Episode 7: Getting Medieval on the Saxon Christ


You thought keeping track of all the relationships in Game of Thrones was complicated? Just wait till you hear about the relationships between Gregory the Great, the monastery at Jarrow, the oldest copy of the Vulgate translation of the Bible, the Anglo-Saxon missionaries to the continent, Charlemagne’s campaign against the Saxons, the secret runes of the evangelists, and how the bird came to sit on the shoulder of the Peace-Child of God at his baptism.

Video with subscription at Unauthorized.tv (History and Logos Channel)

Father of us, the sons of men,
You are in the high heavenly kingdom,
Blessed be Your name in every word.
May Your mighty kingdom come.
May Your will be done over all this world—
just the same on earth as it is up there
in the high heavenly kingdom.
Give us support each day, good Chieftain,
Your holy help, and pardon us, Protector of Heaven,
our many crimes, just as we do to other human beings.
Do not let evil little creatures lead us off
to do their will, as we deserve,
but help us against all evil deeds. 
—The Heliand, trans. G. Ronald Murphy, SJ

 References

 Texts
Manuscripts
Scriptures 
People
Jerome’s Three Translations of the Psalms
Recommended Reading
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Comments

  1. BelovedNovember 10, 2020 at 5:17 AM

    I could not disagree with your analysis of this missionary history any more than I do, though I remain indebted to you for another engrossing history lesson.

    In Episode 5 God's plan for missionary work is laid out. He prepared the people to receive it, inspired the mission, the missionary's were blocked by the spirit of fear and tried to quit but remained faithful after all preaching the simplicity of Christ and worshipping Him in song and humble service, God turned the heart of the King and the high priest against idol worship and the high priest himself destroyed the idol shrines, and in the end God gets a new song to glorify Him.

    Compared that process to this missionary effort: a Christian king spends 30 years killing, pillaging, and trying to force the conversion of a conquered people againat their will, and the day is saved when a monk invents a public relations coup wherein he conflates Christ with paganism in order to erase a humiliation inflicted upon them by the Frankish king.

    Man wins glory by perverting the simplicity of Christ.

    God wins glory by turning the hearts of a heathen people againat their Gods and inspires a song of worship.

    It didn't take long for the Benedictine monks to invent new, ineffective traditions for missionary work. A shame.

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