‘Did he really study Bible prophecy and long for Jerusalem to be liberated from Muslim rule?
The historical record proves the explorer who discovered America was a devout Christian – but some scholars believe he was ethnically Jewish. Here’s what we know.
Was Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) Jewish?
“ And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32
It’s an interesting question, especially since the historical record is crystal clear that the explorer who discovered America and the New World in 1492 considered himself a devout Christian.
- In 1500, Columbus wrote about his love for Jesus Christ and his gratitude for God’s forgiveness – “I am only a most unworthy sinner, but ever since I have cried out for grace and mercy from the Lord, they have covered me completely. I have found the most delightful comfort in making it my whole aim in life to enjoy his marvelous presence.”
- In a letter to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, the Spanish sponsors and patrons of his voyages, Columbus wrote, “It was the Lord who put into my mind (I could feel his hand upon me) that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies. All who heard of my project rejected it with laughter, ridiculing me. There is no question that the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit, because He comforted me with rays of marvelous inspiration from the Holy Scriptures.”
- Christian historians have noted that Columbus wrote about his passion to bring the Gospel to unreached people groups around the world – in the prologue to his account of the first voyage, Columbus wrote to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella: “I had given [a report] to your Highnesses about the lands of India and about a prince who is called ‘Grand Khan’…how, many times, he and his predecessors had sent to Rome to ask for men learned in our Holy Faith in order that they might instruct him in it…and thus so many peoples were lost, falling into idolatry and accepting false and harmful religions; and Your Highnesses, as…lovers and promoters of the Holy Christian Faith…thought of sending me, Cristóbal Colon…to see how their conversion to our Holy Faith might be undertaken.”
- Columbus also wanted to discover enough gold to enable the Christian world to liberate Jerusalem from Muslim rule – in his diary he wrote on December 26, 1492 that he wanted to find enough gold and the almost equally valuable spices “in such quantity that the sovereigns [of Spain]…will undertake and prepare to go conquer the Holy Sepulcher; for thus I urged Your Highnesses to spend all the profits of this my enterprise on the conquest of Jerusalem.”
- Columbus was an avid student of Bible prophecy, and even compiled a volume of his favorite Scriptures titled, Book of Prophecies.
A 1934 ARTICLE PUBLISHED BY THE JEWISH TELEGRAPHIC AGENCY
His Christian faith notwithstanding, a number of scholars believe that Columbus was actually ethnically Jewish.
As a dual US-Israeli citizen with Jewish heritage (on my father’s side, though not on my mother’s side), this has intrigued me and I’ve been reading up on this subject this week.
Here is what I’ve learned.
Read More @ All Israel HERE
