If you were a British Christian living in the 6th century, you would have had enough reason to feel abandoned by God.
The Roman legions had returned home, and the Anglo-Saxons had arrived, establishing their own kingdoms and religion. Where once Christianity grew, there was now Woden, Friga and Thunor.
But, in 596AD, Pope Gregory the Great sent a mission to Kent under a man who would be known as St Augustine of Canterbury.
Despite his initial cowardice and failings, he would play a vital role in the re-conversion of England through his evangelistic efforts. These efforts involved the establishment of monasteries, the building of churches, alongside delegations of his monks preaching to common-folk and royalty alike.
In time, the legacy of Augustine would lead to the full conversion of southern England, and reunification of isolated Celtic and Romano-British churches with Rome.
The man who recorded these events in 731AD, St Bede, was himself a notable figure.
Bede’s <em>Ecclesiastical History of the English People</em> shows us how Christianity spread through the British Isles, and how a plethora of saints worked for the conversion of its peoples.
However, Bede was racked with concern for the Church of his day. The Church that Augustine had founded had grown into the dominant religion, but Bede saw a downward trend.
As well as his <em>History</em>, Bede wrote his <em>Letter </em>to Bishop Ecgbert of York, in which he raises several concerns about the Church.
Firstly, Bede was concerned that the clergy were stretched too thinly, and unable shepherd the people fully. This was worsened by the fact that many of the clergy had not received sufficient formation.
Secondly, the nobility had begun to buy monasteries to set up as estates for their families. These false monasteries looked toward catering for power rather than for prayer and learning.
Thirdly, Bede was concerned that the buying of monasteries would enable nobles to avoid their military duties. In his <em>Letter</em>, Bede stresses that defence of the Northumbrian kingdom – in which he and Bishop Ecgbert of York resided – was increasingly vulnerable to invasion.
So why am I mentioning these two saints?<br><br>For one, we have just had their feast days: St Augustine of Canterbury on Tuesday, 27 May, and St Bede on Sunday, 25 May. But it is not just their feast days – and their accompanying stories – that should draw our attention; instead, it should be the relevance of their messages for today.
In 793AD, a Viking raiding party set off for England and arrived on Lindisfarne, a monastic island on the coast of Northumbria.
To the Northumbrians, the Viking raid on Lindisfarne must have been terrifying and painful news. The fact that they had been attacked in their most holy of places, the place from which their conversions originated, must have felt like a direct attack on Christianity.
St Bede, in part, wrote his <em>History </em>and <em>Letter </em>as prophetic warnings.
Most of his <em>History </em>charts the rise and fall of the English over seven centuries, showing how their faith in God brought prosperity, and their backsliding in the faith brought suffering. Bede concludes with clear concern for the state of his Church, warning readers that England could once again fall under God’s judgement.
And that’s what happened.
The Vikings arrived, they ransacked Lindisfarne, and over the following decades they dominated Northumbria, imposing Dane-Law and Norse paganism.
If you were living in this period of English history, you would have had cause to think God had abandoned England, just as those before Augustine’s arrival had.
This is not a story unique to Britain, quite the contrary, it’s a format Bede gets from the Old Testament. Israel believed, fell into moral decay, and was subsequently decimated by invasion.
Britain today, of the 21st century, is at a similar crisis point.
We see the destruction of the family unit through ills such as abortion, euthanasia, contraception, no-fault divorce, etc.
We see a parliamentary establishment in moral decay, such that traditional beliefs are unacceptable or can lead to arrest and criminal prosecution.
We see moral decline and disunity expressed in increased chaos on our streets; riots, sexual assaults, knife crime and general anarchy.
The combination of increasingly liberal morals and suppression of free speech is enough to frighten anyone. Christians particularly have reason to be concerned, as our core beliefs come under scrutiny, often being considered outdated and impolite.
It might feel like our version of Lindisfarne is under attack – and after Lindisfarne falls, everything else can follow.
The ills of British society stem to a large degree from Christianity having become soft, lazy and having retreated out of secular life. Many of our Christian institutions have become inactive or syncretistic as they had before Augustine arrived and then again in Bede’s day.
This is not to say that there aren’t good Christians today, but a lot of our publicly-facing organisations have been apathetic during the past century, and it shows.
Bede’s warnings are the same as the Old Testament’s: if you abandon God, He will withdraw from you. It is the latter part that we should be worrying about.
“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, pray, seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)
If this verse is true, so is the converse.
As a nation, we used to pray and seek God, and we prospered. Now that we turn towards wickedness, as in Bede’s day, we are collapsing.
But perhaps this is what it takes. Maybe onslaught, metaphorical or otherwise, is what kicks the Church out of its slumber. We know that in countries where Christians are severely persecuted, the Church is growing fastest: Iran, China and North Korea. How terrifying that God might allow persecution to befall us because we became lazy.
Whilst we need to pray and evangelise like never before, we must also accept that even if these efforts do not work, God will preserve His Church until our nation is ready for new Augustines.
Even if Britain is bound for the same fate as Northumbria or as the Romano-Celts, there is still hope. God has a plan – even if we never see its fulfilment.
Following Lindisfarne’s destruction, it must have seemed ludicrous that the pagan Vikings would become Christian – but two centuries later they had.
To the Romano-Celtic Christians – abandoned after the legions withdrew – God sent Augustine.
Britain is entering a dark time, and we may not see its end. But if we must watch its demise; if that is what it takes for God’s kingdom to come; then, as the Lord’s Prayer teach us, “His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”
May Ss Bede and Augustine pray for us and our nation.
<em>Photo collage: Icon image of St Augustine of Canterbury (file photo) / Anti-immigration protesters during riots outside of the Holiday Inn Express in Rotherham, England, 4 August 2024 (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images). </em>
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