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God's Battalions: The Case for the Crusades
Date:
Friday, December 31st, 2010 Rodney Stark, God’s Battalions: The Case for the Crusades (NY: HarperOne, 2009)
Rodney Stark is a well known sociologist from Baylor University who has written
several important books. He is unafraid to take on politically correct sacred cows and
this book is no exception. Nowadays it is simply assumed that the crusades were a case
of unprovoked brutality and aggression and one of the worst blots on the history of
Christianity. Stark’s examination of the origins and development reveals a strikingly
different picture. His conclusion is that “The Crusades were not unprovoked. They were
not the first round of European colonialism. They were not conducted for land, loot, or
converts. The crusaders were not barbarians who victimized the cultivated Muslims. They
sincerely believed that they served in God’s battalions.” (p. 248) The current politically
correct view of the crusades emerged out of the Enlightenment and only took root among
Muslim thinkers in the last century or so. An important, accessible book on a topic of
great contemporary relevance.
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