Paul and Patrick

Daily writing prompt

If you could meet a historical figure, who would it be and why?

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I could say Jesus, because he is a historical figure, but I’ve already met him in spiritual terms. God is omnipresent and at times He makes his presence felt, particularly when we draw close to him. In heaven, I’ll be much more aware of his presence. When I think of Jesus, if I met him, I would fall down and worship him, but I can do that now. I would like to ask him questions, but it feels more natural to do that with one of the apostles.

I would like to meet the apostle Paul. Before Jesus returned to heaven, he handed the task of writing the New Testament to the apostles and their associates, guided by the Holy Spirit.

John 14:26
²⁶ But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

And Peter plainly puts the epistles of Paul on the same level as the “other Scriptures”

2 Peter 3:15-17
¹⁵ Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. ¹⁶ He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

It’s interesting that even in the early stages of the church, people had a range of outlooks. Peter is speaking here of gross distortion, but even Godly people can sometimes misunderstand Scriptural teaching. When I was a Roman Catholic, people would sometimes point to the infallibility of the Pope, but in reality theological debate has always occurred within the Roman Catholic church, as it has in all churches, and probably in all religions, apart from those cults who totally entrust themselves to a dictator.

So, for example, if the Apostle Paul came to Limerick, Ireland (my current place of abode), which church would he endorse? I would think that he would gather together all those who see themselves as Christians and regard God’s Word as true. Then, we could have a question- and-answer session and sort out all our differences 😀. We generally agree on the broad message. We’re called to love God, love others. We fall short, we offend God, and need his mercy. And being a holy and righteous God, he doesn’t just overlook sin. Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for our sins. When we repent and believe in him, we are forgiven. One of my favourite hymns, There is a Green Hill, covers all this.

John 3:16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

But Christians disagree on the details and on all sorts of other issues, even within local churches. We don’t need to have bitter disagreements, but we do disagree. In fact, I’d be a bit more at ease in a church where people had different opinions than in one where everyone agreed on everything. It would either be a perfect church, or a cult-like church. I would imagine that the second one is more likely 😀.

Well, I’m not going to meet Paul in this life, but I can study his writings along with the rest of Scripture. And I can listen to other perspectives. We’re never going to have perfect understanding in this life. And will we even have it in the next life? It’ll be better, as Paul himself points out.

1 Cor 13:12
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

Another person that I’d like to meet is Patrick, who brought the gospel to my own nation, Ireland. As a child, I was introduced to him through St Patrick’s Day. It was a very exciting day for me as a child, along with Christmas, Easter, and the day of the Eurovision Song Contest 😀.

The best part was the parade. Looking back, it was quite a simple affair, with some marching bands are decorated lorries. And we got St Patrick’s Day badges. At Mass, we’d sing a hymn called Hail Glorious Saint Patrick. It seems quite idolatrous to me now, because it treats Patrick like he was God. In the New Testament, anyone who treated the apostles, or angels, like God were swiftly reprimanded (See Acts 10:26 Revelation 22:8-9). Of course, people did worship Jesus (See Matthew 2:11, Matthew 8:2, Matthew 14:33, Matthew 15:25, Matthew 28:9, Matthew 28:17, John 9:38, John 20:28, Philippians 2:9-11, Revelation 5:12-14), but then, he is God, the second person of the Trinity. So, He never took them to task for giving him such honour.

Here are 10 facts about him:

• Despite being the patron saint of Ireland, Patrick was born in Britain (sources suggest either Scotland or Wales) around 385 AD.
• His birth name was likely Maewyn Succat. He adopted the name Patrick (or Patricius) later, which means “nobleman” or “father figure.”
• At the age of 16, he was captured by Irish raiders and brought to Ireland, where he spent six years as a slave, working as a shepherd. During his enslavement, he turned to Christianity and prayed fervently, deepening his religious convictions
• After escaping slavery and returning to Britain, he had a dream that led him to study and then returned to Ireland as a missionary to convert the pagan Irish to Christianity.
• Legend has it that he used the three leaves of a shamrock to illustrate the Christian concept of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit being one God.
• He was never formally canonized by the Church (in the modern sense): While recognized as a saint, the official process of canonization by the Catholic Church did not exist during his lifetime.
• The earliest recorded St. Patrick’s Day parade took place in a Spanish colony in what is now St. Augustine, Florida, in 1601. Parades in Ireland didn’t become a widespread tradition until much later.
• During his missionary work, it’s believed he converted and baptized hundreds of thousands of Irish people, laying the foundation for Christianity in Ireland. This was all done peacefully, as happened with the initial spread of Christianity.
• As he spread Christianity, Patrick undoubtedly encountered resistance from the existing pagan belief systems and their priests, the Druids, though accounts of direct confrontations are largely legendary.
• Two Latin works attributed to him survive: the Confessio (a spiritual autobiography) and his Letter to Coroticus (a protest against British mistreatment of Irish Christians). These are invaluable primary sources about his life and the early Church in Ireland.

I just think that it’s amazing that an individual should take on such a task. Some historians point out that Christianity would have reach Ireland before Patrick, which might be true. But he clearly made a huge impact that eventually resulted in the gospel radiating out from Ireland to evangelize much of Britain and Europe.

But why would I want to meet him? I’d be curious about which church he might endorse, if he became familiar with churches of today. Churches tend to claim him as one of their own. He lived before much of the theological developments that went on in the medieval church and the reformation. Even if he did endorse one church, he couldn’t do so with the authority of the apostle Paul.

I Bind Unto Myself Today

And you can read the Confession of Saint Patrick on various web sites.