Wednesday, March 17, 2010
The Creed of Saint Patrick
According to tradition, this creed is the response Patrick gave to the Druid priestess, Ethne, and her sister when they inquired about the nature of St. Patrick's God:

Our God, God of all men,
God of heaven and earth,
sea and rivers,
God of sun and moon, of all the stars,
God of high mountains
and of lowly valleys,
God over heaven, and in heaven,
and under heaven.

He has a dwelling
in heaven and earth and sea
and in all things
that arc in them.

He inspires all things,
He quickens all things,
He is over all things,
He supports all things.

He makes the light of the sun to shine,
He surrounds the moon and stars, and
He has made wells in the arid earth, placed dry islands in the sea
and stars for the service of the greater luminaries.

He has a Son coeternal with Himself,
like to Himself;
not junior is Son to Father,
nor Father senior to the Son.

And the Holy Spirit
breathes in them;
not separate are Father
and Son and Holy Spirit.
 
posted by Mike Clawson at 12:48 PM | Permalink |


3 Comments:


At 3/17/2010 01:51:00 PM, Blogger PrincessMax

Interesting that he is so explicit about the Trinity.

On that note, do you have any good resources for alternative Christian thought about the nature of God as something other than Trinitarian?

You'd be the guy who would know that kind of thing. :-)

 

At 3/17/2010 11:40:00 PM, Blogger Mike Clawson

No, unfortunately I really don't. The Trinity is one of those areas of Christian theology that I really don't have much problem with and have never felt much compulsion to reinvestigate.

Though if you're looking for stuff, try exploring Unitarian theology, especially during the 19th century when it was more focused on the "unity" of God (in denial of the Trinity), than it is now (where they tend to avoid "God" talk altogether most of the time.)

 

At 3/17/2010 11:51:00 PM, Blogger Mike Clawson

I should also say that what stood out to me in this creed was not its Trinitarianism, but its emphasis on God as immanent in Creation. God's dwelling is in the world, in "heaven and earth and sea." That is a conception radically different than, for instance, the "Greco-Roman" theology that McLaren highlights in his recent book - and yet deeply resonant with a lot of more recent theologians from Bonhoeffer to Pete Rollins to Sallie McFague and Phillip Clayton.