England became a central Christian sponsor. The London Baptist Confession of Faith (1689) was written in England. They also led the abolitionist movement during the 1800s and sent out many missionaries throughout the ages. However, England wasn’t always Christian. It embraced paganism during the barbarian Middle Ages. The church’s unrelenting work resulted in successful conversion, but it required persistence and sacrifice. The story of the English missions is fascinating, filled with bravery and barbarity.
Christian Romans settled in Britain long before the missions started, but they neglected to convert any Saxons. The Romano-Britians hired Saxon mercenaries in response to Irish hostility. However, instead of defending them from the Irish, the Saxons backstabbed the British by attacking them instead. The Saxons took British money and then dispossessed them. Understandably, the Christian Britains were sour. They suffered a grotesque betrayal. It was unjust. The perversion of hospitality festered resentment and the Celtic Catholic Church refused to convert the Angles and Saxons. When Saint Augustine of Canterbury attempted to reconcile the seven Celtic bishops with the Saxons and aid him in his missionary endeavors, their response was simple: “We want the Anglo-Saxons to rot in Hell.”
Pope Gregory the Great (r. AD 590-604) noticed the stagnant state of Christianity in Britain and advocated for mission trips. In his foresight, he noticed the unreliability of the Byzantine Empire in the East. His response was to convert the West. He sent Saint Augustine of Canterbury on a mission trip to convert the Anglo-Saxons. He and forty monks approached King Ethelbert of Kent. The first step to converting any barbarian group was converting their leader. That reduced group hostility. It was strategic. Saint Augustine of Canterbury preached the gospel to Ethelbert. In turn, King Ethelbert blessed Augustine in his mission. In AD 597, he was converted. His wife’s influence cannot be discounted. Queen Bertha was a Roman Catholic Frank. She married Ethelbert, but only because he allowed her to bring a Catholic bishop to the palace to preach to her. Ethelbert was already well acquainted with Christian Catholicism before Augustine arrived. His conversion was indubitably easier because of Queen Bertha.
The reaction to Christianity worsened after Ethelbert’s death. Various kingdom rivalries made it difficult to convert the people since Ethelbert, their enemy, was associated with Christianity. However, when Edwin ascended the Northumbrian throne in AD 626, he converted to Catholicism, too. Paulinas officially converted him, but similar to Ethelbert, his Christian wife positively influenced her pagan husband. To seem diplomatic and mitigate the blowback of his conversion, Edwin called a palace debate between a council of pagans and Bishop Paulinas. The debate was a show since Edwin already converted, but it did allow his people to see the logic behind Christianity. Many of them converted.
Unfortunately, the missionary work suffered a minor setback when King Edwin of Northumbria died at the Battle of Hatfield Chase in AD 633. But simultaneously, when the missionaries from the East began losing momentum, the Irish missionaries converted King Oswald who ascended his throne in AD 633.
In conclusion, the Anglo-Saxons were converted over decades of grueling work. While the Celtic bishops were idle, Irish missionaries and Roman missionaries worked diligently. Pope Gregory the Great sent Saint Augustine of Canterbury to England and he converted King Ethelbert of Kent. Bishop Paulinas converted King Edwin of Northumbria, and the Irish converted King Oswald. God’s providence was constantly at work while the Christian church obeyed Jesus’ Great Commission.
Asher Sisneros 