Kyle Gebhart

I want to pull back for a moment to get a broad view of American ‘divine right’ arguments. The basic premise of such arguments is simple: The Christian God actively ordained and involved himself in founding the US. The conclusion following from this premise is that God particularly supports of the United States and has interest in its continued preservation and success.

The beginning of divine right, reaches further back than the Declaration of Independence or the founding of America. Some even hold Christopher Columbus as an example of Christian missionary zeal and character. In 1838 Washington Irving published a popular biography of Columbus that was very well received in the United States, he reports,

“[Columbus] was devoutly pious: religion mingled with the whole course of his thoughts and actions, and shone forth in his most private and unstudied writings. Whenever he made any great discovery, he celebrated it by solemn thanks to God. The voice of prayer and melody of praise rose from his ships… All his great enterprises were undertaken in the name of the Holy Trinity…The religion thus deeply seated in his soul diffused a sober dignity and benign composure over his whole demeanor. His language was pure and guarded, and free from all imprecations, oaths and other irreverent expressions.”

Such praise attempts to establish Columbus as a Christian leader and hero of the faith; and it is clear that Columbus was a devout Catholic. However I wonder at promoting him as an example of faithful Christian living. Take the following case in point.

A quote from Columbus’ own journal describes his initial encounter with the peoples of the West Indies (the Arawaks). Columbus states, “…they do not bear arms, and do not know them…They would make fine servants…With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” Upon his return to Spain, Columbus freely declared to the Spanish crown that he would return from another journey with, “as much gold as they need…and as many slaves as they ask…Thus the eternal God, our Lord, gives victory to those who follow His way over apparent impossibilities.”

And he did in fact follow through on his oath (at least the part about slaves, there was little gold to be found on islands the Spanish occupied). In 1495 1,500 Arawak were rounded up and 500 loaded onto ships. 200 of those died on route to Spain, and Columbus later wrote: “Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold.”<!–[if !supportFootnotes]–>[1]<!–[endif]–> Lacking the resources of gold, Columbus advocated exporting the second most valuable resource found in the West Indies: human bodies and souls.

In light of this, a particular Bible verse comes to mind: My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. In deed, protecting the weak and to exhibiting the wisdom from heaven that is gentle, submissive, and full of good fruits. The natives of the West Indies, by Columbus’ own admission, were like defenseless children before the power of Spain. Instead of a spirit of servanthood and meakness, Columbus acted in the tragic and typical spirit of European colonization.

I don’t want to debate here the sovereignty of God’s judgment upon the natives of the New World. The hard truth of the matter may be that European exploration and conquest were a tool in God’s hand related to judgment. Instead, I’m advising caution to assigning God’s manifest blessing on the activities of European exploration, colonization, American Independance, Manifest Destiny, and the like.

At his best, Columbus was merely a product of his times – an overly zealous nobleman dedicated primarily to pleasing his King and Country, and believing that enslaving the natives of the West Indies brought them closer to Jesus. At best, however, he shows some evidence of being ignorant of the most basic Christian conduct and morality outlined in the New Testament. I wouldn’t want him teaching a Sunday school class anytime soon.

Was he a Christian? God knows. Should Christians hold him up as a hero of the faith? You tell me.