A Course Blog for Elon's REL 204: Christian Traditions.
Tuesday, March 1, 2016
After reading "Combating "Mohammedan Indecency": The Baptism of Muslim Slaves in Spanish Naples, 1563-1667", I noticed that these Christians were steadfast and insistent on baptizing Muslim slaves in Naples so that they could become Christian. These Christians used persuasion methods to convince the slaves to convert, which appeared to be successful since countless slaves did become Christian as a result. With this rapid spread of Christianity in Naples, I want to ask the question, did Christians feel that they had the moral obligation to convert nonbelievers so that they could attain salvation, or did the Christians simply do it for a more selfish reason of enhancing Christianity's prevalence and dominance? I would like to think that these Christians desired to convert slaves for selfless reasons in order to provide these individuals with the chance to seek eternal life with God in Heaven. However, the purpose of these conversions could have also been to spread Christianity so that the people who practiced this religion could become more powerful and reputable in the world. Still, my hunch is that these Christians more motivated for the right reasons, but I would love to know your insights.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I was actually thinking a very similar thing when I was reading the article. Some of the persuasion methods used on slaves seemed rather harsh, and I was quite shocked. I do agree that the spread of Christianity not just in Naples but in many parts of Europe was rapid, and that was definitely a contributing factor. I was most surprised that Christians used their time to convert slaves...I would think that people would not want to use their time attempting to persuade slaves to become Christians because of their already low status. Sounds harsh, but I thought that would be the mentality of many people. I hope this question you asked is discussed in class today because the rather tough persuasion techniques make Christians seem selfish yet I think the intentions of the Christians were positive, thus they may have believed in a "moral obligation" to convert others in order for others to "seek eternal life" in Heaven.
ReplyDeleteGreat conversation. We'll definitely be talking about slavery and some of these issues today.
ReplyDelete