The Christianity in Britain before the Mission of St. Augustine of Canterbury

---

• Missionaries had gone to Britain years before but the Saxon conquest of England had forced these Christians into hiding.
• Augustine and his companions were to bring these Christians back into the fold and convince the warlike conquerors to become Christians themselves.

• Christianity had entered England via various routes:
  • Trade routes
  • Roman army
  • Early missionaries like St. Patrick
    

• List of historical indications that Christianity was active before the mission of St. Augustine:

1. Patristic sources for example:
   
   • Justin Martyr:  who placed Christianity in every country known to the Romans; Britain was not expressly mentioned
   • Irenæus: named the Celts among the enlightened nations (Adv. Hæres L.1.c2)
   • Tertullian: his testimony was more decisive. He wrote that British districts  were inaccessible to Roman arms but subdued by Christ "Britannorum inaccessa Romanis loca, Christo vero subdita"  adv. judæos 7.
   • Origen: suggested in AD 240 that 'Christianity was a unifying force among the Britons'.  Hom in Ezekiel iv
     Thus by the end of the third century Christianity was far from being novel to the British tripes
2. Eusebius, attributed the British acquaintance with the Gospel to some of the Apostles
   Many  stories allegedly attributed the evangelization of the British to the apostles: James  the some of Zebedee , Simon Zelotes, Simon Peter and St. Paul.   Other suggested that St. Paul sent Aristobulus (mentioned in Romans 16:10)  where ordained him as the Bishop of the Britons.  Some suggested that Joseph of Arimathea as the British apostle, travelling from the Gaul to Glastonbury, with 12 companions.
   
3. Many English bishops and clerics participated in the early church councils (both ecumenical  (British bishops attended the Council of Nicaea AD 325, Council of Ariminum AD 359, and the Council of Sardica AD 342-3). They were active also in regional council for example in the Gaul, the most famous was the Council at Arles AD 314)
4. The Acta martyrum of St. Albans.
5. One of the famous heresy in the 5th C was associated with the british priest Pelagius and his admirer the Irish man Celestius (Pelagian heresy).
6. Archeological findings in various part of Britain which showed many christian motifs.

• Christianity was not the only religion in Britain. Many other cults and pagan believes shared the same platform.
• It was not surprising that upon the demise of the Roman power and the invasion of the pagan Anglo-Saxon in the mid of the 5th C the influence of Christianity in England decreased; but more powerful presence remained in the north and the west.
• It was for the return of the christianity to the Anglo-Saxon and central and eastern provinces that the mission of St. Augustine of Canterbury was the main target.