Roman Catholic Era Medieval Period

The church's response to loss and decline under Islam was mixed: the cross in one and the sword in the other. The early church had generally condemned war. But the western medieval Roman Church said, "God wills it! " Apparently baptism had not washed away certain vices of the now Christianized barbarians and Vikings, whose ancestors regarded war as an art. While the church can transform her surrounding culture, the culture also changes the church, for better or worse. A barbaric spirit entered the church. Viking descendants would lead all of the major Crusades. Muslims still remember the cruelty and revenge Christians inflicted on them in God's name, even though their retaliation was not too dissimilar. Hostility and persecution against the Jews in this period was equally atrocious by both Crusaders and Muslims. The theme and means of “evangelism ” in the empire was by a “compel ” focus. This notion came from the words of Jesus: “"Then the master said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled” (NKJ Luke 14:23). The church took the exaggerated meaning of this word to justify torture, capital punishment and the Inquisition. By the words, "compel them to come in,&quot