Reflections & Discussion Starters

Respect For Nature In The Early Church

‘Christian men and women were not prepared to make any but the most superficial compromises with paganism, whereas paganism was for the most part almost endlessly tolerant. Had Christians been ready even to join in the cult of traditional gods, and especially the Imperial cult, while at the same time practising Christianity, they would probably have encountered very little opposition from the third century onwards. But they refused to compromise and were ready to pay for this refusal with their lives. Christianity, in short, displayed a tougher, more enduring character, based on a deeper conviction of possessing truth, than the other religions. It paid the price of this strength by the intolerance which it continued to show when it had won.’
(R.P.C. Hanson, Bishop & Theologian)

Sometime in the fourth century, St Martin of Tours spearheaded a militant campaign against pagan cults in Central France. In one famous incident he felled a tree sacred to pagans. The local people dared him to stand where the tree would fall. He did so and, as it began to crash towards him, made the sign of the cross. The tree, it is said, veered to the side and left him untouched. The pagan spectators immediately abandoned their ‘heathenish errors’ and professed ‘faith in the Lord Jesus.’

For many modern pagans this story, far from being inspiring, is an example of Christian intolerance in the worst sense, particularly as it involves the destruction of an icon of the natural world (not to mention the REEP icon!). Yet does the tale really characterise the relationship between Christianity and paganism in early Christian times? Christian mission has always involved two divergent tendencies – either replacing everything in the host society with alternatives that derive from Christian tradition, or to accept as much of the host society’s culture as is compatible with Christian belief. In practice, at least during periods when the church was ‘official’, it has tended to go for the second of these.

Even before it became the state religion, early Christianity adopted the language of secular Greek philosophy to define its beliefs. Then, in the fourth century, the Roman Sol Invictus celebration was replaced by Christmas. Was this imperialistic intolerance or a form of compromise? Pope Gregory the Great, sending Augustine to preach to the English in 601, gave elaborate instructions to retain as much as possible of their existing practices:

‘The idol temples of that race should by no means be destroyed, but only the idols in them. Take holy water and sprinkle it in these shrines, build altars and place relics on them…When this people see that their shrines are not destroyed they will be able to banish error from their hearts and be more ready to come to the places they are familiar with, but now recognising and worshipping the true God.’

Also, of course, while the story of St Martin and the tree could be interpreted negatively, the stories of other missionary saints from that era contain many examples of them living in harmony with the natural world. A saint’s holiness was thought to counteract the harmful consequences of the Fall, including the conflict between humankind and the natural world. Such stories are not confined to figures from the so-called ‘Celtic’ tradition – think of the story of St Cuthbert and the otters (they warmed his feet after a night spent praying in the icy sea) or St Godric, who freed any captured animal he could find.

But it is rather too easy (sentimental, even) to take such stories and turn them into icons of harmony for modern Christians. Inspiring as these saints may be, the powerful forces behind modern environmental destruction need to be faced by more assertive symbols. Isn’t the root of the environmental crisis economic – our greedy over-consumption of the earth’s resources? Isn’t it hypocritical to give money, for example, to a donkey sanctuary while at the same time indulging in lifestyles which inevitably contribute to habitat degradation and species extinction? Don’t such contradictions need to be confronted, rather than glossed over?

St Martin was, in many ways, an attractive character. He began life as a soldier, but from the ranks rather than the officer class. He later renounced violence and the most famous story about him describes how he gave his military cloak to a beggar. He became a hermit near Poitiers and later an unconventional bishop – he refused to sit on the Episcopal throne, rode a donkey rather than a horse, dressed like a peasant and lived with his fellow monks rather than in the bishop’s palace. When dining with the emperor Magnus Maximus he was offered the honour of sharing the emperor’s goblet of wine. Instead of handing it back, he passed it on to the priest who was accompanying him. Both humble and bold, self-effacing and uncompromising, intolerant of greed and hypocrisy – maybe St Martin is exactly the icon which Christian environmental action is looking for?

DISCUSSION