Gildas the Sage: Part Five

“Britain hath priests, but they are unwise; very many that minister, but many of them impudent; clerks she hath, but certain of them are deceitful raveners; pastors (as they are called) but rather wolves prepared for the slaughter of souls (for they provide not for the good of the common people, but covet rather the gluttony of their own bellies), possessing the houses of the church, but obtaining them for filthy lucre’s sake; instructing the laity, but showing withal most depraved examples, vices and evil manners; seldom sacrificing, and seldom with clean hearts;…”

Gildas goes on and on an on with pages and pages of examples of wrongdoings by the clergy of his day.  Following is the Reader’s Digest Condensed list of sins he claimes they have committed.

1.       “Reverencing the sinful rich man,”

2.       “Concealing the horrible sins of the people, and amplifying injuries offered unto  themselves,”

3.       “Seeking rather ambitiously for ecclesiastical dignities than for the kingdom of heaven,”

4.       “Diligent and attentive to the plays and foolish fables of secular men, as if they were the very ways to life,…”

5.       “Slothful and dumb in the Apostolic decrees,”

6.       “…so sinful as after the example of Simon Magus…with earthly price to purchase the office of a bishop or priest,”

7.       “…of sinners, they make them not penitents…”

8.       They go overseas and travel in many countries, get some education then come home and set themselves up to show off their accomplishments (paraphrased). 

Where Gildas was pretty blunt with the kings, he is brutal to the bishops and priests. 

Part of the problem, I believe, comes from the caste system the Celts had lived under for centuries.   Old traditions are hard to get rid of.  Just as the Greeks slipped Greek philosophy into Christian teachings, the Bretons had a hard time giving up their old ways as well. 

This caste system is very similar to the caste system found in India, though perhaps not as strict. 

A.      The priestly caste.  The highest caste, where the order of the Druids is found.

B.      The warrior caste.  These were the kings and generals and other military men.

C.      The merchant cast.  Those who sold and traded goods.

D.      The farmer caste.  Those who worked the land.

The Celtic caste system was not necessarily hereditary.  As I understand it, people could move around in the caste system depending on their talents.  But I’m sure the Druidic order had its influences on the Celtic Christian Church.  The Druids were pretty much gone by the late 400s A.D.  Were they all slaughtered?  Did they scatter and wither away?  Or were they converted to this Christianity?  We don’t know, but the similarities between the Druidic order and the Levitical order bear some further study.

Regardless of the influences and problems, it is evident by Gildas words that the church in Britain is in a severe state of apostasy, of walking down the wrong path.  The bishops and priests had turned from humbly serving to pompously self-serving.

Once again, Gildas uses the scriptures to condemn the priests.   They do not follow the examples the  Abraham, he accuses them, or Joseph of Egypt or Moses, or any of the prophets.  He quotes scripture after scripture, waiving a warning flag.  In fact there were so many scriptures I got impatient.  “I get it!  I get it!” I exclaimed.  And what did I get?

“Woe be to the pastors who destroy and rend in pieces the flock of my pasture, saith our Lord.  Thus, therefore saith our Lord God of Israel, unto the pastors who guide my people, Ye have dispersed my flock, and cast them forth, and not visited them.  Behold I will visit upon you the malice of your endeavors.”

“Behold, the days shall come, saith our Lord, and I will send out a famine upon the earth; not the famine of bread, nor the thirst of water, but a famine in the hearing the word of God, and the waters shall be moved from sea to sea and they shall run over from the north even unto the east seaking the word of our Lord, and shall not find it.”

These were the kinds of scriptures Gildas was quoting.  In essence, he was telling them that if they did not repent and do what they were supposed to be doing, they were going to lose the church and lose the gift of revelation and truth. 

Gildas foresaw the great apostasy to come.

By 600 A.D., the church in Rome, after several attempts over the last two hundred years, finally succeeded in taking over the church in the British Isles.  The Celtic Christian church ceased to exist, being absorbed into the Church of Rome, becoming the Roman Catholic Church.

Next:  “I am clear and clean from the blood of all:”