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uestion: What exactly was the "Children's
Crusade?"
Answer: In the spring and summer of 1212
two separate, yet related events occurred. In France a twelve-year-old
shepherd boy named Stephan claimed he saw a vision of Jesus call him to
lead an army of children to Palestine to liberate that Holy Land from
Islam. In Germany, near Cologne, a ten-year-old boy named Nicholas claimed
a similar vision.
In response to their calls, thousands of children began to gather in
both regions to proclaim a crusade in which God would honor the innocence
and purity of children. The Mediterranean Sea was expected to be opened
like the Red Sea did for the Hebrews. The children of both lands were
to win the hearts of their enemy by love and pure faith. The two simultaneous
pilgrimages were together called the "Children's Crusade."
Through the summer, children began to migrate toward Marseilles, in France,
and toward Genoa or Rome from Germany. Their columns were varied in size
and there is much uncertainty as to their various routes. The chroniclers
of the age refer to both the German and French contingents as having a
main body as well as scattered groups of twenty to one hundred which followed.
Estimates vary from 10,000 to 50,000 children in each of the two groups.
Despite their sincerity, both the French and German children suffered
unspeakable hardship. Their misguided "faith" cost many French
children their lives, and nearly all the Germans. Those who did not perish
by the natural forces of starvation, disease or exposure were deceptively
loaded into ships and sold in the slave markets of North Africa.
Question: Why did you choose to write about
this subject?
Answer: In February of 1994 I found myself
in the depth of a personal crisis that had totally undone my world. Largely
caused by my own sin, I found myself searching for answers in who I was
and more importantly, who God was. I realized that I no longer had all
the answers to either question! Instead, I found myself lost.
I began to read a lot of books. Since I have always enjoyed history,
I opened S.M. Houghton's book titled, Sketches from Church History.
While paging through on a cold winter's night my eyes fell under a reference
to the Children's Crusade. The event struck me as the most challenging
example of the age-old question of God's place in human suffering. I could
not imagine a more striking example. Here were tens of thousands of sincere,
"innocent" children spurred on by a high regard for Christ.
Yet, in spite of that, they suffered terribly.
I supposed I could understand why I was miserable, but where was God
while they suffered? I was very interested in learning all I could about
the event, and before I knew it I found myself compelled to tell their
nearly forgotten story through the lives of characters I imagined.
Question: Besides the nature of the historical
phenomenon, what else were you exploring?
Answer: It did not take long to recognize
that my paradigm of life was badly skewed. I was quickly seeing that a
deeper understanding of my own response to "suffering" was revealing
false perspectives on God and the very nature of His Providential care.
Questions began to rattle around my head like: what should we expect from
God, and what do our responses to suffering tell us about ourselves?
A Journey of Souls is intended to raise more questions than
answers. I hope it challenges the reader to examine his own heart. Its
primary theme is the exploration of the redemptive power of suffering.
My experience has taught me that most Christians respond to suffering
in one of three ways: First, many of us rebel and fly to self-reliance
believing we have the resources to overcome our struggles. This takes
many forms, some of which seem rather spiritual. Second, many of us lean
on a presumptive faith, that is, an expectation that blessing (as is normally
understood) must follow obedience. Lastly, many of us attempt to control
our suffering by boxing God and our selves into tidy intellectual explanations.
These three primary responses are explored in some depth through the lives
of three of my characters. Each of the characters is challenged to recognize
the pride supporting each response.
There are a number of sub-themes that naturally followed. But one that
I should mention is that of mystery. I have found little room for the
"unknown" in my own faith. I was interested to challenge myself
to dare step toward the assumptions that follow a faithful embrace of
the mysteries of God.
Question: How long did it take you to research
and write this book?
Answer: I spent a little more than four
years on this. I did my preliminary research for about a year, then continued
the research as I began the writing. There is precious little information
available and what there is can be contradictory at times. Also, the themes
I pursued were percolating in my own soul for quite some time--they still
are! I think a project like this needs time to steep. The story became
a journey of my own soul and the characters became very real. I spent
some time in Europe traveling one of the possible routes and I found the
time spent on-site to be invaluable.
Question: How did you begin?
Answer: With a map! Then I went to any library
I could, found a very helpful out-of-print book on the crusade, bought
numerous old, musty history books, and surfed the net for hours! In addition
to the event, I needed to research the spirit of the times, the foods,
clothing, political landscape, economy, and spiritual nature of the era.
It was important for me to understand weaponry and tactics, means of transportation,
music and entertainment, medical treatments, etc. I want the reader to
trust me.
Question: Were the Crusades all bad?
Answer: It has become fashionable to interpret
history in such a way as to denigrate much of Western civilization's heritage.
Admittedly, the Crusades were a violent, bloody, dubious chapter in that
heritage. We are quick to blast the whole of it as little more than greed,
barbarism, racism, and exploitation in the name of Christ.
The problem is, that simply isn't the whole truth. The advance of Islam
had dramatically shrunk the world of the "visible Church'. By the
age of the Crusades, Islam had swept across the Middle East, North Africa,
and deep into Spain. It had been checked in France some centuries before
but was pressing on Christendom's eastern flank at Constantinople. Worse
yet, the fierce and brutal Seljuk Turks were the wing of Islam that had
taken control.
The Crusades began as an effort to defend Christian pilgrims who were
being persecuted on their pilgrimages to Palestine, and to protect fellow
Christians who were in danger of genocide in the east. I think we need
to be careful in discarding the whole of this era on assumptions that
are easy to make from our present vantage.
Question: What relevance does A Journey
of Souls have for the Church today?
Answer: We need to always explore our understanding
of Truth. My book raises questions that I think need to be raised. Questions
such as: What can I expect from God when my life has come apart? What
is the relationship to my suffering and my sin? Why am I not content with
the mystery of God? How do I comfort others in their pain? What is true
Faith? What is the role of Wisdom? How does God use suffering in the lives
of His people? Can I blame God when things go badly?
I would not dare to presume to offer final answers to all of these. I
have simply shared what I have learned and I have mostly learned that
I know little for certain! I do know that God is there and He cares. Despite
my sin, I believe God, in all His wondrous Grace, has given me a little
bread to share. I hope others can make it into a larger loaf.
Resources:
- Baker, C. D. A Journey of Souls.
- Woodburn, James Albert and Moran, Thomas Francis. Introduction
to American History. New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1916. Source
of the image.
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