Columbus called himself an "instrument" in the hands of God. He was spiritual enough to realize the Lord was using him for a divine purpose. Many who denigrate the legacy of Columbus fail to realize that the Lord uses imperfect men and women to accomplish his purposes because imperfect humans are the only type of humans he has to work with.
Richard WinmillOctober 12, 2020
HAPPY INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY! It is certainly possible for someone who has been selected for a mission from God to be found with feet of clay. Saul, David and Solomon come to mind. I do not doubt that Columbus was such a man. It is not necessary to only venerate or only vilify Columbus. It is better to understand and deal with the foibles of people rather than ignore them as inconvenient to our cultural views. Foibles of people often develop in the extremities and often revolve around money.
It was in fact, the "Columbian Exchange" not Columbus himself that scattered and killed the indigenous people of the Americas. The estimates of the pre-contact AmerIndian population are as high as 60 million in 1492. . In any case, the native population declined to less than six million by 1650. The cause? "Guns, Germs and Steel " in the words of Jared Diamond.
https://www.history.com/.../exploration/christopher-columbus
https://www.history.com/news/columbus-day-controversy
It is a known fact that "Columbus’s governance of Hispaniola could be brutal and tyrannical. Native islanders who didn’t collect enough gold could have their hands cut off, and rebel Spanish colonists were executed at the gallows. Colonists complained to the monarchy about mismanagement, and a royal commissioner dispatched to Hispaniola arrested Columbus in August 1500 and brought him back to Spain in chains. Although Columbus was stripped of his governorship, King Ferdinand not only granted the explorer his freedom but subsidized a fourth voyage." It is also worth note that Columbus' four voyages took him to the Caribean island, South America, and only as far North as the Yucatan in Mexico, but never close to the contiguous United States. The promised land must therefore be the America's and not just America.
DanielaOctober 12, 2020
Great article! Being born and raised in Italy I prefer to call him by his Italian name, Cristoforo Colombo, rather than Cristobal Colon, which apparently was its Spanish version.
Who would ever thought that today this would be such a controversial topic!
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Gale PhillipsOctober 12, 2020
Columbus called himself an "instrument" in the hands of God. He was spiritual enough to realize the Lord was using him for a divine purpose. Many who denigrate the legacy of Columbus fail to realize that the Lord uses imperfect men and women to accomplish his purposes because imperfect humans are the only type of humans he has to work with.
Richard WinmillOctober 12, 2020
HAPPY INDIGENOUS PEOPLES DAY! It is certainly possible for someone who has been selected for a mission from God to be found with feet of clay. Saul, David and Solomon come to mind. I do not doubt that Columbus was such a man. It is not necessary to only venerate or only vilify Columbus. It is better to understand and deal with the foibles of people rather than ignore them as inconvenient to our cultural views. Foibles of people often develop in the extremities and often revolve around money. It was in fact, the "Columbian Exchange" not Columbus himself that scattered and killed the indigenous people of the Americas. The estimates of the pre-contact AmerIndian population are as high as 60 million in 1492. . In any case, the native population declined to less than six million by 1650. The cause? "Guns, Germs and Steel " in the words of Jared Diamond. https://www.history.com/.../exploration/christopher-columbus https://www.history.com/news/columbus-day-controversy It is a known fact that "Columbus’s governance of Hispaniola could be brutal and tyrannical. Native islanders who didn’t collect enough gold could have their hands cut off, and rebel Spanish colonists were executed at the gallows. Colonists complained to the monarchy about mismanagement, and a royal commissioner dispatched to Hispaniola arrested Columbus in August 1500 and brought him back to Spain in chains. Although Columbus was stripped of his governorship, King Ferdinand not only granted the explorer his freedom but subsidized a fourth voyage." It is also worth note that Columbus' four voyages took him to the Caribean island, South America, and only as far North as the Yucatan in Mexico, but never close to the contiguous United States. The promised land must therefore be the America's and not just America.
DanielaOctober 12, 2020
Great article! Being born and raised in Italy I prefer to call him by his Italian name, Cristoforo Colombo, rather than Cristobal Colon, which apparently was its Spanish version. Who would ever thought that today this would be such a controversial topic!
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