Gildas, The Ruin of Britain (5)

Here, or even earlier, I should have finished this tearful history, this complaint on the evils of the age, so that my lips should not any longer have to speak of the actions of men. But in case people should think me afraid or tired of constantly heeding the warning of Isaiah: “Woe to those who say good is bad and bad good, putting darkness for light and light for darkness, bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter,” who “seeing do not see and hearing do not hear,” whose heart is veiled in a thick cloud of vices, I want to give a summary of the threats uttered by the oracles of the prophets against these five mad and debauched horses from the retinue of Pharaoh which actively lure his army to its ruin in the Red Sea, and against those like them. These oracles will form a reliable and beautiful covering for the endeavour of my little work, to protect it from the rain-showers of the hostile that will compete to beat upon it.

Now, as before, therefore, let the holy prophets reply in my stead. So it was in the past. Favouring the good and forbidding men the bad, they were in a sense the mouth of God and the instrument of the Holy Spirit. Let them reply to the proud and stubborn princes of this age, in case they say that it is by my own fabrication and merely from a rush of loquacity that I hurl such warnings and such terrors at them. In fact, no wise man is in doubt how much more serious are the sins of today than those of the early days. As the apostle says, “anyone breaking the law dies, on the evidence of two or three witnesses present: how much greater, do you think is the punishment deserved by one who has trampled on the son of God?”

Translation Michael Winterbottom, The Ruin of Britain

Gildas fully expected his account of the state of affairs in Britain to come to the attention of the kings and clerics he denounced and condemned. He was not afraid, either of being charged with violating some sacred agreement of interests and responsibilities (“separation of Church and State”) or of falling into disfavor – or worse – with those he condemned. He had to issue these “warnings” and “terrors” because the wellbeing of the people of God and the safety of the nation were at stake.

But he did not want anyone to think he was merely offering his opinion. Here he begins a lengthy pass through the prophets of Scripture, showing how each in his own way denounced and condemned the sins of the present rulers of Britain. Gildas will apply the Scriptures to the contemporary political, social, and ecclesiastical situation, invoking prophet after prophet in his effort to call the nation to its senses. He will let the “mouth of God” testify against the rulers, whom he compares to Pharaoh’s horses, leading the nation into the judgment of God.

These rulers, he knew, would protest that they were “Christian” rulers, like Saul claimed to be God’s king in Israel. They didn’t worship like pagans, they would insist; yet Gildas accuses them of idolatry in being “recalcitrant towards God” as they “trampled underfoot the most costly pearls of Christ.” Because they did not obey the Lord in their personal and political lives, none of their devotions to Him would avail them one whit. They took advantage of the people and accumulated wealth and power without due regard for justice and mercy. The practiced a form of godliness only, and Gildas was determined to expose their hypocrisy.

Gildas’ parade of the prophets begins with Samuel and works through Gad, Elijah, Micaiah, Azariah, Jehu, Zachariah, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Jonah, Habakkuk, Amos, Micah, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. He calls in Job, Ezekiel, and Solomon, quoting and paraphrasing at length to pile up the judgment of the Lord against the kings of Britain. He concludes this section by saying, “So far I have addressed the kings of my country both in my own words and in the oracles of the prophets, wishing them to know (as the prophet said): “Flee from sins as from the face of a serpent…”

How glad I should be to let modesty step in and to rest here, like one long tossed on the sea-waves and at last carried by his oars to the longed-for haven: if I did not see such great mountains of wickedness raised against God by bishops and other priests and clerics of my order also. These persons must be stoned with hard word-rocks – for I do not wish to be accused of making exceptions of persons – first by me, as the law enjoined on the witnesses, then by the people, if indeed they cleave to the decrees: stoned with all our might, not that they may be killed in the body, but that they may die in their sins, and live in God.

With these words Gildas concludes his tirade against the rulers of Britain and turn his pen against his colleagues in the ministry: “Britain has priests, but they are fools; very many ministers, but they are shameless; clerics, but they are treacherous grabbers.” He will use the same approach as with the kings of Britain, hurling the “word-rocks” of Scripture against the self-serving clergy of his day, seeking to bring them to repentance and revival in the Lord. This is the longest section of Gildas’ work, and we will examine it somewhat more carefully in the installments to come.

T. M. Moore

Want to learn more about the Celtic Revival and its ongoing impact? Order T. M.’s book, The Legacy of Patrick, from our online store.