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Stark, Rodney. God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades. 1st ed. New York: HarperOne, 2009. 276 pp $11.05.
God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades by Rodney Stark, will cause readers to question much of what they know about the Crusades, the Crusaders themselves, and the formidable Muslim forces they encountered along the way in liberation of the Holy Land. Stark gives compelling reasons for the Crusades, and argues that readers should not be too quick in following the lead of historians who cast the Crusaders in less than positive light. Stark makes his case supported by evidence that vindicates the valiant struggles of the Crusaders who accomplished the task of keeping Christianity alive through troubled times.
Summary
Stark believes the Crusades occupy a valuable place in Christian history. He also recognizes that most historians would not agree with his findings. His goal is to examine the motives of the Crusaders and thereby defend their mission to recapture the city of Jerusalem. Most historians portray the Crusaders as barbaric, greedy for material gain, and on the prowl to convert souls. Stark claims misunderstandings like this have been around for three hundred years. Stark spells out the common misconception: “During the Crusades an expansionist, imperialistic Christendom brutalized, looted and colonized a tolerant and peaceful Islam” (8). Stark lays the blame for the Crusades at the feet of the Muslim community. Islamic colonization began in the seventh century and swept over Christian communities in “the Middle East, Egypt and all of North Africa, and then Spain and southern Italy, and many major Mediterranean islands including Sicily, Corsica, Cyprus, Rhodes, Crete, Malta, and Sardinia” (9).
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...nt in his research for the book, he becomes a believer in Christ.
Conclusion
God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades by Rodney Stark is well written and extremely interesting. His work is easy to read, yet scholarly in its approach to the Crusades. Every pastor should add this book to his library! In general, the book would be a valuable resource to any Christian who wants to better understand the historical struggle of faith during this important era of history. God’s Battalions is well researched, and contains a critical response to anyone who thinks the Crusades or Crusaders were greedy, anti-Jesus, or barbaric. The Crusades were necessary to defend the Christian faith from Islamic forces bent on making the world its footstool. This book is an essential tool and a reliable resource for understanding the present struggle between Christianity and Islam.
August. C. Krey, The First Crusade: The Accounts of Eyewitnesses and Participants, (Princeton: 1921), 42-43
For instance, the city was sacked by the Romans in 70 AD, which destroyed most of the city's important religious artifacts. Later, the city was completely destroyed and covered in 135 AD by the Roman Emperor Hadrian. Rubenstein delves deeply into the background of the crusade, as many of the events and ideologies that inspired it are critical to understanding its reasoning and justifications. This sets Rubenstein apart from the Madden textbook, which begins at the council at Claremont and does not provide essential background information. Rubenstein's book serves as an excellent introduction to the history of the Crusades.
The Crusades were a number of military expeditions by Europeans of the Christian faith attempting to recover the Holy Land, Jerusalem, which was then controlled by the powerful Muslim Empire. In his book People of The First Crusade, Michael Foss an independent historian tells the story of the first Crusade in vivid detail illustrating the motives behind this historic event, and what had really occurred towards the end of the eleventh century. The Christian lands of Western Europe were slowly deteriorating from invasions of the North, and the passing of corrupt laws from within the clergy and the high lords. However, these were not the only challenges those of European Christian faith had to face. Islam strengthened after the conversion of the
All in all, this short selection of Usama’s writings does much to further the understanding of the effects on the crusades on many Muslims during this period, though since this was written by an affluent elite it does not describe much of the general populous’ experience. It also provides a good overview of the interactions between Muslims themselves. This was a time fraught with danger and division but Usama’s work shows that a common thread kept many together and preserved a civilization that still exists to this very day.
Urban’s decision to begin the Crusade was based on more than just the idea that he was doing the Lord’s will. The Christian idealism was mind over m...
The first crusade was held only in order to fulfill desire of the Christians of the recapturing the center of the Christian faith-Jerusalem, which has been controlled by the Muslim nation for more than 400 years. This military campaign was followed with severe cruelty and harsh actions against Muslims which cannot be justified with anything but religious and material interest.
Warriors of God by James Reston Jr. is a non-fictional view of the third crusade. This particular crusade spanned from 1187-1192, containing many gruesome battles and a lot of intense moments between Islam and Christianity. Reston supplies the reader with a little background to the third Crusade when he talks about the first Crusades happening since 1095. Reston gives a fairly impartial view of this holy war. He discusses the battles, politics, and emotions of the Crusade as an outside party and if he takes any side at all it is with the Muslims. He often speaks badly of King Richard and he speaks well of Saladin, the sultan. He portrays Richard as a greedy, anti-Semite, who is intolerable of other religions, while he shows Saladin as tolerant to the Jews, reasonable, and an overall good leader. Reston wrote this book mostly to inform readers about the third Crusade but also to add some of his own insights. His thesis was a little unclear but he stated that the Crusades were the most violent event in history all the way up to Hitler’s rein. Reston did a good job in proving this when he told of battles and then analyzed them. He told of a time when King Richard had twenty thousand Muslims executed and when Saladin had Reginald of Chatillon beheaded along with many other Christian prisoners.
Professor Paul Cobb’s The Race for Paradise is a very unique portrayal of history—it appeals to academic specialists and casual readers with detail and original sources with numerous endnotes that contain references with comments that are fit for anyone wanting to broaden their knowledge on some of the aspects that this book touches upon. All the while constructing an engaging and a rather interesting narrative story that informs the reader how Muslim societies saw, reacted to, and adapted to the European crusades. His story is very broad and covers many key points in Islamic history, beginning with Muslim-Christian conflicts well before the, what is known to be, first crusade around 1095-1101. On page six of The Race for Paradise, Cobb states
Among some of the largest conflicts in the world stand the Crusades; a brutal conflict that lasted over 200 years and was debatably one of the largest armed religious conflicts in the history of humankind. Since this is so clearly an event of importance, historians have searched vigorously for the true answer as to why the crusades began. Ultimately, because of accusatory views on both the sides of the Christians and of the Muslims, the two groups grew in such hatred of each other that they began to act in deep discrimination of each other. Moreover, Christian motives seemed to be driven mostly by the capture of Jerusalem, the dark ages of Europe and the common-folks desperation for land, wealth, and a spot in heaven. What seems to be continually
The Crusades were one of the most prominent events in Western European history; they were not discrete and unimportant pilgrimages, but a continuous stream of marching Western armies (Crusaders) into the Muslim world, terminating in the creation and eventually the fall of the Islamic Kingdoms. The Crusades were a Holy War of Roman Christianity against Islam, but was it really a “holy war” or was it Western Europe fighting for more land and power? Through Pope Urban II and the Roman Catholic Church’s actions, their proposed motivations seem unclear, and even unchristian. Prior to the Crusades, Urban encouraged that Western Europe fight for their religion but throughout the crusades the real motivations shone though; the Crusaders were power hungry, land coveting people who fought with non Christian ideals and Morales.
Since this paper is my reflection, I will be honest by stating that I am nineteen years old, white, a male, and have been raised in a Catholic family just outside of Louisville, Kentucky. Now why is this important? This is important because the only viewpoint of the crusades that I have studied, prior to my experience with Maalouf, has been from the Christian point of view. Until now, I have yet to place myself in the shoes of those on the opposite end of the sword, shields, and Jihad. History is a touchy subject for me because I have come to learn there is always another side of the story to learn from. This fact leads to the first main thesis of Maalouf’s adventure.
McFall, J. Arthur. "Ill-Fated Crusade Of The Poor People." Military History 14.6 (1998): 26. MAS
In order for the crusades to begin, the Christians needed to gather an army to travel and fight the forces of Muslims. With all the power being held by monarchies at this time, the church needed to be cleaver in order to gain troops to put their lives on the line. To gain the support of these warriors and dedication of men, Pope Urban II (1088-1099) challenged those morals of men by telling them to grab their weapons and join the holy war to recover the land of Jerusalem. It was not the challenge that convinced men to take part in this war. The promise of “immediate remission of sins” attracted the men to stand up for their religion and beliefs while at the same time, promising them a trip to heaven when life comes to an end. With this statement, men instantly prepared for battle which in a very short period of time gave the church power which has been held by the monarchies. Men of rich and poor prepared for battle, some wearing ...
Riley-Smith, Jonathan. The First Crusade and the Idea of Crusading. The United States of America: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1986.
The Army of God Is it possible for one to believe in Christianity so much that he/she feels it is morally acceptable to commit sin to punish those who are the real sinners? The members of the North American terrorist organization named “The Army of God” obviously believes it is so. Having declared war on the United States of America the army of god has bombed abortion clinics and homosexual nightclubs in the name of God him/herself. This group is definatly no joke, it has produced three editions of its own terrorist manual and has many websites devoted to its cause. Additionally, the army of god has been linked to numerous terrorist activities, including but not limited to, the Olympic building bombing in Atlanta, Georgia and the bombing of women’s abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama.