his most sacred letters, the pope placed the holy man, now strengthened by ordination as a bishop, under the protection and devotion of the glorious leader Charlemagne.
Boniface Fells the Sacred Oak
Whereas St. Augustine of Canterbury had taken a milder approach, preserving and remodeling pagan temples into Christian churches, St. Boniface preferred tough love. His preference for outright destruction of pagan shrines, as a way of testifying to the superior power of the Christian God, was the far more common method. (From Willibald’s Life of Boniface)
Now many of the Hessians who at that time had accepted the Christian faith were confirmed by the grace of the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands. But others, weaker in spirit, still refused to accept the pure teachings of the Church in their entirety. Moreover, some continued—some secretly, others openly—to offer sacrifices to trees and springs, to inspect the entrails of victims, to practice divination, magic and sorcery, to attend to auguries, auspices and other sacrificial rites, even though others who were more reasonable abandoned all of these pagan customs and committed none of these crimes.
It was on the advice of these latter persons that Boniface endeavored to cut down, at a place called Gaesmere, a certain oak of extraordinary size called the Oak of Jupiter in the old pagan languages. Summoning up all his courage—for a great crowd of pagans stood by, watching and cursing this “enemy of the gods” in their hearts—he cut the first notch. But after the first, superficial cut, the vast trunk of the oak crashed to the ground, shaken by a mighty blast of wind from above, its topmost branches shattering into fragments. As if by God’s will, for the brothers who were there had done nothing to cause it, the oak burst apart into four parts, each of equal length.
At the sight of this extraordinary spectacle, the heathens who had been cursing ceased to do so, and rather believed and praised the Lord. After this, that holy bishop discussed with his brothers, and then built a church from the wood of the oak, dedicating it to St. Peter the Apostle.
The Martyrdom of Boniface
Boniface’s first missionary journey had been to Frisia (modern-day Holland), where the native barbarians were more fierce and savage than any others on the continent. Having had little success, he always dreamed of returning, and as an elderly bishop he finally determined to go back to Frisia, having no doubt he would be killed there. (From Willibald’s Life of Boniface)
When the Lord willed to deliver his servant from the trials of this world and set him free from the vicissitudes of this mortal life, it was decided, under God’s providence, that he should travel in the company of his disciples to Frisia, from which he had departed in body but not in spirit. And this was done so that in dying there he might receive the divine reward in the same place where he had begun his preaching….
This, then, is how he traveled throughout the whole of Frisia, destroying pagan worship and turning people away from their pagan errors by his preaching of the Gospel. The pagan temples and gods were overthrown and churches were built in their place. Many thousands of men, women, and children were baptized by him….
When the faith had finally been firmly planted in Frisia and the glorious end of that saint’s life drew near, he took with him a handpicked group of his personal followers and … set a date when he would confirm through the laying on of hands all those who had recently been baptized….
But events turned out otherwise than expected. When the appointed date arrived and the morning light was breaking through the clouds after sunrise, enemies arrived instead of friends, new executioners instead of new worshipers of the faith. A vast number of foes armed with spears and shields rushed into the camp brandishing their weapons. In the blink of an eye the attendants sprang from the camp to meet them, snatching up weapons here and there to defend the holy band of martyrs (for that is what they would soon be) against the insane fury of the mob.
But the man of God, hearing the shouts and the onrush of the mob, called all his clergy to his side and emerged from his tent, gathering up the relics of the saints that he always carried with him. At once he scolded his attendants and forbade them to continue fighting, saying: “Sons, cease fighting. Lay down your arms, for we are told in the Scriptures not to render evil for good but to overcome evil by good.”….
While he was encouraging his disciples with these words to accept the crown of martyrdom, the frenzied mob of pagans rushed suddenly upon them with swords and every kind of deadly weapon, staining their bodies with their precious blood.
How to Argue with a Pagan
St. Boniface’s close collaborator throughout his life, Bishop Daniel of Winchester, wrote, about 723, to advise him on the best way of arguing with a pagan. Daniel’s advice—don’t argue, just keep asking them questions about their beliefs until they realize just how absurd they are—is timeless. (From Letters of St. Boniface, no. 11)
To Boniface, honored and beloved leader, from Daniel, servant of the people of God.
My joy is great, brother and fellow-bishop, that your good work is finally achieving results. Supported by your deep faith and great courage, you have undertaken to convert pagans whose hearts have until now been stony and barren, and with the Gospel as your plow you have labored tirelessly day after day to transform them into fields fertile for harvest…. Moved by affection and good will, I am taking the liberty of making a few suggestions, in order to show you how, in my opinion, you may overcome with the least possible trouble the resistance of these barbaric people.
Do not start arguing with them about the genealogies of their false gods. Accept their premise that each god and goddess was begotten by other gods through sexual intercourse: then you can point out that, if these gods have a beginning, being born like humans are, they must be human and not gods. Once they admit that their gods have a beginning, you should ask them whether the world had a beginning or whether it has always existed. For before there was a universe, there was no place for the gods to live….
But if they answer that the universe has no beginning, then try to prove otherwise, or simply ask them more questions: Who ruled the universe, then? How did the gods come to rule the universe, if it existed before them? Where did the first gods and goddesses come from? Do the gods and goddesses continue to reproduce? If not, when did they stop, and why? If so, the number of gods must be infinite. If they are, which god is the most powerful? How can we possibly know this? But we had better know, or else we might offend this god, who is more powerful than the rest, by not honoring him.
Ask whether they think that the gods should be worshiped only for the sake of some earthly benefit, or for a future, eternal reward? If for an earthly benefit, point out that pagans are no better off than Christians in earthly benefits, so what good is it to be a pagan? Ask them why their gods even want to be worshiped, if they already rule the universe? Then ask how we know what kind of sacrifices they want, and why they do not choose more suitable sacrifices.
These and similar questions, and many others that it would be tedious to mention, should be put to them, not in an offensive and irritating way, but calmly and with great moderation. From time to time their superstitions should be compared with our Christian doctrines and touched upon indirectly, so that the pagans, more out of confusion than exasperation, may be ashamed of their absurd opinions and may recognize that their offensive rituals and ridiculous legends have not escaped our notice.
They must face this conclusion: If their gods are omnipotent, beneficent, and just, they must reward their worshipers and punish those who despise them. Why then, if they act thus in earthly affairs, do they spare the Christians who cast down their idols and turn away from their worship the inhabitants of practically the entire globe?
