Christian History Home > Issue 61 > Columbus's Millennial Voyage
Columbus's Millennial Voyage
The famous explorer was driven across the Atlantic by more than a quest for gold and glory.
Excerpts from The End of The World?, by Reginald Stackhouse, Copyright © 1997 by Reginald Stackhouse. Paulist Press, Inc, New York/Mahwah, NJ Reprinted by permission of Paulist Press, Inc. www.paulistpress.com | posted 1/01/1999 12:00AM
What could Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) have to do with a study of millennialism? When we think of the great explorer, we remember him for anything but eschatology. His Spanish royal sponsors, Ferdinand and Isabella, were indeed stirred by the prospect of wealth beyond their dreams. So was Columbus. But all three had something else on their minds.
Ferdinand and Isabella combined political ambition with spiritual desire, nurturing the hope of a final crusade to liberate Jerusalem. Deterred by a lack of funds, they were attracted by Columbus's proposal that finding a shorter route to the fabled wealth of the East would give them up front financing against the infidel—and prepare for Christ's coming at Jerusalem.
Columbus had another reason to undertake this journey. He held a millennialist faith derived from an assiduous study of Scripture and a familiarity with the eschatology of Joachim of Fiore. If there were a shortcut to the East by sea, missionaries could be sent there faster. Thus ...
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