Is God Responsible for the Crusades?

Master of the Roman de Fauvel -
Published in William of Tyre's Historia, 1337

Is God responsible for things just because they happen?

That is the idea you get when listening to many people of our day. As an illustration...

Everybody at church was praying for healing for Gladys (made up name). However, she took a turn for the worse and passed away. Overheard at the next church gathering was a well-meaning word of comfort that ended, “I guess it was God’s will to take her.” 

Was it God’s will??

I have known people who expressed anger at God for ‘taking’ a loved one or for not coming through on a desired request. However...

• Was it really God’s will (fault) that you did not get the job you wanted?
• Was it really God’s will (fault) that the person you had your heart set on did not fall in love with you?
• Was it really God’s will (fault) that your grandmother died?

I do not wish to sound unkind with my questions. Yet, it is important to see where this kind of thinking leads.

Some people follow the idea that God has everything in life mapped out for everybody (especially them). So, whenever something happens, it happened because it was God’s will. Otherwise, it would not have happened.

You cannot come to that conclusion when thinking about the idolatry of God’s people in the Old Testament. What about the crusades of the 11th century, prison camps in Nazi Germany, or the lives lost on 9-11-2001?

Did you know that the crusades were carried out in the name of Jesus Christ?! They were not merely approved, but called for by a church council in 1095 under the authority of Pope Urban II. The first crusade was over possession of the “Holy Sepulchre,” a church building erected by Constantine the Great in the 4th century, and considered a holy site by many people of the Christian faith.

In light of the crusades, reflect on the words of Jesus as He answered the Roman governor Pilate just before His crucifixion, “My kingdom is not of this world. If My kingdom were of this world, then My servants would be fighting so that I would not be handed over to the Jews.” (John 18:36) How does a fight over a building and land, regardless of its purpose/use make sense?? Does God really want His people fighting over earthly possessions? I find nothing in the New Testament to justify such a thing, even if it is done by devoted Christians and even if they devoted their war to God.

Think back to the Garden of Eden. God had instructed Adam that he could eat of every tree in the garden except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. That was God’s will. He expected Adam and Eve to comply. When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, they opposed God’s instruction. No one could say, “Well, that’s too bad; it must have been God’s will.” Sin is never God’s will. Evil is not God’s will. Sin messed the world up, but it did not change God’s will.

God is “not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.” 

That is God’s will. 

God sent His Son into the world to repair the broken relationship between Himself and mankind due to sin. 

That was God’s will. 

Jesus came to seek and to save the lost. 

That was God’s will.

Whenever something happens that you do not understand or you cannot explain or that disappoints you or is vastly different from your expectation...pause before you conclude that it was God’s will just because it happened. There are many things going on in this world today that are opposed to God’s will. Make sure you are not one of them.

Mark Stinnett

September 21, 2025