St. Patrick and the Four Sons of Mosiah: Part Two

The great debate in my mind is whether St. Patrick really was a missionary of the Church in Rome or not. I’ve read too many books and articles that mention the Celtic Church of the British Isles, whose leaders absolutely denied having anything to do with the Roman Church, that I’m not entirely convinced Patrick belongs to Rome. By what records there are, the Roman Church doesn’t really take over the British Isles until the 7th century A.D. This is well after Patrick. There were some Roman Church missionary attempts earlier on, after Rome made Christianity the state religion, but upon arriving among the Bretons, they already found a people “conquered by Christ.”

It’s difficult to really know the truth, because in the end, the conquerors re-write history to prove their rights and validity to be in charge. The Romans were really good at propaganda. They’d been around a long time and knew how to put a spin on things so people would fall in line and be obedient to their way of doing things.

In these centuries, 1st to 5th A.D., the world was splitting and decaying, and so was the Church founded by Jesus and His Apostles. By the second and third centuries, splinter groups of Christians are cropping up all over the place, all claiming they have direct mandate from Peter or Thomas or some other original apostle. The church in Rome and the church in Constantinople were no different.

So what makes Patrick so special? What makes him stand out? What makes me think he’s actually preaching the true doctrine of Christ? It’s in what Patrick does, and how it compares to the missionary work of the Four Sons of Mosiah from the Book of Mormon.

When Patrick does go back to Ireland, he goes as a missionary for Christ. He’s in his late forties, and spends the next thirty years of his life preaching the gospel to a stubborn and prideful people.

We know he’s wildly successful, he becomes the patron saint of Ireland, after all, but why does he succeed? I believe it’s because he was teaching truth, not dogma. Only truth and the power of the testimony of the Holy Ghost can do what Patrick did and we have a parallel story from the Book of Mormon to show us how he did it.

From the Book of Alma we learn about Alma and Younger and the four sons of king Mosiah. I’m not going to go into all the history of these young men. You can read the Book of Mormon for yourself and learn all about it. Suffice it to say, these boys had started out as a rather rebellious lot, going among the people in secret and undermining the work of their fathers. Alma’s father, Alma the Elder, was the leader (president, should I say) of the Church. The four sons of Mosiah; Ammon, Aaron, Omner and Himni, were the sons of the king. Through the prayers and fasting of family and members of the Church, these five young men undergo a miraculous conversion to the gospel and doctrine of Christ. So much so, they completely turn their lives around.

When it’s time for king Mosiah to select the heir apparent, none of his sons want to take on the kingship. They want to go on a mission for Christ – to the Lamanites. Describe the Irish before Patrick, and you will have exactly described the Lamanites: a bloodthirsty, looting band of thugs, stubborn, prideful and bent on exacting revenge for centuries old slights.

When I look at these two groups, the Irish and the Lamanites, and the men who brought them the gospel, the similarities, to me, are remarkable. What happens is a fantastic transformation that I find utterly fascinating.

To be continued…