Dear Editor,

His primary, driving passion was something quite different. Listen to these startling words, written by Columbus himself to the then ling and queen of Spain concerning his lifelong passion to restore Jerusalem to its Christian origin:

"Most Christian and very high princes:
My argument for the restitution of the holy temple to the holy militant church is the following ... :
At this time I have seen and put in study to look into all the scriptures, cos-mog-raphy, histories, chronicles and philosophy and other arts, which our Lord opened to my understanding ( I could sense His hand upon me), so that it became clear to me that it was feasible to navigate from here [Spain] to the Indies; and He unlocked within me the determination to execute the idea. And I came to your Highnesses with this ardor.
All those who heard about my enterprise rejected it with laughter, scoffing at me. Neither the sciences which I mentioned above, nor the authoritative citations from them, were any avail. In only your Highnesses remained faith and constancy. Who doubts that this illumination was from the Holy Spirit? I attest that He, with marvelous rays of light, consoled me through the holy and sacred Scriptures, a strong and clear testimony... encouraging me to proceed, and, continually, without ceasing for a moment, they inflame me with a sense of urgency."

If these words truly represent the attitude of Christopher Columbus, Levin was correct when he stated that Columbus was a man with an obsession, but he was wrong in implying that it was an obsession to explore merely to discover land and gold. Columbus' obsession was to hasten the return of Christ by taking the Gospel to the islands of the sea!
After citing various biblical passages, Columbus quotes to show how God prophesied the use of gold to restore Jerusalem. Church historian Kay Brigham concludes in her book "Christopher Columbus: His Life and Discovery in the Light of His Prophecies", "The fundamental objective of the enterprise [to the New World] was the cause of the Gospel, and gold was to serve only as a medium of exchange to defend Christian values in Spain, in the Mediterranean, in the Holy Land, and in the Indies."
She further concludes that: "The biblical doctrine that provided Christopher Columbus with the strongest motive for his high mission was the second coming of Jesus Christ." [p. 154].
By all indications, Columbus was a premillennist who believed in the imminent return of our Lord Jesus Christ, meaning that he expected Christ to come at any time during his own lifetime. His son, Bartholomew, described his religious fervor by saying, "In matters of religion, he was so strict that for fasting and saying all the canonical offices [that is, praying], he might have been taken for a member of a religious order." [Rienits, p. 17].
Columbus himself, in The Book of Prophecies, likened himself to Paul, who was the chief of sinners, but yet had found grace and mercy before God; and to David, who although had sinned grievously, had been forgiven and was "a man after God's own heart."
Brigham also says: "Columbus. for all his navigational expertise and for all his courage, without the inspiration from the Bible, would not have discovered America" [p. 138] - or, of course, The Bahamas!
In this light, we must not forget that, because of Columbus, the Gospel was first preached in the New World in the Spanish language. Regardless of what else came with it, Columbus' trip to The Bahamas 511 years ago brought the Gospel to this region. In fact, one could say it was Columbus who brought Christ to these islands! His first act, upon stepping on Guanhanni, was to rename it, "San Salvador," to honor his savior, Jesus Christ. one of the first observations of the beautiful, peaceful people he met on the island, was that "they would easily be made Christians without force." [ ].
He took six of these Taino or Arawak Indians back with him to Spain, where, immediately upon his return, they were baptized in the royal court with King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella acting as proud godparents! His unique way of signing his name with the letters: SASXMY, though a puzzle to some scholars, most probably is Latin for, "Servant I am of the Most High Saviour," accompanied by the names of Christ, Mary and Jesus. [Brigham, p. 144]
Regardless of the religious and political culture of the day that impacted upon Columbus' actions, one cannot and must not lose sight of his personal devotion to God and to the Bible as the Word of God. This fact is evident and adds significance and meaning to many of his actions recorded in our history books that more often than not, are not commented upon - and which some are trying to remove from our schools and text books.
Isn't it amazing, the Holy Spirit has allowed, and in fact, specifically included the name and exploits of Judas, the man who betrayed the Son of God, in the record of God's revelation to man. But yet, there are some who feel that Columbus has sinned so terribly that every reference to him should be removed from our history! How tragic - and how intellectually hypocritical! When we think of the deeds and misdeed of some we now are so eager to call "heroes."
While Columbus himself, acknowledged many mistakes and misdeeds during his travels, it must also be remembered that most of the crimes attributed to him were, in fact, not done by him personally, but by others who came after him. I do not mean to defend Columbus here, or to pass a judgment on whether he was a saint or a sinner, I leave that judgment to you and to the judge of the universe. I simply want to put a little objectivity into what has turned out to be quite an emotional, but in many instances, groundless negativity in this yearly celebration and a deliberate attempt to rewrite history after our own making.
From a human perspective, the New World was "discovered" by Columbus by mistake! He thought that he had found a shorter route to India, Japan and China, the cities made famous by Marco Polo! From a spiritual, evangelistic perspective, if he had gone where he had planned to go, we would not have had the Gospel when we did! One is not too far fetched to compare this event with that of the Apostle Paul in the Book of Acts and his missionary endeavors.
He wanted to go into Eastern Europe with the Gospel. The Holy Spirit prevented him from doing so and led him to the West, into Macedonia. If he had gone where he had planned on going, our Christian history would have been completely reversed. The Western world, spiritually speaking, would be where the Eastern world is as far as Christianity is concerned.
The same thing might be said of Columbus' mission to the New World! From a religious perspective, it could have had the same kind of impact. Our entire Christian heritage can legitimately be traced back to Columbus' kneeling on the beach at Guahanni and claiming it in the name of Christ by renaming it, San Salvador, "The Saviour's Island".
However, this is where the hard spiritual lesson of Discovery Day wrenches our hearts as Christians. For, rather than these islands becoming a stronghold for Christ immediately following Columbus' discovery, and in spite of his good intentions, these islands became a stronghold for gold-hungry pagan Spanish adventurers who succeeded in almost annihilating the entire population of our islands in less than a half century after they were discovered by Columbus, "the Christ-bearer". And what is more ironic, it was the Roman Catholic Church, through its gold-hungry priests, who led much of the initial, brutal onslaught against our Bahamian forefathers. But of course, that fact is lost in what I consider to be a current misguided nationalistic fervor that has blinded minds to the truth.
It was not until more than a full century and a quarter later, specifically under William Sayle, that Christianity was truly established in these islands. But even his historical contribution harks back to Columbus' discovering the New World, and in particular, America.
However, Columbus, had he been able to follow through with his spiritual convictions recorded in his Book of Prophecies, he would have been know as the missionary savior to the Indians, rather than their exterminator, as many try to make him out to be today. In other words, Columbus, for whatever reason, failed to maximize his privileged opportunity for Jesus Christ and for becoming recognized as perhaps, the world's greatest missionary!
This should not prevent us, however, with 511 years hindsight, and the testimony of Columbus himself, from viewing it as such and being challenged afresh to take the Gospel to those who have not yet heard its glorious message. Columbus' failure to follow through with his evangelistic mission should not be a stumbling block to prevent us from following through with our mission as we make our way through a new millennium.
The mandate is the same as it was in his day: "Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature." Five hundred and eleven years ago, according to my understanding of history, to Don Christopher Columbus, we "Bahamian Indians" were those "every creature!" Today, they are the 1,200 or so, so-called "hidden peoples" of the world who have not yet heard the Gospel. It is estimated that they number some 3 billion of the world's 6 billion or more inhabitants.
Do we have the daring, the fortitude, the willingness and the commitment of a Columbus to take the Gospel to these people? Are our conviction as strong as his was that Christ is coming soon? That his return is imminent? Does this conviction translate into action as it did for Columbus? These are some of the spiritual challenges this Columbus Day Holiday imposes upon us as Christians. Will another 511 years be necessary for the Gospel to reach the "every creature" of our world, or will we be motivated to hasten the return of Christ by doing all we can to preach the Gospel to them?
Was Columbus a saint or a sinner? After 511 years, that question is still difficult to answer. But the one question that you can answer without difficulty is: Are you a saint or sinner?
The criteria for making that judgment is simple: have you discovered new life in Jesus Christ? Have you become a new creation in Christ? Are you consciously anticipating a spiritual new world to come, in Christ.
A saint is a Christian. A Christian is a person, who, through regeneration, is a new creation, who is awaiting, through resurrection, to be given a new body, which then, through translation, will be placed, through restoration in a new Jerusalem in a new world.
To put it another way, a saint is a new person, waiting a new body who will be placed in a new world. One becomes a saint, not by dying, but upon discoverying new life by accepting Jesus Christ as savior. Today would become your spiritual discovery day if you accept Jesus Christ now!
Don Christopher Columbus is in the hand of God, the just judge of all the earth. He has already determined, based on his personal choice, whether the admiral is a saint or a sinner. You now have the opportunity to make your choice. Only you can do it.
I close with the words of Paul in 2 Cor. 5:17-20: "If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone; the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation. That God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God."

- Allan Lee, president, Teleios Theological Training Institute

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