Modern historians argue that the Crusades were perhaps justified in light of their geopolitical context. But no one attempts to justify the church’s use of the Bible to sanction the slaughter that occurred. Church leaders weaponized Christianity by offering a get-out-of-hell-free card. Church officials leveraged Old Testament texts to justify violence while promising a New Testament heaven for those who participated. Throughout the disturbing era of the Crusades, Jews were murdered by the thousands and their property confiscated.
