Christopher Columbus Own Words

Christopher Columbus a Visionary

In the records left by Columbus, he was very clear of his desire to do the will of God. He declared many times of the importance of the work he felt called to do, and he felt the Lord with him. Many of Columbus’s critics point out his faults and his failures. There is no question that Columbus had faults, and failures, but he also tried to be a good person, and that is evident in his writings.

Doing the will of God was a priority for Columbus, and Columbus recorded that his mind was opened, and he knew that sailing the world was possible with the help of God.

Columbus’s words:

“With the hand that could be felt, the Lord opened my mind to the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies, and opened my will to the desire to accomplish the project.”

Columbus clung to his revelations from God, knowing that through God all things were possible. There were many at the time who thought Columbus to be crazy, it was hard to convince people to donate to his voyage, but Columbus never quit for he knew that God was with him and it would be possible.

Words Recorded By Columbus about his mission

After years of trying to get approval for his voyage Columbus finally get the funding and approval and gives the glory to God:

”The Lord purposed that there should be something clearly miraculous in this matter of the voyage to the Indies. . . I spent seven years here in your royal court discussing this subject with the leading persons in all the learned arts, and their conclusion was that all was in vain. This was the end, and they gave it up. But afterwords it all turned out just as our redeemer Jesus Christ had said, and as he had spoken earlier by the mouth of his holy prophet.”

(Christopher Columbus a man among the gentiles” by Clark B. Hinckley p.12)

Clark B. Hinckley said “Columbus’s understanding of his mission came through diligent personal study of the Bible, the fire of the Holy Ghost, and, on a few occasions, direct revelation. Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of the life of this remarkable man is the degree to which he understood his prophetic mission and his place in history.” (P12)

Columbus’s words:

“With a hand that could be felt, the Lord opened my mind to the fact that it would be possible to said and he opened my will to the desire to accomplish the project. . . This was the fire that burned within me. . . Who can doubt that this fire was not merely mine, but also of the Holy Spirit. . . urging me to press forward?”(p18)

In a letter dated July 7, 1503 Columbus records hearing a divine voice saying: “since thou wast born, ever has He[God] had thee in His watchful care.” And when Columbus was old enough “of the barriers of the Ocean Sea, which were closed with such mighty chains, he gave thee the key.”

Columbus speaks on understanding the Lords voice, and acting on revelation. He speaks on knowing the Lord gave him certain skills to make a difference in the world. The way Columbus speaks was through thankfulness for the blessings from God to be the sailor he was prepared to be.

Words of Columbus:

“I prayed to the most merciful Lord concerning my desire and he gave me the spirit and the intelligence for it. He gave me abundant skill in the mariners arts, an adequate understanding of the stars and of geometry and arithmetic.”

Columbus with the Natives

A main problems people have with Christopher Columbus was how the Natives of the America's were treated by Columbus. Through his own writings Columbus his focus was on missionary work, and sharing with this group of people the differences in their cultures.

When Columbus met natives for the first time, missionary work was on his mind he said:

“In order that they would be friendly to us-because I recognized that they were people who would be better freed [from error] and converted to our holy faith by love than by force -to some of them I gave red caps and glass beads which they put on their chests, and many other things of small value, in which they took so much pleasure and became so much our friends that it was a marvel.(p.91)