Wednesday 30 January 2013

Christians, let us "vent" like Gildas


Gildas (the Wise) was a 6th-century monk born in Dumbarton, Scotland. In his treatise, On the Ruin of Britain, he points to the moral laxity of the populace and covenant infidelity of Christians as the cause of the early Anglo-Saxon invasions of Britain. Examples of this were the corrupt clergy, the rampant immorality and the realm's selfish leaders (sound familiar?) What is exemplary though is the manner Gildas deploys as he does his venting. Listen to him introduce his treatise:
Whatever my attempt shall be in this epistle, made more in tears than in denunciation, in poor style, I allow, but with good intent, let no man regard me as if about to speak under the influence of contempt for men in general, or with an idea of superiority to all, because I weep the general decay of good, and the heaping up of evils, with tearful complaint. On the contrary, let him think of me as a man that will speak out of a feeling of condolence with my country’s losses and its miseries, and sharing in the joy of remedies.

Gildas was not afraid to confront the evils of his day (as we too shouldn't) but let us (especially conservative evangelical Christians) emulate his manner, grieving our Nation's heaping up of evils even as we proclaim the truth with great fervour and passionate ardour.


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