Early Christianity in Britain

When I was in Aber last my prospective sympathetic Mike Iliff (our kids get married in June) recommended a book to me - Early Christianity. The backbone of this work which takes you from the first century to Wycliffe and Tyndale grows out of PhD work by Peter Green. Some published PhD theses are hard to read but in this case Brian Edwards has edited the manuscipt and that has made for an easy read of 17 chapters. Much of the material was familiar to me (Patrick, Aidan, David, etc) but much was not. Some of it is very interesting indeed. It refutes the Augustine of Canterbury thesis that was promoted in school and argues for a church that had existed for 500 years before then and also denies that England ever had much to do with Rome, much less the other home nations. This is well worth getting hold of. Some of it will surprise you.

The History of Christianity in Britain and Ireland

I enjoyed reading this large and comprehensive volume by Gerald Bray which very helpfully covers the long history of Christianity in these islands. He is especially good on the early stuff. Much was familiar but some was new and it was good to see how it all joins up. I had not realised that scholars now say that Wycliffe did not translate the Bible. I did enjoy some of the etymological notes (eg sinecure, Dingwall, church ales).

Really speaking it is an Anglican history and few opportunities are missed to downplay what is not of that ilk. Hence the Great Ejection involved 1000 not 2000 men, William Carey was not the big deal we all thought he was and as for Andrew Fuller - not worth a mention. The scholarship immense, the jokes few and far between, the thing mostly rattles along but there are some dull moments too. Inevitably just as Homer nodded so there are slips. To say that the 1859 revival in Wales mainly affected the Welsh speaking areas is rather redundant as at that time that was most of Wales. Whoever told Mr Bray that Dr Lloyd-Jones' first name was Dafydd rather misled him. It was David. I'm sure the Protestant Truth Society will be disappointed to learn from p 517 that almost nothing has been heard from (or about) them since 1982.

Day Off Week 27 2021

The main thing today was a trip into town with my fourth son Gwïon and his girlfriend. They are staying here this week. We went down to Bunhill Fields to see the graves of Bunyan, Blake, Defoe, Owen, Goodwin, etc, etc. We also saw Wesley's grave across the road; the house was closed. After that we headed for the flagship Shoreditch branch of the Origin coffee shop, where I did the crossword and Gwïon and Marni played chess. Very nice coffee. En route I spotted Esme Young from Sewing Bee and told her how much my wife enjoyed the show. Back here it was football in the evening, of course. I also found time to read a chunk of Gerald Bray's new The History of the Christianity in Britain and Ireland. I also found time to watch some TV. Oh yes and the latest Private Eye on the right day. Pretty good day all told.