Participants:
Series Code: IIW
Program Code: IIW017149S
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00:10 ♪[Theme music]♪
00:19 >>John Bradshaw: This is It Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw. 00:22 Thanks for joining me. 00:23 He's one of the least-known well-known people 00:26 in all of history. 00:28 On a certain date every year, 00:29 people all around the world celebrate him, 00:32 without knowing much of anything about him. 00:35 Here in Ireland, St. Patrick's Day is huge. 00:40 It's a national holiday in Ireland. 00:42 On St. Patrick's Day people wear green, 00:44 and there are often parades and other celebrations conducted. 00:48 It was in the 17th century that the Roman Catholic Church 00:51 set aside March 17 as a day of celebration and remembrance. 00:56 In recent decades, Ireland has been a land of religious 01:00 and political tension over the question 01:03 of who should control Northern Ireland: 01:06 the Irish or Great Britain. 01:09 The dispute goes back many hundreds of years. 01:11 ♪[Bagpipes]♪ 01:18 In the 1960s, the Troubles began in Northern Ireland. 01:22 It was a period marked by violent clashes between 01:25 unionists and republicans-- 01:28 basically, between Protestants and Catholics. 01:35 More than 3,200 people died 01:37 during the 30 years of the Troubles. 01:40 There were thousands of bombings 01:42 and tens of thousands of shootings. 01:44 Men like Bobby Sands are still revered by many 01:48 here in Ireland. 01:49 Sands died in the notorious Maze Prison 01:52 just outside Belfast, 01:54 following a 66-day-long hunger strike in 1981. 01:58 In all, 10 men died during that hunger strike, 02:02 men who were committed to the idea of a united Ireland 02:06 and wanted to see Northern Ireland 02:08 wrested out of the control of the British. 02:10 ♪[Music]♪ 02:17 The tension began to ease following an agreement 02:19 that was signed in Belfast on Good Friday of 1998. 02:25 But religious tension goes back much further in Ireland. 02:29 And the man responsible for radical religious change 02:32 among the Irish, 02:33 the man responsible for the Christian evangelization 02:35 of the British Isles, 02:37 is celebrated all around the world today. 02:39 ♪[Music]♪ 02:46 During his lifetime, Patrick was considered a troublemaker. 02:49 He was a disturber of the peace. 02:51 Today, you might call him a religious lightning rod. 02:55 And there's one thing Patrick wasn't. 02:58 He wasn't Irish. 03:00 He was born in the year 385 A.D. or thereabouts, 03:04 and he died around 461 A.D. 03:08 At that time, the British Isles were pagan. 03:11 They were dominated by the culture 03:13 and the religious practices of the druids, 03:16 an elite class that had a direct line to the occult. 03:20 By the time Patrick came onto the scene, 03:22 druidism was at the height of its powers. 03:27 Druid literature speaks of the magical 03:30 and spiritual training of the druid, 03:33 in which he is eaten by a goddess, enters into her belly, 03:37 and is reborn as the greatest poet in the land. 03:41 Mention of druidism evokes images of wizardry. 03:44 And the druids in Patrick's day were into magic 03:47 and charms and healing powers. 03:49 They foretold the future. 03:52 And they worshipped the forces of nature. 03:54 They've been referred to as magico-religious specialists, 03:58 and it's said that they could call up a storm 04:02 to ward off invaders. 04:04 Now, while most modern scholars would not agree with this, 04:08 no less a person than Julius Caesar 04:10 made the claim that the druids practiced human sacrifice, 04:15 burning their victims in a device known as a “wicker man.” 04:19 Caesar also said that they believed in reincarnation. 04:22 Modern scholars say that the druids 04:24 were essentially shaman, spiritualists. 04:28 >>Dr. David Trim: So the religious situation in Ireland 04:30 in the 5th century is that it is the last holdout of the druids, 04:34 the druids who had once been the predominant religious figures 04:37 right across the British Isles and, indeed, 04:39 the north part of what we now call France. 04:42 But they had been largely stamped out by the Romans, 04:44 who found their religious practices, 04:46 such as human sacrifice, objectionable. 04:48 Um, there's very little evidence of human sacrifice 04:51 being practiced by Patrick's day, 04:54 but the druids are there. 04:55 This is a religion that is really focused on, 04:58 on nature and on spirits. 05:01 Uh, but it is a fairly sophisticated religion as well. 05:04 They had education; they were well-educated men 05:08 by the standards of the time. 05:09 And they had reasonably well worked out cosmology 05:12 and a pantheon of gods. 05:14 Um, but the druid, druidic religion, as far as we can tell, 05:19 does seem to be in a little bit of decline by the 5th century. 05:22 It's past its heyday, and so, uh, 05:24 there is this emphasis on spirits. 05:27 Uh, and where therein might still be some human sacrifice 05:32 is that we know people are found in the bogs of Ireland, 05:34 in the peat. 05:35 Now, some of them clearly ended up there accidentally, 05:37 tripped and fell, oh, too bad. 05:39 But others we know, uh, are offered as sacrifices. 05:43 Because you're hoping that by doing that, 05:46 you can ensure you have good weather, 05:49 a good harvest, 05:50 because everything depends on the harvest, 05:52 and so you want to appease the natural deities. 05:56 >>John: It was this paganism that confronted St. Patrick 05:59 during his ministry to the Irish people. 06:02 Druid magicians hindered the work Patrick was trying to do. 06:05 The druids resented Patrick, 06:07 knowing that his ministry was the beginning of the end 06:10 for druidism. 06:13 Patrick was born in Britain, 06:14 which at the time was controlled by the Roman Empire. 06:18 Exactly where he was born no one really knows, 06:21 although it seems likely that he was born on or near 06:24 England's west coast. 06:27 His family evidently was reasonably well-off. 06:29 Both his father and his grandfather 06:31 worked in religious service. 06:33 But Patrick, as a young man, 06:35 didn't take matters of faith seriously. 06:38 When he was 16 years old, 06:40 he was captured by raiders sent or led by Ireland's King Niall. 06:46 He spent six years toiling as a shepherd, 06:49 and it was during this time that he found faith in God 06:53 for himself. 06:54 ♪[Music]♪ 06:56 God spoke to Patrick and told him to flee to the Irish coast, 07:00 where he'd find a ship waiting to take him home. 07:03 So he left his master, 07:05 traveled many miles to a port, and he found the promised ship. 07:10 He traveled back to England and made his way back to his family. 07:13 And it was there and then that he dedicated his life 07:17 to serving God. 07:19 So how did Patrick, the runaway slave, 07:23 become St. Patrick, known and loved all the world over? 07:28 And what does Patrick have to do with the Protestant Reformation? 07:32 I'll tell you more in just a moment. 07:34 ♪[Music]♪ 07:41 >>John: We look around the world and it appears this planet 07:43 is spinning out of control in many ways. 07:46 The world of today is a far cry from the world of yesterday. 07:49 Is there hope? 07:50 Yes, there is. 07:52 Our free offer today is "Hope for a Planet in Crisis." 07:55 Call us on (800) 253-3000, 07:58 or visit us online at www.itiswritten.com 08:04 Or you can write to the address on your screen. 08:06 I'd like you to receive our free offer, 08:08 "Hope for a Planet in Crisis." 08:11 [Crickets chirping] 08:15 ♪[Music]♪ 08:23 [Camera equipment rattling] 08:26 [Rustling in bushes] 08:28 [People talking] 08:31 [Wind blowing] 08:36 ♪[Music]♪ 08:46 ♪[Music]♪ 08:56 [Cheering] 09:05 ♪[Music]♪ 09:19 ♪[Irish music]♪ 09:25 >>John: Thanks for joining me today on It Is Written. 09:28 He's known all around the world, 09:30 and he's celebrated every March the 17th. 09:33 But who was St. Patrick, 09:35 and what did he do that made him a global icon? 09:38 Well, to begin with, he wasn't Irish; he was English. 09:43 And he wasn't a Roman Catholic. 09:45 The principles that he lived by and shared with others 09:47 made him a forerunner of the Protestant Reformation, 09:50 which would occur many years after he died. 09:53 He was taken from his home in England 09:55 by Irish raiders when he was a boy, 09:57 and he was forced into slavery in Ireland. 10:01 He eventually escaped, 10:02 and he wrote that after studying in France 10:04 and returning to his home in England, 10:07 he had a vision, 10:09 not unlike a vision Paul had in the book of Acts. 10:13 “I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. 10:16 His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, 10:21 and he gave me one of them. 10:23 I read the heading: 'The Voice of the Irish.' 10:26 As I began the letter, 10:28 I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice 10:31 of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, 10:35 which is beside the western sea, 10:37 and they cried out, as with one voice, 10:40 'We appeal to you, holy servant boy, 10:42 to come and walk among us.'” 10:46 Eventually, Patrick acted on the vision he received 10:49 and returned to Ireland to work as a missionary. 10:52 He landed at the same port from which he had escaped Ireland, 10:56 and began his ministry in Tara, just north of Dublin, 11:01 in what today is the Republic of Ireland. 11:03 And before long, the son of a powerful chieftain 11:06 in the north of Ireland was converted 11:08 and joined Patrick's missionary team. 11:11 Thousands were baptized, 11:12 among them many who were wealthy and influential. 11:16 Patrick ordained pastors throughout the island 11:18 to shepherd these new Christian communities. 11:21 Here's what he said about the new Irish believers: 11:25 “Never before did they know of God 11:26 except to serve idols and unclean things. 11:30 But now, they've become the people of the Lord, 11:33 and are called children of God. 11:37 The sons and daughters of the leaders of the Irish 11:40 are seen to be monks and virgins of Christ.” 11:43 There's plenty said about Patrick's life 11:46 that's nothing more than legend. 11:48 No, he didn't chase all the snakes out of Ireland. 11:52 There'd never been any snakes in Ireland in the first place. 11:55 They certainly didn't attack him 11:57 after he had fasted for 40 days. 12:00 His walking stick did not grow into a tree. 12:04 And he never used the shamrock to teach the Irish 12:06 about the Trinity. 12:09 Patrick sailed from near Drogheda to just outside Belfast 12:13 where he began sharing the gospel with people, 12:15 who, for the most part, had zero working knowledge 12:18 of the plan of salvation. 12:20 Now, Patrick wasn't the first missionary to Ireland, 12:23 but he was the first to gain any real traction and establish 12:27 an effective, far-reaching work. 12:30 So what was it that drove 12:32 this Bible-believing missionary forward? 12:35 As the church lost its focus on the Bible, 12:38 its increasing popularity within the Roman Empire 12:41 caused it to compromise its faith and witness. 12:45 However, there were many Christians who put up 12:47 strong resistance to this new alliance of church and state. 12:53 During these centuries, the Celtic Christians set a pattern 12:57 of independence from the church of Rome. 13:00 Like the reformers which would follow them later, 13:02 they held to the Bible as their exclusive 13:05 and supreme spiritual authority. 13:08 Historians had this to say about Patrick: 13:11 “He never mentions either Rome or the pope 13:14 or hints that he was in any way connected 13:16 with the ecclesiastical capital of Italy. 13:20 He recognizes no other authority but that of the Word of God. 13:24 If he were sent by Celestine to the native Christians 13:27 to be their primate or archbishop, 13:29 no wonder that stout-hearted Patrick refused to bow his neck 13:33 to any such yoke of bondage. 13:37 There is strong evidence that Patrick had no 13:39 Roman commission in Ireland. 13:42 Patrick's churches in Ireland, 13:43 like their brethren in Britain, 13:45 repudiated the supremacy of the popes. 13:48 All knowledge of the conversion of Ireland through his ministry 13:51 must be suppressed. 13:53 There is not a written word from one of them 13:55 rejoicing over Patrick's additions to their church, 13:58 showing clearly that he was not a Roman missionary.” 14:02 >>Dr. Trim: In the 5th century there is only one church. 14:05 Uh, and there's still a connection between 14:07 Britain and Rome. 14:09 It's in the middle 5th century that that gets severed, 14:11 and the British Isles gets cut off from the Roman Empire. 14:14 Um, but at that point here is still one church, 14:17 and Patrick is a member of it, 14:18 from all the evidence we have, um, 14:21 and we know that that church actually sent, 14:23 sent Germanus to Britain in 429, and one of his colleagues, 14:27 Palladius, is believed to have gone to Ireland. 14:30 Um, but he seems to have minimal impact. 14:33 But that's the church that they're part of. 14:34 But it's really the inheritance of the primitive church 14:37 of Christ's day. 14:39 Um, if we say the Catholic Church, 14:42 then people think of St. Peter's, 14:43 and a whole series of things 14:46 which just don't exist in the 5th century. 14:50 So to, you know, the danger of saying that he's 14:53 a Roman Catholic missionary, it's true in one sense, 14:56 but it's not true in another, 14:58 because there--it's, it--there just isn't a church, like, 15:02 called the Roman Catholic Church. 15:04 There is the one church, which is called "Catholic" 15:08 at the time to distinguish it from Arians, 15:10 uh, who don't believe in the full divinity of Christ. 15:13 That's what "Catholic" means in the 5th century; 15:16 it means somebody who is an orthodox Christian 15:18 on the Trinity. 15:20 And Patrick is definitely that. 15:23 So what we know about Patrick comes largely from his writings. 15:29 There are stories, 15:30 but most of them were written down in the 7th century, 15:33 so, 200 years after he died. 15:35 So there's probably some grains of truth left in them, 15:40 but a lot of exaggeration. 15:42 To judge from his own writings, he's a relatively simple, 15:45 uh, Christian. 15:46 His theology is, is relatively simplistic. 15:50 And that's not a criticism--far from it. 15:52 Uh, he's definitely trinitarian; he believes very strongly, 15:56 uh, in God the Father, God the Son, and the Holy Spirit, 15:59 and he's very focused on Christ. 16:01 But he has a simple message, 16:02 and he has a burning passion for the people of Ireland, 16:06 who had enslaved him as a youth. 16:08 But even after he was free, he recognized, 16:10 these people are lost in superstition 16:13 and I have good news for them. 16:15 ♪[Music]♪ 16:16 A century after Patrick, 16:18 the church of Rome launched an attack 16:20 on the Celtic communities of Western Europe, 16:23 because the Irish customs of the Celtic church were at odds 16:26 with the customs sanctioned by the Bishop of Rome, 16:29 who by now had become a very powerful figure. 16:32 But Patrick wasn't the only one 16:34 who was reaching the world with the gospel. 16:37 After Patrick, there was Aidan, 16:39 who as a missionary went to England 16:41 and reached not only the high nobility, 16:44 but also children and slaves. 16:46 And he traveled extensively. 16:48 Like Patrick, 16:49 he wasn't affiliated with the Roman church. 16:52 Aidan established a cathedral 16:54 off the northeastern coast of England 16:56 on the island of Lindisfarne, 16:58 and from there he was greatly influential in reaching 17:01 great numbers of people for Christ, 17:03 especially in the region of Northumbria. 17:07 And there was another who reached 17:09 not only the British Isles, 17:11 but who impacted the world with the message of the gospel. 17:16 He was from this island of Ireland, 17:18 and I'll tell you who he was in just a moment. 17:21 ♪[Music]♪ 17:29 >>Announcer: Planning for your financial future 17:30 is a vital aspect of Christian stewardship. 17:34 For this reason, It Is Written is pleased to offer 17:37 free planned giving and estate services. 17:40 For information on how we can help you, 17:42 please call 800-992-2219 17:47 Call today, or visit our website, 17:49 HisLegacy.com 17:51 Call 800-992-2219 18:02 >>John Bradshaw: Today I'd like to ask you to help It Is Written 18:04 open the eyes of the blind. 18:07 India has more blind people than any country on earth. 18:10 But simple cataract surgery can make the difference 18:12 between seeing and not seeing for many people. 18:16 Eyes for India is a project that's providing 18:19 cataract surgery for people in desperate need 18:21 of the gift of sight. 18:23 Please help today. 18:24 Call 800-253-3000 18:28 Eyes for India and It Is Written are doing the work of Jesus 18:31 in opening the eyes of the blind and opening hearts 18:35 to the love of God. 18:37 You can also donate online at ItIsWritten.com. 18:41 Please call 800-253-3000 18:45 or write to P O Box 6, Chattanooga, Tennessee 37401. 18:50 Or visit ItIsWritten.com 18:57 ♪[Irish music]♪ 19:05 >>John: Thanks for joining me on It Is Written. 19:08 Right here on this very spot in Belfast, Ireland, 19:11 there was a hive of activity a little over 100 years ago. 19:15 Right here is where the Titanic was built. 19:18 Not only the Titanic, but its sister ships, 19:20 the Olympic and the Britannic. 19:23 Thousands of workers labored on this very spot. 19:26 What happened here then dominated not only this city, 19:29 but went on to impact the world. 19:32 Somebody else labored here in Ireland 19:35 whose work impacted the world, 19:37 and that was Patrick. 19:38 Patrick was a dynamic Christian missionary, 19:41 and from Ireland his influence spread to impact Christians 19:46 and Christianity all around the world. 19:49 In the time of Patrick, the church was dominated 19:52 by the popes of Rome, 19:53 and they were not too keen with what Patrick was doing. 19:56 They saw it as a direct threat against their authority, 19:59 and they were committed to getting rid 20:01 of the distinctive Irish religious practices. 20:05 But it wasn't only Patrick that impacted the world 20:08 in those days. 20:09 Aidan was an Irish missionary who traveled to England 20:13 and won many there to faith in Christ. 20:16 He was sent from the remote Scottish island of Iona, 20:20 where a missionary training center 20:22 had been established by another Irish evangelist, 20:25 a man by the name of Columba. 20:29 Today, Columba is remembered 20:30 as one of the three chief saints of Ireland, 20:33 along with Patrick and Brigid of Kildare. 20:37 He was born in Donegal, in the northwest of Ireland, 20:40 in the year 521. 20:43 When he was about 40 years old, 20:44 he set off with several others to evangelize the Picts. 20:48 He traveled 100 miles to Iona and built a monastery, 20:53 not as a retreat, but as a missionary training center. 20:57 The Venerable Bede, the influential writer and scholar, 21:01 said that Columba “converted the nation to the faith of Christ, 21:05 by preaching and example.” 21:08 As well as being an evangelist and a missionary, 21:10 there was something else that set Columba apart. 21:13 In contrast with the church of Rome, 21:16 he observed the Sabbath on Saturday, 21:18 the seventh day of the week. 21:20 There's no evidence he ever kept Sunday as the Sabbath. 21:24 Dr. Leslie Hardinge examined every primary source connected 21:28 with the Celtic church, 21:29 and confirmed this Celtic Sabbath connection. 21:33 Just before he died, Columba said, 21:36 “This day is called in the sacred books 'Sabbath,' 21:40 which is interpreted 'rest.' 21:42 And truly this day is for me a Sabbath, 21:46 because it is my last day of this present laborious life. 21:50 In it after my toilsome labors I keep Sabbath. 21:55 One historian wrote, 21:57 “We find traces in the early monastic churches of Ireland 22:01 that they held Saturday to be the Sabbath 22:03 on which they rested from all their labors.” 22:08 Later, in the 11th century, Queen Margaret of Scotland 22:11 said this about Scottish Christians. 22:14 She said, “They work on Sunday, 22:16 but they keep Saturday after a sabbatical manner.” 22:20 But Queen Margaret, 22:21 later Saint Margaret in the Catholic Church, 22:23 was committed to eradicating Sabbath worship 22:27 and replacing it instead with worship on Sunday. 22:30 The Roman emperor Constantine, 22:32 who was a pagan sun worshipper 22:34 before his nominal conversion to Christianity, 22:38 was the first to decree Sunday worship, 22:41 and he did it before Patrick's time. 22:44 But the Irish Christians were not bound by Roman decrees. 22:49 One thousand years before the beginning 22:52 of the Protestant Reformation, Patrick was a nonconformist. 22:56 Before there was a reformation, 22:58 Patrick was a Protestant. 23:02 In this way, the Celtic church formed part 23:05 of what the Bible refers to as the “church in the wilderness” 23:08 during the Middle Ages. 23:10 John wrote about this time of exile for Christian believers. 23:13 He said in Revelation 12 and verse 6, 23:15 “And the woman”-- that's the church-- 23:17 “fled into the wilderness, 23:19 where she has a place prepared by God.” 23:22 The Albigenses of southern France, 23:24 the Waldenses of Italy and the Alps, 23:26 and others like them, 23:28 chose to base their faith on the Bible, 23:30 rather than lining up behind a church that was placing 23:33 such a strong emphasis on tradition. 23:35 They kept the torch of Christian faith shining brightly in an era 23:39 of what was some pretty considerable spiritual darkness. 23:43 ♪[Music]♪ 23:47 Unfortunately, the Christians of Ireland and Scotland 23:50 didn't maintain their religious freedom indefinitely. 23:54 In time, new rulers came to power in both countries 23:57 who submitted the practices of both church and state 24:00 to the rule of the Catholic Church. 24:03 But the legacy of the Celtic church, 24:06 and Patrick in particular, was destined to live on. 24:10 The spirit of independence from Rome 24:13 was nurtured by the original British church. 24:16 Submission to rules of any sort on the European continent, 24:19 ecclesiastical or political, 24:21 didn't come easy to the British or the Irish. 24:23 ♪[bagpipes]♪ 24:24 When King Henry VIII 24:26 declared England free from the Roman church 24:28 and established the Church of England, or the Anglican Church, 24:32 he was simply enshrining in law what in millions of English 24:36 minds had been true for centuries. 24:39 Speaking prophetically of this time, the prophet Daniel wrote 24:42 in Daniel 11:32 and 33, 24:44 “The people who know their God shall be strong 24:47 and carry out great exploits. 24:49 And those of the people that understand shall instruct many.” 24:53 This is the true legacy of Patrick, 24:55 and of the Celtic church, 24:57 and those heroes of faith who held the true gospel 25:02 in the centuries prior to the Reformation. 25:05 Without this gospel seed having been sown 25:07 and scattered by Patrick and others, 25:10 the Reformation might never have happened. 25:14 It's said that Patrick died on March the 17th 25:17 in the year 461 A.D., 25:19 and that he's buried right here outside Down Cathedral in 25:26 Downpatrick in northern Ireland, 25:28 alongside Brigid and Columba, 25:31 two other giants of Irish history. 25:34 The legend of Patrick lives on here. 25:37 The truth of his life is even more impressive than the legend. 25:41 ♪[Music]♪ 25:46 >>John: I'm John Bradshaw from It Is Written, 25:49 inviting you to join me for "500," 25:53 nine programs produced by It Is Written 25:55 taking you deep into the Reformation. 25:58 This is the 500th anniversary of the beginning 26:01 of the Reformation, 26:02 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 theses to the door 26:05 of the Castle church in Wittenburg, Germany. 26:08 We'll take you to Wittenburg, and to Belgium, 26:10 to England, to Ireland, 26:12 to Rome, to the Vatican City, 26:14 and introduce you to the people who created the Reformation, 26:17 who pushed the Reformation forward. 26:19 We'll take you to sites all throughout Europe 26:21 where the reformers lived and, in some cases, died. 26:24 We'll bring you back to the United States 26:26 and take you to a little farm in upstate New York, 26:29 and show you how God spread the Reformation here. 26:32 Don't miss "500." 26:34 You can own the "500" series on DVD. 26:37 Call us on 888-664-5573 26:41 Or visit us online at itiswritten.shop 26:47 >>John: Let's pray together. 26:49 Our Father in heaven, 26:50 I thank You today for giant figures of history 26:54 who changed the world for Your glory. 26:57 People like Patrick and Aiden and Columba, 27:01 who shared the Bible with people, 27:03 and urged them to know Jesus as their personal Savior. 27:06 I pray today for us here, now, 27:10 I pray that we, too, would hear the voice of Jesus. 27:12 I pray for that one who is joining me in prayer right now 27:17 who knows that she or he must give 27:19 her or his heart to Jesus Christ now. 27:21 Friend, would you do that? 27:23 Would you reach out to Jesus, 27:24 knowing that He's reaching out to you, 27:26 and claim Him as your righteousness 27:28 and as your Lord and Savior? 27:31 Father, we thank You today for the Scriptures, 27:33 we thank You for Your Word and for Jesus the "Word made flesh." 27:39 And we pray with faith and thanks, 27:41 In Jesus's name, 27:43 Amen. 27:45 Thanks so much for joining me. 27:46 I'm looking forward to seeing you again next time. 27:49 Until then, remember: 27:51 "It is written, 27:52 'Man shall not live by bread alone, 27:55 but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.'" 27:58 ♪[Theme music]♪ |
Revised 2020-05-20