St. Patrick's Day Dangers

St. Patrick's Day is a celebration of Patricas (Patrick) who was a Roman and British man who was captured by Irish pirates, spent time in captivity on Ireland and escaped with great risk. Patrick became a Christian in the process of his captivity, and upon returning home he felt a call from Christ to go back to Ireland and save them. Patrick is seen as hero by most Christians, today many Protestants add Him, St. Jerome, and St. Augustine of Hippo to the roster of heroes of the faith. This is intriguing because Jerome was very Catholic, even not bathing and translated the Bible into the Latin Vulgate, a translation that no one would later be able to easily read, St. Augustine of Hippo became deceived by a spirit of light claiming to be God, "For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." (2 Corinthians 11:13-14). St. Patrick has joined the pantheon of Protestant tongues and celebrations in an endeavor of finding evangelical heroes in people who were devoutly Roman Catholic [and perhaps a push for Ecumenism and Ecumenicalism]. There has been a recent romance for Protestants regarding Roman Catholic heroes and saints, many Protestants adopting men like St. Patrick and St. Jerome to their halls that originally only contained St. Paul, St. Peter, St. John, St. James, and of course Jesus Christ.

The man known as Patricas or Patrick was novel in that he brought Christianity to the Irish not via the sword, but by word, the Gospel. This is admirable, for once in Middle Ages, there was faith conversion instead of forced conversion, which is when tribal leader or king becomes Christian, the entire community and kingdom becomes Christian. St. Patrick unfortunately humored the Pagan Druids and Celts of Ireland, he is believed to have added the sun to the cross which is seen in the famous stone crosses in Ireland, the sun was a god to Irish, just as the sun god Sol Invictus was a god to Constantine The Great, and in my opinion St. Patrick copied Constantine, taking a pagan symbol and adding it to the church. Patrica drew many Irish to Christ through his emphasis on baptism by water (Mark 16:16, although Luke 3;16 emphasis baptism as more spiritual experience in Christ, more on this in future post), which in Irish culture water was a sacred and supernatural place. Patrick also is said to have tried to explain the Trinity with the three leaf clover leaf. For many argue Patrick did as Paul did, "When I was with the Jews, I lived like a Jew to bring the Jews to Christ. When I was with those who follow the Jewish law, I too lived under that law. Even though I am not subject to the law, I did this so I could bring to Christ those who are under the law." (1 Corinthians 9:20, notice however Paul did not subject himself to Law or become slave again to it, so should Patrick have adopted the traditions of Druids, Celts, and Irishmen? Paul didn't). However, Paul never watered down the Gospel or made a paganized gospel, for Paul said, "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified." (2 Corinthians 2:1-2), "For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty," (2 Peter 1:16), "But as for me, may I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world,"  (Galatians 6:14), "But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed," (2 Corinthians 11:3-4). Another point to be made is that while Paul did say He was "Jew to Jew," he later via revelation said, "There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. And now that you belong to Christ, you are the true children of Abraham. You are his heirs, and God’s promise to Abraham belongs to you." (Galatians 3:28-29). It then becomes clear that the Apostle Paul is not for holding on to tribal and ancestral traditions, but rather the emphasis in on Christ and being One with Him (John 17:20-23). My concern with St. Patrick's methods, St. Xavier, and even St. Ignatius is that they often adopted pagan customs into the church in order to help the pagans transition, but does not adding the sun to the cross, the sun being a symbol of pagan worship and their god in Ireland to Christ's cross cause same confusion that Constantine did, making people think Jesus is the sun god, when He is really the Son of God and he made the sun in the sky (John 1:3, Genesis 1:3-9, Colossians 1:13). Is it not alarming that most of the Roman and Greek gods live on in Roman Catholic saints, St. George being Mars, the Madonna version of Mary being really the goddess Artemis or Ishtar who was called Queen of Heaven (Jeremiah). To quote Paul we must avoid the appearance of evil, "Abstain from all appearance of evil." (1 Thessalonians 5:22 KJV).

St. Patrick is preported to have been an abolitionist, making him even more popular in today's very racial charged world. However, my concern is more theological and scriptural. Patricas is said to have brought the Gospel to the Irish, and if this is true I am glad, but was it the true gospel? For the Apostle Paul said, "But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. You happily put up with whatever anyone tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus than the one we preach, or a different kind of Spirit than the one you received, or a different kind of gospel than the one you believed." (2 Corinthians 11:3-4), and "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God's curse! As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God's curse!" (Galatians 1:8-9). This is my chief concern, did St. Patrick preach to the Irish people, that they are saved by grace (Ephesians 2:6-11), and that "If you believe in me you shall have eternal life and I will raise you from dead at the last day." (John 6:40, share more simple Gospel verses). Or did St. Patrick introduce the Sacramental system of the Roman Catholic Church which includes baptism, Sunday Mass, Eucharist, Holy Orders, Holy Matrimony, and more. The Sacraments are sacriledge, the are another gospel of works, that a person can save themselves via observing traditions of men pretending to be God's traditions (Mark 7:7). The Sacramental System is one that comes from Pharisees, "" (Matthew 23 verses). There is a debate about Patrick's stance on faith. Many advocates and disciples of this saint claim that Patricas was a revolutionary, that he fought the stubborn bishops and the coldness of Catholic Church. The evidence they claim is in letters from Patrick to the bishops, but the truth is we really don't know in those letters what St. Patrick's views of Eucharist, salvation (soteriology), grace, and more was. Patrick was addressing issues at his church, and perhaps abolition, but did he really say in his letters his views of salvation? If there is evidence please provide it.

For Irish Protestants, St. Patrick's Day is not a celebration, but a boycott. Traditional Irish Protestants wear orange instead of green on March 17th to protest the Roman Catholic Church which instituted the holiday and the color green for celebration. This is why the flag of Ireland has green, white, and orange (left to right), the green is Catholic majority, white represents peace between the two, and orange is the minority Protestants. It is worth noting that wars did break out between Catholic and Protestant Irish folk, in fact the IRA (Irish Republic Army) is involved in this feud dating back centuries. For us Protestants, the real color should be orange not green. Orange is actually the official color of Protestantism (Wikipedia), and this is why orange was chosen, as well as William Orange, a Protestant monarch who fought against Catholics in late Reformation period. However, unfortunately the orange color is connected to a secret society called The Orange Order or Orange Lodge, and like Freemasons their existence is violating Christ's words, "I have spoken openly to the world," Jesus replied. "I always taught in synagogues or at the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret," (John 18:20), and "Now I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan's so-called deep secrets, 'I will not impose any other burden on you." (Revelation 2:24). I do not support observing and celebrating St. Patrick's Day in either the Roman and Irish Catholic daily celebration, nor do I support the Protestant Orange Lodge protests and celebrations. The Catholic celebration of saints is idolatry. For Catholics view saints as demi-gods, intermediaries (courtiers who go to Jesus on the behalf of Catholic) which violates this verse, "For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus," (1 Timothy 2:5), and Catholics worship/venerate saints, wearing medals of St. Patrick (and other saints) for protection and as an amulet for blessings (ugh). I condemn observing the Protestant Orange Order celebration of wearing an orange shirt, because this pays tribute to a secret society, something Jesus was against and He condemns (John 18:20, Revelation 2:24).

We Protestants as I have mentioned (The Triumph of Protestantism blog post), are not a church dating only back to the 16th century, but rather we are return to "the sources" the Bible, and so our traditions go back to the Apostles and Jesus Christ himself in 33-90 A.D. (when Jesus and the Apostles lived), while Roman Catholic got their traditions from 333 A.D. to 1054 A.D (Constantine the Great really created the Roman Church, he even built St. Peters in Rome, Italy and Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, now Istanbul, Turkey). Instead of fixing your eyes on St. Patrick, fix your eyes on Jesus Christ, "fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrew 12:2). In this way we say on St. Patrick's Day, we keep our hearts and minds guarded in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7) and will not allow anything to lead us astray from a pure devotion to Jesus, "I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent's cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ," (2 Corinthians 11:3), and "We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ/We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ/We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ/Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ," (2 Corinthians 10:5), nor will we let the traditions of men ensnare us, "Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God." (Mark 7:7, Matthew 15:9 NLT).

I do want to say there are traditions in Protestantism that aren't Biblical as well. So my rejection of Catholic Tradition of St. Patrick and other traditions is not biased. I have issues with John Calvin and his doctrines known as his Institutes of Christian Religion (I have made my argument against his TULIP in another post), I am frustrated that Martin Luther of Germany accepted Transubstantiation, a doctrine that was invented and approved by Roman Catholic Church at The First Council of Trent in 1543-63 A.D. I think Zwingli was wrong about the Lord's Supper and Communion being only symbolic, I follow Brucer's middle way, that the Communion is symbolic (Jesus was revealing the meanings of Passover meal and telling his disciples about his sacrifice and making New Covenant through His death on cross) and not the literal blood and body of Christ (Transubstantiation), but I do believe like Brucer that the Communion has spiritual effects on the partaker,s just as praying has spiritual effects on us, the Apostle Paul affirms Brucer's view, "When you meet together, you are not really interested in the Lord’s Supper. For some of you hurry to eat your own meal without sharing with others. As a result, some go hungry while others get drunk. What? Don’t you have your own homes for eating and drinking? Or do you really want to disgrace God’s church and shame the poor? What am I supposed to say? Do you want me to praise you? Well, I certainly will not praise you for this!For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread  and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again. So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ,you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself. That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died. But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way. Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world. So, my dear brothers and sisters,when you gather for the Lord’s Supper, wait for each other. If you are really hungry, eat at home so you won’t bring judgment upon yourselves when you meet together. I’ll give you instructions about the other matters after I arrive." (1 Corinthians 11:17-34). If people were getting sick and even dying over abusing the Lord's Supper, that means it has spiritual effects, but is also meant to be symbolic of Christ's New Covenant and Sacrifice until He returns.

I do not admire the doctrines of many Reformers who deviated from Holy Bible, even Martin Luther who at first boasted in the Sources, recovered the Gospel of Grace (Ephesians 2:4-11, John 6:40) and a Simple faith in Christ, but was later lead astray (2 Corinthians 11:3). So when I say be a Protestant on St. Patrick's Day, that is misnomer, because many Protestants like Calvin and even Luther went astray from the Bible and made up doctrines of men (Mark 7:7). Protestantism, was to protest against the Roman Church, and was suppose to be "Get back to Sources" the Holy Bible, and so that is what I mean by Protestant or Reformed. I am aware Protestant can now be a Universalist church like the Methodists and Reformed usually is vien of Protestantism that even is antitrinitarian! So I think I shall add the word Trinitarian Biblical Protestantism.

It is crucial in these last days that we focus on Christ (Hebrews 12:2) and memorize the Holy Bible, New Testament (Matthew to Revelation). The traditions of men are rampant in both Catholic, Orthodox, and Protestant churches (see Mark 7:7 NLT). We must cling to Christ Jesus, move in Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 12:4-11), and memorize the Holy Bible (2 Timothy 3:16). As for St. Patrick, the best advice I ever heard is "does this draw attention to Christ or to someone else. If it doesn't draw attention to Christ it is of the spirit of antichrist (which means to replace, and seduce people towards a false christs see Matthew 24:24). I cannot fully judge Patrick, I know not if he preached the Gospel as Paul, Peter, John, and Jesus Christ Himself did, or if it was false Roman gospel of Sacraments. What I would say is that St. Patrick's Day draws people's hearts and minds away from Christ wither in veneration and idolatry or via drunkenness. So I say skip St. Patrick's Day, and instead focus on Jesus Christ, our God, Lord, Savior, and Messiah. Amen.

To Irish Brothers and Sisters in Christ, I would suggest not getting caught up in genealogies or legends, "As I urged you on my departure to Macedonia, you should stay on at Ephesus to instruct certain men not to teach false doctrines, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the stewardship from God that is by faith." (1 Timothy 1:3-4).