Ireland - Patrick's ends of the earth

Everyone knows the legendary figure of Saint Patrick.  However, the real Patrick who lived and evangelised in fifth century Ireland was quite different to the mythical figure who has developed into today’s Irish archetype.  Patrick the modern patron saint has somehow been disconnected from Patrick the missionary.  He is someone, I believe, today’s church should be much better acquainted with.  Could rediscovering the real Patrick and examining his core beliefs assist the church in its evangelistic efforts today? 

I have had an interest in Saint Patrick for many years.  Having read Patrick’s Confession and made my own preliminary translation of it, I was enthused by his passion for mission to research further into this ancient missionary’s writings.  I have written ‘Patrick and the Gospel’ (published on Amazon KDP) and I believe that deeper study of Patrick from a theological and pastoral perspective, rather than simply an historical one, will encourage my own evangelistic ministry and foster a greater desire for the promotion of the gospel in Ireland.  Recently we have found Patrick’s story to be a useful missional tool in reaching out to a rapidly secularising Ireland.

All that can accurately be known of Patrick comes from his two undisputed, authentic writings – the Confession and his Letter to the Soldiers of Coroticus.  These are regularly examined from an historical perspective because they are some of the oldest extant Irish documents.  However, they are rarely approached from an evangelical, theological or even pastoral perspective.  From these works we discover that Patrick frequently makes citations from Paul’s letter to the Romans.  My interest is in how Romans influenced Patrick’s mission.

In Patrick’s opinion, up to his day the geographical limit of the witness to Jesus in the west had been the boundary of the Roman empire.  However, his view was that there were places beyond even that to which the gospel should still progress.  He was determined to go to ‘the very ends of the earth,’ to the Irish nation which had been beyond the reach of Christianity until then.  He was in a nation as far west as possible (Confession 39) in order to ‘teach the nations’ (Confession 40, Letter 1).  He had gone right out to the shore of the western sea (Confession 23) ‘beyond where people live’ (Confession 51).

Patrick’s Confession may therefore be regarded as his profession of trust in God, while he served God preaching the gospel where it had not been heard before.  In this he reflected the apostle’s concern in Romans 15.16, 20, ‘to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God, so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit ... It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else’s foundation.’

The occasion of Paul’s letter to the Romans may shed light on why Patrick was so taken with the apostle’s great treatise.  Like Paul, Patrick wanted to ‘preach the gospel where Christ is not known’ (Rom. 15.20).  At the time of writing Paul was planning to journey further west into Spain (Rom. 15.22-24) and use a stop-off in Rome as a base camp for further missionary work.  Did this missionary focus encourage Patrick to pay special attention to Romans, to which he refers frequently?  

In addition, the Letter to the Romans also addresses how the gospel is to go out to ‘the ends of the world’ (Romans 10.18) – using the phrase so motivating to Patrick.  Did these aspects of Romans influence Patrick’s mission to the ends of the earth?  Did Patrick, in some sense, model his ministry on that of the apostle Paul, extending the apostolic mission to go to the ends of the earth, beyond the empire?  Could he in turn model a similar ministry to us today?  These questions requiring further study and reflection should encourage the church in its evangelistic efforts and help us enlist Patrick as fellow worker in the gospel.

I have really appreciated the Latimer Trust’s support of evangelicals looking to proceed with academic work in biblical studies and church history. I was delighted to be allocated a Latimer Trust grant enabling me to pursue my research at Union Theological College.  My prayer is that the Lord will continue to use the Latimer Trust to bless further study and the promotion of the gospel.  I would hope to share any useful findings with the wider Church.  Despite our vastly different contexts, I believe there is much for contemporary evangelicals and the Irish Church in particular to re-learn from Patrick.  The Church’s ministry can only benefit from a deeper knowledge of one of its early missionaries and his reflections on mission.

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Will Press is Rector of Knockbreda Parish Church Belfast (Anglican, Church of Ireland). He is married to Claire and they have three children. He is a member of General Synod (CofI), a council member of Gafcon Ireland and canon of Down cathedral.

Views expressed in blogs published by the Latimer Trust are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the Latimer Trust.