All Articles For The Real Saint Patrick

Rev. Stewart is a missionary in the Protestant Reformed Churches, currently working in Northern Ireland. We have seen that Patrick was clearly not the happy-go-lucky guy of popular perception. Nor did he evangelize Ireland in the service of the Roman Church and bring it under the sway of the Roman pontiff as, for example, Boniface did for Germany three centuries later. Nor was he an abolitionist. Thomas Cahill writes, “The greatness of Patrick is beyond dispute: the first human being in the history of the world to speak out unequivocally against slavery.”1 But Patrick’s Letter to Coroticus and his men...

Rev. Stewart is a minister in the Protestant Reformed Churches, presently working in Northern Ireland. We have considered the biblical message of the gospel that Patrick knew in his heart and that he brought to the people of Ireland. We have also seen that Patrick was called by the British church to labor in Ireland and that he had unshakable confidence in his divine calling. However, he was not sent to preach in wholly virgin territory. That there were some believers in Ireland before Patrick’s visit is evident from the writings of a contemporary, Prosper of Aquitane, and Patrick himself...

Rev. Stewart is a minister in the Protestant Reformed Churches, presently working in Northern Ireland. We saw last time (Standard Bearer, May 1, 2003) that Patrick believed and preached the grace of the triune God in Christ. Patrick’s understanding of grace is demonstrated yet further in that he repeatedly refers to his call to preach the gospel in Ireland as a “gift” of God to him (e.g., Conf 16, 33, 62). God, not Patrick himself, called him to his mission (Conf 56), for he received his office from God’s hand (Letter 1). Patrick humbly confesses that he was not worthy...

Rev. Stewart is a Protestant Reformed minister, presently working in Northern Ireland. But what was the message that Patrick preached to the Irish? Patrick leaves us in no doubt here, giving us a simple Rule of Faith near the beginning of his Confession: There is no other God nor was there ever in the past nor will there be in the future except God the Father ingenerate, without beginning, from whom all beginning flows, who controls all things, as our formula runs: and his Son Jesus Christ whom we profess to have always existed with the Father, begotten spiritually before...

Rev. Stewart is a Protestant Reformed minister, presently working in Northern Ireland. Leading twentieth century Patrician scholars reckon that he was born between c. 389 and c. 415 and that his death was between c. 460 and c. 493. They estimate Patrick lived between seventy and seventy-eight years. Many reckon that he was buried in or near Downpatrick, Co. Down. His mission in Ireland occurred between 430 at the earliest and 490 at the latest, and lasted at least thirty years. Augustine of Hippo’s dates are 354-430, and the Roman Empire fell in 476. If we think of Patrick laboring...

Rev. Stewart is a Protestant Reformed minister, presently working in Northern Ireland. In connection with Saint Patrick’s Day, March 17, we thought that it would be worthwhile to contribute to the Standard Bearer several articles on the patron saint of Ireland. Patrick is undoubtedly the world’s most famous patron saint. Few know the patron saint of Spain or Poland outside of those nations, but Patrick has attained international fame. Patrick is also the patron saint of fishermen—and almost every other occupation—along the River Loire in France. There are churches named after Patrick all over the world, including in Rome itself....