¤[Theme music]¤
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>>John Bradshaw: This is It
Is Written. I'm John Bradshaw.
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Thanks for joining me.
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He's one of the
least-known well-known people
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in all of history.
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On a certain date every year,
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people all around
the world celebrate him,
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without knowing much
of anything about him.
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Here in Ireland, St.
Patrick's Day is huge.
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It's a national
holiday in Ireland.
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On St. Patrick's
Day people wear green,
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and there are often parades and
other celebrations conducted.
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It was in the 17th century
that the Roman Catholic Church
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set aside March 17 as a day
of celebration and remembrance.
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In recent decades, Ireland
has been a land of religious
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and political
tension over the question
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of who should
control Northern Ireland:
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the Irish or Great Britain.
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The dispute goes back
many hundreds of years.
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¤[Bagpipes]¤
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In the 1960s, the Troubles
began in Northern Ireland.
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It was a period marked
by violent clashes between
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unionists and republicans--
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basically, between
Protestants and Catholics.
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More than 3,200 people died
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during the 30
years of the Troubles.
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There were thousands of bombings
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and tens of
thousands of shootings.
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Men like Bobby Sands
are still revered by many
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here in Ireland.
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Sands died in the
notorious Maze Prison
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just outside Belfast,
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following a 66-day-long
hunger strike in 1981.
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In all, 10 men died
during that hunger strike,
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men who were committed to
the idea of a united Ireland
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and wanted to
see Northern Ireland
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wrested out of the
control of the British.
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¤[Music]¤
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The tension began to
ease following an agreement
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that was signed in
Belfast on Good Friday of 1998.
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But religious tension goes
back much further in Ireland.
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And the man responsible
for radical religious change
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among the Irish,
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the man responsible for
the Christian evangelization
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of the British Isles,
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is celebrated all
around the world today.
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¤[Music]¤
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During his lifetime, Patrick
was considered a troublemaker.
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He was a disturber of the peace.
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Today, you might call him
a religious lightning rod.
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And there's one
thing Patrick wasn't.
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He wasn't Irish.
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He was born in the year
385 A.D. or thereabouts,
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and he died around 461 A.D.
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At that time, the
British Isles were pagan.
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They were
dominated by the culture
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and the religious
practices of the druids,
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an elite class that had a
direct line to the occult.
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By the time Patrick
came onto the scene,
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druidism was at the
height of its powers.
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Druid literature
speaks of the magical
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and spiritual
training of the druid,
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in which he is eaten by a
goddess, enters into her belly,
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and is reborn as the
greatest poet in the land.
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Mention of druidism
evokes images of wizardry.
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And the druids in
Patrick's day were into magic
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and charms and healing powers.
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They foretold the future.
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And they worshipped
the forces of nature.
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They've been referred to as
magico-religious specialists,
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and it's said that
they could call up a storm
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to ward off invaders.
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Now, while most modern scholars
would not agree with this,
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no less a person
than Julius Caesar
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made the claim that the druids
practiced human sacrifice,
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burning their victims in a
device known as a “wicker man.”
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Caesar also said that
they believed in reincarnation.
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Modern scholars
say that the druids
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were essentially
shaman, spiritualists.
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>>Dr. David Trim: So the
religious situation in Ireland
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in the 5th century is that it is
the last holdout of the druids,
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the druids who had once been the
predominant religious figures
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right across the
British Isles and, indeed,
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the north part of
what we now call France.
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But they had been largely
stamped out by the Romans,
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who found their
religious practices,
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such as human
sacrifice, objectionable.
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Um, there's very little
evidence of human sacrifice
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being practiced
by Patrick's day,
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but the druids are there.
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This is a religion
that is really focused on,
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on nature and on spirits.
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Uh, but it is a fairly
sophisticated religion as well.
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They had education;
they were well-educated men
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by the standards of the time.
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And they had reasonably
well worked out cosmology
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and a pantheon of gods.
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Um, but the druid, druidic
religion, as far as we can tell,
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does seem to be in a little bit
of decline by the 5th century.
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It's past its
heyday, and so, uh,
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there is this
emphasis on spirits.
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Uh, and where therein might
still be some human sacrifice
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is that we know people are
found in the bogs of Ireland,
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in the peat.
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Now, some of them clearly
ended up there accidentally,
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tripped and fell, oh, too bad.
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But others we know, uh,
are offered as sacrifices.
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Because you're
hoping that by doing that,
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you can ensure
you have good weather,
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a good harvest,
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because everything
depends on the harvest,
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and so you want to
appease the natural deities.
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>>John: It was this paganism
that confronted St. Patrick
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during his ministry
to the Irish people.
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Druid magicians hindered the
work Patrick was trying to do.
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The druids resented Patrick,
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knowing that his ministry
was the beginning of the end
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for druidism.
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Patrick was born in Britain,
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which at the time was
controlled by the Roman Empire.
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Exactly where he was
born no one really knows,
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although it seems likely
that he was born on or near
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England's west coast.
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His family evidently
was reasonably well-off.
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Both his father
and his grandfather
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worked in religious service.
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But Patrick, as a young man,
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didn't take
matters of faith seriously.
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When he was 16 years old,
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he was captured by raiders sent
or led by Ireland's King Niall.
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He spent six years
toiling as a shepherd,
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and it was during this
time that he found faith in God
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for himself.
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¤[Music]¤
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God spoke to Patrick and told
him to flee to the Irish coast,
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where he'd find a ship
waiting to take him home.
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So he left his master,
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traveled many miles to a port,
and he found the promised ship.
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He traveled back to England and
made his way back to his family.
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And it was there and then
that he dedicated his life
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to serving God.
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So how did
Patrick, the runaway slave,
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become St. Patrick, known
and loved all the world over?
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And what does Patrick have to do
with the Protestant Reformation?
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I'll tell you
more in just a moment.
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¤[Music]¤
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>>John: We look around the
world and it appears this planet
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is spinning out of
control in many ways.
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The world of today is a far
cry from the world of yesterday.
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Is there hope?
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Yes, there is.
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Our free offer today is
"Hope for a Planet in Crisis."
00:07:52.10\00:07:55.84
Call us on (800) 253-3000,
00:07:55.87\00:07:58.94
or visit us online
at www.itiswritten.com
00:07:58.97\00:08:04.15
Or you can write to
the address on your screen.
00:08:04.18\00:08:06.75
I'd like you to
receive our free offer,
00:08:06.78\00:08:08.72
"Hope for a Planet in Crisis."
00:08:08.75\00:08:10.65
[Crickets chirping]
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¤[Music]¤
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[Camera equipment rattling]
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[Rustling in bushes]
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[People talking]
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[Wind blowing]
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¤[Music]¤
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¤[Music]¤
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[Cheering]
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¤[Music]¤
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¤[Irish music]¤
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>>John: Thanks for joining
me today on It Is Written.
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He's known all around the world,
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and he's celebrated
every March the 17th.
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But who was St. Patrick,
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and what did he do
that made him a global icon?
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Well, to begin with, he
wasn't Irish; he was English.
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And he wasn't a Roman Catholic.
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The principles that he
lived by and shared with others
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made him a forerunner of
the Protestant Reformation,
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which would occur
many years after he died.
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He was taken from
his home in England
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by Irish raiders
when he was a boy,
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and he was forced
into slavery in Ireland.
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He eventually escaped,
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and he wrote that
after studying in France
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and returning to
his home in England,
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he had a vision,
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not unlike a vision
Paul had in the book of Acts.
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“I saw a man coming,
as it were from Ireland.
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His name was Victoricus,
and he carried many letters,
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and he gave me one of them.
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I read the heading:
'The Voice of the Irish.'
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As I began the letter,
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I imagined in that
moment that I heard the voice
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of those very people who
were near the wood of Foclut,
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which is beside the western sea,
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and they cried
out, as with one voice,
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'We appeal to
you, holy servant boy,
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to come and walk among us.'”
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Eventually, Patrick
acted on the vision he received
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and returned to Ireland
to work as a missionary.
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He landed at the same port from
which he had escaped Ireland,
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and began his ministry in
Tara, just north of Dublin,
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in what today is
the Republic of Ireland.
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And before long, the
son of a powerful chieftain
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in the north of
Ireland was converted
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and joined
Patrick's missionary team.
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Thousands were baptized,
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among them many who
were wealthy and influential.
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Patrick ordained
pastors throughout the island
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to shepherd these new
Christian communities.
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Here's what he said
about the new Irish believers:
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“Never before
did they know of God
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except to serve
idols and unclean things.
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But now, they've 
become the people of the Lord,
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and are called children of God.
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The sons and daughters
of the leaders of the Irish
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are seen to be monks
and virgins of Christ.”
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There's plenty said
about Patrick's life
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that's nothing more than legend.
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No, he didn't chase all
the snakes out of Ireland.
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There'd never been any snakes
in Ireland in the first place.
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They certainly didn't attack him
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after he had fasted for 40 days.
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His walking stick
did not grow into a tree.
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And he never used the
shamrock to teach the Irish
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about the Trinity.
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Patrick sailed from near
Drogheda to just outside Belfast
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where he began sharing
the gospel with people,
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who, for the most part,
had zero working knowledge
00:12:15.73\00:12:18.90
of the plan of salvation.
00:12:18.93\00:12:20.64
Now, Patrick wasn't the
first missionary to Ireland,
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but he was the first to gain
any real traction and establish
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an effective, far-reaching work.
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So what was it that drove
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this Bible-believing
missionary forward?
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As the church lost
its focus on the Bible,
00:12:35.32\00:12:38.69
its increasing popularity
within the Roman Empire
00:12:38.72\00:12:41.42
caused it to compromise
its faith and witness.
00:12:41.46\00:12:45.23
However, there were
many Christians who put up
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strong resistance to this new
alliance of church and state.
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During these centuries, the
Celtic Christians set a pattern
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of independence
from the church of Rome.
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Like the reformers
which would follow them later,
00:13:00.11\00:13:02.84
they held to the
Bible as their exclusive
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and supreme spiritual authority.
00:13:05.71\00:13:08.68
Historians had this
to say about Patrick:
00:13:08.72\00:13:11.79
“He never mentions
either Rome or the pope
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or hints that he
was in any way connected
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with the
ecclesiastical capital of Italy.
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He recognizes no other authority
but that of the Word of God.
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If he were sent by Celestine
to the native Christians
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to be their
primate or archbishop,
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no wonder that stout-hearted
Patrick refused to bow his neck
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to any such yoke of bondage.
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There is strong
evidence that Patrick had no
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Roman commission in Ireland.
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Patrick's churches in Ireland,
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like their brethren in Britain,
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repudiated the
supremacy of the popes.
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All knowledge of the conversion
of Ireland through his ministry
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must be suppressed.
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There is not a
written word from one of them
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rejoicing over Patrick's
additions to their church,
00:13:55.33\00:13:58.50
showing clearly that he
was not a Roman missionary.”
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>>Dr. Trim: In the 5th century
there is only one church.
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Uh, and there's
still a connection between
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Britain and Rome.
00:14:07.98\00:14:09.14
It's in the middle 5th
century that that gets severed,
00:14:09.18\00:14:11.35
and the British Isles gets
cut off from the Roman Empire.
00:14:11.38\00:14:14.92
Um, but at that point
here is still one church,
00:14:14.95\00:14:17.09
and Patrick is a member of it,
00:14:17.12\00:14:18.69
from all the
evidence we have, um,
00:14:18.72\00:14:21.52
and we know that
that church actually sent,
00:14:21.56\00:14:23.73
sent Germanus to Britain in
429, and one of his colleagues,
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Palladius, is believed
to have gone to Ireland.
00:14:27.96\00:14:30.80
Um, but he seems to
have minimal impact.
00:14:30.83\00:14:33.10
But that's the
church that they're part of.
00:14:33.13\00:14:34.74
But it's really the inheritance
of the primitive church
00:14:34.77\00:14:37.64
of Christ's day.
00:14:37.67\00:14:39.21
Um, if we say
the Catholic Church,
00:14:39.24\00:14:41.98
then people
think of St. Peter's,
00:14:42.01\00:14:43.95
and a whole series of things
00:14:43.98\00:14:46.55
which just don't
exist in the 5th century.
00:14:46.58\00:14:50.02
So to, you know, the
danger of saying that he's
00:14:50.05\00:14:53.29
a Roman Catholic missionary,
it's true in one sense,
00:14:53.32\00:14:56.66
but it's not true in another,
00:14:56.69\00:14:58.66
because there--it's, it--there
just isn't a church, like,
00:14:58.69\00:15:02.86
called the
Roman Catholic Church.
00:15:02.90\00:15:04.20
There is the one church,
which is called "Catholic"
00:15:04.23\00:15:08.10
at the time to
distinguish it from Arians,
00:15:08.14\00:15:10.24
uh, who don't believe in
the full divinity of Christ.
00:15:10.27\00:15:13.58
That's what "Catholic"
means in the 5th century;
00:15:13.61\00:15:16.34
it means somebody who
is an orthodox Christian
00:15:16.38\00:15:18.91
on the Trinity.
00:15:18.95\00:15:20.15
And Patrick is definitely that.
00:15:20.18\00:15:23.22
So what we know about Patrick
comes largely from his writings.
00:15:23.25\00:15:29.69
There are stories,
00:15:29.72\00:15:30.83
but most of them were
written down in the 7th century,
00:15:30.86\00:15:33.56
so, 200 years after he died.
00:15:33.60\00:15:35.46
So there's probably some
grains of truth left in them,
00:15:35.50\00:15:39.97
but a lot of exaggeration.
00:15:40.00\00:15:42.17
To judge from his own writings,
he's a relatively simple,
00:15:42.20\00:15:45.61
uh, Christian.
00:15:45.64\00:15:46.57
His theology is, is
relatively simplistic.
00:15:46.61\00:15:50.01
And that's not a
criticism--far from it.
00:15:50.05\00:15:52.71
Uh, he's definitely trinitarian;
he believes very strongly,
00:15:52.75\00:15:56.75
uh, in God the Father, God
the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
00:15:56.79\00:15:59.72
and he's very focused on Christ.
00:15:59.75\00:16:01.22
But he has a simple message,
00:16:01.26\00:16:02.39
and he has a burning passion
for the people of Ireland,
00:16:02.42\00:16:05.99
who had enslaved him as a youth.
00:16:06.03\00:16:08.93
But even after he
was free, he recognized,
00:16:08.96\00:16:10.93
these people are
lost in superstition
00:16:10.97\00:16:13.64
and I have good news for them.
00:16:13.67\00:16:15.17
¤[Music]¤
00:16:15.20\00:16:16.37
A century after Patrick,
00:16:16.40\00:16:18.27
the church of
Rome launched an attack
00:16:18.31\00:16:20.24
on the Celtic
communities of Western Europe,
00:16:20.28\00:16:23.38
because the Irish customs of
the Celtic church were at odds
00:16:23.41\00:16:26.68
with the customs sanctioned
by the Bishop of Rome,
00:16:26.72\00:16:29.38
who by now had become
a very powerful figure.
00:16:29.42\00:16:32.32
But Patrick wasn't the only one
00:16:32.35\00:16:34.66
who was reaching the
world with the gospel.
00:16:34.69\00:16:37.26
After Patrick, there was Aidan,
00:16:37.29\00:16:39.79
who as a
missionary went to England
00:16:39.83\00:16:41.86
and reached not
only the high nobility,
00:16:41.90\00:16:44.70
but also children and slaves.
00:16:44.73\00:16:46.53
And he traveled extensively.
00:16:46.57\00:16:48.57
Like Patrick,
00:16:48.60\00:16:49.57
he wasn't affiliated
with the Roman church.
00:16:49.60\00:16:52.71
Aidan established a cathedral
00:16:52.74\00:16:54.64
off the
northeastern coast of England
00:16:54.68\00:16:56.34
on the island of Lindisfarne,
00:16:56.38\00:16:58.51
and from there he was
greatly influential in reaching
00:16:58.55\00:17:01.88
great numbers of
people for Christ,
00:17:01.92\00:17:03.45
especially in the
region of Northumbria.
00:17:03.49\00:17:07.36
And there was
another who reached
00:17:07.39\00:17:09.72
not only the British Isles,
00:17:09.76\00:17:11.36
but who impacted the world
with the message of the gospel.
00:17:11.39\00:17:16.00
He was from this
island of Ireland,
00:17:16.03\00:17:18.47
and I'll tell you who
he was in just a moment.
00:17:18.50\00:17:21.37
¤[Music]¤
00:17:21.40\00:17:25.57
>>Announcer: Planning
for your financial future
00:17:29.04\00:17:30.71
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Call 800-992-2219
00:17:51.73\00:17:56.44
>>John Bradshaw: Today I'd like
to ask you to help It Is Written
00:18:02.21\00:18:04.55
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But simple cataract
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in opening the eyes of
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You can also donate
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Or visit ItIsWritten.com
00:18:50.99\00:18:57.00
¤[Irish music]¤
00:18:57.30\00:19:05.84
>>John: Thanks for
joining me on It Is Written.
00:19:05.87\00:19:08.64
Right here on this very
spot in Belfast, Ireland,
00:19:08.68\00:19:11.75
there was a hive of activity
a little over 100 years ago.
00:19:11.78\00:19:15.55
Right here is where
the Titanic was built.
00:19:15.58\00:19:18.75
Not only the
Titanic, but its sister ships,
00:19:18.79\00:19:20.89
the Olympic and the Britannic.
00:19:20.92\00:19:23.19
Thousands of workers
labored on this very spot.
00:19:23.22\00:19:26.16
What happened here then
dominated not only this city,
00:19:26.19\00:19:29.80
but went on to impact the world.
00:19:29.83\00:19:32.80
Somebody else
labored here in Ireland
00:19:32.83\00:19:35.17
whose work impacted the world,
00:19:35.20\00:19:37.04
and that was Patrick.
00:19:37.07\00:19:38.84
Patrick was a
dynamic Christian missionary,
00:19:38.87\00:19:41.88
and from Ireland his influence
spread to impact Christians
00:19:41.91\00:19:46.05
and Christianity
all around the world.
00:19:46.08\00:19:49.28
In the time of Patrick,
the church was dominated
00:19:49.32\00:19:51.99
by the popes of Rome,
00:19:52.02\00:19:53.76
and they were not too keen
with what Patrick was doing.
00:19:53.79\00:19:56.79
They saw it as a direct
threat against their authority,
00:19:56.83\00:19:59.89
and they were
committed to getting rid
00:19:59.93\00:20:01.23
of the distinctive
Irish religious practices.
00:20:01.26\00:20:05.03
But it wasn't only
Patrick that impacted the world
00:20:05.07\00:20:08.10
in those days.
00:20:08.14\00:20:09.24
Aidan was an Irish missionary
who traveled to England
00:20:09.27\00:20:13.27
and won many there
to faith in Christ.
00:20:13.31\00:20:16.61
He was sent from the
remote Scottish island of Iona,
00:20:16.64\00:20:20.72
where a
missionary training center
00:20:20.75\00:20:22.25
had been established by
another Irish evangelist,
00:20:22.28\00:20:25.95
a man by the name of Columba.
00:20:25.99\00:20:29.16
Today, Columba is remembered
00:20:29.19\00:20:30.73
as one of the three
chief saints of Ireland,
00:20:30.76\00:20:33.80
along with Patrick
and Brigid of Kildare.
00:20:33.83\00:20:37.27
He was born in Donegal,
in the northwest of Ireland,
00:20:37.30\00:20:40.44
in the year 521.
00:20:40.47\00:20:42.97
When he was about 40 years old,
00:20:43.00\00:20:44.47
he set off with several
others to evangelize the Picts.
00:20:44.51\00:20:48.64
He traveled 100 miles to
Iona and built a monastery,
00:20:48.68\00:20:53.52
not as a retreat, but as a
missionary training center.
00:20:53.55\00:20:57.59
The Venerable Bede, the
influential writer and scholar,
00:20:57.62\00:21:01.26
said that Columba “converted the
nation to the faith of Christ,
00:21:01.29\00:21:05.26
by preaching and example.”
00:21:05.29\00:21:08.06
As well as being an
evangelist and a missionary,
00:21:08.10\00:21:10.03
there was something
else that set Columba apart.
00:21:10.07\00:21:13.27
In contrast with
the church of Rome,
00:21:13.30\00:21:16.14
he observed the
Sabbath on Saturday,
00:21:16.17\00:21:18.84
the seventh day of the week.
00:21:18.87\00:21:20.94
There's no evidence he
ever kept Sunday as the Sabbath.
00:21:20.98\00:21:24.85
Dr. Leslie Hardinge examined
every primary source connected
00:21:24.88\00:21:28.22
with the Celtic church,
00:21:28.25\00:21:29.88
and confirmed this
Celtic Sabbath connection.
00:21:29.92\00:21:33.66
Just before he
died, Columba said,
00:21:33.69\00:21:36.26
“This day is called in
the sacred books 'Sabbath,'
00:21:36.29\00:21:40.43
which is interpreted 'rest.'
00:21:40.46\00:21:42.16
And truly this day
is for me a Sabbath,
00:21:42.20\00:21:46.30
because it is my last day
of this present laborious life.
00:21:46.33\00:21:50.47
In it after my
toilsome labors I keep Sabbath.
00:21:50.51\00:21:55.78
One historian wrote,
00:21:55.81\00:21:57.48
“We find traces in the early
monastic churches of Ireland
00:21:57.51\00:22:01.18
that they held
Saturday to be the Sabbath
00:22:01.22\00:22:03.95
on which they rested
from all their labors.”
00:22:03.99\00:22:08.26
Later, in the 11th century,
Queen Margaret of Scotland
00:22:08.29\00:22:11.73
said this about
Scottish Christians.
00:22:11.76\00:22:13.96
She said, “They work on Sunday,
00:22:14.00\00:22:16.16
but they keep Saturday
after a sabbatical manner.”
00:22:16.20\00:22:20.07
But Queen Margaret,
00:22:20.10\00:22:21.04
later Saint Margaret
in the Catholic Church,
00:22:21.07\00:22:23.57
was committed to
eradicating Sabbath worship
00:22:23.61\00:22:27.08
and replacing it
instead with worship on Sunday.
00:22:27.11\00:22:30.81
The Roman emperor Constantine,
00:22:30.85\00:22:32.75
who was a pagan sun worshipper
00:22:32.78\00:22:34.82
before his nominal
conversion to Christianity,
00:22:34.85\00:22:38.55
was the first to
decree Sunday worship,
00:22:38.59\00:22:41.52
and he did it
before Patrick's time.
00:22:41.56\00:22:44.03
But the Irish Christians
were not bound by Roman decrees.
00:22:44.06\00:22:49.93
One thousand years
before the beginning
00:22:49.96\00:22:52.03
of the Protestant Reformation,
Patrick was a nonconformist.
00:22:52.07\00:22:56.27
Before there was a reformation,
00:22:56.30\00:22:58.17
Patrick was a Protestant.
00:22:58.21\00:23:02.04
In this way, the
Celtic church formed part
00:23:02.08\00:23:05.01
of what the Bible refers to as
the “church in the wilderness”
00:23:05.05\00:23:08.25
during the Middle Ages.
00:23:08.28\00:23:10.05
John wrote about this time of
exile for Christian believers.
00:23:10.09\00:23:13.02
He said in
Revelation 12 and verse 6,
00:23:13.05\00:23:15.82
“And the woman”--
that's the church--
00:23:15.86\00:23:17.79
“fled into the wilderness,
00:23:17.83\00:23:19.46
where she has a
place prepared by God.”
00:23:19.49\00:23:22.70
The Albigenses
of southern France,
00:23:22.73\00:23:24.60
the Waldenses of
Italy and the Alps,
00:23:24.63\00:23:26.70
and others like them,
00:23:26.74\00:23:28.24
chose to base
their faith on the Bible,
00:23:28.27\00:23:30.71
rather than lining up
behind a church that was placing
00:23:30.74\00:23:33.04
such a strong
emphasis on tradition.
00:23:33.07\00:23:35.54
They kept the torch of Christian
faith shining brightly in an era
00:23:35.58\00:23:39.78
of what was some pretty
considerable spiritual darkness.
00:23:39.81\00:23:43.05
¤[Music]¤
00:23:43.08\00:23:47.02
Unfortunately, the Christians
of Ireland and Scotland
00:23:47.06\00:23:50.66
didn't maintain their
religious freedom indefinitely.
00:23:50.69\00:23:54.23
In time, new rulers came
to power in both countries
00:23:54.30\00:23:57.73
who submitted the practices
of both church and state
00:23:57.77\00:24:00.70
to the rule of
the Catholic Church.
00:24:00.74\00:24:03.77
But the legacy of
the Celtic church,
00:24:03.81\00:24:06.01
and Patrick in particular,
was destined to live on.
00:24:06.04\00:24:10.71
The spirit of
independence from Rome
00:24:10.75\00:24:13.15
was nurtured by the
original British church.
00:24:13.18\00:24:16.58
Submission to rules of any
sort on the European continent,
00:24:16.62\00:24:19.49
ecclesiastical or political,
00:24:19.52\00:24:21.62
didn't come easy to
the British or the Irish.
00:24:21.66\00:24:23.43
¤[bagpipes]¤
00:24:23.46\00:24:24.53
When King Henry VIII
00:24:24.56\00:24:26.16
declared England
free from the Roman church
00:24:26.19\00:24:28.93
and established the Church of
England, or the Anglican Church,
00:24:28.96\00:24:32.83
he was simply enshrining in
law what in millions of English
00:24:32.87\00:24:36.54
minds had been
true for centuries.
00:24:36.57\00:24:39.37
Speaking prophetically of this
time, the prophet Daniel wrote
00:24:39.41\00:24:42.04
in Daniel 11:32 and 33,
00:24:42.08\00:24:44.48
“The people who know
their God shall be strong
00:24:44.51\00:24:47.38
and carry out great exploits.
00:24:47.42\00:24:49.85
And those of the people that
understand shall instruct many.”
00:24:49.88\00:24:53.72
This is the true
legacy of Patrick,
00:24:53.76\00:24:55.62
and of the Celtic church,
00:24:55.66\00:24:57.93
and those heroes of
faith who held the true gospel
00:24:57.96\00:25:02.10
in the centuries
prior to the Reformation.
00:25:02.13\00:25:05.10
Without this gospel
seed having been sown
00:25:05.13\00:25:07.80
and scattered by
Patrick and others,
00:25:07.84\00:25:10.44
the Reformation
might never have happened.
00:25:10.47\00:25:14.38
It's said that
Patrick died on March the 17th
00:25:14.41\00:25:17.51
in the year 461 A.D.,
00:25:17.55\00:25:19.91
and that he's buried right
here outside Down Cathedral in
00:25:19.95\00:25:25.99
Downpatrick in northern Ireland,
00:25:26.02\00:25:28.59
alongside Brigid and Columba,
00:25:28.62\00:25:31.53
two other giants
of Irish history.
00:25:31.56\00:25:34.73
The legend of
Patrick lives on here.
00:25:34.73\00:25:37.53
The truth of his life is even
more impressive than the legend.
00:25:37.57\00:25:41.84
¤[Music]¤
00:25:41.87\00:25:46.44
>>John: I'm John
Bradshaw from It Is Written,
00:25:46.47\00:25:49.31
inviting you to
join me for "500,"
00:25:49.34\00:25:52.98
nine programs
produced by It Is Written
00:25:53.01\00:25:55.25
taking you deep
into the Reformation.
00:25:55.28\00:25:58.42
This is the 500th
anniversary of the beginning
00:25:58.45\00:26:01.52
of the Reformation,
00:26:01.56\00:26:02.59
when Martin Luther
nailed his 95 theses to the door
00:26:02.62\00:26:05.59
of the Castle church
in Wittenburg, Germany.
00:26:05.63\00:26:08.00
We'll take you to
Wittenburg, and to Belgium,
00:26:08.03\00:26:10.20
to England, to Ireland,
00:26:10.23\00:26:12.60
to Rome, to the Vatican City,
00:26:12.63\00:26:14.74
and introduce you to the people
who created the Reformation,
00:26:14.77\00:26:17.71
who pushed the
Reformation forward.
00:26:17.74\00:26:19.71
We'll take you to
sites all throughout Europe
00:26:19.74\00:26:21.64
where the reformers
lived and, in some cases, died.
00:26:21.68\00:26:24.51
We'll bring you
back to the United States
00:26:24.55\00:26:26.15
and take you to a little
farm in upstate New York,
00:26:26.18\00:26:29.18
and show you how God
spread the Reformation here.
00:26:29.22\00:26:32.12
Don't miss "500."
00:26:32.15\00:26:34.12
You can own the
"500" series on DVD.
00:26:34.16\00:26:37.09
Call us on 888-664-5573
00:26:37.13\00:26:41.80
Or visit us online
at itiswritten.shop
00:26:41.83\00:26:46.67
>>John: Let's pray together.
00:26:47.84\00:26:49.54
Our Father in heaven,
00:26:49.57\00:26:50.94
I thank You today for
giant figures of history
00:26:50.97\00:26:54.01
who changed the
world for Your glory.
00:26:54.04\00:26:57.18
People like Patrick
and Aiden and Columba,
00:26:57.21\00:27:01.12
who shared the
Bible with people,
00:27:01.15\00:27:03.02
and urged them to know
Jesus as their personal Savior.
00:27:03.05\00:27:06.92
I pray today for us here, now,
00:27:06.96\00:27:09.99
I pray that we, too,
would hear the voice of Jesus.
00:27:10.03\00:27:12.89
I pray for that one who is
joining me in prayer right now
00:27:12.93\00:27:16.97
who knows that
she or he must give
00:27:17.00\00:27:18.97
her or his heart
to Jesus Christ now.
00:27:19.00\00:27:21.57
Friend, would you do that?
00:27:21.60\00:27:23.27
Would you reach out to Jesus,
00:27:23.30\00:27:24.41
knowing that He's
reaching out to you,
00:27:24.44\00:27:26.41
and claim Him as
your righteousness
00:27:26.44\00:27:28.44
and as your Lord and Savior?
00:27:28.48\00:27:31.41
Father, we thank You
today for the Scriptures,
00:27:31.45\00:27:33.92
we thank You for Your Word and
for Jesus the "Word made flesh."
00:27:33.95\00:27:39.05
And we pray with
faith and thanks,
00:27:39.09\00:27:41.79
In Jesus's name,
00:27:41.82\00:27:43.79
Amen.
00:27:43.83\00:27:45.46
Thanks so much for joining me.
00:27:45.49\00:27:46.83
I'm looking forward to
seeing you again next time.
00:27:46.86\00:27:49.36
Until then, remember:
00:27:49.40\00:27:51.27
"It is written,
00:27:51.30\00:27:52.73
'Man shall not
live by bread alone,
00:27:52.77\00:27:55.30
but by every word that proceeds
from the mouth of God.'"
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