The Great Commission, Papal Bulls and the Doctrine of Discovery: from the 4th Century to Current Law

Abstract

When we study Canada's Indian Residential Schools, we frequently hear the words "reconciliation", "doctrine of discovery" and "papal bulls". What we do not hear is "the great commission".

This paper traces the history of the great commission, papal bulls and the doctrine of discovery.

The purpose is to continue a study into what caused Indian Residential Schools to come into existence.

The first paper in this study was "The Deep History of White Supremacist Laws and Canada’s Indian Residential Schools: Agriculture, Civilization, the Great Chain of Being and the Great Commission" (March 16, 2021). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3805447 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3805447

The current paper expands on the history of the Great Commission: the idea that Christianity is the one true religion, that the Catholic Church has universal authority over all humans, that Christians are compelled by God to treat every non-Christian either as a potential convert or someone who should be killed. In my view, the Great Chain of Being and the Great Commission are irreconcilable with "reconciliation" between Christians and indigenous peoples.

This paper traces the history of papal bulls that purported to give indigenous lands to Christians monarchs.

This paper notes that the purported objective of the "doctrine of discovery" was to prevent Christian monarchs from going to war against each other over "discovered" lands once the pope had declared which Christian monarch had the right to spread Christianity in those lands.

This paper examines the history of how the "doctrine of discovery" was a complete failure. Christian monarchs constantly ignored the papal bulls and constantly went to war against each other for "discovered" lands.

Further, not only were the papal bulls about the Great Commission and "discovery", they were primarily about white supremacy and enslavement of Africans and indigenous peoples.

It is a grave mistake to use the vocabulary of the invaders ("doctrine of discovery") instead of the more accurate vocabulary of what was really going on: white supremacy. Do not exaggerate the importance of the "doctrine of discovery" and the related papal bulls. If they ever did have influence, their power over Christian monarchs ended in the 15th century.

Keywords: Christianity, Catholicism, Popes, Papal Bulls, Great Commission, Doctrine of Discovery, Colonialism, History, Indian Residential Schools, White Supremacy, Racism, International Law, Canada