The History of St. Patrick

You may be planning to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this week, but you probably know little of the true history of Patrick. Contrary to popular belief, he was not Irish at all. He was a British bishop who lived at exactly the same time as St. Augustine. And the people he preached to in Ireland, were not “Irish,” but “Scots.”

Most people don’t know it, but two genuine writings of Patrick survive.

Letter To Coroticus

and

The Confession of St. Patrick

A lot of Christians who dove head-long into conspiracy theories have had their faith broken. QAnon spoke in spiritual terms of a Great Awakening that would come in 2021. This has an appeal to Christians, but I am afraid that in the final analysis that it was a hoped for political victory, rather than Christ’s victorious kingdom.

The good news is that we can quash the idea of a triumphalist premillennial victory (which is still better than pessimistic defeatism) and work to convince our fellow Christians that the kingdom doesn’t come all at once, but gradually among us as we surrender more of our lives to the Lordship of Jesus. Even so, Christian dominion does not come without setbacks.

“Trust the plan” is a better slogan for postmillennialists than QAnon followers. I was always skeptical of QAnon. A big part of me wanted to believe, but I knew better. There is a much bigger picture. God’s plan is better than our plan.