The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1896-03-31
WAS ST. PATRICK A BAPTIST
Or. LANDRUM SAYS HE TAUGHT BkP.|
TIST DOCTRINE AND PRACTlcED'
IMMERSION.

4 l..iif
Rev. w. w. Landrum, %. D., OF
Richmond, Va, preached to large
congregation recently on "St. Patrick
as Baptist" and the following report
Of his argument is given by the Rioh-
| mond Times:
lrishmen venerate him as Roman
Catholic and patron saint of Erin J;
| Englishmen declare him q Britain,
and an Episcopalian Scotchmen claim
him as fellow-countryman and Pres
oyterian; Methodists say he was the
| original after which John Wesley
patterned; Salvation Army, officers
remember how he assembled around
him in the open fields at the beat Of
drum concourse of people where
ne related to them the story of Christ:
Baptists pronounce him one of their.
early missionaries and q noble EXPO
nent OF doctrines and duties they hold
dear. .f
Historic material to enable us to re-
construct Patrick's life is scant and
unsatisfactory. Perhaps our only trust
worthy Information is derived from
two Latin tracts left by him. One is
entitled His Confession" and the.
other his "Epistle to Coroticus," most
probably a Welsh prince. The date
and place OF Patrick's birth arc in
doubt. He is believed to have flourish
ed In the early part of the sixth CEN
tury. 1t seems to be probable that he
was born in part OF Scotland which
was at that time not Scotland, but
Brltain. We know from his "Confes-
sion the name, Office, and occupation
of his father and the calling of his
father and the calling of his grand
mother; we know that he was captured
nf -.
ireland, sold as q slave, and required
to guard cattle; that he escaped after
SIX years of scrvitude, and after
period OF wandering, returned to
ireland as missionary and preached
the gospel with marvellous success
that he became, indeed, the father of
Irish Christianity and Irish civiliza-
ton. His birthday and deathday are
supposed to come around about March
l7th.
Rationalists admit ST. Patrick was
The Open Court" March IL, 1895,
says: "There seems to be no reason
to doubt that a missionary in Ireland
who called himself Patrick did in the
hfth century write two brief tractates,
one entitled his Confession and the
second the Letter to Coroticus.' The
sufficient antiquity of these works is
They do not contain
the faintest intimation of any con-
nection of Patrick with Rome, or of
any papai commission, or of any obser
vance by him on the mass"
Lives of st. Patrick abound which
TEEN with marvels. Like Moses, he
works wonders with rod he dries up
q Hood, turns an unbelieving district
INTO marsh, makes q sacred stone
hoat to bear leper to Ireland, causes
one magician to sink into the earth,
smother to be struck by lightning,
makes hidcous dwarf tall and beauti.
full makes IL kettle boil with blocks of
ice ; sinks hostile ship with the sign
Of the cross calls up or appcases tom
pests.
All, or nearly all, Protestants claim
Patrlck. They hold that there was no
Pope OF Rome at the time OF Patrick,
hence it was quite impossible for him
to have been q Romanist. English
churchmen would hardly dispute the
statement of Moncure d. Conway,
when he says: Romanism had no au-
thority IN Ireland until the twelfth
when all English Pope (Break-
'pearl and an English king (Henry L.
forced on " the Romanism, for
which Cromwell punished them. All
Protestants, arguing from Patrick's
own Confession" maintain that he
was an evangelical Christian. An
lieves in salvation by faith alone, and
may be Episcopalian or Presbyterian,
Baptist or Methodist Lutheran or
Evangelicas know
that in his writings Patrick makes no
mention OF the Pope, or purgatory,
auricular confession, trans-su bstantia-
tion, or worship of the virgin.
Patrick's doctrines and practices
show resemblance to those of modern
Baptists: These particulars may be
His belief was the Bible
and the BIBLE alone he quotes as au-
thority ON religion not the pope or the
only the III BILE. Patrick's Christian ex-
pcriencc is not ue to sacraments, but
is work of grace in the soul, causing
repentance for his sins and faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Patrick's views of
the officers of church is that Of the
Baptists. According to him the church
has only two sets of ofiicers-one called
presbyters or elders or bishops, and
the other deacons. Patrick's grand
father was Potitus, not priest, but
married presbytor. His father was O.
deacon, who owned and lived on a farm
and held the Office of decurio, or town
councilman. Patrick was a Baptist
as to the act and the subject of oap-
tism. He did not baptise infants, but
only persons who personally repented
and personally beloved on the Lord
Jesus Christ. The act of baptism in
Patricks day was immersion in water
in the name OF the Trinity
Patrick seems to have understood
the Baptist doctrine of religious
liberty. He held that no good citizen
should be punished for his irreligious
or Pagan opinions, and he sought to
win converts to Christianity only by
sweet persuasion and self-sacriticing
love. Patrick was q peerless foreign
missionary. Ireland when he entered
it was distracted and cursed with petty
wars, piracy, tyranny, and idolatry.
Ireland, when Patrick died, after half
a century OF fearless preaching in tho
name of Jesus, was universally Chris
tian.
Patrick's doctrines say to us as did
the Lord, Call no man MASTER"
neither Paul nor Apollos, neither Peter
nor the Pope, neither Luther nor
Calvin, neither Wesley nor Campbell,
for 1t Is written, He that glorieth
let him glory in the Lord" God speed
the day when the long divided hosts Of
our common Lord gathering close
around His cross, shall lay aside tho
legends and traditions OF men and
joyously accept the one Lord, one faith,
one baptism, and one God and Father