Comments on: What Evangelicals Can Learn from Saint Patrick

By: Latest Links | blog of dan

Latest Links | blog of dan — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 09:34:11 +0000

[...] What Evangelicals Can Learn from Saint Patrick [...]

By: Weekly Links (3/19/10) « The Beacon

Weekly Links (3/19/10) « The Beacon — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 17:05:38 +0000

[...] of St. Patrick, Russell Moore jotted down a few thoughts on What Evangelicals Can Learn From St. Patrick. (WEB) It has nothing to do with green beer, thank the [...]

By: Josh

Josh — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:53:30 +0000

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

By: St Patrick the Evangelist | Curate’s Chronicles

St Patrick the Evangelist | Curate’s Chronicles — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:45:40 +0000

[...] Russell Moore explains what lessons evangelicals can learn from Patrick. [...]

By: Job

Job — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 02:24:45 +0000

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.

By: Casey

Casey — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:54:51 +0000

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.

By: Happy Saint Patrick’s Day: Missional Christianity « Christianity

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day: Missional Christianity « Christianity — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:27:24 +0000

[...] his life for the gospel. Commenting on Philip Freeman’s St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography:, Russel Moore writes: “This biography gives contemporary evangelicals more than a pious evangelist to emulate. It also [...]

By: Happy Saint Patrick’s Day: Missional Christianity « …thorns compose…

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 23:09:25 +0000

By: Chris Smith

Chris Smith — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 20:53:24 +0000

@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

By: Happy St. Pat’s Day! « Rhett Dodson

Happy St. Pat’s Day! « Rhett Dodson — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 19:29:40 +0000

[...] Moore has a good article about what evangelicals can learn from St. Patrick. [...]

By: stephy

stephy — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:15:08 +0000

Nice one, Patrick!

By: He’s not a leprechaun « Blog Stan the Man

He’s not a leprechaun « Blog Stan the Man — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 16:29:53 +0000

[...] know, we can learn a lot from St. Patrick, says Russell Moore. But “To our shame,” he says, “most evangelical Protestants tend to think of [...]

By: PatrickKelley

PatrickKelley — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:19:20 +0000

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.

By: Reid

Reid — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:51:26 +0000

Just finished this book and a biography of Patrick as well. Thanks for a great post.

By: C. Fowler

C. Fowler — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:48:08 +0000

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.

By: micus-stl

micus-stl — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 13:43:02 +0000

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.