What Evangelicals Can Learn from Saint Patrick
— Wednesday, March 17th, 2010 —
To our shame, most evangelical Protestants tend to think of Saint Patrick as a leprechaun. As we watch the annual drunken parades and pop-culture consumerism of the March holiday, no one could seem more removed from biblical Christianity than Patrick. And yet, Patrick’s life was closer to a revival meeting than to a shamrock-decorated drinking party named in his honor.
In his volume, St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography, Philip Freeman, a professor of classics at Washington University in St. Louis, lays out a compelling portrait of Patrick, the theologian-evangelist. In accomplishing this, Freeman attempts to reconstruct Patrick’s cultural milieu—that of a world that had “ended” with the fall of Rome in 410 A.D. This collapse of Roman power had unleashed savagery in the British Isles, as thieves and slave-traders were unhinged from the restraining power of Caesar’s sword. Patrick’s ministry was shaped by this new world, not least of which by Patrick’s capture and escape from slavery.
Freeman helpfully retells Patrick’s conversion story, one of a mocking young hedonist to a repentant evangelist. The story sounds remarkably similar to that of Augustine—and, in the most significant of ways, both mirror the first-century conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Freeman helpfully reconstructs the context of local religion as a “business relationship” in which sacrifice to pagan gods was seen as a transaction for the material prosperity of the worshippers. Against this, Patrick’s conversion to Christianity was noticed quickly, when his prayers of devotion—then almost always articulated out loud—were overheard by his neighbors.
The rest of the narrative demonstrates the ways in which Patrick carried the Christian mission into the frontiers of the British Isles—confronting a hostile culture and institutionalized heresy along the way. With this the case, the life of Patrick is a testimony to Great Commission fervor, not to the Irish nationalism most often associated with the saint. As a matter of fact, Freeman points out that Patrick’s love for the Irish was an act of obedience to Jesus’ command to love enemies and to pray for persecutors.
This biography gives contemporary evangelicals more than a pious evangelist to emulate. It also reconstructs a Christian engagement with a pagan culture, in ways that are strikingly contemporary to evangelicals seeking to engage a post-Christian America.
Patrick’s context was a Celtic culture deeply entrenched in paganism, led by the native earth religion of the Druid priests. This is especially relevant in an era when pseudo-Celtic paganism is increasingly en vogue in American and European pagan movements. Freeman sweeps away the revisionist historical claims of the Druid revivalists: there was no “golden age” of equality among the sexes within the Druid cult, for example. Instead, Freeman shows that Patrick’s Christianity actually brought harmony among the genders with his teaching that women were joint-heirs with Christ.
Any evangelical seeking to kindle a love for missions among the people of God will benefit from this volume’s demonstration that the Great Commission did not lie dormant between the apostle Paul and William Carey. Patrick’s love and zeal for the Irish may also inspire American evangelicals to repent of our hopelessness for the conversion of, say, the radical Islamic world—which is, after all, no more “hopeless” than the Irish barbarians of Patrick’s era.
16 Responses to “What Evangelicals Can Learn from Saint Patrick”
Trackbacks
- He’s not a leprechaun « Blog Stan the Man
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Thank you so much for this post, Dr. Moore. In teaching children, I have emphasized with them that Patrick was, more than anything else, a missionary . . . and one in a foreign land at that.
Instructive how the gospel informed his teaching on treatment of women in that society, rather than his desire for justice informing his view of the gospel.
It also seems, based the “Lorica”—whether Patrick wrote it or simply inspired a later writer—that he might even be regarded (albeit somewhat anachronistically) as something of a Christian Hedonist.
Thanks for posting this. As a downtown resident of Savannah and greatly burdened to reach our city for Christ, our church held an event at which Dr. Timothy George spoke on the life and legacy of Patrick. Our own little strategic attempt to “engage with a pagan culture,” the event included a harper, a fiddler and traditional Irish dancers. It was well attended by many of our members’ neighbors and friends who, despite growing up in a city with the second largest St. Patrick’s Day celebration in the country, had no idea about the man for whom the bally-hoo takes place. The crowd mentioned that the Q&A session was particularly vibrant, engaging and enjoyable, as guests from many different faiths (as well as those from no faith at all) asked excellent, thoughtful questions of Dr. George. I couldn’t help but think that Patrick would have approved of such an event, not because it was about his life, but because it was about reaching many intellectuals who some would chalk up as “hopeless” with the Hope of all mankind.
@C. Fowler,
Calvin,
Any chance you all recorded Dr. George’s presentation? Just curious if there was audio available anywhere…I didn’t see any on your website.
Thanks,
Chris
Just finished this book and a biography of Patrick as well. Thanks for a great post.
You kind of blew it there at the end. There is no comparison between the pagans of Patrick’s day and the current state of affairs in the Islamic world. The Druids presided over a completely lawless region, in which there was no moral authority, and in point of fact, not just anybody could be a Druid. It took years of study, training, and dedication. Most of the Irish were on the outside looking in, with their own family gods, and otherwise at most partaking in a few community religious festivals here and there. But there was no overarching religious feeling, faith, or community to speak of.
While you might draw some parallels between the lawlessness there and much of the instability and violence of the Arab world, you should not mistake this with an indication that modern Muslims are isolated from the everyday functions and life of the overall Islamic community.
It all boils down to dedication. Muslims are, for the most part, steadfastly dedicated to their religion, in many cases fanatically so. The Irish were steadfastly dedicated to attending festivals and having a grand old time ever now and then, pretty much like most pagans of the pagan era, including the days before the fall of Rome. There’s a big difference, that might best be delineated as the difference between superstition and faith.
The Irish were yearning for faith and community, something the Druids could not provide to them in the best of times owing to the nature of pagan cults in general, which even among the most civilized pagan cultures were for the most part very exclusive. Most people that write about them tend not to understand this very important point. To join most pagan cults required not just faith and dedication, even more importantly it required money, influence, and social standing. Whereas even a slave can be a Muslim or Christian.
Nice one, Patrick!
PatrickKelley,
Not to speak for Dr. Moore, but I would be careful to not miss the forest for the trees on this one. He’s highlighting the truth that many modern evangelicals tend to view their Muslim neighbors in a “hopeless” light, instead of seeing the power of God that brings salvation to barbarians of every race, religion, stripe, and sect. The Irishmen and the Druids of St. Patrick’s Day were hopeless without Christ, just as is Mohammad who sits next to my cubicle at work. The same hope is there for both of them in Christ.
I did like your insight though. Good stuff.
Good show and great information! However, evangelicals should not be referring to Patrick (or to anyone else) as “saint.” We are Protestants after all, which means we adhere to the Biblical commands not to elevate anyone to worship or veneration. Please do not forget that Catholics elevate humans to sainthood for the purpose of praying to them instead of praying to God only.
St. Job,
You’ve got a good point, but forget something very important: we are ALL saints, the elect of God, sanctified by Jesus’ blood. Just because catholics misunderstand the term doesn’t mean we can’t use it.
St. Josh