Thoughts from Mark "Hat" Rackley

We sent Timothy, who is our brother and co-worker in God’s service in spreading the gospel of Christ, to strengthen and encourage you in your faith,

• 1 Thessalonians 3:2

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

• Acts 1:7-8

“‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

• Leviticus 19:18

“A Dominican friar, Francisco de Vitoria was a follower of Thomas Aquinas and founder of the School of Salamanca. Called the “father of international law”, he is primarily known for developing a code for international relations. He grew up at the time of Spain’s unification and its colonization of the Americas. Although he did not argue against Spain’s right to build an empire, he thought that Christianity should not be imposed on the indigenous peoples of South America and that they should be afforded rights to property and self-government.”

• Sam Atkinson (senior editor), The Philosophy Book, Big Ideas Simply Explained

Francisco de Vitorio (1480-1546) was a Spanish philosopher, theologian, and jurist.  His writings contributed to the modern thoughts on a just war.  He greatly influenced international law, especially in regard to fair trade practices.  He built upon Thomas Aquinas’ views on natural law, law based on natural order and human nature.  His school of thought is referred to as the School of Salamanca.

His arguments about colonization would be applauded today, but too often, colonizers of his time forced the indigenous populations to worship God, and they subjugated them as slaves.  North American colonization may have been much better handled, but the Native Americans were either driven from their homes by government force or by civilian forces or by corporations.  Some of the activities done in Central and South America bordered on brutality.

And for someone whose main focus should be on spreading the gospel, that gospel should be spread by showing love instead of brute force.  Being a Spaniard in this era, Muslims spread the Muslim faith through force in the 700s in Spain when the Arabs and Moors combined to invade Spain.

Converting people by force does not work, especially when the main focus of your faith is love.

But setting up a government so that the indigenous people can self-govern and setting up fair trade practices between the two sovereign nations can show God’s love.

The latest trend of hiding the things we did wrong will only help to repeat those same errors, even if they are sugar coated.

The Europeans who colonized the Americas made a lot of mistakes.  And as there are many corrupt governments in the world today, errors will continue to be made.

We should learn from Francisco de Vitorio and learn to treat others fairly.

If you like these Tuesday morning essays about philosophy and other “heavy topics,” but you think you missed a few, you can use this LINK. I have set up a page off the home page for links to these Tuesday morning posts. I will continue to modify the page as I add more.

Soli Deo Gloria.  Only to God be the Glory.