Some Great Books that Defend Medieval Times

  Too often do people get their understanding of history from Hollywood or the media. Both the media and Hollywood have shown again and again to lie about Christians, and degrade the Western Christian past.
 The Crusades have been the subject of constant criticism in recent years. These expeditions to Outremer, and elsewhere, are also now used as a scapegoat to victimimize Muslims and convince people that the Muslims were either/and or should have not been attacked, and even evangelized by Christians instead. Too often those that make such ignorant comments forget about the Medieval Christians that did try to evangelize the Muslims, including St. Francis of Assisi. On a final point about evangelism, just as it would be absurd to say Christians should have just evangelized the Nazis rather than fight a war against them, so the same reasoning goes for the fact that the Crusades were absolutely necessary. 
When 9/11 happened, then President Bill Clinton said that the Muslims are getting back at the West for what happened in the first crusade. President George W. Bush called the War in Iraq a ''Crusade,'' and was then accused by the east of behaving like Richard the Lionheart.  A few years ago, then President Barack Obama, equalized modern jihad with the Crusades and Inquisitions of Christians of the past. Obama's criticism of the Crusades then a saw a return in criticism against him from Republican presidential candidates: Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and Bobby Jindal.  When President Trump said during the 2016 presidential debates and campaign,  that we need to bring back more of Medieval torture and ban Muslims from the country, no wonder he struck a chord with the left. Trump repeatedly talked about building a ''Medieval Wall'', and the fact the fact that Muslims have killed Christians more now than ever since the Middle Ages. For decades, the left has lied about American History, and Western History in general. The left's attempt is to make Americans no more proud of their Western roots than that found in any other culture. For to long, many Christians have been ignorant of their past, apologized for the Crusades, and have wrongly assumed that Muslims are victims of Christian bloodshed. This has resulted in many Christians apologizing for the Crusades and hoping their apology will soften the hearts of Muslims. There is no apology for truth, truth must be defended at all costs. Conservatives in recent years have seen the effects of Muslim immigration. Whether it be UKIP with Brexit in the U.K., or the Trump movement in the U.S., many Christians have been waking up to the dangers of Islam. The fact that not all Muslims are violent does not take away the danger of Islamic immigration. Closed Churches in the U. K. have become Mosques, and more people now attend Mosque than Church in France.
 Unfair generalizations are now given to the Christian past, and not simply to the Christian heritage of the Middle Ages, but also to the Christian roots of Puritan England. The left demonizes the Roman Catholic Inquisitions of the past, but it does the same to the Puritan Protestant's burning of witches in New England. Now, Christians of conservative doctrines,  are sometimes labelled ''Medieval,'' as a derogatory  insult. Whether it be Roman Catholicism or Protestantism, for decades the left has brutally attacked the reputation of Christians of past church history. This is seen in many films. Satire is now deployed against the Christian past. The left has a common way of making Christians looking silly or as hypocrites. The Monty Python films are no exception to this rule. In Monty Python: Life of Bryan, originally called Jesus Christ: Lust for Glory, another man is born next to Christ, and mistaken to be the Messiah. These are just some examples of blasphemy against Christ, which usually goes with mocking the holy church.
As someone that has for years defended the Crusades and Medieval Culture against unfair prejudice  and liberalism, I just wanted to post here some titles of books that defend Medieval Culture, the Medieval Church, and the Medieval Crusades. As liberals seem to hate Medieval Culture, I think it's important that Western Christians study more of their past to defend their Christian heritage. The books listed blow, also defend the Medieval West in more general terms as well.

 This book is just a good defense of the Crusades in general, while also exposing truths about Islam. The book shows well that not only was Islam a cult violent religion of Mohammed, but that the Crusades were in fact, very much defensive wars, called upon with good reason to defend Christendom from the Jihadist.

 This book is great for showing just a handful of the many of the devout Christians from Medieval Times. It particularity exposes how evangelistic was the Medieval Roman Catholic Church, and the great lives of some notable saints.

 This book is a good source for showing that Medieval People were not ignorant.

 This is one of my favorite books about the Middle Ages in general, focusing heavily on literature that influenced the Medieval World. Lewis's book also does much the same as the book listed above it, it shows the intelligence of art and science of medieval man. Sadly, many have seemed to have forgotten of the much knowledge that Medieval man had in certain subjects, that many now do not. For more information on this, check out my previous post on this very subject. C. S. Lewis, himself a Moderate Protestant, has always been an inspiration to my writings and theology. As a Moderate Protestant myself, I agree essentially with everything I have ever read from Lewis.

 This work is great for defending the fact that Science was not rejected by many Medieval people. Pope Sylvester II has been called the ''Science Pope'' for good reason.

 This work by G. K. Chesterton is great for showing one of the most heroic of all Medieval Christians.

 This book is a remarkable source for showing that Francis of Assisi went to the Muslims and preached to them the gospel of Jesus Christ. Perhaps more surprising to modern ears, this book shows that Saint Francis actually supported the Crusades.

 What better way to understand Medieval Times, then to understand the Medieval Christian's worldview? Augustine's City of God, was besides the Latin Vulgate Bible, the basis for the Western Christian worldview. 

 Saint Augustine's writings served not only to defend the doctrine of original sin, but formed the basis for many of the Western's minds understandings of subjects like Predestination and Free Will. Augustine also defends the concept of just war in his writings, as well as the use of torture for those that do not hold the Catholic Faith. Whatever one thinks of Augustine,  it was his worldview, it was his writings like Confessions and City of God that were some of the greatest foundations of the Medieval World. As Augustine did not teach may of the teachings later taught by the Roman Catholic Church, most notably infallibility of the pope, it is perhaps no surprise that his writings were used as much by Protestants as they were by Roman Catholics.
                                                                

While it is true that many Medieval Christians were anti-Semitic, some were the opposite. Saint Bernard felt it was God's right alone to punish the Jew for unbelief. For this topic, I can think of no better source than the above book. 

John Gillingham has written quite respected books that have defended the reputation of Richard I. He is probably the best historian of the lionheart's life. 

 Many modern day feminist have a way of criticizing the culture of the Middle Ages for Medieval Women. This small book is good for disproving many of the feminist claims. 

Protestant theologian Dr. George Grant, has been one of my longtime mentors. His book is a great source on the origins of Islam and related subjects. 

 Roman Catholic historian Dr. Jonathan Riley Smith, now deceased, is widely regarded as the greatest modern historian of the Crusades. His work is a must read. 

This is one of the good books on defending the Knight's Templar from common liberal lies that I would recommend. 

This work is good for defending the Templars against many modern lies, as well as the false accusations brought against them by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church in the late Middle Ages. Historian Frale, has recently discovered documents in the Vatican showing that they were innocent of the accusations of Sodomy. 

The above book is an account about a Friar that went to and evangelized the Mongels. I recommend it primary as a source to the common evangelism found in the Medieval Church. 

Saint Thomas Aquinas has been recognized as the universal doctor of the Catholic Church. Many of his writings are the basis for Medieval Culture's worldview in general. 

 The second book listed here by Aquinas, is not only a defense of the Christian faith against Islam, but also of Latin Christianity vrs. Greek Christianity.

This small book of woodcuts and illustrations of the Protestant Reformation is another very fair source to that period of history. 

 You may like Mary Tudor or not! She has been called, ''Mary Bloody Mary'' by Protestants ever since her queenship for her execution of hundreds of Protestants. Still, some have exaggerated her cruelty over the years, and it's important to know that Elizabeth I killed more Roman Catholics than Mary Tudor killed Protestants. 

His holiness, Pope Innocent III, defends the papacy from the Scriptures in his book. Whether or not, one believes in the papacy or not, no one can fairly say that Medieval Popes did not know the Scriptures. 

 This an excellent book showing that Medieval Christians were not ignorant of the Koran.

However you feel about the Council of Trent, that is not the subject of this post. The Introduction to to the Roman Catechism by TAN Books is an outstanding defense of the Medieval Church. It clearly shows that Medieval Christians quite often knew the Holy Scriptures etc. 

Protestant Church Historian Alister Mcgrath, is one of the world's most admired theologians. His work above, is an excellent source on a fair understanding of the Protestant Reformation and it's Roman Catholic counterpart. 

I hope you all enjoyed this. I encourage all to quit apologizing for the Christian past. Even now, many Christians wrongly think that apologizing for their past will somehow make people feel more welcome to be Christians. It's time the Religious Right experience reveal, and realize the threat of Islamic aggression.