# The Church of England, Its Catholicity and Continuity/Lecture 1

The Church of England:
ITS CATHOLICITY AND CONTINUITY.
LECTURE 1
The Founding of the Church.
The object which I have in view in undertaking this Course of Lectures is twofold. First, it is to give some general facts about the history of the Church of England for those who have not had leisure to make this subject a special study; and secondly, it is to try to correct a few of the false impressions which are common respecting the origin and history of our Church.
The majority of men are either too indifferent to the ​history of religion, or too much absorbed in their business occupations to care much to inquire into the history of their Church. And yet in these days, when Dissent is so active and—I am sorry to say—so bitter against the Church of England, it is necessary that every faithful Churchman should be able to defend his Church from an historical point of view. Many statements are popularly made about the history and the constitution of the English Church, which are historically most untrue.
Dissenters read the history of the Church as penned by Dissenting historians; and very often Churchmen are unable, through want of knowledge, to meet the assertions which are falsely made.
It is maintained by scores of people that Christianity was introduced into England and founded there by the Roman Catholics; that before the Reformation the Papal Church had the supreme sway in our island; that at the Reformation an absolutely new Church was made in England; that the present Church of England came into existence at the time of the Reformation. Every one of these assertions is absolutely and entirely false. And I hope that you who follow these Lectures to their close, and who will investigate the facts to be brought forward for yourselves—if you do not care to trust my statements—I hope that you will be of this opinion.
It will be my object, then, in these Lectures, to show how the Church of England has grown from the earliest days of Christianity to what it is now—an organization exerting a powerful influence for good on our national life. I shall dwell upon some of the Church's struggles, I shall speak of ​some of its champions, and, above all, I shall endeavour to show that the Church of England has grown out of the first Christian movement known to have come to Britain. We shall see that the first line of Archbishops belonged to the Church of England, as distinct from the Roman Church, as much as Archbishop Temple belongs to us to-day.
It will be as well to give at the outset the subjects of the Lectures which I hope to deliver. To-night I shall speak upon the founding of the Church of England. Then, in order, I shall show how the Papal power tried to usurp the religious life of England, and that the nation was continually resisting the Roman claim. I shall speak of the Reformation, explaining what that movement really meant. The rise, progress, and work of the Puritans will come next under consideration. Then will follow a lecture in the form of a biography of Bishop Andrewes and Archbishop Laud, in which we will estimate the value of their work and character. We shall conclude the course with an account of the Oxford Movement, referring to the circumstances which gave it birth, and with a lecture dealing with the renewed life in the Church of England during the last sixty years.
To-night I am to speak upon the Founding of the Church. The time covered in this Lecture will extend from the beginning of the Christian Era to the year 690, the death of Theodore, Archbishop of Canterbury.
Very little is known about the religious history of our ancestors during the first century of the Christian Era. The early Britons were heathens, and had a form of religion called Druidism. They made the oak and the mistletoe objects of veneration and worship. They are said to have ​believed in one Supreme God, but they held that He should be appeased with offerings of human sacrifices and by magical incantations. The early Britons were superstitious to an extreme. The light of the Gospel gradually dawned upon them and destroyed their barbarous forms of worship.
When Christianity was first introduced into this country no one knows. We do not even know by whom it was introduced. A tradition says that the Apostle Paul visited Britain to evangelize it; but, although we know that he was the first Christian Missionary, there is no good reason for believing that he came to our land. There is no more truth in another legend, that Joseph of Arimathea landed on the South West Coast of Britain for a similar purpose, and went as far as Glastonbury, where he preached the Gospel.
We do know that Christianity had gone from Palestine to Rome before the year 55 A.D., and that the Romans came to Britain and conquered it. At Rome the Gospel had made rapid strides in spite of the many persecutions which attended it. The Romans began to come to Britain in the time of Julius Cæsar, 55 B.C., and for about 400 years the Romans were masters of this island. They introduced their customs to our land, they persecuted the Druids, they imposed upon our ancestors their military organization. Hundreds of Romans came over to Britain to live, and built their villas here. We cannot doubt that some of these were Christians who had been converted to the Faith at Rome, or whose ancestors had been converted before them. Those who were Christians would not tolerate the heathen forms of worship, nor could they rest without teaching the Britons the Christian Faith.
​It is probable that the Gospel was brought to Britain through another channel. Gaul, our modern France, may have had a great deal to do in Christianizing Britain. It was a Roman Province and it must have carried on trade with, the new British Province. We know that before the end of the second century Christianity was established in Gaul. When the Emperors of Rome persecuted the Christians in Italy they did not confine their persecution to that country alone. Gaul came in for a share of it, in fact every part of the Roman Empire where Christians were known to be. In Gaul, however, the persecution was especially severe. It is conjectured that at that time, in the year 177 A.D., many Christians escaped from Gaul, when the Church of Lyons and Vienne felt the Emperor's hand, and came to Britain, where Christianity was practically unknown. They, when the persecution was over, were probably the means of spreading the knowledge of the Gospel here. Professor Bright holds this view of the question."It was almost certainly from Gaul," he says, "certainly not, as far as we can judge, directly from the East, that these out-posts, so to speak, of the advancing spiritual kingdom were sent forth among the Roman provincials of Britain. Their arrival may, with much probability, be dated either shortly before, or shortly after the persecution of Lyons and Vienne."
Whatever doubt there may be about the origin and exact time of the introduction of the Gospel into England, we can speak with certainty of the early date when Christianity flourished here. Tertullian tells us that in the last quarter ​of the second century there were places in Britain not yet reached by the Romans which were subjugated to Christ.
As far back as the early years of the fourth century history gives us traces of an organized Church in Britain. We then find three Orders of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons. In the year 303 we read of Christians in Britain being martyred by the Romans. Alban, Aaron, and Julius are among their number.
The story of Alban's martyrdom is beautiful, though pathetic. He was a Roman and a heathen, who had come to Britain. In the persecution he gave shelter to a Christian Priest, and on observing that he spent his time in continual prayer and watching, day and night, he was led to cast off his idolatory and become himself a Christian in all sincerity. The magistrates, knowing that Alban had sheltered the priest, sent to order him to hand the culprit over to them. But Alban gave the priest his own clothes, and he himself put on the priest's clothes and was taken to the magistrates in place of the priest. There he was again ordered to deliver the fugitive, but refused, and he told the judge that he had himself become a Christian, and "that he adored the true and living God who created all things."
Alban was scourged and whipped, in the hope of shaking his faith, but he bore all this, said Bede, not only patiently, but joyfully. He was put to death during the last Christian persecution of the Romans; and seeing that Christians in Britain were sought out at that time, it shows that at that early date Christianity must have had a footing here.
We have other testimony of the early date of Christianity ​in Britain. Church Councils were held on the Continent. In the year 314, one was held at Arles to condemn the schism of the Donatists, with whose principles we are not at present concerned. We read in documents relating the doings of this Council that Bishops, a priest and a deacon were present there from Britain. The names are given of several of them. Eborius of Gaul, Restitutus of London, and Adelphius, who was probably Bishop of Caerleon-on-Usk. This shows that the Gospel had reached Britain, and had a good footing here as early as 314 A.D. That Bishops were here at that time shows that there must have been clergy under them.
We read again, that in the year 359 the Bishops of Britain supported Athanasius against the teaching of the enemy Arius, and that then three of them were given their travelling expenses by the Emperor Constantine to visit the Continent. We may conclude, then, from all these statements, that before the end of the fourth century Christianity was settled in Britain. It had an organization through which it spread the Christian Faith. We know from the testimony of some of the early Fathers, that Britain took an interest in the theological disputes and struggles of early Christianity. S. Athanasius, in the year 363, reckoned the Britons among those who were loyal to the faith of the the Doctrine of the Incarnation. S. Jerome, who complained of the results of the Arian teaching and of its ascendency, said:"That Britain worships the same Church, observes the same rule of faith as other nations." At the beginning of the fifth century our forefathers brought odium on themselves by encouraging the doctrine of Pelagius, who had ​unorthodox ideas upon original sin, and they were embroiled in controversy in consequence.
All this shows the life of Christianity in our land at those early times. We know that in these early days the British or the Celtic Church had erected many Churches, and held Councils for considering ecclesiastical affairs. Although we see that the Gospel has a good footing in Britain now, we cannot hold out the hope that it continued to spread and flourish. The Christian movement was very often hidden behind black clouds. We must now refer to a storm which arose and almost swept it away.
You must remember that up to this time Britain was under the government of the Roman Empire. This Empire was now beginning to decline in power. The German nation was rising into fame. The Goths invaded the Roman State, and it was necessary for the Roman Empire to concentrate all its forces at Rome to save itself from destruction. So the Roman legions were withdrawn from Britain and the British were thrown upon their own resources. Being deprived of the protection of the Romans, the Britains were open to attacks from other foreign powers. The Picts and Scots invaded Britain. What were the British people to do? In the year 449 they invited the German nation to help them to drive out these new invaders. This was a very unfortunate step for the progress of the Gospel in Britain. The Germans were heathens, who worshipped a different God every day in the week. They were very desirous of territory and covetous of power. From being allies of the Britons against the Picts and Scots they became the conquerors of our country. They peopled our land with their own tribes. They drove ​the British people into the mountainous parts of our island, and they almost completely exterminated the Christian religion. Churches and Monasteries, which had been built with loving care, were burned and ruthlessly levelled to the ground. Many Christian priests and people were slaughtered.
To find Christianity now you must follow the surviving Britons. We must follow them into Wales and Cornwall, and other mountainous districts of Britain. We know very little of the doings of the British Christians after this Saxon invasion for many years. They kept up, as well as they were able, their old Church life. They held Synods and Church Councils. They founded new Sees in the districts where they were forced to reside. Four of these are in existence now, viz., Llandaff, S. David's, Bangor, and S. Asaph.
The Britons seemed to be strong in Cornwall and Devonshire. Devon and Cornwall were not conquered by the Saxons."Here the Christians were numerous," says Mr. Hore, "and they preserved their ancient customs and ritual into the seventh century." In this part of Britain there lived many saintly men. One of them was called Ives, after whom S. Ives, a town, was probably named.
The Britons were so completely conquered by the Saxons that they did not try to evangelize them. They did no missionary work among their enemy. Bede, the historian, said of them: "They never preached the Faith to the Saxons in England who dwelt amongst them." But we must remember that the British were terribly afraid of their formidable conquerors.
Although British Church was thus conquered and ​humiliated, its work was by no means done. We can trace its marked influence upon the Irish and the Scotch early Churches.
Ireland had been visited by Palladius, a British monk, in the year 429, who had been consecrated Bishop to convert that country to the Faith. Christians were there before that time, but no Bishop. His mission failed. In fact, it is an Irish saying, that "not to Palladius, but to Patrick, did the Lord give the conversion of Ireland."
In the year 432, Patrick, with twelve monks, headed another Mission to Ireland. He fixed his See at Armagh, and lived till 493. The Gospel made good progress during his time, but it did not get a permanent footing in Ireland. It declined after his death, and some say that Christianity was entirely abolished in Ireland. At any rate, the British are now asked to give Ireland help; and Gildas and S. David with other men were sent to them. This was a second Mission to Ireland from the British Church, and this Mission was so successful that Ireland was called the Island of Saints; and from this Mission the Gospel was carried into Scotland, and Missionaries went from Ireland over to France, Jerusalem, Switzerland, Italy, and Iceland.
It is interesting to recall the fact that the Christian Mission in Ireland was quite independent of the Church of Rome. Columban, one of the Irish Saints, was charged by the Bishops of Gaul with holding customs differing from the Roman Church. He replied, "That he observed the customs of his national Church, which was," he said, "independent of the Church of Rome." He wrote a letter to Pope Gregory explaining his position.
​From the Mission in Ireland, then, you can see that the British Church in England had not finished its work at the time that the Saxons came. It is also due indirectly to the Celtic Church that the Gospel was taken to Scotland. It was due to the North of Ireland that the Gospel was carried into Scotland. S. Columba—a different man, remember, from S. Columban—visited Scotland with the object of planting the Gospel there. The king of that time presented him with the island of Hy or Iona for a home, and there Columba founded a Monastery, and it became a seat of learning. It was from this island that Christian priests were sent, many years later on, to re-kindle the dying embers of the Christian faith in Northumbria.
But to return to England again.
We see that it is now, in the fifth and sixth centuries, possessed by the Saxons. The Saxons were heathens. The old Celtic Church was confined to very narrow limits - the old North of Wales and Cornwall. All the rest of England was pagan. How did Christianity come back to England again?
It is now our pleasure to begin a brighter and more interesting story.
We have to go back to Rome, to a scene which took place in the slave market. It is due entirely to the goodness and pertinacity of Gregory the Great, after he became the Bishop of Rome, that Christianity was brought to our land again. He sent a Christian Mission to England, the Roman Mission it has been called. You must not think that Gregory was a Pope after the mediæval type of Popes. The Christianity of Gregory and his times was quite a different thing from the elaborate Papal system which swayed the world at the time ​of Henry the Eighth. Most of the doctrines peculiar to Roman Catholicism had not as yet come into existence; doctrines such as the Infallibility of the Pope, the worship of the Virgin Mary, and the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. The Christianity of Gregory was as different from the later Papal system as the Church of England to-day differs from the Papal religion previous to the Reformation. You ought to bear these facts in mind, for it is sometimes said that the Mission sent by Gregory was a Roman Catholic Mission. It was not Roman Catholic in the sense we understand Roman Catholicism to-day.
What suggested to Gregory the conversion of the Saxon tribes of England, was a sight which he saw in the market-place at Rome. Some youths, which came from England, were being offered there for sale as slaves. Gregory was moved by their beautiful appearance, and having asked if they were Christians, and learning that they were Angles, he replied, were they Christians they would be angels. Hearing further that they came from Deira, a part of Northumberland, he answered, that they should be plucked De Ira from the wrath of God. "Who was their king," asked Gregory. "Ella," was replied. "Alleluia," Gregory said. "They should sing Alleluia praises to the Lord." Gregory was so moved by this sight in the market-place, that he wished to go himself on a missionary journey to England, but he was so beloved at Rome that the Pope would not let him go. It was when he was Pope himself that he carried out the wish of his heart.
Gregory started a Mission to our country in the year 595, consisting of forty monks, headed by S. Augustine, who was ​the Prior of a Monastery which Gregory had founded in Rome. Augustine, you must remember, was not the same person as the great S. Augustine, one of the early Fathers. These men left Rome to carry on their mission, but when they reached Aix they received so stirring an account of the barbarity of our forefathers, that they returned to Rome to beg Gregory to allow them to abandon his projects. But Gregory would not hear of it. He sent them off again in July 596, and, after spending the winter in Gaul, they reached our shores early in the year 597.
They landed in the Isle of Thanet, in Kent. The king of Kent at that time was Ethelbert, whose wife, Bertha, was a Christian, the daughter of Charibert, of Paris. When she came to England she brought over with her a Christian Bishop, named Luidhard. This fact was favourable to the success of S. Augustine; who might reasonably have expected to gain a hearing from the king. The king went to Thanet to meet the missionaries, and to enquire what their strange appearance meant, and to hear what they had to say for themselves. After they explained the object of their landing, listening to their wishes, the king said:"Fair words and promises are these, but inasmuch as they are new and doubtful I cannot give up all that I and the English people have so long observed." But the king allowed the missionaries to preach and to teach. He also provided for their sustenance, and appointed them a lodging close by the walls of Canterbury. This, I think, you must acknowledge was a very good beginning. These men, with the royal favour, conducted services in a little Church outside Canterbury, ​called S. Martin's, and soon, by their preaching and consistent method of living, they won over the interest of the people. The king himself very soon declared that he had become a Christian, and as early as June 1st, after the missionaries landed, he was baptized. His subjects very soon followed his example. By the end of the year Gregory reckoned there were 10,000 converts to the Gospel in England. Augustine then had received the protection of the king, and soon after the king's baptism he went to Gaul again, where he was consecrated Archbishop of England. He returned to his work in Kent, which consisted chiefly of preaching, teaching, and baptizing. The little Church of S. Martin's now became too small for the new movement, and it was decided to erect a larger building; this was done on the site of the present Cathedral of Canterbury. On this same spot the Britons had erected a Church before. As success was more certain, Augustine found it necessary to call more clergy to the work. He wrote to Gregory for his help, and as a result of this, in the year 601, Mellitus, Justus, and Paulinus were sent from Rome, and two of them became Bishops of new districts of England. These men brought over with them many valuable books and ecclesiastical vestments. Gregory sent over, said Mr. Hore,"A Bible in two volumes, two copies of the Psalms, two copies of the Gospels, a book of lives of the Apostles and Martyrs, and a Commentary on the Gospels and Epistles."
The Mission having been fairly started in Kent, Augustine turned his attention to several other districts in England. In the year 604, Mellitus was ordained Bishop of London, ​and Justus Bishop of Rochester. These places formed new centres whence the light of the Gospel might throw around its beams into the districts clouded over by the blackness of heathenism. The object of these new Bishops was, first of all, to get the hearing of the kings of these districts. These two Missions, however, were attended with only partial success.
Now let us pause a moment to ask ourselves what had become of the old British Church which was driven into the mountains of Wales and Cornwall. It was still in existence in those places, and, to an extent, was in a flourishing condition. When its Bishops heard of the work of Augustine and his allies, they were roused up to inquire into their success. They were, in fact, brought into contact with Augustine. Augustine had written to Gregory to ask how he ought to deal with the old British Bishops, and, in reply, he was told that they were under his authority. We shall see what the British Church thought of this decision. Two Conferences were held between Augustine's Mission and the representatives of the old Church, to discuss over certain ecclesiastical customs. The first took place on the banks of the River Severn in the year 603. There Augustine accused them of heresy. He said that they did many things which were contrary to the Church. This roused the spirit of the British and they would have nothing to do with S. Augustine. The second Conference was held, but met with no greater success. Some of the British bishops on their way to the Council asked a hermit whether they should abandon their traditions and obey Augustine."Yes," the hermit said, "if ​he be a man of God." But how shall we know if he be a man of God?" they asked. The hermit said, "If he rise to meet you. If he do not rise, he cannot be like Christ, meek and lowly in heart, and his words should not be regarded." The Bishops went on their way. Augustine did not rise to meet them. He received them sitting, and he asked them to comply with him for the sake of unity on the two points on which they differed most, viz., on the proper time for observing the feast of Easter, and on the mode of conferring baptism. The Bishops would not comply, but stood firm to their old traditions. They continued to use their own ritual, their own liturgy, their own version of the Scriptures. Thus, then, for a while, there were two Churches in Britain—the Celtic or British Church, and that which sprung up from the Roman Mission.
Let us leave the British Church again, and follow the fortunes of S. Augustine's Mission. Was that prosperous? No! It almost failed.
In the year 604 both Gregory and Augustine died. Laurence succeeded Augustine in his work, but that work depended upon the goodwill of the king. It went on smoothly enough as long as Ethelbert lived, but in 616 he died also, and his sort Eadbald succeeded him, and he renounced Christianity. A similar story is told of other kings, in whose districts Christianity had been planted. It seemed for a moment as if England would relapse into heathenism again. Mellitus left London, Justus left Rochester for France, in order to escape from heathen hatred. Laurence, the successor of Augustine, was on the point of doing the same, when a dream is said to have prevented him. His ​dream was, that S. Peter visited him at night and scourged him for his cowardice in contemplating flight; when he awoke in the morning, the marks of the scourging were left. These marks the Bishop showed to the heathen king. The king, frightened at what he saw, forsook his idolatrous worship, and henceforth favoured Christianity. Kent, again, was reclaimed to the Faith. Many new Churches were rebuilt. Justus was called back once more to Rochester from the Continent. But the Mission to London and Essex had failed entirely. The people would not receive back Mellitus, and for thirty-eight years more that part of England was again steeped in heathenism.
We must now turn our attention to another part of England, to the North country, to Northumbria. This district was now about to receive the Gospel. Northumbria was one of the most important kingdoms of England at this time, and Edwin its king—one of England's most powerful kings. He sought in marriage the hand of Ethelberga, the sister of Eadbald, king of Kent. She was a Christian, and she consented to the marriage on the condition only, that she should be allowed to observe the customs of her religion. For this purpose, when she went to Edwin's court to live, she carried with her a Christian Bishop, named Paulinus, and a deacon named James. This was in the year 625. It is due to the efforts of Paulinus that the North again was taught the doctrines of Christianity. The same success we find attended his Mission, as followed the Mission of Augustine in Kent. Paulinus sought every opportunity to spread the Gospel. He tried hard to win the heart of the king. Several events happened, propitiously for him. One was, that ​Edwin was saved from the assassin's knife which had been hurled at him by the instigation of Cwichelm, his determined enemy. Paulinus told the king that his escape was due to the mercy of God. The night on which this happened Ethelberga gave birth to a daughter, for which Edwin had prayed to other heathen gods. Paulinus told him that he had prayed to the Christian God that he might have the same blessing. Edwin was persuaded to believe that the gift was due to the prayers of Paulinus, and he allowed his daughter to be baptized. He also made a further promise, that if he should be successful in gaining a victory over Cwichelm, who had sent to assassinate him, he himself would become a Christian. Edwin went to battle. He was victorious. This fact led to the conversion of Northumbria, and through Northumbria of nearly the whole of England.
On his return from battle, Edwin called together a Council of his wise men and heathen priests, at Godmundham, to consider the question of renouncing their heathenism. The High Priest Coifi was called upon to speak of the merits of heathenism."The old worship," he said, "seems to me to be worth nothing: no man has practised it more than I, and yet many fare better, and have more favours at your hand. If the gods had any power, they would rather help me, who have served them more than others. Let us then see what this new lore is good for; if it is better than the old, let us straightway follow it." A Thane also made a speech."I will tell you, O king," he said, "what methinks man's life is like. Sometimes, when your hall is lit up for suppers on a warm winter's evening, and warmed by a fire in the midst, a ​sparrow flies in by one door, takes shelter for a moment in the warmth, and then flies out again by another door, and is lost in the stormy darkness. No one in the hall sees the bird before it enters, nor after it has gone forth: it is only seen while it hovers near the fire. So it is, I ween, with this brief span of our life in this world, what has gone before it—what will come after it—of this we know nothing. If the strange teacher can tell us, by all means let him be heard."
Paulinus was heard, and he made the best use of the opportunity. He set forth, at their request, the teaching of Christianity on this subject. The people were convinced. The chief priest said that now he understood what the truth was Edwin then and there publicly acknowledged the Gospel, and ordered that the altars and temples of heathenism should be destroyed. Coifi, the chief priest, was the first to begin the work. It was unlawful for anyone of his profession to ride a mare or bear arms, but Coifi disregarded this law, and he rode to the venerated temple, and was the first to hurl a spear against it, to signify his contempt for the old idolatry. His companions then burnt the building to the ground.
After this event rapid strides were made in the spreading of the Gospel. Edwin was baptized, and thousands of people followed his example. Paulinus spent most of his time for many weeks to come in going through the country, to perform the duty of baptizing. For six years Paulinus and Edwin worked together in harmony. Paulinus went to the North in the year 625. Edwin was killed in the battle of Hatfield in the year 633. The great enemy of that time was Penga, and he was the champion of heathenism. He slew ​King Edwin. This was a dreadful calamity for Northumbria. This blow undid the whole work of the Gospel in the North. Paulinus had to fly with the queen into Kent. James, the faithful deacon, did not accompany him; but he stayed behind to do the best he could to rally the Christian forces under King Oswald. Oswald had a great desire to see the Gospel restored again to his kingdom, but it is significant to notice that Paulinus was not asked to come back again to carry on his work. Neither did Oswald ask Kent to help him in his difficulties at all. He appealed, kindly notice, to the old Scotch, the old British Church. At that time the Gospel flourished in the island of Hy. Oswald had lived there in the early days, and knew something about the Celtic priests. He made an appeal, then, to his old friends, and in answer to this a man named Colman was sent to his kingdom. But he found the people so hard to deal with that he returned home in despair. At a meeting held to discuss the situation after he returned, someone suggested that Colman had been a failure because he had not learnt the Apostolic precept to feed babes with milk. This was the opinion of S. Aidan. He was at once recognized as a fit person to take Colman's place. He was a strong and a saintly man, and he took up the work which Paulinus first, and Colman afterwards, had failed to accomplish; and the greatest success attended it. Thus you see that the North of England was re-converted to the Faith, not by the work of the Roman Mission, not through the efforts of the Christians in Kent, but through the priests and Bishops of the old Celtic or British Church. It was through their Mission in the North that many other parts of England were in future years evangelized, and not through ​the work of the Mission in Kent—the Roman Mission. Through this renewed life in Northumbria, Essex and London were re-converted under Cedd. Mercia was also converted in the year 653. Wessex also was made Christian through the North, through the marriage of King Kynegil's daughter. The mid-Angles also were made Christian chiefly through the work of four Celtic priests—Cedd, Adda, Betti and Diuma.
On the death of Honorius, the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the year 654, Rochester was the only Bishop in England who had been connected with the Roman Mission.
We have now reached that point of time in the history of the English Church when nearly the whole of England had embraced the Christian Faith. Many stalwart men had lived and died, many saintly men indeed, to spread the Gospel teaching. Among them we should mention S. Aidan, Finan, Cedd, Colman, S. Cuthbert, and Chad. These are men who worked hard to give our ancestors the knowledge of the Gospel; and all these, you must not forget, belonged to the Celtic Church. We must not forget this fact, that it was the old Celtic priests who specially helped in reviving the Christian religion in England, when we hear it so frequently said that England was converted to the Faith by the Romanists. Rome only gradually imposed its own customs on our country, as it did on every other nation. She made it appear as if our Church in England were under obligation to her, and under her authority.
During the sixth and seventh centuries the power of the Papal Court continued to grow, and became aggressive. The Popes even then, desired to fill up the English Sees ​with men who would bring over with them Roman customs. This is why it is that, from the time that Northumbria was again established in the Faith, we hear of continual disputes between the upholders of the old Celtic Church and those of the Roman Mission.
Already I have referred to these differences. Now that each party was in a prominent position again, these differences were more marked than even before. There were two things now on which the two Churches could not agree—the time when the feast of Easter should be kept, and the particular shape of the tonsure.
At Northumbria, in the same year, Easter was celebrated at different times, in accordance with the opinion of the respective upholders of their customs. It was thought to be absolutely necessary that, on so important a matter, some settlement should have been arrived at. A Conference was called at Whitby to consider the question. This was in the year 664. This was called by the order of King Oswy, of Northumbria. Colman, the old British Bishop, was there to represent the old custom, and Wilfrid, who was a Northhumbrian, to uphold the truth of the Roman custom. He had spent much of his time in Rome, and became attached to the customs prevalent there. In many respects Wilfrid was a grand man and a splendid character. His life was a very troublesome one. He had but little peace in his life. Driven from country to country, immense money was offered for his head. Because he so loved Rome, in his difficulties he appealed to her for help. The Pope always took his side, with the hope, no doubt, that he might gain a hold on England. The king of Northumbria, however, did not care ​for the Pope's decisions, and, in opposition to his wish, imprisoned Wilfrid on his return to England, and set the Pope's decision, on their mutual troubles, at defiance.
However, it is not my object to speak of the troubles of Wilfrid, or to write his history. And in what I have already referred to, I have anticipated events far beyond the date of the Whitby Council. To return to that again. Speakers in that Council were heard, who represented both sides of the question as to the time of keeping Easter, and it was entirely through the influence and personality of Wilfrid that it was decided that the Roman custom was the true one. The king gave forth the decision. We are given a glimpse at his reason for doing this.
"Is it true, Colman," the king asked—you know that Colman upheld the Celtic custom—"Is it true that the keys of Heaven were given to S. Peter?" Colman admitted that it was true. "Then," said the king, "I will not oppose the door-keeper of Heaven, lest, when I present myself, I find no one to open the door to me."
The Conference settled that controversy which had for so long divided the Celtic from the Roman Churches, and after this was held we hear very little of the old Celtic party. Some of them, on the point to which we have now referred, who upheld the old Celtic custom, embraced the decision of the Council. Others resigned their positions in the North and returned to their old island at Hy. Among them was Colman, who was the Bishop of Lindisfarne.
Now we must again go back to Kent, to hear what happened there. S. Augustine was long since dead. Two of ​his successors were also dead, without having accomplished very much for the furtherance of the Gospel. A fearful pestilence, called the "yellow fever," had passed over the land and carried off many of the Christians and some of the most famous Bishops. Deusdedit, the Archbishop, died of this plague. After his death the See was vacant for a couple of years. There was no Bishop in England to consecrate a successor. Two of the kings chose a man named Wighard for the See, and sent him to Rome for consecration. But he died of the plague on the way. Then it was that the Pope's usurpation began to show itself. He himself proceeded to appoint a Bishop for Canterbury. His choice fell upon Theodore of Tarsus, an old man sixty-six years of age, who had great wisdom and wide learning. It was a happy choice."A better or a more judicious appointment," said Mr. Hore, "could not have been made." After Theodore was duly ordained and consecrated for his office he came to England, accompanied by Benedict Biscop, in the year 669.
Let us see in what way his work was an advantage to the Church of England.
Up to this time the Church in England was only a collection of so many independent Missions, without any recognized head or any centre of unity. The Celtic Church had not the capacity of organization. It could not bind the Church together into one whole. Rome excelled in this matter of organization, and Theodore had learnt the way to do it. His object, then, on coming to England was, first of all, to unite the separate Christian Missions, and to place them under one central authority. In order to carry out this object, he spent ​three years in a general visitation of the kingdom. He filled up the Bishoprics which had been rendered vacant through the plague. He founded new dioceses, and split up those which were already grown too large.
In the year 673 also, he summoned a Council of the clergy at Hertford, with the object of reducing further the differences between the two different Christian elements in the land. At this Council there was drawn up a set of Ecclesiastical Canons for the government of the Church. It was decided also that the Bishops should have no jurisdiction outside their dioceses, and that their work should be confined to their own dioceses. It was further resolved that the clergy were not to officiate in other dioceses without the consent of the Bishops. It was agreed that Synods should be held at least once a year to discuss matters concerning the welfare of the Church. Some people have considered that it was Theodore who attempted the organization of our present parochial system, but that is doubtful. Theodore's work was certainly to make the Church of England a national Church. He bound all the separated parts together. He made Canterbury the chief See, and York the next in importance. He was also the means of introducing Church music and architecture into our land. He made the Church a Church of learned men, and the great pity was that his life was well-nigh closed before he came to England.
You must not think that because Theodore was nominated to Canterbury by the Pope of Rome that he considered that England was submissive to Rome. He himself acted independently of her by ignoring her decisions. This was shown most clearly in his dealings with Wilfrid, whom he ​opposed in spite of Wilfrid's protection at Rome. Theodore pursued his own course. He knew what ought to be done, and he fought through opposition to accomplish it. Theodore had quarrels with Wilfrid, because he wished to divide Wilfrid's See without having consulted him on the matter. In this trouble Wilfrid appealed to the Pope. But the Archbishop went his own way. Shortly before his death, in the year 690, he and Wilfrid were reconciled again.
In his desire to preserve the unity of the Church Theodore was often urged to take strong measures. Another instance of this was seen in his treatment of Chad, the Bishop of Lindisfarne. On coming to England the Archbishop thought that he saw a flaw in Chad's consecration, and as a result of this he deposed the saintly Chad from his See."I will willingly resign my See," Chad said, "if you consider I have not received the Episcopate rightly, of which I never thought myself worthy, but which I undertook for the sake of obedience to command."
Theodore lived long enough to learn that Chad was worthy of a Bishopric, and, after seeing that he was canonically consecrated, he appointed him to the See of Lichfield.
Of course Theodore had his faults, but the Church owes to him a great debt of gratitude. If a man of his stamp had been sent to convert the English to the Faith, the history of our country must have taken a very different turn. Augustine's Mission was a failure as much through his own weakness of character as through the trying conditions of the time. He had not been in England long before he sent a letter to Gregory, asking his advice as to what should be done with ​the offerings of the people, and how should he deal with men guilty of sacrilege; such questions he asked, you see, as a strong man would think to be quite unnecessary to ask advice upon. Theodore was not a man of this type. He was strong, and he had great power of binding people together.
At last I am drawing to the close of this Lecture. I have wished to show you to-night how the Church's Faith was founded in England. You have seen that this was not done without determined struggles. We are taken to-night to the end of the seventh century, and at this time you find that the Church is well-organized in England, governed by its Bishops, guided by Canon law, kept alive by Synods and Councils. The two Archbishoprics at this date, Canterbury and York, were well-established, and many other Bishoprics were working under them.
Next week I shall turn to another subject—The growing claims over England of the Popes of Rome.
* ↑ Early English Church History, Second Edition, p.5.
* ↑ Quoted by Hore, p.9. History of the Church of England (Edit. 1895).
* ↑ Hore, p.5. Ibid.
* ↑ Hore, p.24., Ibid.
* ↑ Hore, p.26, Ibid.
* ↑ See Hore, p.27, 28.
* ↑ Quoted by Bright, p.121.
* ↑ Quoted by Bright, p. 121-2
* ↑ Quoted by Hore, p.46. Ibid.
* ↑ Hore, p.49. Ibid
* ↑ Hore, p.50. Ibid.