Christ Commands You ‘BUY A SWORD’ — CHRISTIAN HOLY WAR RETURNS — Transcript

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1. 0:00As you may have heard by now, my new
2. 0:02book, The Two Swords of Christ, about
3. 0:04the Knights of the Temple and Hospital
4. 0:05and their savage wars against Islam, is
5. 0:08less than three weeks away from being
6. 0:09released. Now, by way of preparation, I
7. 0:12wanted to briefly discuss the logic and
8. 0:15rationale, and most importantly, the
9. 0:17theology that gave rise to these two
10. 0:19brotherhoods. So, let's take a look at
11. 0:21the seinal documents of the Templars,
12. 0:23history's first Christian military
13. 0:25order, titled In Praise of the Newhood.
14. 0:28It was written by St. Bernard of Clervo
15. 0:30shortly after the formal recognition of
16. 0:33the Knights Templars in 1129 AD. It
17. 0:36begins by showing that the Templars do
18. 0:37indeed represent a new but also much
19. 0:39needed creature, the fusion of monk and
20. 0:42warrior, so that the two realms of
21. 0:44Christian warfare that had hitherto been
22. 0:46separated, the incorporeal and corporeal
23. 0:49or spiritual and secular could be
24. 0:51confronted by the self-same warrior
25. 0:53monk. In the words of Bernard, this is a
26. 0:56new kind of knighthood and one unknown
27. 0:58in ages past. It ceaselessly wages a
28. 1:01two-fold combat against flesh and blood
29. 1:03and against spiritual hosts of evil in
30. 1:05the heavens. That latter part, of
31. 1:07course, is a reference to Ephesians
32. 1:086:12. Nothing, Bernard continues, is new
33. 1:11or shocking about warriors who fight
34. 1:13their foes with might and man, or of
35. 1:15monks who combat demons through fasting
36. 1:17and prayer. But for a man to powerfully
37. 1:20guard himself with both swords,
38. 1:22spiritual and secular, and mark his belt
39. 1:24with the cross, who would not consider
40. 1:26this worthy of great admiration, even
41. 1:29more so since it has hitherto been
42. 1:30unknown? Truly a fearless knight and
43. 1:33secure on every side is he whose soul is
44. 1:36protected by the armor of faith, just as
45. 1:38his body is protected by armor of steel.
46. 1:41Doubly armed, surely he need fear
47. 1:43neither demons nor men. Not that he
48. 1:45fears death. No, he desires it. Why
49. 1:48should he fear to live or to die when
50. 1:49for him to live is Christ and to die is
51. 1:51gain? March forth confidently then
52. 1:54unites and with a stalwart heart repel
53. 1:57the foes of the cross of Christ. Be sure
54. 1:59that neither death nor life can separate
55. 2:01you from the love of God which is in
56. 2:03Jesus Christ. As shocking as Bernard's
57. 2:05words may be to modern-day Christians,
58. 2:07they are also logically consistent.
59. 2:10Consider, if it is acceptable to fend
60. 2:12off Satan's fiery darts against the
61. 2:14soul, why is it not acceptable to fight
62. 2:16off the enemies of Christianity who
63. 2:18terrorize Christians not just with fiery
64. 2:20darts, but with swords, spears, and
65. 2:22cruelty unbounded? Indeed, although
66. 2:25forgotten today, both swords mentioned
67. 2:27by Bernard are a reference to Luke
68. 2:2922:38, where Christ told his disciples
69. 2:32that two swords are enough. For preodern
70. 2:35theologians, this was Christ's way of
71. 2:37legitimizing two forms of warfare. One
72. 2:40with a spiritual sword against spiritual
73. 2:42enemies and one with a physical sword
74. 2:44against physical enemies, also known as
75. 2:46just war. Thus, nearly a century after
76. 2:48Bernard James of Vitri, the bishop of
77. 2:50Aker, preached of how sariss and pagans
78. 2:54undermine the peace of Christendom,
79. 2:55tyrants and evil Christians attack the
80. 2:57liberty of the church, and false
81. 2:59brothers undermine love. Against the
82. 3:01violence of the pagans and sariss, it
83. 3:04the church uses the physical sword,
84. 3:06hence the crusades. Against tyrants and
85. 3:09false brothers, it uses a spiritual
86. 3:11sword. Since the church has two swords,
87. 3:13which the Lord said is enough, one is to
88. 3:16be exercised in a spiritual sense by the
89. 3:18prelates, the other by the princes and
90. 3:20military Christians. James of vitri went
91. 3:22so far as to assert that quote only
92. 3:25heretics argue that it is not Christian
93. 3:27to fight and cite scripture to prove
94. 3:30this. They lying assert that it is not
95. 3:32permissible for you to take up a
96. 3:34physical sword nor to fight bodily
97. 3:36against the enemies of the church. They
98. 3:38abuse the authority of the scriptures
99. 3:40and present petty reasons. And if we did
100. 3:42not resist the church's enemies, the
101. 3:44sariss and heretics would have already
102. 3:46devastated the whole church. In fact,
103. 3:49knighthood was set up in order to repel
104. 3:51violence, repulse injuries, and exercise
105. 3:53justice on evildoers. Not much has
106. 3:56changed, eh? I can just see and hear all
107. 3:58the doormat Christians ringing their
108. 4:00hands and whining about how uncchristian
109. 4:02it is to repel violence, repulse
110. 4:04injuries, and exercise justice on
111. 4:06evildoers. To quote James of Vitri.
112. 4:08Anyway, returning to Bernard of Clervau,
113. 4:11this important spokesman for all
114. 4:12military orders went on to argue as St.
115. 4:15Augustine did before him that fighting,
116. 4:18even killing are not intrinsically evil.
117. 4:20Rather, it's the intention and
118. 4:22motivation of the fighter that decides
119. 4:24the matter. Bernard continues, "Indeed,
120. 4:27a danger or victory for the Christian
121. 4:29are weighed by the focus of the heart,
122. 4:31not the fortunes of war. If he fights
123. 4:33for a good cause, the outcome of the
124. 4:34battle can never be evil. And likewise,
125. 4:37the result can never be considered good
126. 4:38if the cause is evil and the intention
127. 4:40unrighteous." There go the overwhelming
128. 4:42majority of modern-day wars, the
129. 4:44intentions of which, if you only really
130. 4:46knew, are seldom righteous. The New
131. 4:48Knights, Bernard said, were engaged in
132. 4:50malicide, not homicide. Their purpose
133. 4:52was to exterminate evil, not evildoers,
134. 4:55who in this context were seen as
135. 4:57collateral damage. In the saint's own
136. 4:59words,
137. 5:00>> surely if he kills an evildoer, he is
138. 5:03not a man killer, but if I may so put
139. 5:06it, an evil killer.
140. 5:08>> Bernard goes on to compare and contrast
141. 5:10the new knighthood with the secular and
142. 5:12by then quite ostentatious knighthood.
143. 5:14Not only do the latter fight and kill
144. 5:16for vain uncchristian reasons, for fame,
145. 5:19gain, vengeance, or from wrath, but they
146. 5:22dress effeminately, said he, and
147. 5:24ornament themselves and their horses
148. 5:26with bobbles befitting the trinkets of a
149. 5:28woman, his words. In stark contrast, the
150. 5:30Templars and other military orders had a
151. 5:33decidedly manly look and austere
152. 5:35outlook. Along with going against
153. 5:37Frankish custom by refusing to shave and
154. 5:39letting their beards grow long,
155. 5:41apparently in keeping with God's design
156. 5:43and therefore will, they quote cut their
157. 5:46hair short, cognizant that according to
158. 5:48the apostle, it is shameful for a man to
159. 5:50cultivate flowing locks. Bernard is here
160. 5:53referring to 1 Corinthians 11:14-16.
161. 5:56He continues, "When battle is imminent,
162. 5:58they the Templars protect themselves
163. 6:01inwardly by their faith and outwardly by
164. 6:03iron, not gold, so that armed and not
165. 6:06adorned, they strike fear into the enemy
166. 6:08rather than arousing his greed, to
167. 6:11plunder them of their trinkets. They
168. 6:13seek to have strong and swift horses,
169. 6:15not ones decked out in many colors. They
170. 6:17are intent on fighting, not pomp,
171. 6:19victory, not glory. And they strive to
172. 6:21inspire terror, not admiration. Worse,
173. 6:24because the secular knighthood fight and
174. 6:26kill for, in Bernard's words, slight and
175. 6:29frivolous reasons, including irrational
176. 6:31anger, empty glory, and earthly
177. 6:32possessions, it is for them not safe to
178. 6:35kill or be killed, as hell would be a
179. 6:37possible consequence. In contrast, the
180. 6:40knights of Christ may safely do battle
181. 6:42in the battles of their Lord, fearing
182. 6:44neither the sin of smiting the enemy nor
183. 6:46the danger of their own downfall. In as
184. 6:48much as death for Christ inflicted or
185. 6:50endured, bears no taint of sin, but
186. 6:52deserves abundant glory. For the record,
187. 6:54the idea that Christians who die
188. 6:56fighting for the faith are martyrs far
189. 6:58predates Bernard and even the first
190. 7:00crusade in 1095. It actually goes back
191. 7:02to at least the mid 800s under popes Leo
192. 7:05IV and John VII and was widely accepted
193. 7:08by most Western European theologians. In
194. 7:10the words of William of Tier, the 12th
195. 7:12century chronicler, "We believe indeed
196. 7:14that those who fall in the ranks of the
197. 7:16faithful fighting with the warriors of
198. 7:18the cross for the name of Christ deserve
199. 7:20that not only disgrace but all
200. 7:21derelictions whatsoever be erased from
201. 7:23their records." None of this, of course,
202. 7:25was seen as a license to kill. Bernard
203. 7:28insisted that Muslims should not quote
204. 7:30be slaughtered when there is any other
205. 7:32way of preventing them from harassing
206. 7:34and persecuting the faithful end quote.
207. 7:37However, because Muslims had for
208. 7:38centuries proven themselves existential
209. 7:41intractable enemies to Christians, it
210. 7:43now seems better to destroy them than to
211. 7:45allow the rod of sinners to continue to
212. 7:47be raised over the lot of the righteous,
213. 7:49lest per chance the righteous set their
214. 7:51hand to iniquity. He was referring to
215. 7:53the then well-known fact that to escape
216. 7:56persecution, lots of Christians had
217. 7:58converted over the centuries. If, as
218. 8:00Bernard continues to argue, Christians
219. 8:01are not forbidden from fighting,
220. 8:03provided it's for a just cause, then
221. 8:05they must certainly stand up to Muslims
222. 8:07who from the start had waged and
223. 8:08continued to wage a wholly unjust war on
224. 8:11Christendom. No room for cheek turning
225. 8:14here. Surely then, the nations who
226. 8:16choose warfare should be scattered.
227. 8:18Those who molest us should be cut away,
228. 8:20and all the workers of iniquity should
229. 8:21be dispersed from the city of the Lord.
230. 8:23Those who busy themselves carrying off
231. 8:25the incalculable riches placed in
232. 8:27Jerusalem by Christian people profaining
233. 8:30holy things and possessing the sanctuary
234. 8:31of God as their heritage. He's referring
235. 8:33to the Muslims. Let both swords of the
236. 8:36faithful fall upon the necks of the foe
237. 8:38who represented both secular and
238. 8:40spiritual evil.
239. 8:43Let both swords fall on the neck of the
240. 8:45foe to the destruction of every lofty
241. 8:47thing, lifting itself up against the
242. 8:49knowledge of God, which is the Christian
243. 8:51faith. Lest the Gentiles should then
244. 8:53say, "Where is their God?" For Bernard,
245. 8:55even the Templar's headquarters,
246. 8:57Solomon's temple, or Al Axa Mosque,
247. 8:59underscored the muscular, nononsense
248. 9:01side of Christianity. For was it not at
249. 9:04the temple that Christ himself engaged
250. 9:06in righteous violence? Argued the same.
251. 9:08The facade of this temple is now adorned
252. 9:10with weapons rather than jewels. And in
253. 9:13place of the ancient golden crowns, its
254. 9:15walls are hung round with shields. In
255. 9:17place of candlesticks, sensors and eers,
256. 9:20this house is well furnished with
257. 9:21saddles, bridles, and lances. By all
258. 9:23these signs the knights clearly show
259. 9:25that they are animated by the same zeal
260. 9:27for the house of God which of old
261. 9:29vehemently inflamed the leader of
262. 9:31knighthood himself Christ who having his
263. 9:34most sacred hands armed not with a
264. 9:37weapon but with a whip which he had
265. 9:38fashioned from lengths of cord entered
266. 9:40the temple ousted the merchants
267. 9:42scattered the coins of the money
268. 9:43changers and overturned the chairs of
269. 9:45the pigeon vendors considering it
270. 9:47totally unfitting to defile this house
271. 9:50of prayer by such traffic. moved
272. 9:52therefore by their king's example is
273. 9:54devoted soldierly, the Templars,
274. 9:57considering it far more unfitting and
275. 9:58infinitely more intolerable for a holy
276. 10:01place to be polluted by unbelievers than
277. 10:04to be crowded with merchants, have
278. 10:06installed themselves in this holy house
279. 10:07with their horses and their armor.
280. 10:09Having expuned it and the other holy
281. 10:11places of every infidel stain and the
282. 10:14tyrannical horde, they occupy themselves
283. 10:15day and night with work as distinguished
284. 10:17as it is practical. They honor the
285. 10:20temple of God earnestly with fervent and
286. 10:22sincere worship in their devotion,
287. 10:23offering up not the flesh of animals,
288. 10:25according to the ancient writes, but
289. 10:27true peace offerings, brotherly love,
290. 10:29devoted obedience, and voluntary
291. 10:31poverty. For Bernard, the lifestyle of
292. 10:32the knights of the temple, both in peace
293. 10:34and war, is quote, "an exemplar, or at
294. 10:37least an embarrassment for those of our
295. 10:39knights who are apparently fighting not
296. 10:41for God, but for the devil end quote."
297. 10:44Abiding in perfect discipline and
298. 10:46obedience, the Templars, Bernard
299. 10:48continues, live in cheerful community
300. 10:50and sober company, without wives and
301. 10:52without children, so that their
302. 10:54evangelical perfection will lack
303. 10:55nothing. They dwell united in one family
304. 10:57with no personal property whenever,
305. 10:59careful to keep the unity of the spirit
306. 11:01in the bond of peace. They never sit in
307. 11:03idleness or wander about aimlessly, but
308. 11:05on the rare occasions when they are not
309. 11:07on duty, they are always careful to earn
310. 11:09their bread. There is little distinction
311. 11:10of persons among them and difference is
312. 11:13shown to ability, not to nobility. They
313. 11:15rival one another in mutual
314. 11:17consideration, and they carry one
315. 11:18another's burdens, thus fulfilling the
316. 11:20law of Christ. No arrogant word, no idol
317. 11:23deed, no unrestrained laugh, not even
318. 11:25the slightest whisper or murmur is left
319. 11:27uncorrected. That said, once the call to
320. 11:30battle is heard, these seeming saints
321. 11:32turned into raging devils. Or in the
322. 11:35more restrained words of Bernard, once
323. 11:37in the thick of battle, they set aside
324. 11:38this earlier gentleness as if to say,
325. 11:40"Do I not hate those who hate you, oh
326. 11:43Lord? Am I not disgusted with your
327. 11:45enemies?" This is a reference to Psalm
328. 11:48138:21. These men charge the enemy
329. 11:50regarding the foe as sheep. Never, no
330. 11:52matter how outnumbered they are, do they
331. 11:54see them as awesome hordes, nor do they
332. 11:56presume on their own strength, but trust
333. 11:58for victory in the Lord. For one man may
334. 12:00pursue a thousand, and two put 10,000 to
335. 12:03flight. This is a reference to
336. 12:04Deuteronomy 32:30. This then was the
337. 12:07riddle of the Templars. They appear
338. 12:09gentler than lambs, yet fiercer than
339. 12:11lions. Consequently, I do not know if it
340. 12:13would be more appropriate to refer to
341. 12:15them as monks or as soldiers, or whether
342. 12:17it would perhaps be better to recognize
343. 12:19them as being both, for they lack
344. 12:21neither monastic meekness nor military
345. 12:23might. What can we say about this except
346. 12:25that this is the Lord's doing, and it is
347. 12:27marvelous in our eyes. Okay, there it
348. 12:29is. of the logic and theology that gave
349. 12:31rise to the Templars, history's first
350. 12:33Christian military order. For the full
351. 12:36story of the Templars, consider
352. 12:37pre-ordering The Two Swords of Christ.
353. 12:40Or to get an advanced signed copy, see
354. 12:42the link in the description.