I hope you enjoy my review of this excellent biography of Saint Patrick by Jonathan Rogers (one of Thomas Nelson’s “Christian Encounters” series). If the Irish really are “lucky,” it started with the sacrifice of this amazing and humble man.
Saint Patrick by Jonathan Rogers
Christian Encounters Series
Forget the snakes, shamrocks and blarney stones. The patron saint of Ireland wasn’t even Irish. He didn’t eat corned beef and cabbage or drink green beer either. But what he did do was step beyond the boundaries of what was then considered the civilized world (The Holy Roman Empire) to share the gospel of Christ. As far as we know, he was the first Christian missionary–called to return to Ireland to serve a barbarian people who had kidnapped him in England at age sixteen and sold him into slavery to work herding sheep for a cruel, pagan master.
Sure, dozens of legends exist about Saint Patrick that elevate his works and words into something of a mystical character. And although he includes a few of them, none is substantiated, according to biographer Jonathan Rogers, nor do any hints of these miraculous events occur in Saint Patrick’s two known writings. In my estimation, the truth about him is much more interesting than the fiction, as he was a man who had no use for either the civil or religious authorities of his day. He took his marching orders from the Highest Authority alone, risking everything to bring Christianity to Ireland. Rogers says, “. . . an important point in Patrick’s theology [was] the idea Christ was at work in him and through him quite independently of his ability or wisdom or eloquence.”
It has been a few decades since I’ve read a scholarly biography, and Rogers impressed me with his careful documentation yet conversational presentation of this true hero of our faith. I was reminded of Moses’ instruction to the children of Israel to: “Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee (Deut. 32:7). In the story of Saint Patrick, we are reminded of what God will do through a redeemed and relinquished soul. Rogers concludes: “They [the Irish] saw in Patrick’s person—in his very presence among them—that forgiveness was possible, that hardship need not result in bitterness—and that the meek just might inherit the earth after all.”
Diane says
Wonderful piece of information, Jeanette. I had no idea Patrick had nothing to do with corn beef and cabbage or the luck of the Irish!
I love hearing stories about individuals who drudge the way for the Gospel of Christ and defy the odds. Of course, we know the power behind such a person–God!
mcweber says
Interesting, and what an amazing man. Thanks for the early morning education, Jeanette! My brain feels stimulated :-).