The expulsion of the preachers from the monastery at Ripon, together with the advancement of Wilfrid, the pervert to Romanism, naturally tended to inflame the controversy, and to raise the hopes of the Romanists. “To terminate the disputes which now agitated the church in Northumberland, it was at last resolved that a synod should be held, in which the subjects in question might be publicly discussed. This memorable synod was held in the monastery of Streoneshalh (Whitby) in the year 664, and the heads of both parties having been summoned to attend, there was a general muster of their respective forces. On the part of the Romish church appeared Alchfrid, Agilbert, Agatho, Wilfrid, James, Romanus, and others; and on the part of the Scottish church were Oswy, the abbess Hilda, Colman, and others.....”
It is scarcely credible that the great point discussed at this synod was as to the time of observing Easter! And this shows how, in many things, the whole professing church had utterly departed from scripture. The reader of the word of God will be aware that there is not only no instruction for Christians to observe Easter, but that the observance of days is contrary to the true spirit of Christianity. (Gal. 4:10, 1110Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. 11I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain. (Galatians 4:10‑11).) The discussion then turned on tradition, and how Easter was observed in other countries. The account would not be worth our reading were it not for the fearful results of this synod for centuries of degrading superstition. “At the opening of the assembly, Oswy made a short speech, setting forth the importance of unity in the church. ‘They who serve one God,’ said he, ‘should hold one rule of life; and they who expect the same heavenly kingdom, ought not to differ in observing the heavenly sacraments. Let us inquire, then, which is the true tradition, and let us all agree to follow it.’” There was no appeal to the word of God, for indeed there could not be. It was a great mistake for Oswy to allow himself to be drawn into a question that could not be defended by scripture.
“Colman, the (so-called) bishop of the province, was then desired by the king to state what he had to say on behalf of the rites which he followed; and he proceeded to address the meeting as follows: ‘The Easter which I am wont to keep, is what I received from those who sent me hither as bishop, and which all our fathers, men beloved of God, are known to have observed in the same way. Nor is it to be despised or rejected; for it is the same which the evangelist John, the beloved disciple of the Lord, is said to have observed, with all the churches under his inspection.’... Wilfred replied, ‘That Easter which we keep, we have seen observed by all that be at Rome, where the blessed apostle Peter lived, taught, suffered, and was buried,’ fee. His manner and language were insulting and overbearing.” It would weary the reader to no profit to give the details of this foolish discussion as to the right day and the true way of observing Easter, when it was no part of Christianity to observe it at all Wilfrid pretended that Rome was following the rule of Peter, the most blessed prince of the apostles, to whom the Lord said, “Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven.”
“Upon hearing these words of Wilfrid, the king thus addressed the bishop of Northumbria: ‘Is it true, Colman, that these things were spoken by our Lord to Peter?’ The bishop answered, ‘True, Ο king.’ ‘And can you prove,’ said he, “that any such power was given to your Columba?’ To this Colman replied in the negative. ‘Are you both agreed,’ then adds the king, ‘that these things were principally spoken to Peter, and the keys of the kingdom of heaven were given him by the Lord?’ They answered, ‘Yes, certainly.’ ‘Well, then.’ says Oswy, ‘I tell you that he is a porter whom I will not contradict, but, to the utmost of my knowledge and ability, I will obey all his statutes; lest perhaps when I come to the gates of heaven, there be none to open to me, being at variance with him who is acknowledged to hold the keys.’
“The king’s speech was received with applause by all ranks in the assembly: which resolved accordingly that the practice of the British church should be discontinued, and that of the church of Borne adopted in its stead.”
Colman might easily have replied that Wilfrid had given no proof that Peter observed Easter in any way; but he made no further reply, and thus Rome gained their point. “Yet, though he was silenced, he was not convinced; and being no doubt disgusted at the insolence of Wilfrid,.... he resolved to retire into his own country with such as chose to follow him. He and many of the devoted missionaries returned to Ireland.” The historian Bede unintentionally pays them a high compliment, when he states that they were ignorant of the decrees of councils, and diligently observed no other works of piety and purity than what they could learn in the prophets, the Gospels, and apostolic Epistles. (L. 3. 100. 4.)
They had, indeed, some superstitions; but they were strangers to that immense mass of ceremonies with which the church of Rome was encumbered. They, like many Protestants in our days, unscripturally kept Christmas and Lent and Easter and Whitsuntide. And this then, as now, gave Rome a handle, and, as we have seen, was the means of their overthrow in this synod, which so fearfully blighted the future history of England.
They were, however, true Christians, who loved and revered the word of God. “Their prayers appear to have been chiefly extemporary, and in the public reading of the scriptures they do not seem to have been confined by any fixed rule, but might read more or less as they had opportunity. They set apart their churches (wooden meeting-rooms) to the service of God; but they never dedicated them to any of the saints.” All such superstition took place after this synod. Bede does not “ascribe any one dedication of this sort to the brethren from Iona: on the contrary, he informs us that it was not until some years after their departure that the church of Lindisfarne, their principal church, was dedicated to the apostle Peter by archbishop Theodore.” And long after this, the church of Listingham was dedicated to “The mother of God!” And some think it probable that the consecration of Streoneshalh was deferred till after the death of that devoted christian, Lady Hilda.
Let us further examine what was the true character of these brethren who were driven from England by the proud church of Rome. “The missionaries from Iona, and their disciples, appear to have surpassed the Romanists in piety and diligence, as much as they fell short of them in superstition. Our historian takes pleasure in recording their zeal, their humility, and their unwearied labors; he recurs to this topic again and again, and sets forth their activity and self-denial, to reprove the indolence and selfishness of some of their successors. These pious servants of Christ were far from seeking to make a gain of godliness; they had not learned to set a price on every act of devotion, and to limit their services by the extent of their emoluments; but with disinterested zeal they labored, ‘in season and out of season,’ and thought no exertions too great by which they could profit the souls of men. They had not learned to confine their ministrations to consecrated walls, on pretense of conducting them with greater decorum—a pretense which serves well as a cloak for indolence; but, like the primitive apostles, they preached and exhorted from village to village and from house to house.”
When many of the brethren retired to Ireland, still some remained, as did Lady Hilda, and these greatly cheeked the progress of superstition and corruption; but before the death of Bede, seventy years after this disastrous synod at Whitby, the indolence and avarice of the clergy, and the consequent immorality of the people, had grown to an enormous height. The description he gives in his last writings are truly lamentable. The king himself was greatly distressed at the change. But Rome sent its archbishop Theodore to reduce all to subjection to her superstition.
It would be perhaps impossible to find another incident in history so terribly disastrous to England as the synod at Whitby. Centuries of dark superstition followed. And even the Reformation came far short of the scriptural simplicity, devotedness, and earnest piety of the brethren from Ireland. These were the true missionary servants of Christ, who traveled far and wide. Their record is on high.
In a word, Rome drove Christianity from these shores, and established the mystery of iniquity. God had His own suffering children. Their history is little known to us; but they will soon be manifested before the judgment-seat of Christ. There they shall receive their reward, when the wicked shall be silent in darkness.
God works in His own way. After some twelve centuries, Ireland was again the favored place where, about sixty years ago, God began again to awaken a few to seek a return, not to the British church of the sixth century: but to Christ, as revealed in the holy scriptures. Again these became, and not a few still are, the missionaries of Christ to England. Yes; God has restored long-lost truth, in giving Christ His true place, and believers their true place in Him.
And further, as then so now, Satan is marshaling his forces to lead England into the dark superstition of Rome—the very same gross perversion of scripture as to Peter and the keys of heaven. Yea, Peter is again put in the place of the true foundation, and Rome is fast taking the place of, and is supposed by many to be, Christianity. The brethren of that day may have had less light than the brethren of this day, but do they not utterly put us to shame by their life and works of devotedness to Christ?
The truth is, however, that so far from the church of Rome introducing and sustaining Christianity in this country, she became the sad and determined enemy of all true, simple scriptural devotedness to Christ, as seen in the missionary servants of Christ from Ireland.