Participants:
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW001473A
01:30 ♪[Theme music]♪
01:40 ♪[Theme music]♪ 01:49 >>John: This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw. 01:51 Thanks for joining me. 01:53 He's one of the least-known well-known people 01:56 in all of history. 01:57 On a certain date every year, 01:59 people all around the world celebrate him, 02:02 without knowing much of anything about him. 02:05 Here in Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is huge. 02:10 It's a national holiday in Ireland. 02:12 On St. Patrick's Day people wear green, 02:14 and there are often parades and other celebrations conducted. 02:18 It was in the 17th century that the Roman Catholic Church 02:21 set aside March 17 as a day of celebration and remembrance. 02:26 In recent decades, Ireland has been a land of religious 02:30 and political tension over the question 02:33 of who should control Northern Ireland: 02:36 the Irish or Great Britain. 02:38 The dispute goes back many hundreds of years. 02:41 ♪[Bagpipes]♪ 02:48 In the 1960s, the Troubles began in Northern Ireland. 02:52 It was a period marked by violent clashes between 02:55 unionists and republicans; 02:58 basically, between Protestants and Catholics. 03:04 More than 3,200 people died 03:07 during the 30 years of the Troubles. 03:10 There were thousands of bombings 03:12 and tens of thousands of shootings. 03:14 Men like Bobby Sands are still revered by many 03:17 here in Ireland. 03:19 Sands died in the notorious Maze Prison 03:22 just outside Belfast, 03:24 following a 66-day-long hunger strike in 1981. 03:28 In all, ten men died during that hunger strike, 03:32 men who were committed to the idea of a united Ireland 03:36 and wanted to see Northern Ireland 03:38 wrested out of the control of the British. 03:40 ♪[Music]♪ 03:47 The tension began to ease following an agreement 03:49 that was signed in Belfast on Good Friday of 1998. 03:54 But religious tension goes back much further in Ireland. 03:59 And the man responsible for radical religious change 04:02 among the Irish, 04:03 the man responsible for the Christian evangelization 04:05 of the British Isles, 04:07 is celebrated all around the world today. 04:09 ♪[Music]♪ 04:16 During his lifetime, Patrick was considered a troublemaker. 04:19 He was a disturber of the peace. 04:21 Today, you might call him a religious lightning rod. 04:25 And there's one thing Patrick wasn't. 04:27 He wasn't Irish. 04:30 He was born in the year 385 A.D. or thereabouts, 04:34 and he died around 461 A.D. 04:38 At that time, the British Isles were pagan. 04:41 They were dominated by the culture 04:43 and the religious practices of the Druids, 04:46 an elite class that had a direct line to the occult. 04:50 By the time Patrick came onto the scene, 04:52 druidism was at the height of its powers. 04:56 Druid literature speaks of the magical 05:00 and spiritual training of the Druid, 05:03 in which he is eaten by a goddess, enters into her belly, 05:07 and is reborn as the greatest poet in the land. 05:11 Mention of druidism evokes images of wizardry. 05:14 And the Druids in Patrick's day were into magic 05:17 and charms and healing powers. 05:19 They foretold the future. 05:22 And they worshipped the forces of nature. 05:24 They've been referred to as magico-religious specialists, 05:28 and it's said that they could call up a storm 05:32 to ward off invaders. 05:34 Now, while most modern scholars would not agree with this, 05:38 no less a person than Julius Caesar 05:40 made the claim that the Druids practiced human sacrifice, 05:45 burning their victims in a device known as a “wicker man.” 05:49 Caesar also said that they believed in reincarnation. 05:52 Modern scholars say that the Druids 05:54 were essentially shaman, spiritualists. 05:58 >>Dr. Trim: So the religious situation in Ireland 06:00 in the 5th century is that it is the last holdout of the Druids, 06:04 the Druids who had once been the predominant religious figures 06:07 right across the British Isles and, indeed, 06:09 the north part of what we now call France. 06:12 But they had been largely stamped out by the Romans, 06:14 who found their religious practices 06:16 such as human sacrifice objectionable. 06:18 Um, there's very little evidence of human sacrifice 06:22 being practiced by Patrick's day, 06:24 but the Druids are there. 06:25 This is a religion that is really focused on, 06:28 on nature and on spirits. 06:31 Uh, but it is a fairly sophisticated religion as well. 06:34 They had education; they were well-educated men 06:38 by the standards of the time. 06:39 And they had reasonably well worked out cosmology 06:42 and a pantheon of gods. 06:44 Um, but the Druid, druidic religion, as far as we can tell, 06:49 does seem to be in a little bit of decline by the 5th century. 06:52 It's past its heyday, and so, uh, 06:55 there is this emphasis on spirits. 06:57 Uh, and where therein might still be some human sacrifice 07:02 is that we know people are found in the bogs of Ireland, 07:04 in the peat. 07:06 Now, some of them clearly ended up there accidentally, 07:08 tripped and fell, oh, too bad. 07:10 But others we know, uh, are offered as sacrifices. 07:13 Because you're hoping that by doing that, 07:16 you can ensure you have good weather, 07:19 a good harvest, 07:20 because everything depends on the harvest, 07:22 and so you want to appease the natural deities. 07:26 >>John: It was this paganism that confronted St. Patrick 07:29 during his ministry to the Irish people. 07:32 Druid magicians hindered the work Patrick was trying to do. 07:36 The Druids resented Patrick, 07:37 knowing that his ministry was the beginning of the end 07:40 for druidism. 07:43 Patrick was born in Britain, 07:44 which at the time was controlled by the Roman Empire. 07:48 Exactly where he was born no one really knows, 07:51 although it seems likely that he was born on or near 07:54 England's west coast. 07:57 His family evidently was reasonably well off. 07:59 Both his father and his grandfather 08:01 worked in religious service. 08:03 But Patrick, as a young man, 08:05 didn't take matters of faith seriously. 08:09 When he was 16 years old, 08:10 he was captured by raiders sent or led by Ireland's King Niall. 08:16 He spent six years toiling as a shepherd, 08:19 and it was during this time that he found faith in God 08:23 for himself. 08:25 ♪[Music]♪ 08:26 God spoke to Patrick and told him to flee to the Irish coast, 08:30 where he'd find a ship waiting to take him home. 08:33 So he left his master, 08:35 traveled many miles to a port, and he found the promised ship. 08:40 He traveled back to England and made his way back to his family. 08:43 And it was there and then that he dedicated his life 08:47 to serving God. 08:50 So how did Patrick, the runaway slave, 08:53 become St. Patrick, known and loved all the world over? 08:58 And what does Patrick have to do with the Protestant Reformation? 09:02 I'll tell you more in just a moment. 09:05 ♪[Music]♪ 09:11 >>John: We look around the world and it appears this planet 09:13 is spinning out of control in many ways. 09:16 The world of today is a far cry from the world of yesterday. 09:20 Is there hope? 09:21 Yes, there is. 09:22 Our free offer today is "Hope for a Planet in Crisis." 09:26 Call us on (800) 253-3000, 09:29 or visit us online at www.itiswritten.com. 09:34 Or you can write to the address on your screen. 09:37 I'd like you to receive our free offer, 09:38 "Hope for a Planet in Crisis." 09:41 [Cricketts chirping] 09:45 ♪[Music]♪ 09:53 [Camera equipment rattling] 09:56 [Rustling in bushes] 09:59 [People talking] 10:01 [Wind blowing] 10:06 ♪[Music]♪ 10:16 ♪[Music]♪ 10:26 [Cheering] 10:36 ♪[Music]♪ 10:49 ♪[Irish music]♪ 10:56 >>John: Thanks for joining me today on It Is Written. 10:58 He's known all around the world, 11:00 and he's celebrated every March the 17th. 11:03 But who was St. Patrick, 11:05 and what did he do that made him a global icon? 11:09 Well, to begin with, he wasn't Irish; he was English. 11:13 And he wasn't a Roman Catholic. 11:15 The principles that he lived by and shared with others 11:18 made him a forerunner of the Protestant Reformation, 11:20 which would occur many years after he died. 11:23 He was taken from his home in England 11:25 by Irish raiders when he was a boy, 11:27 and he was forced into slavery in Ireland. 11:31 He eventually escaped, 11:32 and he wrote that after studying in France 11:35 and returning to his home in England, 11:37 he had a vision, 11:39 not unlike a vision Paul had in the book of Acts. 11:43 “I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. 11:47 His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, 11:51 and he gave me one of them. 11:53 I read the headling: ‘The Voice of the Irish.' 11:57 As I began the letter, 11:58 I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice 12:01 of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, 12:05 which is beside the western sea, 12:07 and they cried out, as with one voice, 12:10 ‘We appeal to you, holy servant boy, 12:13 to come and walk among us.'” 12:16 Eventually, Patrick acted on the vision he received 12:19 and returned to Ireland to work as a missionary. 12:23 He landed at the same port from which he had escaped Ireland, 12:27 and began his ministry in Tara, just north of Dublin, 12:31 in what today is the Republic of Ireland. 12:34 And before long, the son of a powerful chieftain 12:36 in the north of Ireland was converted 12:38 and joined Patrick's missionary team. 12:41 Thousands were baptized, 12:43 among them many who were wealthy and influential. 12:46 Patrick ordained pastors throughout the island 12:49 to shepherd these new Christian communities. 12:52 Here's what he said about the new Irish believers: 12:55 “Never before did they know of God 12:57 except to serve idols and unclean things. 13:01 But now, they've become the people of the Lord, 13:04 and are called children of God. 13:07 The sons and daughters of the leaders of the Irish 13:10 are seen to be monks and virgins of Christ.” 13:14 There's plenty said about Patrick's life 13:16 that's nothing more than legend. 13:19 No, he didn't chase all the snakes out of Ireland. 13:23 There'd never been any snakes in Ireland in the first place. 13:26 They certainly didn't attack him 13:27 after he had fasted for 40 days. 13:30 His walking stick did not grow into a tree. 13:34 And he never used the shamrock to teach the Irish 13:37 about the trinity. 13:39 Patrick sailed from near Drogheda to just outside Belfast 13:44 where he began sharing the gospel with people 13:46 who for the most part had zero working knowledge 13:49 of the plan of salvation. 13:51 Now, Patrick wasn't the first missionary to Ireland, 13:54 but he was the first to gain any real traction and establish 13:57 an effective, far-reaching work. 14:01 So what was it that drove 14:03 this Bible-believing missionary forward? 14:05 As the church lost its focus on the Bible, 14:09 its increasing popularity within the Roman Empire 14:12 caused it to compromise its faith and witness. 14:15 However, there were many Christians who put up 14:18 strong resistance to this new alliance of church and state. 14:23 During these centuries, the Celtic Christians set a pattern 14:27 of independence from the church of Rome. 14:30 Like the reformers which would follow them later, 14:33 they held to the Bible as their exclusive 14:36 and supreme spiritual authority. 14:39 Historians had this to say about Patrick: 14:42 “He never mentions either Rome or the pope 14:44 or hints that he was in any way connected 14:47 with the ecclesiastical capital of Italy. 14:50 He recognizes no other authority but that of the Word of God. 14:55 If he were sent by Celestine to the native Christians 14:58 to be their primate or archbishop, 15:00 no wonder that stout-hearted Patrick refused to bow his neck 15:04 to any such yoke of bondage. 15:08 There is strong evidence that Patrick had no 15:10 Roman commission in Ireland, Patrick's churches in Ireland, 15:14 like their brethren in Britain, 15:16 repudiated the supremacy of the popes, 15:19 all knowledge of the conversion of Ireland through his ministry 15:21 must be suppressed. 15:24 There is not a written word from one of them 15:25 rejoicing over Patrick's additions to their church, 15:29 showing clearly that he was not a Roman missionary.” 15:33 >>Dr. Trim: In the 5th century there is only one church. 15:36 Uh, and there's still a connection between 15:38 Britain and Rome. 15:39 It's in the middle 5th century that that gets severed, 15:41 and the British Isles gets cut off from the Roman Empire. 15:45 Um, but at that point here is still one church, 15:47 and Patrick is a member of it, 15:49 from all the evidence we have, um, 15:52 and we know that that church actually sent, 15:54 sent Germanus to Britain in 429, and one of his colleagues, 15:58 Palladius, is believed to have gone to Ireland. 16:01 Um, but he seems to have minimal impact. 16:03 But that's the church that they're part of. 16:05 But it's really the inheritance of the primitive church 16:08 of Christ's day. 16:09 Um, if we say the Catholic Church, 16:12 then people think of St. Peter's, 16:14 and a whole series of things 16:17 which just don't exist in the 5th century. 16:20 So to, you know, the danger of saying that he's 16:24 a Roman Catholic missionary, it's true in one sense, 16:27 but it's not true in another, 16:29 because it's, it, there just isn't a church like, 16:33 called the Roman Catholic Church. 16:34 There is the one church, which is called Catholic 16:38 at the time to distinguish it from Arians, 16:40 uh, who don't believe in the full divinity of Christ. 16:44 That's what Catholic means in the 5th century; 16:47 it means somebody who is an orthodox Christian 16:49 on the Trinity. 16:50 And Patrick is definitely that. 16:53 So what we know about Patrick comes largely from his writings. 17:00 There are stories, 17:01 but most of them were written down in the 7th century. 17:04 So 200 years after he died. 17:06 So there's probably some grains of truth left in them, 17:10 but a lot of exaggeration. 17:12 To judge from his own writings, he's a relatively simple, 17:16 uh, Christian. 17:17 His theology is, is relatively simplistic. 17:20 And that's not a criticism; far from it. 17:23 Uh, he's definitely trinitarian; he believes very strongly, 17:27 uh, in God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 17:30 and he's very focused on Christ. 17:31 But he has a simple message, 17:33 and he has a burning passion for the people of Ireland, 17:36 who had enslaved him as a youth. 17:39 But even after he was free, he recognized, 17:41 these people are lost in superstition 17:44 and I have good news for them. 17:45 ♪[Music]♪ 17:47 A century after Patrick, 17:49 the Church of Rome launched an attack 17:50 on the Celtic communities of Western Europe, 17:54 because the Irish customs of the Celtic church were at odds 17:57 with the customs sanctioned by the Bishop of Rome, 18:00 who by now had become a very powerful figure. 18:03 But Patrick wasn't the only one 18:05 who was reaching the world with the gospel. 18:08 After Patrick, there was Aidan, 18:10 who as a missionary went to England 18:12 and reached not only the high nobility, 18:15 but also children and slaves. 18:17 And he traveled extensively. 18:19 Like Patrick, 18:20 he wasn't affiliated with the Roman church. 18:23 Aidan established a cathedral 18:25 off the northeastern coast of England 18:27 on the island of Lindisfarne, 18:29 and from there he was greatly influential in reaching 18:32 great numbers of people for Christ, 18:34 especially in the region of Northumbria. 18:38 And there was another who reached 18:40 not only the British Isles, 18:42 but who impacted the world with the message of the gospel. 18:46 He was from this island of Ireland, 18:49 and I'll tell you who he was in just a moment. 18:52 ♪[Music]♪ 18:59 >>Announcer: Planning for your financial future 19:01 is a vital aspect of Christian stewardship. 19:05 For this reason, It Is Written is pleased to offer 19:08 free planned giving and estate services. 19:11 For information on how we can help you, 19:13 please call 800-992-2219. 19:18 Call today, or visit our website, 19:20 HisLegacy.com. 19:22 Call 800-992-2219. 19:33 >>John: Today I'd like to ask you to help It Is Written 19:35 open the eyes of the blind. 19:37 India as more blind people than any country on earth. 19:41 But simple cataract surgery can make the difference 19:43 between seeing and not seeing for many people. 19:47 Eyes for India is a project that's providing 19:49 cataract surgery for people in desperate need 19:52 of the gift of sight. 19:54 Please help today. 19:55 Call 800-253-3000. 19:59 Eyes for India and It Is Written are doing the work of Jesus 20:02 in opening the eyes of the blind and opening hearts 20:06 to the love of God. 20:08 You can also donate online at ItIsWritten.com. 20:12 Please call 800-253-3000, 20:15 or write to P O Box 6, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37401. 20:21 Or visit ItIsWritten.com. 20:28 ♪[Irish music]♪ 20:36 >>John: Thanks for joining me on It Is Written. 20:39 Right here on this very spot in Belfast, Ireland, 20:42 there was a hive of activity a little over 100 years ago. 20:46 Right here is where the Titanic was built. 20:49 Not only the Titanic, but its sister ships, 20:51 the Olympic and the Britannic. 20:53 Thousands of workers labored on this very spot. 20:56 What happened here then dominated not only this city, 21:00 but went on to impact the world. 21:03 Somebody else labored here in Ireland 21:06 whose work impacted the world, 21:07 and that was Patrick. 21:09 Patrick was a dynamic Christian missionary, 21:12 and from Ireland his influence spread to impact Christians 21:16 and Christianity all around the world. 21:20 In the time of Patrick, the church was dominated 21:22 by the popes of Rome, 21:24 and they were not too keen with what Patrick was doing. 21:27 They saw it as a direct threat against their authority, 21:30 and they were committed to getting rid 21:32 of the distinctive Irish religious practices. 21:35 But it wasn't only Patrick that impacted the world 21:39 in those days. 21:40 Aidan was an Irish missionary who traveled to England 21:44 and won many there to faith in Christ. 21:47 He was sent from the remote Scottish island of Iona, 21:51 where a missionary training center 21:53 had been established by another Irish evangelist, 21:56 a man by the name of Columba. 22:00 Today, Columba is remembered 22:01 as one of the three chief saints of Ireland, 22:04 along with Patrick and Brigit of Kildare. 22:08 He was born in Donegal, in the northwest of Ireland, 22:11 in the year 521. 22:14 When he was about 40 years old 22:15 he set off with several others to evangelize the Picts. 22:19 He traveled 100 miles to Iona and built a monastery, 22:24 not as a retreat, but as a missionary training center. 22:28 The Venerable Bede, the influential writer and scholar, 22:32 said that Columba “converted the nation to the faith of Christ, 22:36 by preaching and example.” 22:39 As well as being an evangelist and a missionary, 22:41 there was something else that set Columba apart. 22:44 In contrast with the Church of Rome, 22:47 he observed the Sabbath on Saturday, 22:49 the seventh day of the week. 22:51 There's no evidence he ever kept Sunday as the Sabbath. 22:55 Dr. Leslie Hardinge examined every primary source connected 22:59 with the Celtic church, 23:00 and confirmed this Celtic-Sabbath connection. 23:04 Just before he died, Columba said, 23:07 “This day is called in the sacred books ‘Sabbath,' 23:11 which is interpreted ‘rest.' 23:13 And truly this day is for me a Sabbath, 23:17 because it is my last day of this present laborious life. 23:21 In it after my toilsome labors I keep Sabbath. 23:26 One historian wrote, 23:28 “We find traces in the early monastic churches of Ireland 23:32 that they held Saturday to be the Sabbath 23:35 on which they rested from all their labors.” 23:39 Later, in the 11th century, Queen Margaret of Scotland 23:42 said this about Scottish Christians. 23:45 She said, “They work on Sunday, 23:47 but they keep Saturday after a sabbatical manner.” 23:51 But Queen Margaret, 23:52 later Saint Margaret in the Catholic Church, 23:54 was committed to eradicated Sabbath worship 23:58 and replacing it instead with worship on Sunday. 24:02 The Roman Emperor Constantine, 24:03 who was a pagan sun worshipper 24:06 before his nominal conversion to Christianity, 24:09 was the first to degree Sunday worship, 24:12 and he did it before Patrick's time. 24:15 But the Irish Christians were not bound by Roman decrees. 24:21 One thousand years before the beginning 24:23 of the Protestant Reformation, Patrick was a nonconformist. 24:27 Before there was a reformation, 24:29 Patrick was a Protestant. 24:33 In this way, the Celtic church formed part of 24:36 what the Bible refers to as the “Church in the Wilderness” 24:39 during the Middle Ages. 24:41 John wrote about this time of exile for Christian believers. 24:44 He said in Revelation 12 and verse 6, 24:46 “And the woman,” that's the church, 24:48 “fled into the wilderness, 24:50 where she has a place prepared by God.” 24:53 The Albigenses of southern France, 24:55 the Waldenses of Italy and the Alps, 24:57 and others like them, 24:59 chose to base their faith on the Bible, 25:01 rather than lining up behind a church that was placing 25:04 such a strong emphasis on tradition. 25:06 They kept the torch of Christian faith shining brightly in an era 25:11 of what was some pretty considerable spiritual darkness. 25:14 ♪[Music]♪ 25:18 Unfortunately, the Christians of Ireland and Scotland 25:21 didn't maintain their religious freedom indefinitely. 25:25 In time, new rulers came to power in both countries 25:29 who submitted the practices of both church and state 25:31 to the rule of the Catholic Church. 25:34 But the legacy of the Celtic church, 25:37 and Patrick in particular, was destined to live on. 25:41 The spirit of independence from Rome 25:44 was nurtured by the original British church. 25:47 Submission to rules of any sort on the European continent, 25:50 ecclesiastical or political, 25:52 didn't come easy to the British or the Irish. 25:54 ♪[bagpipes]♪ 25:55 When King Henry the Eighth 25:57 declared England free from the Roman church 26:00 and established the Church of England, or the Anglican Church, 26:04 he was simply enshrining in law what in millions of English 26:07 minds had been true for centuries. 26:10 Speaking prophetically of this time, the prophet Daniel wrote 26:13 in Daniel 11:32 and 33, 26:15 “The people who know their God shall be strong 26:18 and carry out great exploits. 26:21 And those of the people that understand shall instruct many.” 26:25 This is the true legacy of Patrick, 26:26 and of the Celtic church, 26:29 and those heroes of faith who held the true gospel 26:33 in the centuries prior to the Reformation. 26:36 Without this gospel 26:37 seed having been sown and scattered by Patrick and others, 26:41 the Reformation might never have happened. 26:45 It's said that Patrick died on March the 17th 26:48 in the year 461 A.D., 26:51 and that he's buried right here outside Down Cathedral in 26:57 Downpatrick in northern Ireland, 26:59 alongside Brigid and Columba, 27:02 two other giants of Irish history. 27:06 The legend of Patrick lives on here. 27:08 The truth of his life is even more impressive than the legend. 27:13 ♪[Music]♪ 27:17 >>John: I'm John Bradshaw from It Is Written, 27:20 inviting you to join me for 500, 27:24 nine programs produced by It Is Written 27:26 taking you deep into the Reformation. 27:29 This is the 500th anniversary of the beginning 27:32 of the Reformation, 27:33 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door 27:36 of the Castle church in Wittenburg, Germany. 27:39 We'll take you to Wittenburg, and to Belgium, 27:41 to England, 27:42 to Ireland, 27:43 to Rome, 27:44 to the Vatican City, 27:46 and introduce you to the people who created the Reformation, 27:49 who pushed the Reformation forward. 27:51 We'll take you to sites all throughout Europe 27:52 where the reformers lived and, in some cases, died. 27:55 We'll bring you back to the United States 27:57 and take you to a little farm in upstate New York, 28:00 and show you how God spread the Reformation here. 28:03 Don't miss 500. 28:05 You can own the 500 series on DVD. 28:08 Call us on 888-664-5573, 28:13 or visit us online at itiswritten.shop. 28:19 >>John: Let's pray together. 28:21 Our Father in Heaven, 28:22 I thank you today for giant figures of history 28:25 who changed the world for your glory. 28:28 People like Patrick and Aiden and Columba, 28:32 who shared the bible with people, 28:34 and urged them to know Jesus as their personal savior. 28:38 I pray today for us here, now, 28:41 I pray that we too would hear the voice of Jesus. 28:44 I pray for that one who is joining me in prayer right now 28:48 who knows that she or he must give 28:50 her or his heart to Jesus Christ now. 28:52 Friend, would you do that? 28:54 Would you reach out to Jesus, 28:55 knowing that He's reaching out to you, 28:57 and claim Him as your righteousness 28:59 and as your Lord and Savior? 29:02 Father we thank you today for the scriptures, 29:05 we thank you for your word and for Jesus the word made flesh. 29:10 And we pray with faith and thanks, 29:13 In Jesus' name, 29:15 Amen. 29:16 Thanks so much for joining me. 29:18 I'm looking forward to seeing you again next time. 29:20 Until then, remember: 29:22 It Is Written. 29:24 Man shall not live by bread alone, 29:26 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. 29:30 ♪[Theme music]♪ |
Revised 2017-10-17