1993 issue 10 - his story - gods providence, cortez the infamous - counsel of chalcedon

8/12/2019 1993 Issue 10 - His Story - Gods Providence, Cortez the Infamous - Counsel of Chalcedon

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CORTEZ THE INF MOUS

None of the old explorers have

exactly had i t easy oflate, but few have

suffered at

the

hands of our

self-apPointed guardians as much as

Hernando Cortez. The bare mention

of His name (it seems) requires a pejo

rative adjective ( the ruthless Cortez ).

To the Sensitive the world over, Cortez

has become the quintessential ugly

European.

f

you have been following these

articles, I hope you are beginning to

question the judgment ofmodemmen

in general and historians in particular.

Whenever I run across a man that is

universally condemned by our con

temporaries, I generally suspect I have

found a fliend. In regard to Cortez, my

suspicions were correct.

In the providence of God, Cortez

was a contemporary of another man

destined for renown, Martin Luther.

Both men would become mightily in

fluential on the Church ofjesus Christ.

AsJohnEidsmoehasobselVed, Cortez

led half the Western Hemisphere out

of paganism into the Roman Catholic

Church, while Luther led half of Eu

rope out of Roman Catholicism into

the Protestant Reformation. Colum-

bus and Cortez, Conquerors jor Chlist,

p. 148. Much of what is found in this

article is amplified in this

fine

volume

and I happilyreferyou

to Dr.

Eidsmoe's

world

Typical of the men of the Middle

Ages,

Cortez was a devout Christian

who viewed the world

as

God's stage.

Though moderns scoff, the reality is

that Cortez viewed himself an ambas

sador of Christ delivering the savages

of this new world from the clutches

of Satan into the anns of the heavenly

Father. His address to his men as they

embarked on their expedition (Febru

ary 10, 1519), is indicative of his views:

We are on a crusade. We are march

ingas

Christians into a land ofinfidels.

We seek

not

only to subdue boundless

tenitolY in the name of our Emperor

Don Carlos, but to win millions of

unsalvaged souls to the True Faith. By

the force and righteousness of our own

Faith, we shall gain crowns for our

selves in the heaven to come. (Ibid.,

p 166)

That these were not mere words

was demonstrated over and over. In

evelY city through which he passed,

Cortes called the priests and caciques'

togetherand,afterJeronimo de Aguilar

had preached them a selmon in their

own tongue, he delivered a no-non

sense, proconsular type of speech. In

the words of Diaz: 'He told them as

best he could, through our interpreter,

that i f they wished to be our brothers

they must throw their idols out of this

temple, forthey were very evil and led

them astray. He said they were not

gods, but abominations which would

bring their souls to hell. (Jon M.

White, Cortez and the Downjall oj the

Aztec

Empire, p. 163) The boldness

and zeal of these addresses are aston

ishing. Their sincerity and compas

sion are apparent for all to see.

Cortez's practice of proclaiming the

gospel was followed

in

the march

through Mexico. Jeronimo de Aguilar

(the Catholic priest who sewed as an

interpreter) records the essence of

Conez's address to the natives of the

town of Tabasco on the Yucatan Pen

insula:

Cortes told them of their blind

ness

and

great vanity in worshipping

many gods

and

making sacrifices

of

human blood to them, and in thinking

that those images, being mute and

soulless, made by the Indians with

their own hands, were capable of do

ing either good or harm. He then told

them ofa sing e God, CreatorofHeaven

and

eanh

andmen, whom the Chris

tians worshipped and served, and

whom all men should worship and

selve. In short, after

he

had explained

the Mysteries to them, and how the

Son

of

God

had

suffered

on

the Cross,

they accepted it and broke up their

idols. Thus it was that with great

reverence, before a large concourse of

Indians, and with many tears on the

part of the Spaniards, a Cross was

erected

in

the temple of Potonchan,

and our

men

first, kneeling, kissed

December, 993 ;. THE COUNSEL of Chalcedon ;. 3


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the many

comparable errors

of

evangelicals who refuse to study or

even seriously consider the discern

ing, Reformed scholarship available

today.

But all this notwithstanding, it

ought

to

be plain that to portray

COltez

as a mindless, greedy,

clUel,

tyrannical

demagogue is more than a little amiss.

It is well-nigh impossible for us

as

20th centUlY Americans to understand

the Medieval mind. Sunounded

as we

are with neo-naturalists and their

half-world view, we cannot imagine

a culture filled with men who saw

God's hand in everything and viewed

His purpose

as

the great end of all

things. Cortez and his men were part

of a different world. Their faith in God

and

His Word was whole-hearted,

sincere, and guileless. Their belief in

the reality of the devil was straightfor

ward and unquestioning. They longed

for heaven and were terrified of hell.

They were devoted

to

the tlUth and

honified by heresy.

They were men who, for

all

their

faults and shortcomings, had grown

up

in a dominantly Christian culture

and to whom the paganism of the

natives of Mexico was a loathsome

astonishment. They saw in the de

pravity of the Aztecs (the human sac

lifice, cannibalism, immorality, per

versity, pornography, homosexnality,

etc., etc.) the very society of Satan.

Their faith made their duty plain.

French historian Jean Descola states,

In the depths of the Indian sanctuaJ:

ies they could see the Prince of Dark

ness standing

in

all his macabre splen

dor. Looking heavenward, they could

MERIC

he

First 35 Years

distinguish the silvery figure of Saint

James galloping across the clouds. The

conllict between the tlUe and

the false,

between good and evil, was manifest

in this double apparition. The prob

lem was simple and their duty was

clear,

When one considers what these

men saw and expelienced and

when

one remembers that they witnessed

their own companions as well as the

natives undergoing unspeakable tor

tures, one is amazed there was

not

more blUtality than that which did

occur. Their clities notwithstanding,

the response of the conquistadores

was often amazingly restrained and

their compassion for their enemies

quite amazing. (The condescending

denunciations from

modem

profes

sors who have never been face to

face

For over 100 years Americans have been subjected to historical misin

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facts.

Modem, unbelieving historians have hidden the truth ofour nation's

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December, 1993

l' THE

COUNSEL of Chalcedon

*

15


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with paganism

in

the raw are the

cheapest of cheap shots. But then

again, unfounded prtggishness has al-

ways been

at

a discount behind the

tenured walls

of our

honored institu-

tions of higher learning. )

Their violent acts must be seen

in

the light of the realities they faced. It

was literally a life and death situation

(for them as well as for the benighted

people of Mexico). Ifthey failed, not

only

would

they die, but (and what

wasjustas important

to

these men) the

people who

had

been deceived by the

old Dragon would pertsh. Descola

remarks, the violent acts of the Con-

quistadors. . . . though sometimes

performed 'in the name of' religion,

were never 'under the pretence

of

religion. (Eidsmoe, op. cit., p. 162)

That is

t

say, though they might, at

times, have gone too far, the conquis-

tadors were never insincere. They had

legal warrant (from the Pope) and they

were on a crusade, not t defeat the

Mohamedans but to convert the hea-

then. Their religion was not a pretext

but a banner. (Ibid., p. 163)

To the hypocrttes of our age who

know nothing

but

pretense, this seems

impossible. And the fact that most

scoff

at

this view of he conquistadores

says far more about the bankruptcy of

our times

than it

does about the sins of

those

in

the past.

I

CRAMP1ON CaNT.

ROM

PAGE 12

accomplishment. Thus, the gifts and

graces are to

be

used for His glory.

2) Because

it

is the Spirtt who

empowers every believer

in

Chrtstian

life

and service, personal inadequacies

should not deter or discourage us.

3) Since the gifts are sovereignly

dispensed by

the Spirtt to the church,

possession or lack of a particular gift

should be no cause for prtde or regret.

4) The fact that no one person has

all of the gifts of the Spirtt reveals t us

the need for the unity of the church,

the fellowship of the body, etc., forthe

full spiritual development of the

individual

and the corporate

cOIJlmunity.

5 The fact that we can come to the

Spirtt in prayer encourages us to pray

for His sanctifying work

in

us, both

individually and corporately. Prayer

for guidance, a greater understanding

ofHis inspired Word, the advancement

of His Kingdom, etc., should be a part

of our daily walk with God.

Come gracious Spirit, heavenly dove,

With light and comfort from above;

Be

Thou our guardian, Thou our guide;

O'er every thought and step preside.

The light of truth to us display,

And make us know and choose Thy way;

Plant holy fear in every heart,

That we from God may ne'er depart.

Lead us to holiness, the road

Which we must take to dwell with God;

Lead us to Christ, the living way,

Nor let u from is presence stray.

(Simon Browne)

6

THE COUNSEL of

Chalcedon

December,

993

1993 issue 10 - his story - gods providence, cortez the infamous - counsel of chalcedon

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