Was it sinful for early missionaries to forcibly convert people to Christianity?

Answer 1

Of course. For example, the Spanish conquistadors did not invade south America to fill the churches, but to fill their pockets. Hand in hand with the missionaries they comitted genocide with that aim. Religion has always been used as a front for aggression and greed, and as a means of pacifying a conquered population. Even Bush claims to be on a God given mission.

Answer

In any case, forcing any religion on anyone is immoral and therefore sinful.By "forcibly", I presume you mean "with violence"

Answer

Absolutely sinful and to paraphrase Lincoln, 'if it wasn't sinful nothing is'. In so doing they forfeited the right to be called Christian. Not only that, but they gave thousands of people since an excuse for avoiding the true Christian faith. The end does not justify the means and in any case such persons would have been Christians only in name as the Holy Spirit needs to do the work in a persons heart, not the sword of man.

It also depends where you draw the line 'early' as the very first Christian missionaries most certainly did not use violence but rather they had violence inflicted upon them from the time of the martyrdoms of Stephen and James onwards. Perhaps this accounts partly for the rapid spread of the true Christian faith in the early days. People were truly converted and convicted when they saw not only the great love the Christians had for their Lord but also for each other and then to the Roman populace at large. It is said that during one of the terrible plagues when thousands of Romans died and many fled that the Christians were the only ones to stay behind and care for the sick.

Subsequently, probably dating from around the time of Constantine onwards, violence, linked to state patronage of the church, became more the norm and true conversions less. God's methods are not mans methods.