Not So Famous…

Stephen Lawhead is not new to the historical fiction genre. He wrote the Celtic Crusades trilogy, Byzantium, and even the Pendragon Cycle. Now, the Pendragon Cycle could also be considered to be fantasy, but Lawhead did his best to grab at as much actual history to explain the origins of Arthur, Merlin, etc. As with the abovementioned novels, Lawhead did a wonderful job…with some reservations.

Characters: As with all Lawhead’s work, he shines here. Lawhead’s characters are so complex, even they don’t always understand their motivations. While some might consider that over-complicated, I would disagree. Patrick in this work is a person who has no way…no direction. Patrick knows he should be doing something with his life, but he has no idea what it is. He grasps at abstract concepts, such as freedom, and builds his life plans from that. As a result, he comes off as a self-serving, contrary, deceitful person. This is what Lawhead likes to do. He’ll take your perceptions about Merlin, or Arthur, or Patrick, and using actual history he will turn them on their heads. Lawhead’s Patrick (he is returned to his actual birth-name: Succat) is a pleasure-seeking British nobleman, captured by Irish barbarians and taken to live as a slave in Ireland. The entire story is what follows Succat’s capture and enslavement. The other characters serve to aid or hinder Succat in his rebellion against the Lord. His characters are believable because they remind you of the most lost portions of your own life. While Patrick’s decisions and actions based on how they can further his own goals can get rather tiresome in the last third of the book, his repentance and conversion leads him to the most selfless decision he makes in the entire book.

Writing: Again, Lawhead shines here. Perhaps it’s just his affinity for all things Celtic, but I love Lawhead’s writing. His descriptions of what his characters are thinking and feeling are excellent. His descriptions of places are also enchanting. Finally, his working in of ancient Celtic placenames, character names, and stories make his writing a complete joy to read. I have done some research myself, and aside from some personal opinions he holds with which I completely disagree, his ancient Celtic stories and traditions have their basis in fact.

Plot: Most people know, or can find out on the Internet, what is “known” about Patrick. However, it must be understood that serious scholars of Patrick’s life dispute these “facts”, and Lawhead embraces this. Lawhead has turned more to Roman writings, and other historians’ writings than to Patrick’s own Confessions as well as other Catholic writings. Lawhead places Patrick in the Cele De, or original Celtic Christian church. (Also known as the Culdee church.) From the Celtic Church’s early origins, Rome and the Roman Catholic church has strongly opposed their doctrinal stances, such as they are, and this novel eventually places Patrick smack in the middle of this debate. Lawhead claims that the Catholic church claimed Patrick to gain the support of Ireland that they could not gain on their own. While this story is obviously part of the story of Patrick, it is also a story of Patrick’s ultimate alignment with the Cele De Celtic Church.

In this book, you will find an alternate story of Patrick’s life that you won’t find almost anywhere else. What is interesting is that you will NOT find the story of how Patrick helped to convert all of Ireland to Christianity. Lawhead knows that people can find those stories all over. Lawhead’s interest in writing this novel was to find what built Patrick into the man he became. How did Patrick end up in Ireland preaching to convert the lost? This novel is an exceedingly entertaining account of Patrick’s life account. However…

Theology: Lawhead’s affinity for the Cele De leads him to several theological problems. This is not only noticeable in this novel, but also in the Celtic Crusades and the Pendragon Cycle. (Presumably, these errors creep in many places in the novel, Byzantium, which is also about the Cele De, but I’ve not read that one yet.)

First off, Patrick ends up at some point as a druid, which isn’t that surprising, really. It is entirely likely that Patrick had some training as a druid given his place of slavery. However, while not all the druids were tree-worshiping heathens, they all relied far too heavily on “the powers of nature”, or magic. Now, since this is historical FICTION, I don’t have a problem reading it. Harper Torch sells this in their FICTION division. However, in reality, there is no power of nature as Lawhead likes to write it. There is what is termed as sorcery in the Bible, and it’s clearly wrong. That’s error #1.

Error #2 is a little less overt, and quite a bit insidious if someone without much knowledge of the teachings of Pelagius reads this novel. Lawhead’s alignment with the Celtic Church leads him to claim that Pelagius was far from the heretic he was claimed to be. Don’t believe that for a second. Ultimately, the claims of the church that someone is a heretic can only be evaluated based on the teachings of the person in question. Being a heretic is not like being Caucasian…or being a man or woman. Being a heretic is based entirely on one’s teachings. And Pelagius taught some very incorrect things. Pelagius denied Original Sin. Pelagius claimed that Adam’s sin holds no power over us, and that we can freely choose to do God’s will. This is completely against the teachings of the Bible. In Romans 3, Paul says:

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they have used deceit; the poison of asps is under their lips.

That’s it, people. There is none righteous, and Pelagius’ claims that man can choose to do the will of God are completely unsubstantiated since apparently no one has chosen God! No, Pelagius was a heretic, and Lawhead’s core problem is his inability to separate the “nice-ness” of people from their doctrinal positions. Your only exposure to Pelagius in this novel is when Pelagius shows up to heal Succat one day. Succat’s opinion of Pelagius isn’t based on his teachings. In fact, the teachings of Pelagius really never make their way into the story at all. So Lawhead appears to believe that Pelagius couldn’t have been a heretic because he was a nice guy.

As long as you recognize this problem, gentle reader, you’ll not fall into the errors that Lawhead falls into. The Cele De is far too entrenched in the mysticism of the Celtic culture to be a doctrinally correct church. They are grievously mistaken about much of the teachings of the Bible.

Conclusion: If you’re hoping for a Catholic retelling of the life of Patrick, you’re going to be disappointed. However, if you’re looking for an alternate retelling of what made Patrick who he was, then you’ll be very pleased. Indeed, Lawhead’s account of the life of Patrick is possibly even better researched than the Catholic accounts of Patrick’s life. What you read is more likely to hit the mark than even Patrick’s own writings. As long as you are equipped to reject the theological underpinnings of this novel, you should quite enjoy it.

Overall Recommendation:

(With A Strong Theological Caveat.)

Next Review: Inkheart, by Cornelia Funke