WORLD HISTORY INSTITUTE OU RNAL Jmarch / april 2018 • a biblical worldview to win the future Patrick of Ireland part two hen Patrick first came to Ireland he had been some Celtic Christian brothers who shared his vi - brutally kidnapped and sold into slavery. He sion. Patrick had sold his inheritance to fund his own Wreturned to Ireland not as a slave, but as a liberator. mission. They had no army to protect them or na - This simple event “had the most extraordinary, most tional church to support them. In his autobiography, far-reaching effect. It changed the face of the nation, Confession , Patrick says that he was commissioned and utterly changed the nation’s destiny. The com - for his task by Jesus Christ alone. ing of Patrick may be Ireland was still filled said to have had a with druid priests, [magnificent] effect pagan altars and not on Ireland alone, human sacrifice. For but upon the world. It example, the Irish sac - 1 was a world event.” rificed prisoners to the When He escaped war gods and new - from slavery in Ireland, borns to the harvest Patrick made his way gods. Even “the Ro - back to his home in mans, in their first en - northern Britain. But counters with these he could never forget exposed, insane war - the desperate condi - riors, were shocked and tion of the Irish peo - frightened …. They ple. His heart longed were howling and, it to help them find God. In these stone huts on Skellig Michael Island, Irish monks painstakingly seemed, possessed by He was certain that the copied God’s Word centuries ago. From this missionary outpost the demons, so outrageous Scriptures were sent forth across Europe. Lord had called him to was their strength … be a missionary to Ireland. This belief was strength - featuring all the terrors of hell itself.” 4 ened by vivid dreams, one in which the Spirit of the Having lived in Ireland as a slave, Patrick knew the Lord spoke to Patrick: “‘He that laid down His life language and customs. He knew that he must first for you, it is He that speaks in you’; and so I awoke reach the kings if he wanted to reach the people. So, 2 full of joy.” Patrick marched directly to the fortresses of the most In preparation for his mission, Patrick dedicated powerful kings in the land. His was an extremely himself to the study of Scripture. The Bible was the dangerous mission. supreme authority and the foundation of Celtic The legendary story of Patrick’s confrontation with Christian life. Patrick’s short writings are filled with the high king of Tara portrays Patrick’s courage as 3 hundreds of biblical references. he faced these terrors of hell. It was “on Slane Hill He set sail across the Irish Sea to Ireland along with near Tara, a few miles northwest of Dublin, that continued on page 2 Before long Patrick was speaking to vast open-air audi - ences. He spoke of, “his King’s kingdom, telling them of the infinite love of his King for all of them, of His yearn - ing desire to have them know Him, and to enter into and enjoy the kingdom… whose pleasures, and whose riches and whose bliss, infinitely exceeded all that the mind of man had ever before conceived … how the bearded war - rior throngs, and even the eager youths there must have been impressed, inspired, fired and melted; how the wild ones must have felt themselves tamed; and the haughty humbled….” 7 Patrick’s was a message of hope given with deep-felt com - passion. “The Irish would have said, here is a story that Kilmacduagh monastery with stone tower at sunset. Like most Americans, answers our deepest needs—and answers them in a way so most Irish have forgotten their evangelical roots in Patrick. good that we could never even dared dream of it. We can put away our knives and abandon our altars … These are Patrick is said to have defied a royal edict by kindling a no longer required...God does not hate us; He loves us.” 8 bonfire on Easter Eve. Tara’s high king Logaire [Leary] had decreed that no one might light a fire there, before History records that Patrick and his disciples laid the Logaire himself did so to mark the pagan spring festi - foundations of Western Civilization. Following the Scrip - val.” 5 tures, Patrick became the greatest liberator of his age. His authority and wisdom came from the loving laws of the The king was enraged over Patrick’s brash defiance. He Bible and the teachings of His Savior. He was first an sent his troops to capture Patrick but there was no evangelist, the bearer of the Good News, the Gospel. He need. The man of faith walked calmly into the presence knew that only God could transform the Irish and bring of the king, his wife, the court and his warriors with them from darkness to light. shields and spears in hand. They thought the druids would overwhelm Patrick. But the missionary’s power But Patrick also knew that faith would not last long in a from God proved to be far greater. “He preached nation whose laws were not aligned with the laws of the Christ to the assembly and won to his Master the queen Creator. Personal devotion and civil reformation had to and several prominent members of the court. And, go hand in hand. “Wherever Patrick went and estab - though [the king’s] pagan faith was unshaken, he was lished a church, he left an old Celtic law book, Liber ex so far won by the man Patrick that he gave him the Lege Moisi (Book of the Law of freedom of his realm to preach the new faith where and Moses) along with the books to whom he would.” 6 of the Gospel.” The Liber begins with the Ten Patrick traveled from king to king throughout Ire - Commandments and land. The Irish had survived invasions by competing continues with warlords, Vikings or Picts thirty-five pas - rushing in with sages from the swords drawn on books of Moses. 9 the attack. But Patrick, armed only In addition, Patrick called with the Scriptures together some of the greatest and his love for the Irish legal scholars and Christian Irish, amazed them leaders who brought the civil laws of with a bravery above all Ireland into conformity with the lov - others. He saw thousands ing, impartial laws of Scripture. The and then tens of thousands monumental result was called the become passionate believers Senchus Mor .10 in Christ. 2 DANGERS AND RISKS to become a literate, intelligent people who would cre - Patrick traveled Ireland for thirty years along primitive ate the earliest and greatest learning centers and col - horse trails, aware that he might be killed at any time. leges of the Middle Ages. In the next thirty years He writes, “Daily, I expect murder, fraud or captivity, Patrick and his disciples founded over 700 churches or whatever it may be; but I fear none of these things where once there had been only walled fortresses of because of the promises of heaven. I have cast myself bloodthirsty warlords. The scope of Patrick’s accom - into the hands of God almighty who rules every - plishments and faith is best understood when we ob - where.” 11 serve the changes that he and his disciples brought to the world in the coming centuries. There were no cities with inns or homes to greet these strangers. There were only farms and fortresses with STANDING AGAINST SLAVERY competing bands of warriors. There were about one He was the first leader of a gentile nation to call for hundred of these chieftains or “kings”. Most only had the end of the pagan practice of kidnapping and slav - power over small groups of rural families and a band of ery. “Within his lifetime or soon after his death, the terrorist-like warriors. Thousands of years of pagan Irish slave trade came to a halt, and other forms of idol worship had kept the Irish in a violent, terrifying violence, such as murder and intertribal warfare, culture of death. Many people from this culture had decreased.” 14 vested interests in killing the new faith and its messen - gers. Patrick speaks of being kidnapped or ambushed at least twelve times. “The merciful God often freed me from slavery and from twelve dangers in which my life was at stake—not to mention numerous plots … God is my witness, who knows all things even before they come to pass, as He used to forewarn even me … of many things by a divine message.” Patrick says, “I came to the people of Ireland to preach the Gospel, and to suffer insult from the unbelievers…I am pre - pared to give even my life without hesitation and most gladly for His name, and it is there that I wish to spend it until I die.” 12 A view to the sea from inside one of the monks’ stone huts on TRANSFORMING IRELAND Skellig Michael Island. Not only royalty but children, women, and slaves were Patrick taught the former Irish pirates to respect the drawn to Patrick and his mission. The young left pil - sanctity of life and the biblical laws that require “equal laging with the sword and turned to serving Christ justice for all.” Unfortunately, northern Britain had and helping Patrick transformed the island nation. been overrun by petty kings after the Roman Legions Together with his strengths as a church builder, law- withdrew to Rome.