by Joel Pelsue

Remember The Da Vinci Code? Consider the astonishing impact this fictional book had on our culture: It has 60 million copies in print, was translated into 44 languages, and the movie earned $215 million in the domestic box office and $540 million in overseas receipts.

The Christian community rallied by writing pamphlets and books, establishing Web sites, and hosting lectures and forums. All brought clarity and truth to the novel’s claims, which were based on myths and the author’s rich imagination. Many great thinkers, writers, and pastors worked hard to react to the false “facts” in Da Vinci.

It was wonderful to see the Christian community taking the book and film seriously. That’s the first step in taking back culture—what should be ours to impact, as the people of God.

But believers can go much further—by creating films and other media as well as responding to them. While it’s healthy to critique and assess the trends and dangers within our culture, we need to do more. We need to create the new stories, movies, and anthems that inspire and shape culture in America and—because entertainment is one of our major exports—the rest of the world.

When will Christians assume the role of culture shapers, instead of mere reactionaries? Why do we hesitate—are we afraid? Don’t we realize the scope of the problem and the opportunities God is giving us? What biblical passages can equip us for such a task?

The Church’s Response to Hollywood

The Church has had two basic responses to Hollywood: 1) conservative Christians have seen it as the enemy and responded with boycotts and picket signs; 2) liberal Christians have embraced the culture, often taking a social “gospel” to it—one that lacks the power to transform.

Both options fail to be redemptive or transformational. Conservative Christians pursue purity while abandoning the culture. Liberal Christians pursue relevance while abandoning the heart of the gospel. Hollywood sees these dynamics and concludes that the gospel of the conservative church is irrelevant because it is disconnected, and the gospel of the liberal church is irrelevant because it’s merely a social club.

The good news? There’s another approach.

As Jonathan Edwards would claim, a biblical Christian is one who pursues not only personal piety and doctrinal orthodoxy but also cultural relevance. These pursuits are not mutually exclusive, but the one we talk about the least is the responsibility to engage culture.

The Cultural Mandate

From the beginning, God has called us to tend the culture as we would tend a garden. He defined the parameters for Adam and Eve and gave them a mandate: God “took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” He commanded them “to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it.”

Just as God brought order out of chaos during creation, He commanded this man and this woman, made in His image, to pursue and maintain order as they established their family, who eventually would populate the earth and create culture.

We were never called to merely focus on ourselves in a pietistic ghetto. Man’s responsibility was to tend creation, so that it would be fruitful, and for man himself to be fruitful. When they were planting seeds, digging irrigation, creating economic systems, or establishing governments, they were fulfilling their calling as men and women made in the image of God and called to create and “subdue.”

So it is today. As we are fruitful, we must tend to our families and society at large, just as Adam and Eve were to tend to their garden.

Abraham Kuyper, one-time prime minister of the Netherlands and founder of The Free University in Amsterdam, brought great clarity to the meaning of this mandate: “In the total expanse of human life there is not a single square inch of which the Christ, who alone is sovereign, does not declare, ‘That is mine!’”

If we understand this correctly, then it’s embarrassing to realize how few Christians engage and transform our culture by way of media and entertainment. Though we may have been involved in other valuable pursuits such as mercy ministry and missions, we may have neglected journalism, the arts, and business—and the impact their transformation might bring.

If we fed all our homeless and sent millions of missionaries overseas but failed to engage the most powerful communication networks in our own backyard, we would fail to transform this culture and thereby fail to carry out God’s first command.

Bezalel: An Artist Called by God

What does it look like to transform culture? One answer lies in the story of God redeeming His people when they left Egypt. After centuries of their immersion in the pagan idolatry of the Egyptians, God transforms the Israelites’ understanding of culture by commissioning an artist.

In Exodus 31 we read: “The Lord said to Moses, ‘See, I have chosen Bezalel … and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of crafts—to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver, and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship.’”

So the first person in the Bible “filled with the Spirit of God” is an artist, yet many Christians barely notice him.

Why? We may skip over his name, because, as good modernists, we assume that art and artists are incidental instead of integral to God’s redemptive plan. So, when pastors, theologians, and churchgoers read this passage, we may simply miss it—like we gloss over genealogies, lists of cities, and other information for which we see no direct link to our daily life. By doing so, we miss something about God’s plan for redemption and a vital connection between our spiritual life and life in the world around us.

Though this is not a commonly preached passage, it was pivotal for the Israelites. After Moses led them out of Egypt, they crossed the Red Sea (Exodus 13-15) and three months later were at the base of Mount Sinai, awaiting God’s directions.

God gave Moses the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), but something else happened on that holy mountain. We find this amazing passage where God specifically calls an artist to do the work of building artifacts for the tabernacle. In fact, a third of Exodus is spent describing the artwork.

When the Israelites heard that God wanted them to build a tabernacle, imagine their shock. Why build anything akin to a temple? They had been rescued from slavery, oppression, and the task of building temples for kings and idols. Their memory was still fresh with the blasphemy that could take place in temples.

It’s easy to imagine a smile on God’s face. Even this act tells of His character as One who redeems—art, artists, temples, and entire cultures, as well as individuals and a whole people group called the Israelites.

In Exodus we learn that God would redeem everything they knew of culture. He did not look at the misguided and misdirected worship of the Egyptians and conclude that it was too corrupt to redeem. Quite the opposite. God rejoiced over the opportunity to show that He redeems all things (Colossians 1), including pagan temples and pagan hearts.

God placed worship at the center of the Israelites’ desert camp, just as it was at the center of Egyptian culture, but now He directed His people to worship the Creator, not the created. He changed the rules and the focus, so they could see how they were designed to be worshipers of the God who made them in His image.

Revolution in Redemption

As God redeemed the Israelites, reshaping the culture they were commanded to tend, artists continued to play a critical role. In battles to come, the ark of the covenant, made by Bezalel and his helper, would be the primary visual reminder of the glory and power of God.

All the artwork—representations of angels, animals, plants, and structural components—were made to help Israelites remember that their God is the One who created everything. He is the One we worship; the beauty we see throughout creation is a reminder of Him.

Not once does God diminish the role of art in worship, nor the value of the artist to reshape their culture. God loves to redeem, and He loves to use the arts.

Bezalel is a model for Christians today, a picture of God’s heart for the art world, for New York, Los Angeles, Hollywood, and the entire entertainment industry. God is not calling us to abandon the arts but to become His hands and feet as He redeems the very center of our culture.

In fact, as we consider this dynamic we may recall other characters in the Bible who were called to be salt and light in the heart of pagan environments. Whether we consider the life of Daniel and how he was called by God to be second in command for idolatrous kings, or how God called Joseph in a similar manner, it’s clear that God does not call us to retreat from working in hostile environments.

This should not sound like a new concept, but to many Christians today, it does. The Church has fallen asleep in the area of engaging culture. It’s as if we are culturally dead, and like Lazarus, need to hear afresh the voice of our Savior calling us to awaken and thrive.

For too long the Church has seen Hollywood as a modern-day Nineveh, and hoped for its destruction. However, God is the great Redeemer, and we are reminded not to be like the prophet Jonah who was angry when the Ninevites repented.

Instead, we must reflect God’s heart to redeem Hollywood and the arts world, realizing there are “other sheep not of this fold.” We must stop demonizing those who don’t know the Savior’s voice. And we must stop minimizing the influence and power of art and entertainment.

It’s time to engage. It’s time to be at the forefront of creating songs, novels, and films that inspire our nation, and ultimately our world. Then we’ll begin to lead the way to a revolution in redemption.

Joel Pelsue is founder and president of Arts & Entertainment Ministries in Los Angeles, Calif. Pelsue holds a B.A in Philosophy from Westmont College and an M.Div. from Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando. A teaching elder in the PCA, Pelsue has been ministering to artists for more than 15 years.

Perspectives that Keep Christians Away from Pop Culture

Scope of Redemption. Evangelical Christians often focus on the Great Commission at the expense of the cultural mandate. Yes, God redeems individuals (Ephesians 2:4), but Christ also died to redeem entire people groups (Isaiah 43:1)—thrones, powers, rulers, things visible and invisible (Colossians 1). Creation itself awaits redemption (Romans 8:20-22).
If our view of redemption is focused solely on evangelizing people, we’ll miss our responsibility to tend to the culture. But if our vision of redemption mirrors the Bible, then we’ll realize our obligation to engage culture in every facet, believing God will redeem components of the art world and encourage our children to be part of His plan.

Sacred/Secular Dualism. Many Christians have been dualistic in their thinking, compartmentalizing their world into sacred and secular.
This sacred/secular dualism has led to a separatist mentality. The only way to remain pure was to separate ourselves from any hint of evil within our culture. Therefore, instead of engaging the culture, we withdrew.
This separatism pushed us to the point of creating our own subcultures, including independent “Christian” music labels and production companies. Then, even within the subculture, artists could not write music or create art that was not explicitly religious.
God’s Word speaks of topics such as sensual love between husband and wife, even murder, rape, and lust. However, if “Christian” artists explore these topics, they are harshly criticized and their work usually is not accepted in their marketplace.
Francis Schaeffer lamented, “About all that we have produced is very romantic Sunday school art.” A friend of ours who is a stand-up comedienne does a bit on stage about this sentimental art, and she keeps Christian and non-Christian audiences in stitches. Why? Because it is just as ridiculous as it is true.
Sentimental, nostalgic art can send the message that the “best times” are in the past, while the core of the gospel proclaims the opposite: the best is yet to come. It may require suffering, death, and sorrow, but God will be victorious. Biblical Christians are not pessimists about life or about our culture but believe in God’s sovereignty and His promises of hope.

Discerning Between Form and Content. Some Christians remain separate from culture because of difficulty discerning between content of the artwork and the form in which it’s presented.
If words in a song are bad, then the entire piece, and sometimes the entire genre is condemned (think of the judgment on jazz and rock music). If the words are godly, then the genre may be perceived as holy.
Of course, this doesn’t really work because there is no holy genre. We falsely assume that classical music and high art are pure forms. However, it does not take much research to realize that classical music, operas, and “high art” have their own forays into pagan mythology and graphic themes.
As Gene Veith writes in State of the Arts, “That the arts can be corrupt does not mean that Christians should abandon them. On the contrary, the corruption of the arts means that Christians dare not abandon them any longer.”

This article may be found in its original context here

Copyright 2007, all rights reserved, byFaith magazine. This article first appeared in the December 2007 issue of byFaith and is reprinted by permission.

St. Patrick’s day is celebrated every year by people around the world, and is commemorated by green clothes, green beer, a green river, and a green parade, all of which may have very little to do with the man himself.

St. Patrick was born sometime in the middle of the 4th century to a leader in the catholic church.  This autobiographical confession was written during the latter years of his life.  Those interested knowing the real St. Patrick, the man behind the holiday, should read this.  It’s rather long, so don’t feel like to you need to read the whole thing.  Reading just the first section will be enough to show you who this man was.

The Confessio of St. Patrick

Chapter 1

Section 1

I, Patrick, a sinner, the rudest and the least of all the faithful, and an object of the greatest contempt to many, am the son of Calpornius, a deacon, the son of the late Potitus, a presbyter, of the village Bannavem Taburniæ; he had a country seat [or farm] nearby, and there I was taken captive.

I was then about sixteen years of age. I did not know the true God, and I was taken into captivity to Ireland with many thousands of people - and deservedly so, because we had turned away from God, and had not kept His commandments, and did not obey our priests, who used to remind us of our salvation. And the Lord brought over us the wrath of his anger and scattered us among many nations, even unto the utmost part of the earth, where now my littleness is placed among strangers.

And there the Lord opened the sense of my unbelief that I might at last remember my sins and then turn with all my heart to the Lord my God, who had regard for my low estate, and took pity on my youth and ignorance, and watched over me before I knew Him, and before I was able to distinguish between good and evil, and guarded me, and comforted me as would a father his son.

Section 2

Hence I cannot be silent - and indeed, I ought not to be - about the many blessings and the large measure of grace which the Lord has deigned to bestow upon me in the land of my captivity; for this only can we give in return to God after having been chastened by Him: to exalt and praise His wonders before every nation under the heaven.

There is no other God, nor ever was, nor will be, than God the Father

• unbegotten,
• without beginning,
• from whom is all beginning,
• Who upholds all things, as we have been taught;

And His Son Jesus Christ,

• Whom we acknowledge to have been always with the Father,
• Who before the beginning of the world was spiritually present with the Father;
• Begotten in an unspeakable manner before all beginning;
• By Him are made all things visible and invisible.
• He was made man, and,
• having defeated death, was received into heaven by the Father;
• and He has given Him a name which is above every names:
• that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow of things in heaven, on earth, and under the earth,
• and every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and God,
• in whom we believe, and whose coming we expect soon to be,
• judge of the living and of the dead,
• who will render to every man according to his deeds;
• And He has poured forth upon us abundantly …

the Holy Spirit,

• the gift and pledge of immortality,
• who makes those who believe and obey sons of God the Father
• and joint heirs with Christ;

Whom we confess and adore, one God in the Trinity of the Holy Name.

For He Himself has said through the Prophet: Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify Me. And again He says: It is honourable to reveal and confess the works of God.

Section 3

Although I am imperfect in many things, I nevertheless wish that my brethren and relatives should know what sort of person I am, so that they may understand my heart’s desire.

I know well the testimony of my Lord, who in the Psalm declares: You destroy those that speak lies. And again He says: A lying mouth slays the soul. And the same Lord says in the Gospel: Men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

And so I should dread exceedingly, with fear and trembling, this sentence on that day when no one will be able to escape or hide, but we all, without exception, shall have to give an account even of our smallest sins before the judgment-seat of Christ the Lord.

For this reason I had in mind to write, but hesitated until now; I was afraid of exposing myself to the talk of men, because I have not studied like others, who have enjoyed the great advantages of becoming acquainted with the Sacred Scriptures in both ways [i.e. both Greek and Latin], and never had to change the language of their childhood days, but were able to make it still more perfect. I have to translate my thoughts and speech into a foreign language.

 

Section 4

This can easily be proved from the style of my writing, which betrays how little instruction and training I have had in the art of words; for, so says the Wise Man, “it is through speech that wisdom becomes known, and knowledge through the tongue’s rejoinder”.

But of what help is an excuse, however true, especially if combined with presumption, since now, in my old age, I strive for something that I did not acquire in youth? It was my sins that prevented me from fixing in my mind what before I had barely read through. But who believes me?

To repeat what I started out before, as a youth, nay, almost a beardless boy, I was taken captive, before I knew what to pursue and what to avoid. Hence today I blush and fear exceedingly to reveal my lack of education; for I am unable to tell my story to those versed in the art of concise writing - in such a way, I mean, as my spirit and mind long to do, and so that the sense of my words expresses what I feel.

But if indeed it had been given to me as it was given to others, I would not have been silent because of my desire of thanksgiving; and if perhaps some people think me arrogant for doing so in spite of my lack of knowledge and my slow tongue, it is, after all, written: The stammering tongues shall quickly learn to speak peace.

How much more should we earnestly strive to do this, we, who are, so Scripture says, a letter of Christ for salvation unto the utmost part of the earth, and, though not an eloquent one, yet…written in your hearts, not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God!

Section 5

And, again, the Spirit witnesses that even farming was ordained by the Most High. Whence I, once rustic, exiled, unlearned, incapable to provide for the future, this at least I know most certainly that before I was humiliated I was like a stone lying in the deep mire; and He that is mighty came and in His mercy lifted me, and raised me up, and placed me on the top of the wall. And therefore I ought to cry out aloud and so also render something to the Lord for His great benefits here and in eternity - benefits beyond men’s conception.

But wherefore, do you wonder, o great and small who fear God? And you rhetoricians of the Gauls, who know not the Lord? Listen and pore over this. Who was it that roused up me, fool that I am, from the midst of those who in the eyes of men are wise, and expert in law, and powerful in word and in everything? And He inspired me - me, the outcast of this world - before others, to be the man (if only I could!) who, with fear and reverence and without blame, should faithfully serve the people to whom the love of Christ conveyed and gave me for the duration of my life, if I should be worthy; yes indeed, to serve them humbly and sincerely.

Chapter 2

Section 6

In accordance to the measure of faith in the Trinity I must make this choice, regardless of danger I must make known the gift of God and everlasting consolation, without fear and frankly I must spread everywhere the name of God so that after my death I may leave a bequest to my brethren and sons whom I have baptized in the Lord - so many thousands of people.

And I was not worthy, nor was I such that the Lord should grant this to His servant; that after my misfortunes and so great difficulties, after my captivity, after the lapse of so many years, He should give me so great a grace in behalf of this nation - a blessing which, in my youth, I never expected nor thought of.

But after I came to Ireland - every day I had to tend sheep, and many times a day I prayed - the love of God and His fear grew stronger and stronger, and my faith increased. And my spirit was moved so that in a single day I would say as many as a hundred prayers, and almost as many in the night, and this even when I was staying in the woods and on the mountains; and I used to get up for prayer before daylight, in snow, ice, and rain, and I felt no injury from it, and there was no sloth in me - as I now see, because the spirit within me was then fervent.

And there one night I heard in my sleep a voice saying to me: “It is well that you fast, soon you will go to your own country.” And again, after a short while, I heard a voice saying to me: “See, your ship is ready.” And it was not near, but at a distance of perhaps two hundred miles, and I had never been there, nor did I know a living soul there.

Section 7

And then I took to flight, and I left the man with whom I had stayed for six years. And I went in the strength of the Lord who directed my way to my good, and I feared nothing until I came to that ship.

And the day that I arrived the ship was set afloat, and I said that I was able to pay for my passage with them. But the captain was not pleased, and with indignation he answered harshly: `It is of no use for you to ask us to go along with us.’ And when I heard this, I left them in order to return to the hut where I was staying. And as I went, I began to pray; and before I finished my prayer, I heard one of them shouting behind me, `Come, hurry, we shall take you on in good faith; make friends with us in whatever way you like.’ And so on that day I refused to suck their breasts for fear of God, but rather hoped they would come to the faith of Jesus Christ, because they were pagans. And thus I had my way with them, and we set sail at once.

 

Section 8

And after three days we reached land, and for twenty-eight days we travelled through deserted country. And they lacked food, and hunger overcame them; and the next day the captain said to me: `Tell me, Christian: you say that your God is great and all-powerful; why, then, do you not pray for us? As you can see, we are suffering from hunger; it is unlikely indeed that we shall ever see a human being again.’

I said to them full of confidence: `Be truly converted with all your heart to the Lord my God, because nothing is impossible for Him, that this day He may send you food on your way until you be satisfied; for He has abundance everywhere.’ And, with the help of God, so it came to pass: suddenly a herd of swine appeared on the road before our eyes, and they killed many of them; and there they stopped for two nights and fully recovered their strength, and their hounds received their fill for many of them had grown weak and were half-dead along the way.

Section 9

And from that day they had plenty of food. They also found wild honey, and offered some of it to me, and one of them said: `This we offer in sacrifice.’ Thanks be to God, I tasted none of it.

That same night, when I was asleep, Satan assailed me violently, a thing I shall remember as long as I shall be in this body. And he fell upon me like a huge rock, and I could not stir a limb. But whence came it into my mind, ignorant as I am, to call upon Helias? And meanwhile I saw the sun rise in the sky, and while I was shouting `Helias! Helias’ with all my might, suddenly the splendour of that sun fell on me and immediately freed me of all misery. And I believe that I was sustained by Christ my Lord, and that His Spirit was even then crying out in my behalf, and I hope it will be so on the day of my tribulation, as is written in the Gospel: On that day, the Lord declares, it is not you that speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaks in you.

And once again, after many years, I fell into captivity. On that first night I stayed with them, I heard a divine message saying to me: `Two months will you be with them.’ And so it came to pass: on the sixtieth night thereafter the Lord delivered me out of their hands.

Also on our way God gave us food and fire and dry weather every day, until, on the tenth day, we met people. As I said above, we traveled twenty-eight days through deserted country, and the night that we met people we had no food left.

 

 

Chapter 3

Section 10

And again after a few years I was in Britain with my people, who received me as their son, and sincerely besought me that now at last, having suffered so many hardships, I should not leave them and go elsewhere.

And there I saw in the night the vision of a man, whose name was Victoricus, coming as it were from Ireland, with countless letters. And he gave me one of them, and I read the opening words of the letter, which were, `The voice of the Irish’; and as I read the beginning of the letter I thought that at the same moment I heard the voice of those beside the Wood of Foclud, which is near the Western Sea - and thus did they cry out as with one mouth: `We ask thee, holy youth, come and walk among us once more.’

And I was quite broken in heart, and could read no further, and so I woke up. Thanks be to God, after many years the Lord gave to them according to their cry.

Section 11

And another night - whether within me, or beside me, I know not, God knows - they called me most unmistakably with words which I heard but could not understand, except that at the end of the speech He spoke thus: `He that has laid down His life for you, it is He that speaks in you’; and so I awoke full of joy.

And again I saw Him praying in me, and I was as it were within my body, and I heard Him above me, that is, over the inward man, and there He prayed mightily with groanings. And all the time I was astonished, and wondered, and thought with myself who it could be that prayed in me. But at the end of the prayer He spoke, saying that He was the Spirit; and so I woke up, and remembered the Apostle saying: The Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for; but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express; and again: The Lord our advocate asks for us.

And when I was attacked by a number of my elders who came forth and brought up my sins as an objection to my laborious episcopate, on that day indeed was I struck so that I might have fallen now and for eternity; but the Lord graciously spared the stranger and sojourner for His name and came mightily to my help in this affliction. Verily, not slight was the shame and blame that fell upon me! I ask God that it may not be reckoned to them as sin.

As cause for proceeding against me they found - after thirty years! - a confession I had made before I was a deacon.

 

Section 12

In the anxiety of my troubled mind I confided to my dearest friend what I had done in my boyhood one day, nay, in one hour, because I was not yet strong. I know not, God knows - whether I was then fifteen years old: and I did not believe in the living God, nor did I so from my childhood, but lived in death and unbelief until I was severely chastised and really humiliated, by hunger and nakedness, and that daily.

On the other hand, I did not go to Ireland of my own accord. not until I had nearly perished; but this was rather for my good, for thus was I purged by the Lord; and He made me fit so that I might be now what was once far from me that I should care and labour for the salvation of others, whereas then I did not even care about myself.

On that day, then, when I was rejected by those referred to and mentioned above, in that night I saw a vision of the night. There was a writing without honour against my face, and at the same time I heard God’s voice saying to me: `We have seen with displeasure the face of Deisignatus’ (thus revealing his name). He did not say, `Thou hast seen.’ but `We have seen.’ as if He included Himself, as He says: Whoever touches you touches the apple of My eye..

Therefore I give Him thanks who hath strengthened me in everything, as He did not frustrate the journey upon which I had decided, and the work which I had learned from Christ my Lord; but I rather felt after this no little strength, and my trust was proved right before God and men.

Section 13

And so I say boldly, my conscience does not blame me now or in the future: God is my witness that I have not lied in the account which I have given you.

But the more am I sorry for my dearest friend that we had to hear what he said. To him I had confided my very soul! And I was told by some of the brethren before that defence - at which I was not present, nor was I in Britain, nor was it suggested by me - that he would stand up for me in my absence. He had even said to me in person: `Look, you should be raised to the rank of bishop!’ - of which I was not worthy. But whence did it come to him afterwards that he let me down before all, good and evil, and publicly, in a matter in which he had favoured me before spontaneously and gladly - and not he alone, but the Lord, who is greater than all?

Enough of this. I must not, however, hide God’s gift which He bestowed upon me in the land of my captivity; because then I earnestly sought Him, and there I found Him, and He saved me from all evil because - so I believe - of His Spirit that dwells in me. Again, boldly said. But God knows it, had this been said to me by a man, I had perhaps remained silent for the love of Christ.

Section 14

Hence, then, I give unwearied thanks to God, who kept me faithful in the day of my temptation, so that today I can confidently offer Him my soul as a living sacrifice - to Christ my Lord, who saved me out of all my troubles. Thus I can say: `Who am I, 0 Lord, and to what hast Thou called me, Thou who didst assist me with such divine power that to-day I constantly exalt and magnify Thy name among the heathens wherever I may be, and not only in good days but also in tribulations?’ So indeed I must accept with equanimity whatever befalls me, be it good or evil, and always give thanks to God, who taught me to trust in Him always without hesitation, and who must have heard my prayer so that I, however ignorant I was, in the last days dared to undertake such a holy and wonderful work - thus imitating somehow those who, as the Lord once foretold, would preach His Gospel for a testimony to all nations before the end of the world. So we have seen it, and so it has been fulfilled: indeed, we are witnesses that the Gospel has been preached unto those parts beyond which there lives nobody.

Chapter 4

Section 15

Now, it would be tedious to give a detailed account of all my labours or even a part of them. Let me tell you briefly how the merciful God often freed me from slavery and from twelve dangers in which my life was at stake - not to mention numerous plots, which I cannot express in words; for I do not want to bore my readers. But God is my witness, who knows all things even before they come to pass, as He used to forewarn even me, poor wretch that I am, of many things by a divine message.

How came I by this wisdom, which was not in me, who neither knew the number of my days nor knew what God was? Whence was given to me afterwards the gift so great, so salutary - to know God and to love Him, although at the price of leaving my country and my parents?

And many gifts were offered to me in sorrow and tears, and I offended the donors, much against the wishes of some of my seniors; but, guided by God, in no way did I agree with them or acquiesce. It was not grace of my own, but God, who is strong in me and resists them all - as He had done when I came to the people of Ireland to preach the Gospel, and to suffer insult from the unbelievers, hearing the reproach of my going abroad, and many persecutions even unto bonds, and to give my free birth for the benefit of others.

Section 16

And I am prepared to give even my life, should I be worthy, without hesitation and most gladly for His name, and it is there that I wish to spend it until I die, if the Lord would grant it to me.

For I am very much God’s debtor, who gave me such grace that many people were reborn in God through me and afterwards confirmed, and that clerics were ordained for them everywhere, for a people just coming to the faith, whom the Lord took from the utmost parts of the earth, as He once had promised through His prophets: To you the gentiles shall come from the ends of the earth and shall say: `How false are the idols that our fathers got for themselves, and there is no profit in them’; and again: `I have set you as a light among the gentiles, that you may be for salvation unto the utmost part of the earth.’

And there I wish to wait for His promise who surely never deceives, as He promises in the Gospel: They shall come from the east and the west, and shall sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob - as we believe the faithful will come from all the world.

Section 17

For that reason, therefore, we ought to fish well and diligently, as the Lord exhorts in advance and teaches, saying: Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men.(Mat 4.19) And again He says through the prophets: Behold, I send many fishers and hunters, says God,(Jeremiah 16:16) and so on. Hence it was most necessary to spread our nets so that a great multitude and throng might be caught for God, and that there be clerics everywhere to baptize and exhort a people in need and want, as the Lord in the Gospel states, exhorts and teaches, saying: Go therefore now, teach ye all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and behold I am with you all days even to the consummation of the world.(Matthew 28:19-20) And again He says: Go ye therefore into the whole world, and preach the Gospel to every creature. He that believes and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believes not shall be condemned.(Mark 16:15-16) And again: This Gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world for a testimony to all nations, and then shall come the end.(Matthew 24:14) And so too the Lord announces through the prophet, and says: And it shall come to pass, in the last days, says the Lord, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And upon my servants indeed, and upon my handmaids will I pour out in those days of my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.(Joel 2:28-29) And in Osee, He says: `I will call that which was not my people, my people; … and her that had not obtained mercy, one that hath obtained mercy. And it shall be in the place where it was said: “You are not my people,” there they shall be called the sons of the living God.’(Hosea 1:10,2:23)

Hence, how did it come to pass in Ireland that those who never had a knowledge of God, but until now always worshipped idols and things impure, have now been made a people of the Lord, and are called sons of God?

Section 18

The sons and daughters of the kings of the Irish are seen to be monks and virgins of Christ. Among others, a blessed Irishwoman of noble birth, beautiful, full-grown, whom I had baptized, came to us after some days for a particular reason: she told us that she had received a message from a messenger of God, and he admonished her to be a virgin of Christ and draw near to God. Thanks be to God, on the sixth day after this she most laudably and eagerly chose what all virgins of Christ do. Not that their fathers agree with them: no - they often ever suffer persecution and undeserved reproaches from their parents; and yet their number is ever increasing. How many have been reborn there so as to be of our kind, I do not know - not to mention widows and those who practice continence.

But greatest is the suffering of those women who live in slavery. All the time they have to endure terror and threats. But the Lord gave His grace to many of His maidens; for, though they are forbidden to do so, they follow Him bravely.

 

Section 19

Wherefore, then, even if I wished to leave them and go to Britain - and how I would have loved to go to my country and my parents, and also to Gaul in order to visit the brethren and to see the face of the saints of my Lord! God knows it! that I much desired it; but I am bound by the Spirit, who gives evidence against me if I do this, telling me that I shall be guilty; and I am afraid of losing the labour which I have begun - nay, not I, but Christ the Lord who bade me come here and stay with them for the rest of my life, if the Lord will, and will guard me from every evil way that I may not sin before Him.

This, I presume, I ought to do, but I do not trust myself as long as I am in this body of death, for strong is he who daily strives to turn me away from the faith and the purity of true religion to which I have devoted myself to the end of my I life to Christ my Lord. But the hostile flesh is ever dragging us unto death, that I is, towards the forbidden satisfaction of one’s desires; and I know that in part I did not lead a perfect life as did the other faithful; but I acknowledge it to my! Lord, and do not blush before Him, because I lie not: from the time I came to know Him in my youth, the love of God and the fear of Him have grown in me, and up to now, thanks to the grace of God, I have kept the faith.

Chapter 5

Section 20

And let those who will, laugh and scorn - I shall not be silent; nor shall I hide the signs and wonders which the Lord has shown me many years before they came to pass, as He knows everything even before the times of the world.

Hence I ought unceasingly to give thanks to God who often pardoned my folly and my carelessness, and on more than one occasion spared His great wrath on me, who was chosen to be His helper and who was slow to do as was shown me and as the Spirit suggested. And the Lord had mercy on me thousands and thousands of times because He saw that I was ready, but that I did not know what to do in the circumstances. For many tried to prevent this my mission; they would even talk to each other behind my back and say: `Why does this fellow throw himself into danger among enemies who have no knowledge of God?’ It was not malice, but it did not appeal to them because - and to this I own myself - of my rusticity. And I did not realize at once the grace that was then in me; now I understand that I should have done so before.

Section 21

Now I have given a simple account to my brethren and fellow servants who have believed me because of what I said and still say in order to strengthen and confirm your faith. Would that you, too, would strive for greater things and do better! This will be my glory, for a wise son is the glory of his father.

You know, and so does God, how I have lived among you from my youth in the true faith and in sincerity of heart. Likewise, as regards the heathen among whom I live, I have been faithful to them, and so I shall be. God knows it, I have overreached none of them, nor would I think of doing so, for the sake of God and His Church, for fear of raising persecution against them and all of us, and for fear that through me the name of the Lord be blasphemed; for it is written: Woe to the man through whom the name of the Lord is blasphemed.

For although I be rude in all things, nevertheless I have tried somehow to keep myself safe, and that, too, for my Christian brethren, and the virgins of Christ, and the pious women who of their own accord made me gifts and laid on the altar some of their ornaments and I gave them back to them, and they were offended that I did so. But I did it for the hope of lasting success - in order to preserve myself cautiously in everything so that they might not seize upon me or the ministry of my service, under the pretext of dishonesty, and that I would not even in the smallest matter give the infidels an opportunity to defame or defile.

 

Section 22

When I baptized so many thousands of people, did I perhaps expect from any of them as much as half a scruple? Tell me, and I will restore it to you. Or when the Lord ordained clergy everywhere through my unworthy person and I conferred the ministry upon them free, if I asked any of them as much as the price of my shoes, speak against me and I will return it to you.

On the contrary, I spent money for you that they might receive me; and I went to you and everywhere for your sake in many dangers, even to the farthest districts, beyond which there lived nobody and where nobody had ever come to baptize, or to ordain clergy, or to confirm the people. With the grace of the Lord, I did everything lovingly and gladly for your salvation.

All the while I used to give presents to the kings, besides the fees I paid to their sons who travel with me. Even so they laid hands on me and my companions, and on that day they eagerly wished to kill me; but my time had not yet come. And everything they found with us they took away, and me they put in irons; and on the fourteenth day the Lord delivered me from their power, and our belongings were returned to us because of God and our dear friends whom we had seen before.

Section 23

You know how much I paid to those who administered justice in all those districts to which I came frequently. I think I distributed among them not less than the price of fifteen men, so that you might enjoy me, and I might always enjoy you in God. I am not sorry for it - indeed it is not enough for me; I still spend and shall spend more. God has power to grant me afterwards that I myself may be spent for your souls.

Indeed, I call God to witness upon my soul that I lie not; neither, I hope, am I writing to you in order to make this an occasion of flattery or covetousness, nor because I look for honour from any of you. Sufficient is the honour that is not yet seen but is anticipated in the heart. Faithful is He that promised; He never lies.

But I see myself exalted even in the present world beyond measure by the Lord, and I was not worthy nor such that He should grant me this. I know perfectly well, though not by my own judgment, that poverty and misfortune becomes me better than riches and pleasures. For Christ the Lord, too, was poor for our sakes; and I, unhappy wretch that I am, have no wealth even if I wished for it. Daily I expect murder, fraud, or captivity, or whatever it may be; but I fear none of these things because of the promises of heaven. I have cast myself into the hands of God Almighty, who rules everywhere, as the prophet says: Cast your thought upon God, and He shall sustain you.

 

Section 24

So, now I commend my soul to my faithful God, for whom I am an ambassador in all my wretchedness; but God accepts no person, and chose me for this office - to be, although among His least, one of His ministers.

What shall I render unto Him for all He has done to me? And what can I say or what can I promise to my Lord, as I can do nothing that He has not given me? May He search the hearts and deepest feelings; for greatly and exceedingly do I wish, and ready I was, that He should give me His cup to drink, as He gave it also to the others who loved Him.

Wherefore may God never permit it to happen to me that I should lose His people which He purchased in the utmost parts of the world. I pray to God to give me perseverance and to deign that I be a faithful witness to Him to the end of my life for my God.

And if ever I have done any good for my God whom I love, I beg Him to grant me that I may shed my blood with those exiles and captives for His name, even though I should be denied a grave, or my body be woefully torn to pieces limb by limb by hounds or wild beasts, or the fowls of the air devour it. I am firmly convinced that if this should happen to me, I would have gained my soul together with my body, because on that day without doubt we shall rise in the brightness of the sun, that is, in the glory of Christ Jesus our Redeemer, as sons of the living God and joint heirs with Christ, to be conformed to His image; for of Him, and by Him, and in Him we shall reign.

For this sun which we see rises daily for us because He commands so, but it will never reign, nor will its splendour last; what is more, those wretches who adore it will be miserably punished. Not so we, who believe in, and worship, the true sun - Christ - who will never perish, nor will he who doeth His will; but he will abide for ever as Christ abides for ever, who reigns with God the Father Almighty and the Holy Spirit before time, and now, and in all eternity. Amen.

Section 25

Behold, again and again would I set forth the words of my confession. I testify in truth and in joy of heart before God and His holy angels that I never had any reason except the Gospel and its promises why I should ever return to the people from whom once before I barely escaped.

I pray those who believe and fear God, whosoever deigns to look at or receive this writing which Patrick, a sinner, unlearned, has composed in Ireland, that no one should ever say that it was my ignorance if I did or showed forth anything however small according to God’s good pleasure; but let this be your conclusion and let it so be thought, that - as is the perfect truth - it was the gift of God. This is my confession before I die.

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