In 1545 Xavier requested that an inquisition be installed in Goa in
order to try and punish anyone who had converted to Catholicism and
later apostacized. This inquisition would be established only in 1560,
several years after his death, but it would be a terrible one. While
records were destroyed after the inquisition was formally abolished in
1812, it is thought that more than 16,000 people were brought before it.
Many of these lost their lives while many more received lesser
punishments in a time so notorious that Voltaire would write, "Goa is sadly famous for its inquisition, which is contrary to humanity as much as to commerce. The Portuguese monks deluded us into believing that the Indian populace was worshiping the Devil, while it is they who served him."
The Reformers protested against Rome’s false gospel
and the Roman Catholic Church responded by entrenching herself in her
doctrine and by beginning a great wave of persecution against
Protestants. The rift has never healed and, until Rome abandons her
unbiblical gospel of grace plus human effort, it never will.
Link (here) to the blog of Reformed protestant Tim Challies
1 comment:
Protestants who are confronted by Catholics versed in the bible are like pick-pockets who happen unwittingly chose a Navy Seal as their prey. Sadly, there are too few "Navy Seal" Catholics left in the church these days to remind the good heretic in question that as much as Luther et al wanted to rip out all "offensive" books of the bible, they weren't able to take out James 2:14 which states very clearly "faith without works is dead". To hear their mental acrobatics, straw-grasping explanations and even flat out lies to counter this passage always comes off as babbling in the end. Regarding the topic of the Inquisition, as those with eyes and a functioning brain know very well today; the biggest threat to the church comes NOT from the outside-- but rather from WITHIN it by opponents who pretend to be Catholic while doing everything in their power to dismantle it. Would that the church today had the power and palline to mount a much needed inquisition...
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