The Church in the 7^th Century

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The Western Church at the beginning of the 7^th Century AD was largely governed from Rome and in the very capable hands of Gregory I (the Great). Although Gregory did not call himself "Pope", it would be fair to argue that the great mediaeval papal system was established by Gregory during the latter half of the 6^th Century.

The Church in Britain

In 596, Gregory sent Augustine to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons. Augustine, with forty monks, landed in Kent and had considerable success in the South of England, re-establishing the Church in Canterbury which, of course, became the religious capital of England and now is the seat of the spiritual head of the international Anglican Communion.

However, it must not be thought that Christianity was new to Britain. Before the Anglo-Saxon invasions, there had been a Christian presence. Augustine, indeed, found evidence of the Church in Canterbury. Augustine's task, then, was to re-convert England.

Nor was Augustine alone in this work. In the North of England there was a thriving missionary work which had been enjoying considerable success in the spread of the Gospel - but this work was not sanctioned by Rome. This was the Celtic Church about which we are now hearing so much. St. Patrick (who was neither Irish nor a Roman Catholic) had evangelized Ireland in the 5 ^th Century. During the 6^th Century, Irish monks had established the Celtic Church in Scotland, Northern England and in various parts of Europe.

Unfortunately, Rome could not tolerate the thought that any Church should be independant of the Pope's control, so there was, inevitably, conflict between the free-spirited Celtic Church and the Institutionalised Roman Church. In 663, at the Synod of Whitby, in Yorkshire, the King of Northumbria, King Oswiu, shifted his allegiance to the Roman Church and the rest of Britain and Ireland gradually followed suit. Nevertheless, in parts of Wales and Scotland the Celtic Church survived for a considerable time.

The Greater Threat

Although internal problems existed within the Church, the greater threat to the Church in the 7 ^th century was emerging in the Middle East. Mohammed was preaching a new religion which comprised elements of Judaism, Christianity and Arabian heathenism. At the centre of his preaching was an unyielding monotheism and anti-idolotry. Many people who had felt that Christianity was becoming corrupt, idolatrous and polytheistic, turned to Islam believing it to be a revival of pure religion. This was a time when the use of images and devotion to the Virgin Mary were at a height within the Church. There seems to be some evidence in the Koran that Mohammed was aware of people worshipping Mary.

Throughout the 7 ^th century Islam made great advances across the Middle East and Northern Africa and, early in the 8^th century, in Spain and France.

So although the Church made advances during the 7^th century it also sustained serious losses which were to have long term effects upon the Church.