Now, as something in addition to what I wrote previously (i.e. in parts 1 and 2), let's look at the historical development of the Eucharist, because a few claims are made about it.

As early as 106 AD, Ignatius of Antioch was recorded as being critical of those who abstain from the Eucharistic feast because they will not admit the presence of Christ in it, as per the previously discussed teachings from Scripture. This was not a persecutorial criticism, though; it was a theological debate that was ongoing at the time, a part of the early doctrinal formation of the Church. Many other early Christian theologians also defended the position that Christ was literally present in the Eucharist, and for the better part of 1500 years this was the dominant theological interpretation.

In other words, the vast majority of Christian history has been Eucharistic in nature, and the vast majority of historical Christians have been Eucharistic in their faith practice. This was also the predominant form of the debate for much of the rest of Church history; in fact, after a good hour of searching, I can't find any reliable records stating or confirming that people were ever executed for refusing to acknowledge Christ in the Eucharist, except on Jack Chick's lurid website...which should tell us something right there. Chick's desire for evangelism cannot be faulted, but his knowledge of history is sorely lacking.

Just to briefly enumerate the many errors Chick makes/lies Chick tells:

* Chick credits the inquisitions with killing 68 million people. This is a more egregious lie than even most atheists are willing to tell. In reality, fewer than 4,000 people were sentenced to death by the Spanish Inquisition (the "worst" of the various inquisitions), and that was over a span of some 300 years. The U.S. states with a death penalty have a higher "kill rate" than that. 68 million deaths attributable to Middle Ages Catholicism is also inaccurate for one other reason: there is no way, given the population of Europe during that time, that 68 million people could have been executed. Europe would not exist today had that many been killed.

* Chick apparently thinks that the Church labeled Jews as heretics. This is false (a heretic, in Christianity, is a baptized Christian who rejects a core dogma or doctrine).

* Chick also lies -- yes, lies -- about the Council of Trent. In his view, Trent gave Catholics the right to slaughter Jews and non-Catholics. He also asserts that the stipulations of the Council are still in full force. Both claims are false; Trent did not confer the death penalty on any individual, and its most common penalty (anathema) has been withdrawn. In fact, if you examine the entire length of the Code of Canon Law and the Catechism of the Catholic Church, you will find few references to a death penalty...and indeed, the only such references that exist are discussions of the morality of the state exercising the death penalty as a punishment option.

* Chick's numerous lies about pagan mythology and its supposed links to Catholicism are also well documented.

If Chick can't get these historical facts right, can he be trusted on other historical facts?

Now, the Reader is still welcome to trust Jack Chick as an authority on various issues, but...well...a reasonable person would pause before doing so. As noted previously, the mere fact that Chick quotes the Bible and delivers a consistent message is not sufficient reason to trust what he says as accurate, especially if one is going after Catholics. That is because Catholics -- in their core doctrines -- also deliver a consistent message, and quote from Scripture. By the metric with which the anti-Catholic poster uses to defend his trust in Chick's writings, he should also trust Catholic writings, since they both deliver a consistent message based on Scripture.

But obviously, he doesn't do that. So in the end, it's not really about Scripture at all, is it? It's about personality, and about a choice. In the end, the supposedly "Christian" poster has decided to let hatred of Catholics -- even of his own family -- into his heart, and this clouds his judgement in many lamentable and unfortunate ways.

Keep him in your prayers, folks. He needs 'em.