THE INTRODUCTION OF CHRISTIANITY INTO BRITAIN.
There is no doubt Christianity existed in Britain in the third and fourth centuries, but by whom it was introduced there is no reliable account in history.
It may have been by Christians in the Roman army, as there would have doubtless been such. And God is pleased to work by obscure and unknown means.
The irruptions of the Picts, and savage pagan Saxons, seem to have swept away every vestige of it, in very large districts. It was however preserved among the remains of the Britons in the west, as well as some parts of Ireland, and also in Scotland.
It was in A.D. 596 that Augustine, with a number of monks, arrived in Kent; and being favorably received by Ethelbert and his queen, had great success in their labors. Paulinus, one of them, had still greater success in the north. Edwin, king of Northumbria, was convinced of the excellence of Christianity. Before embracing it, he held an assembly of his nobles and counselors, in the hope that he would prevail with them to concur in his resolution. “As soon as the assembly had been convened, and the subject had been proposed by the king for discussion, Coifi, his high priest, who was no doubt acquainted with the sentiments of his royal master, rose and addressed him to the following effect, ‘It becomes you, Ο king, to inquire into the nature of that religion which is now proposed to us. In regard to that which we have hitherto had, I solemnly declare, that I have found it altogether worthless and unprofitable: none of your people has been more devoted to the service of our gods than I; yet many receive from you more ample favors, and greater honors, and prosper more in all their undertakings. If the gods had any influence, they would surely give the greatest share of their favors to their most zealous servant. Therefore, if the new doctrines which are preached to us, appear to you, upon examination, to be better, and more certain, let us hasten to embrace them without delay.’”
It will be noticed, there was far more of policy in this speech than conviction of sin, and felt need of a Savior. Another of Edwin’s grandees is reported to have made the following remarkable speech.
“So short, Ο king, is the present life of man on earth, compared with that extent of time which is hidden from our view, that it seems to me like the sudden flight of a sparrow through your house, when you are at supper with your generals and ministers, in a winter evening, and the hall is heated by a fire in the midst,—It comes in at one door, but presently goes out at another; and though it feels not the wintry tempest when within, yet it enjoys only a momentary calm, while it passes from winter on the one side, to winter on the other, and then disappears from our eyes. Such is the life of man; it appears for a little space, but what follows it, or what has preceded it, we cannot tell. If, therefore, this new doctrine presents us with something more certain, it ought by all means to be adopted.”
Coifi, the pagan priest, then requested Paulinus should discourse to them more fully about God. When he had finished, the high-priest then exclaimed, “Long have I been convinced that our worship is vanity, since the more I sought for the truth in it, the less I found it: but now I openly profess, that by the preaching, we clearly discover that truth which can give us life, salvation, and eternal felicity. I therefore propose to your majesty, that we should hasten to profane those temples and altars which we have foolishly venerated.” The king then openly renounced idolatry. He was baptized A.D. 627, in a small wooden chapel. His niece was the celebrated Lady Hilda, whose life had much to do with the propagation of evangelical truth. The people followed their king. Great numbers of all ranks were baptized in the river Swale, some authors say ten thousand in one day. It is however, probable that this is exaggeration, as Bede intimates that Paulinus catechized the people before he baptized them.
There is no doubt God used this man, in preaching chiefly in the open air, by river sides, and other places; but the national or worldly element greatly predominated over the christian. On the death of Edwin, by the sword of the pagan Penda, “many of the converts to Christianity were slain by the barbarous invaders, and the greater part of the rest relapsed into idolatries, from which they had been but imperfectly reclaimed.”
“Osric and Eanfrid, the immediate successors of king Edwin, both apostatized from Christianity, with most of their subjects.” Thus terminated for a time the influence of the church of Rome, such as it was at that time.
Before we come to the conflict between Rome, and Christianity in the abbey at Whitby, we will notice how God was pleased to introduce Christianity from a totally new quarter.
The Scots from Ireland had a school, or a so-called monastery in the island of Iona. The monks were not like monks of Rome, but a band of devoted missionaries, preachers of the gospel. King Oswald had been educated amongst these God-fearing men, and by them baptized. On coming to the throne of Northumbria his first care was to have his people instructed in the truth of the gospel. He sent for these preachers. “His request was readily complied with; but it seems, the first missionary who arrived was a man of an austere disposition? who finding his ministry unsuccessful, returned to his fraternity in disgust, and told them the Northumbrians were too untractable and barbarous to be taught. When the brethren of lona held a council to receive his report, and to consider what was to be done, one of their number named Aidan, thus addressed the disappointed missionary, “It seems to me, brother, that you have been too severe on your unlearned hearers, and have not studied, according to the apostle’s plan, to feed them with milk, before giving them strong meat.” Aidan, by this remark, was pointed out to the assembly as the most suitable person to undertake the mission. And their expectations were not disappointed.
The king, who evidently was a true Christian, was himself a zealous missionary, and interpreted for Aidan, having been educated amongst the Scots. He invited a number of his brethren to assist him in the work. It would seem that some of them came from Ireland, which was then the proper region of the Scots; and was at that time, an enlightened country, much resorted to by lovers of learning. (See Bede 1., 3, 100, 3, &c.)
As Columba chose Iona, so Aidan chose the island of Lindisfarne, now Holy Island, as the center of his labors. There they met for prayer, and the study of the scriptures, and then went forth to preach the word of truth, baptizing such as believed.
Aidan is represented by Bede as a man of extraordinary piety. No doubt there was much of the true apostolic spirit, and work of the earliest day of the church. “He disregarded the things of the world: what he received from the rich, he gave to the poor. The king gave him a present of one of his best horses, richly harnessed; but meeting with a poor man asking alms not long after, he dismounted, and gave him his horse. When Oswin blamed him for this seemingly indiscreet generosity, he replied, What? my king! Is the offspring of a mare dearer to you than that Son of God?” Greatness and luxury had no charms for him! The fellow-laborers of Aidan possessed the same spirit of devotedness and humility. “Their whole care was to serve God, not the world. At home their time was chiefly spent in study and devotion; abroad they were engaged in preaching, and baptizing, visiting the sick, and in short, doing everything in their power to save the souls of men.”
Oh, Ireland, such were thy missionaries sent out to the world; what a contrast to thy present priests! All their meeting-rooms, or what are called churches now, were built of wood. Stone buildings were not as yet erected. In short, there was much of true Christianity-the evident work of the Spirit of God, through these devoted servants of Christ. They valued no titles or worldly honor, but followed in the steps of Christ.
Such a Christian was Lady Hilda. And such were the preachers who met and settled at Streonshall, known for centuries after as the Abbey of Whitby. She was born in the year 614, and, when a child 13 years of age, was baptized at York by Paulinus in the first little chapel. Whether at that early age she merely followed the example of the court, or was truly converted, cannot be determined. It is hopeful the latter was the case, as she did not apostatize. She is found in Northumbria during the ministry of Aidan. At the age of 33 she became a nun, and ultimately the Abbess of Streonshall, now called Whitby.
“When Britain was separated from the Roman empire, the churches in the British Isles were detached from those on the continent, and had scarcely any communication with them for the space of about 200 years.” During that time, great changes had taken place in the church of Rome. In the meantime, the British churches remained much as they were when the communication with the continent ceased. When Augustine with his helpers arrived among the Saxons, the difference between them was found to be so great that they could not coalesce. The British Christians had a great dread of being brought under that spiritual dominion, to which the churches on the continent were already subjected. The church of Northumberland planted by the Scottish missionaries, adhered to the communion of the British churches, having no dependence on the seat of Rome. By degrees however, some ministers of the Romish persuasion found their way into the churches established by the Scottish missionaries, where they labored to introduce the forms of Romanism.
It is remarkable that so early as these times, the Romanists claimed to be the true and catholic church, and pronounced their opponents to be heretics and schismatic. Again was that word of Paul’s fulfilled, “Of your own selves shall men arise.” Wilfrid, abbot of Ripon, became the champion of the Romanist party. This remarkable man spent some of his younger years in the monastery of Lindisfarne amongst the devoted Scottish missionaries. He traveled into France and Italy to complete his education, by the assistance of the royal family. His learning and talents recommended him to the prince, Alchfred. That prince was gained over, chiefly by Wilfred, to the Romanist party, who soon gave him the monastery of Ripon. The Scottish monks, or really the true missionaries, were expelled. The Romish party grew stronger every day, exactly as it is repeating itself in this our day. This brings us to the final contest between lingering Christianity in Britain, and Romanism. Some superstition had mingled itself with the ancient Christianity, still they no doubt had much of the true gospel and its fruits.