An Uncensored Columbus

Today Columbus is politically incorrect. The leftist historical revisionists depict him as a monster and American Indians protest the celebration of Columbus Day. Most media ignore him. The purspose of this article is to point out the positive aspects of Columbus' journey and discovery, so missing in todays politically correct enviornment and in socialist-revionist tendencies toward misrepresenting history.

Fifteen years ago Stephen McDowell wrote a little essay I found on the Internet, titled: “Columbus' Christian Character and Divine Mission.” The following are some brief quotes from McDowell's article that are still relevant today.

“MUCH CONTROVERSY HAS ARISEN over the celebration of the 500th (in 1992) anniversary of the discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. Many attacks have been leveled against him and western civilization. The target of the attacks of many is not so much against Columbus as it is against Christianity, which is the source of the values of western civilization. . .

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Fundamentally, the battle is between a Christian world view and a humanistic worldview. To properly understand Columbus and others involved in the discovery and colonization of the Americas, we must view them in light of the world in which they lived. While Columbus had many shortcomings, his motives were most certainly Christian. Washington Irving writes of Christopher Columbus: "He 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 when they first beheld the New World, and his first action on landing was to prostrate himself upon the earth and return thanksgivings . . . His language was pure and guarded, and free from all imprecations, oaths and other irreverent expressions." . . .

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Columbus' actual journals have been lost, but two of his companions, his son Ferdinand and Bartolome Las Casas, recorded abstracts of the original journal. At places they quote Columbus and in other places they summarize his journals.

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"Writings in Columbus' journal reveal his primary motives for sailing were his Christian convictions. He had a desire to preach the gospel throughout the nations, and in particular to take Christianity to the Great Khan of eastern Asia. About 200 years before Columbus' voyage, Marco Polo, who had traveled throughout parts of Asia, brought word from the Khan of a desire for missionaries to be sent to his empire. Other Khans who had ruled since Polo's time had also made this request. Columbus had studied the writings of Marco Polo's travels and was also familiar with more recent requests for missionaries to be sent to teach the Christian religion. . .”

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Like the Founding of America Judeo-Christian values and principles have had an overwhelming influence in the formation and foundation of this country. Likewise, much of the motivation for Columbus’ discovery of America were the result of wanting to honor God.