English Christianity

Abstract

Abstract Britain was one of the earliest countries in Europe outside of Greece, Italy, and Spain to receive the Gospel. The first church, according to tradition, was erected in Glastonbury in ad 61. In 314 three English bishops attended the Council of Arles in France. The Anglo‐Saxon invaders set back the fledgling church and Christians were driven to the western part of the island. The conversion of the pagan conquerors was the work of Columba and other Celtic missionaries from Ireland who established monasteries such as the celebrated one at Iona. In 597 the pope sent St. Augustine to bring England back into the Roman fold. Because England was divided into several petty kingdoms called the Heptarchy, Christianization moved only slowly. There were also fundamental differences between Celtic traditions and the Roman tradition. At a synod held at Whitby in 664 the conflict was resolved in favor of the Roman tradition. Augustine became the first archbishop of Canterbury. He was followed by Theodore of Tarsus, who was the first in a long line of ecclesiastical statesmen in British history. He set up the administrative organization of the English church and summoned ecclesiastical councils. Under Theodore learning flourished and the church produced great scholars such as the Venerable Bede, the historian. Willibrord and Boniface were sent out as missionaries to Holland and Denmark. Norwegian and Swedish kings educated in England helped to introduce Christianity to their own countries. Under King Edgar, Archbishop Dunstan labored with St. Ethelwold and St. Oswald to reform monasteries and cathedral chapters.