paragraph Columbus wrote with a broken heart, “I declare solemnly that a great number of men have been to the Indies, who did not deserve baptism in the eyes of God or men..” (Christopher Columbus, “Letter of the Admiral to the (quondam) nurse of the Prince John, written near the end of the year 1500,” Select Letters of Christopher Columbus (London: Hakluyt Society, 1870), p.165.; https://wallbuilders.com/columbus-and-sex-slavery/). Contemporary historian Carol Delaney noted, “many of Columbus writings indicate that Christopher strictly told the crew with him not to harm or disrespect the natives. When bad things were done to the natives, Columbus was quick to punish those under his command who committed unjust acts against the local population.” (The Right Scoop, Why Did Christopher Columbus “Sail the Ocean Blue” in 1942? It’s Not What You Think!)
The rewrite of America’s history is a common attack today. Knowing that people will not, nor do they have the resources to check accusations out, God enemies go unchecked and they boldly tear at the truths found in the writings of our founding fathers. People walking on the side of attacking and misrepresenting historical writings try to shame those who hold to traditional truths.
In this case of the accusation made against Christopher Columbus, the King and Queen investigated the allegations, they listened to Columbus’ defense. When the investigation was complete, the allegations were proved not creditable and false, thus all charges against Columbus were dropped and Christopher Columbus was restored. (https://wallbuilders.com/columbus-and-sex-slavery/)
We are called to be a people of noble Godly character, make time to check out what is being taught before you believe accusations which attack the servants of the Lord, especially if those attacks come from a worldly view point. As soon as the Sovereigns of Columbus’ time heard the allegations against Christopher, they intervened. Christians know and have heard of the attacks of Christopher Columbus’ work, it would wise for the Church to do her job, get the truth out and defend what the Lord did in the life of and trough Christopher Columbus.
Romans 13:7 says, “we are to give honor to [all who] is owed honor.” What will the churches do for Christopher Columbus? The Holy Spirit call is to love truth and make sure the whole truth is made known, so those being led astray may have the opportunity to make the right judgement. The question is, will the church intervene and intercede in defense of the Lord’s work through Christopher Columbus. Will they publicly address the issue or be like Adam and the poor priest, Eli?
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