According to author Phyllis Schlafly, “Christopher Columbus had a mystic belief that God intended him to sail the Atlantic Ocean in order to spread Christianity. He said his prayers several times daily. Columbus wrote what he called a Book of Prophecies, which is a compilation of passages Columbus selected from the Bible which he believed were pertinent to his mission of discovery. … Columbus’s own writings prove that he believed that God revealed His plan for the world in the Bible, the infallible Word of God. Columbus believed that he was obeying the mission God staked out for his life when he set sail west across the Atlantic Ocean.” (The Mission and Faith of Christopher Columbus)

There are few historical events that rival the “discovery of America.” Although we know people already lived on the continent and that other people from Europe had visited it before him, the voyage of Columbus was the beginning of a sea change in the distribution of world power. 

In 1492 Columbus sailed 33 continuous days into the unknown. The journey was so nerve-racking that his crew threatened mutiny toward the end of their journey. Looking back, it becomes obvious that every decision he made was crucial to the success of his expedition and the survival of his ships. George E. Nunn, a prominent geographer wrote, “It is amazing, that Christopher did not make a single false move in the entire voyage” (Nunn 43).

The sea route Columbus took seems almost providential. Over the next five hundred years it would prove to be the best possible course for sailing west from southern Europe to North America. But Columbus gave the credit to God. He wrote, “With a 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” (West and Kling 105).

One example of what Columbus considered to be answered prayer took place on  September 23, 1492.  The sea had become calm. This was a problem for him since his ships were driven by the wind. Columbus chronicled in his journal that the crew began to complain. But, shortly, the sea mysteriously rose without wind, astonishing the crew. Columbus called this a divine miracle. He wrote, “the high sea was very necessary to me, [a sign] which had not appeared except in the time of the Jews when they left Egypt [and complained] against Moses, who took them out of captivity”.

From where we sit in history, we can see that the significance of Columbus discovering America was not in that the Americas would achieve world power or wealth. The significance was in that he paved the way for many to come to the new world where they could practice religion freely and eventually spread democracy, freedom and evangelical Christianity throughout the whole world. The prayers Christopher Columbus prayed worked!