THE ANCIENT CELTIC CHURCH

The ancient Celts were a fierce war-like people, but also a people who were highly sensitive to poetry, music and the arts. When these warrior poets embraced Christianity, they lost none of their fierceness or their poetry, but put these qualities to the service of God’s Kingdom. Like King David, the prayers and hymns of the Celts show a vision of the Lord that was raw, rugged and untamed. It was a hardy faith that would later give birth to stalwart reformers such as John Knox.

The Celtic church was known for its incredible missionary endeavors. From bases such as the monastery established at Iona, the Celts sent evangelists deep into the Nordic lands that had previously been inaccessible to missionaries.

Because of its geographically separation from the Continent, the Celtic church was immune to many of the ecclesiastical excesses and deviations that began to surround the Roman Church. The Celts remained some of the most outspoken critics of the developing papacy during the early middle ages.[1] The Irish poet and scholar Columban (543 – 615) even had the audacity to write to the Pope and accuse him of heresy[2] while the Britons, whom we now call the Welsh, continued to be strongly independent of the Roman church.[3] Not infrequently, defenders of the Roman church would lash out against the Celts[4], who remained detached from the growing ecclesiastical system imitating from Rome and actually allowed their clergy to marry.[5] Even during high middle ages, Britain remained

a thorn in the side of the papacy, with such proto-reformers like John Wycliffe (mid-1320s – 1384) anticipating the Protestant cause that would later reach fruition in the Scottish reformation.

BONIFACE’S EARLY YEARS

It was into the robust and masculine environment of the Scottish church that Boniface was born around the year 672. Although the Celtic church had been brought into communion with the Roman church in the century prior, in the border region where Boniface was born the church retained much of its original Celtic character. Though never a critic of the papacy, Boniface would imbibe all the fierce independence of the Celts.[6] His pastor set an example to the young boy by always preaching with his sword by his side – lest anyone take umbrage with the sermon.

From his earliest years Boniface was known for his rugged toughness. After church when the villagers would eat their fellowship meal, Boniface led the boys in his favourite sport – throwing boulders at one another.

Not only did Boniface excel in the virtues of strength, courage and manliness, but he also had a reputation for his aptitude in academics.  This may be one of the reasons why, from an early age, he was attracted to the monastic way of life. In those days, the priests were the custodians of knowledge and it was in the monasteries that the great libraries were housed.

THE RESTLESS MONK

As a young man, Boniface entered the monastic life of the Benedictines, where he remained until he was around 40 years old, caring for the sick, ministering to the poor and discipling younger monks. He also gained a reputation through his scholastic endeavours, teaching theology and compiling the first Latin grammar ever to be written in England. A true Scot, he also found time to write poetry.

Because of his devotion to the saints, his reputation in piety and his unequalled intellect, everyone assumed that Boniface would eventually become a bishop. However, Boniface was restless and had other plans. He said:

“I yearn to go forth where the dangers are, not because I particular enjoy those dangers, but because I know it is there that the battle rages for the soul of men and nations. God set me before the front lines. Let me not end my days in comfort and complacency.”

The restless monk Boniface began studying the missionary endeavors taking place throughout the world. He was particularly attracted to the most difficult mission fields, such as the land we now call Germany, where the Teutonic and Saxons tribes were so savage that few missionaries had dared to venture there, while those who did met with extremely limited success. One of the missionaries who had attempted to reach these lands recounted that the fields were of iron and that ploughing them would break a man. That was all the prompting Boniface needed. Rejecting the opportunity to become a bishop and live a life of ease, Boniface sailed to the continent and into danger.

Before he could get started, Boniface needed to go to Rome to give the Pope an opportunity to examine him. Impressed with the middle-aged man, Pope Gregory II blessed Boniface in 719 and sent him forward.[7]

Once among the wild Germanic tribes, Boniface encountered a sparse population of believers who had been reached by the efforts of previous missionaries. These Christians were scattered, discouraged and disorganized. Boniface’s first task was always to bring these Christians together, organize them and form missionary cells so that when he had left a region they could continue the work of reaching the lost.

THE OAK OF THOR

The fierce Norsemen who had settled along the Danish and German coast lived in constant fear of their pagan gods. To pacify the powers of the forest, they engaged in human mutilation, vestal sacrifices and other brutal practices.

Every time he opened his mouth to speak of Jesus Christ, Boniface knew that he was risking his life. Yet he unflinchingly proclaimed the truth, regardless of consequences. The clearest example of this courageous attitude is the famous the Oak of Thor incident in 723.[8]

Near the present-day town of Fritzlar in northern Hesse (west-central Germany), Boniface had been ministering to the pagans with little success. Being a stronghold in the worship of the Norse god Thor (known among the West Germanic tribes as Donar), Boniface was convinced that reaching this area with the gospel would pave the way for the entire region to follow.

Outside the town stood Mt. Gudenberg. At the top of this mountain was a sacred grove which marked the main point of veneration in the Thor cult. In the centre of the grove stood a mighty Oak tree, known as the Oak of Thor. Pilgrims would walk for many miles in order to stand before this Oak and worship the god of Thunder, hold their pagan feasts and make animal sacrifices.

As Boniface was staying with the Hessians, it happened that a great ceremony was scheduled to take place in the grove. Boniface spread word that during the ceremony he would be challenging Thor. Villagers came from miles around, some to worship Thor, other to see what this Scottish monk was up to. Finally the evening of the ceremony arrived. As Boniface marched with the procession up to the sacred grove, no one noticed the axe hidden in the folds of his robe.

No sooner had the worshipers formed a circle around the sacred tree when Boniface stood up. Interrupting the chanting of the druid priest, he defiantly marched over to the holy tree and pulled out his axe. In stunned silence, the worshipers looked on as Boniface began hacking at Thor’s tree. “Stop!” yelled one of the chiefs. “Thor will strike you dead if you do that.” But Boniface paid no attention.

The crowd, now stricken dumb with horror, expected Thor to intervene at any moment and strike the insolent Boniface to the ground. But the fierce red-haired god, known for riding through the sky with a gigantic hammer, did not arrive. Boniface continued to hack.

As he worked, sweat pouring down the rippling muscles of the middle-aged man, Boniface called upon Thor to strike him with his hammer. But Thor did not arrive. He did not even wield the lightning and thunderbolts with which he was traditionally associated.

At the end of the evening, Boniface was still standing, but the tree had been toppled. Realizing that their gods were powerless to protect their own sacred places, the crowd was now ready to listen to Boniface’s message. In the days that followed, the entire village was baptized and helped Boniface to build a chapel from the wood of toppled tree.

A ONCE AND FOR ALL SACRIFICE

As the pilgrims returned to their own villages, the story spread through the entire region and whole villages of Hessians converted in mass. However, in those days when news could only travel as fast as a person, this was necessarily a gradual process. Only three evenings after the incident, a young boy rushed into Boniface’s camp from a neighbouring village with a report that his 15-year old sister was about to be offered as a vestal sacrifice to the gods of the forest.

Boniface and a small band of disciples quickly followed the boy back to the site where the terrible event was about to take place. Not a moment too early, they entered the grove just in time to see the witch doctor raising the stone knife. As the blade began its descent downwards towards the young virgin’s flesh, Boniface hurled himself forward, simultaneously knocking over the witch doctor and receiving on himself the blow of the knife. Providentially, the knife embedded itself in a small wooden cross that Boniface was wearing, piercing it in two but saving the missionary’s life.

As the stunned witch doctor shrieked at the monk, Boniface told of an ultimate sacrifice that had already been offered. Using the druid’s knife to cut down fur boughs, Boniface preached to the crowd of Christ’s finished work on the cross of Cavalry, explaining that because of this there was no need for any additional sacrifices. He urged the onlookers to take the branches home as a memorial of the provision achieved by Christ’s finished work. Legend has it that this occurred on the first Sunday in Advent and that this was the origin of Advent wreaths.

DEATH

At the age of 73, Boniface decided to sail down the Rhine and preach to the pagan tribes in Fresia (modern day Holland), where he had begun his work many years earlier. While visiting a former mission station, a local warlord slaughtered him and his companions, thinking they were carrying gold. The distressed villagers found him laying face down in the snow with his head cudgelled.

Boniface had been prepared to go for years. “I know I shall die,” he once said, “and I shall die on time. Therefore, I must make the most of the moments between here and there. And the way I can make most of these moments is to live them in terms of that which I know to be absolutely true and unchanging. I will not be swayed from this conviction though my moments be short, though my moments be long.”

APPROACH TO EVANGELISM

Boniface was not without his faults. Believing that only a strong centralized church could triumph over the warring pagan tribes, Boniface refused to work with Celtic missionaries who didn’t acknowledge the authority of the Pope and who allowed their clergy to marry.

Despite his problems there are a number of lessons we can draw from his amazing life, particularly with regard to his approach to evangelism, which differs significantly from contemporary methods. In particular, the following four aspects stand out.

1. Discipleship.

For Boniface, evangelism was not about simply getting someone to pray the sinner’s prayer, securing them a place in heaven and then moving on to the next person. Like the apostle Paul, Boniface realized that evangelism needed to also include discipleship. Thus, wherever Boniface brought the gospel, he also established of churches and equipped the saints to continue in the faith. Like the apostle Paul, he would return to visit these churches to see how they were doing and encourage them.

1. Generational focus.

Boniface believed that the success of his mission should be judged in terms of generations and centuries, not merely the fruit produced during one lifetime. Thus, he put mechanisms in place to assist the progress of the gospel after he was gone. This included planting schools to increase literacy so that the young could be more easily disciple and become strong in the Word.

1. Transformation of Culture

Boniface believed that the triumph of the gospel would result, not simply in saved individuals, but in the total transformation of culture. Thus, he worked to bring civilization to the barbaric tribes, introducing them to the arts, to music, to poetry and to learning. He established libraries and put men to work copying manuscripts so that the next generation would have access, not only to the Bible, but to other great works of literature.

1. Fearless Confrontation with Dark Powers

When Boniface went into action, there was no doubt that he was waging war against principalities and powers in high places. In the raw paganism of the Germanic tribes, the power of the occult was very strong, but Boniface knew that the power of Christ was stronger. Not only was Boniface unafraid to challenge these powers head-on, knowing that Christ had defeated them, but he excitedly rushed towards them, always eager for a chance to demonstrate the power of Christ. He said:

Let us stand fast in what is right and prepare our souls for trial. Let us neither be dogs that do not bark nor silent onlookers, nor paid servants who run away before the wolf. Instead, where the battle rages, let us find ourselves. Run towards the roar of the lion! Run towards the roar of battle! That is where Christ’s most glorious victories shall be won.

Boniface embodies the ideals of Alfred the Great Academy. Those who enroll to take the Apologetics Course or the Christian Thinking Course will be trained to become competent and courageous defenders of the Christian faith, even as Boniface was to his generation.

FOOTNOTES

[1]The development of the papacy was a gradual and incremental process. Originally the highest office in the church was that of bishop. Each bishop had jurisdiction over churches in a specific region (i.e., the bishop of Jerusalem, the bishop of Constantinople, a bishop of Rome, a bishop of Alexandria, etc). Over time, the bishops living in Rome began to demand hegemony over the other bishops, drawing on Rome’s association as political capital of the world. The first historical evidence of Roman bishops claiming jurisdictional priority outside of Rome occurred in the late second and early third centuries. It is true that as early as AD 190 and 195, a Roman bishop attempted to sever other churches because of a dispute over the date of Easter; however, his actions came to no effect because none of the other bishops considered that he had authority outside his own province. During the centuries that followed, there is no evidence that the Bishop of Rome was ever considered to be in a position of superior authority to the other bishops. When Gregory the Great was bishop of Rome (AD 590-604), the people tried to call him Pope but he repudiated the title. Gregory’s letters to the patriarchs of the Eastern churches (Alexandria, Constantinople, Antioch and Jerusalem), indicate his belief that the five were on an equal footing as regional heads of the Church, with none exercising universal jurisdiction. It was not until the 9^th century, when the empire of Charlemagne was disintegrating, that the bishops of Rome (now routinely referred to as ‘Popes’) began to succeed in the expanding spiritual and temporal powers that they sought. These claims were not taken seriously in the eastern churches (and formed a major reason for the great schism in 1054), although most of the churches in the West progressively accepted papal supremacy. In the 8^th century the connection with Peter began to be proclaimed, and the concept of the papacy began to be used retroactively so , with the assumption that Peter had been the first Pope and that the bishop of Rome had always exercised primacy over the other bishops.

[2]“Inerrant”, wrote Columban in his famous letter to Pope Boniface IV (c. 550 – May 25, 615), “you have already erred, O Rome! – fatally, foully erred. No longer do you shine as a star in the apostolic firmament, You have fallen from that high sphere; you have plunged into the night, and unless you speedily regain the orbit in which you once shone, there is reserved for you only the blackness of darkness. “An apostolic seat!” Your chair, O Pope, is defiled with heresy. Deadly errors have crept into it; it harbours horrors and impieties. “Catholic!” the true Catholicism you have lost. The orthodox and true Catholics are they who have always zealously persevered in the true faith. “

[3]In Ad 610, Cadvan, Prince of Wales, wrote “All men may hold the same truths, yet no man can hereby be drawn into slavery to another. If the Cymry believed all that Rome believes, that would be as strong a reason for Rome obeying us, as for us to obey Rome. It suffices for us that we obey the Truth. If other men obey the Truth, are they therefore to become subject to us? Then were the Truth of Christ made slavery and not freedom.”

[4]A good example of this is when the Roman Catholic Adelm wrote in 705 AD that “The precepts of your bishops are not in accord with Catholic faith…we adjure you not to persevere in your arrogant contempt of the decrees of St Peter, and the traditions of the Roman Church, by a proud and tyrannical attachment to the statutes of your ancestors. . . . Whatever may be the perfection of good works, they are unprofitable out of the Catholic church…”Cited in The Monks of the West: From St. Benefict to St. Bernaed, by The Count De Montalembeet (1872).

[5] See http://robinphillips.blogspot.com/2008/12/legacy-of-augustine-of-canterbury.html

[6] His actual ethnicity was probably from German tribes that had immigrated to Scotland a few generations prior.

[7] It was the Pope who actually named him Boniface. Previous to this his name had been Wynfrith.

[8] No one knows the exact details of the event, which is shrouded in legend. For the sake of a good story the present retelling has relied partly on the author’s imagination.

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