The Conversion of England¶
There is perhaps no subject of greater interest to an English Churchman, than that which is raised by the question, - How did the Church of God come to this land? Various answers have been given. Some have thought that St. Paul, in his journeyings to the West, preached the gospel here: others, that Joseph of Arimathea, who buried our Lord, was the first missionary: others again, that a British king named Lucius begged Eleutherus, a bishop of Rome, to send Christian teachers to this land. But there is no sufficient evidence for any of these tales, and they are rejected by historians as unreliable.
i¶
The most probable reply to our question is thus given by the late Dr. Bright, - “We cannot reasonably doubt that some Christians did pass over from Gaul (the early name of France) to our shores during the second century if not earlier, and planted here and there some settlements of the Church.”[1]
At the opening of the fourth century, we are met with the great story of the martyrdom of St. Alban, a Roman soldier, who was beheaded for the faith of Christ at Verulam, now known as St. Albans, in Hertfordshire. It is a matter of history that in the year 314, three British bishops were present at the Council held at Arles, a city of Gaul; and that again, in the year 359, the presence of three British bishops is noted at the Council of Ariminum in Umbria, on the Adriatic.
Up to this time the historical notices of the Church in this land are brief and scanty. But we know enough to be assured that the Church of Christ was settled here early in the fourth century, with bishops in direct line from the apostles, and the divine sacraments, and the true faith.
The fact of British bishops being present at the Councils just named, affords undoubted evidence that the British Church was recognized as a true and living branch of the One, Catholic, and Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ.
ii¶
Some time after this a terrible desolation fell upon this land, and on the Church of this country, though out of it, through much suffering, a greater life was about to arise. It happened in this manner. Roman troops for some years had occupied Britain. On their departure in the fifth century, the Britons left to themselves were unable to cope with the wild tribes of the North, and to protect themselves they invited over from Germany the Saxons, a heathen tribe. The Saxons came, and saved the Britons from their foes. But after a while the Saxons coveted this fair land, and determined to expel those whom they had come to assist, massacring them, or driving them out. The Britons found safety only in the mountainous regions of Wales, and the distant moorlands of Cornwall. With the expulsion of the Britons, every vestige of the Church settlements outside these regions perished. “Wherever the invaders came, sweeping on like a vast destroying force, the Church’s orderly system fell before them; the worship of Woden and Thor drove out the worship of Christ.”[2] It was as though a sponge had passed over the country, and the night of heathenism again set in.
The Saxons, coming over from Germany in increasing numbers, took possession of the whole land, which was afterwards called by the name of England. The British Church made no attempt to convert the conquerors, and they continued in their heathenism for many years.
At last came the first movement for the conversion of the Saxons, and that too from a singular cause. By some means or other a number of Saxon boys from Britain were taken to Rome to be sold as slaves. Standing in the slave-market, their fair faces and golden hair attracted the notice of a priest (or deacon) named Gregory, who made enquiries concerning their nation and religion. We give the story in the words of Dr. Bright, - “Passing through the Roman market, Gregory saw some boys exposed for sale… Let us try to picture him, with his ruddy face, scanty darkish hair, kindly look, and beautiful hands, as be stands still, attracted by the sad sight of those helpless lads, whose white skin and golden hair were proof enough of their Northern parentage and were associated with a beauty of face which their unhappy condition would make all the more touching. He who, in after years, used to take pains with the teaching of his young choristers, was moved to the very soul with pity for the slave boys: he asked from what country they came. The slave-owner-probably a Jew-answered, ‘From Britain: the people there have these fair complexions.’ Then came the question, as from Gregory’s full heart, ‘ Are they heathens or Christians?’ ‘Heathens.’ He sighed, as a servant of Christ might well sigh : ‘Alas! that such bright faces should be in the power of the prince of darkness-that with outward forms so lovely, the mind within should be sick and empty of grace! How do you call their nation ?’ ‘Angles.’ Then, with that fondness for playing on the sound of a name, with a serious thought under the play. fulness, Gregory replied, “Tis well-they have Angels’ faces; it were meet they should be fellow-heirs with Angels in heaven. What is their native province?’ ‘Deira’; we might translate, Yorkshire,-for the Southern of the two Northumbrian realms may for practical purposes be identified with the land between the Tees and Humber: and Gregory’s ear, catching its name, suggested the comment, ‘They must be rescued de ira Dei (i.e., from the wrath of God).’ One more question : ‘Who was their king?’ ‘Aella.’ ‘Alleluia, praise to God the Maker ought to be sung in those parts.’ He passed on, and saw the boys no more.”[3]
Soon after, when Gregory became bishop of Rome, he sent out a band of some forty monks with a priest named Augustine at their head, as missionaries to convert the Saxons. This was in the year 597. They landed in Kent; and Ethelbert the king of that part of England, whose wife, a daughter of the king of Paris, was already a Christian, gave them permission to settle in the Isle of Thanet. From thence they removed to Canterbury, which now became the head-quarters of the Roman missionaries. The king was baptized, and, as was usually the case, the tribe followed his lead. In this way, a considerable part of the south-east of the island, then known as the kingdom of Kent, was converted to Christianity.
Augustine was anxious that the British Christians, who had taken refuge in Wales and Cornwall, should place themselves under his authority. Two meetings were arranged between them and Augustine, the first at a place named Augustine’s Oak, thought to be situated south of the river Severn, the second at Bangor situated in Wales. At the latter of these meetings seven British bishops were present. Augustine asked them to join with him in preaching to the Saxons, and to give up certain customs in which they differed from the Roman uses. They refused both requests, and also to accept him as their archbishop.
The division continued until the close of the thirteenth century, when the British Church was finally absorbed in the province of Canterbury.[4]
iii¶
Whilst rightly grateful to Rome for thus taking the lead in the conversion of England, we must not forget that there are other sources of our English Christianity, possessing a more extensive influence. The Roman mission was successful as regards the kingdom of Kent, enlarging its influence as far as London, and partly into Essex, but it advanced no further. A Roman missionary indeed, Paulinus, was sent to the North as chaplain to the bride of Edwin the king of Northumbria, a daughter of Ethelbert. For a while he succeeded in making converts. But when Edwin was slain in battle, and there was a great slaughter of his people, Paulinus fled, the Church he had founded was well-nigh destroyed, and Northumbria sank back practically into heathenism.
It was then that Oswald, who succeeded Edwin and recovered the lost kingdom of Northumbria, resolved to restore Christianity. For this purpose he sought a bishop of the Church of God. On the western coast of Scotland lies a small island named Iona,[5] upon which a powerful body of Christian monks from Ireland had settled. These men were members of what is known as the Celtic Church. From Iona in the year 635, a holy bishop named Aidan came forth on his eventful mission. Bishop Lightfoot thus tells the deeply interesting story of his being sent. “Aidan was not the first choice of his spiritual superiors for this arduous work. The first missionary sent out from Iona had failed… He returned speedily to Iona disheartened, reporting that these Northumbrians were a stubborn and impracticable people, with whom nothing could be done. Aidan was present at this conference. He broke in, ‘Brother, it seems to me that thou hast been unduly hard upon these untaught hearers, and hast not given them first according to the apostle’s precept the milk of less solid doctrine, until gradually nurtured on the word of God they should have strength enough to digest the more perfect lessons.’ All eyes were turned upon the speaker. Here was the very man whom the work demanded. The humility, the patience, the gentle sympathy, the wise discretion, the whole character of the man flashes out in this simple, eager utterance.”[6]
Aidan came forth from Iona, and made his head-quarters at Lindisfarne, a little island which, at low water, may be approached from the coast of Northumberland. Here, Aidan received fellow-workers from Iona, and further gathered round him twelve English boys, whom he trained to become missionaries to their heathen countrymen. It is an interesting fact that four of these boys in later years became bishops. Under Aidan and his fellows, Christianity was restored to the North. It is well to remember that Aidan neither sought nor received sanction from Rome or Canterbury, but was sent at the request of King Oswald by the Celtic Church, as missionary bishop of the North.
In comparing the work of Augustine and Aidan, Bishop Lightfoot says, - “It was in the year 635 - just thirty years after the death of Augustine - that Aidan commenced his work. Though nearly forty years had elapsed since Augustine’s first landing in England, Christianity was still confined to its first conquest, the south-east corner of the island, the kingdom of Kent. Beyond this border, though ground had been broken here and there, no territory had been permanently acquired for the Gospel.”[7] Then commenced those thirty years of earnest energetic labour, carried on by these Celtic missionaries and their disciples from Lindisfarne as their spiritual citadel, which ended in the submission of England to the gentle yoke of Christ.” [8]
A distinguished writer of the Roman Church, in describing the work of the Roman and Celtic missionaries makes a similar admission, in these words, -
“Of the eight kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon confederation, that of Kent alone was exclusively won and retained by Roman monks, whose first attempts among the East Saxons and Northumbrians ended in failure. In Wessex and in East Anglia, the Saxons of the West and the Angles of the East were converted by the combined action of continental missionaries and Celtic monks. As to the two Northumbrian kingdoms, and those of Essex and Mercia, which comprehended in themselves more than two-thirds of the territory occupied by the German conquerors, these four countries owed their final conversion exclusively to the peaceful invasion of the Celtic monks,[9] who not only rivalled the zeal of the Roman monks, but who, the first obstacles once surmounted, shewed much more perseverance and gained much more success.” [10]
iv¶
Thus far we have dwelt upon the work of Augustine and Aidan, and their disciples. But there are others, of whom we must briefly speak, who shared in the conversion of England.
The year before Aidan came to Northumbria, a portion of England named Wessex received the Christian faith at the hands of a missionary named Birinus. His origin is uncertain, but we know that he went to Rome, and on promising to preach the gospel in parts of England which had not yet been visited by any Christian teachers, the bishop of Rome caused him to be consecrated a missionary bishop. Birinus became the first bishop of Dorchester, and laboured with great success in heathen Wessex.
There is yet the name of another founder of the Church in England to which we must refer, that of Felix. Felix came from Burgundy without any direct communication with Rome. He was consecrated abroad, as Bishop of Dunwich, a town on the coast of Suffolk, now covered by the sea, where for twenty years he laboured in the conversion of East Anglia. We have in the town of Felixstowe a survival of his name.
It is upon the foundations laid by these and such like holy men, that the English Church is built. They are our Fathers in Christ, and to them we owe a vast debt of gratitude.