St Deiniol--musings on original sin

December 10th St. Deiniol...26th day of Celtic Advent

St. Deiniol, or Daniel, from the 6th Century, was originally from the Celtic Kingdom now referred to as Strathclyde in Northern Britain--He is sometimes referred to as Deiniol Wyn, the blessed.   Having been defeated by the Northumbrian Saxons, Deiniol's grandfather, Pabo, took the entire family to Northern Wales where Deiniol was raised. His father, Dunawd was an abbot, his 2 brothers are mentioned as saints, Cynwl and Gwarthan, as is his son Deiniolen.

Deiniol is credited with founding several churches and monastaries the most important being that of Bangor in Northern Wales, which was eventually raised to an episcopal see, with Deiniol as its first bishop.  There are some interesting aspects to this.  A poem about Deiniol talks about him being made a bishop despite the inadequacy of his education.  There is also a story related to  Deiniol and the Synod of Brefi in 545 AD.  This meeting of Welsh religious leaders was convened for one of 2 reasons, either to make a decision on the teachings of Pelagius (more later) or to work out what was considered too harsh a dictum on penitential punishment--scholars disagree on this.  St. Dyffig wanted to have St. David at the Synod, but the latter refused to come.  Dyffig sent Deiniol as an emissary to convince David to change his mind--which Deiniol did.  David apparently spoke very eloquently at the Synod, but also decided to consecrate Deiniol as Bishop of Bangor during the same period.

Deiniol apparently had a cult following in Northern Wales for some centuries.  There are stories of his rescuing stolen plough horses by forcing the theives to lose their muscle strength and to lay on the ground like stones, and another interesting story of his curing a local woman who was coughing up worms!
Like many Welsh of the time, he apparently also spent a period of his life in Brittany were several churches were dedicated to him.

Which leads us to Pelagius--if indeed he was the subject of the same Synod that Deiniol was so involved in.  Pelagius is famous, or infamous, as the opponent of St. Augustine on the subjects of original sin and predestination.  Although from Britain, he spent most of his time in the Rome, eventually dying in Egypt.  It has become very popular in modern Celtic Christian circles to espouse Pelagius as someone whose views were distorted during his debates with Augustine, and that he was just being true to a tenet of Celtic Christianity related to the basic goodness of creation.  The idea of original sin (whether inherent in our DNA, or caused by Adam's fall--depending on your views) is often not popular with modern thinking.  The theological difficulty is, of course, that if we don't have some inherent tendency to "screw up" or "miss the mark" (the latter being the translation of the Greek word for sin), then why do we need Christ?

This tendency for a modern view of Pelagius as the wrongfully accused son of Britain is portrayed in the recent movie "King Arthur," with Clive Owen. In the film, Arthur laments the fate of Pelagius, who was supposedly executed (not true), and with whom Arthur had a kind of tutor-student relationship (not possible given the distance of time between when they lived).

I personally prefer the position of the Orthodox Church, which has Celtic branches, related to Pelagius.   The Orthodox do not elevate Augustine to the same position as the church in the West does.  Original sin is still considered a valid doctrine, but Augustine's argument for predestination is considered totally invalid...that we are creatures of free will.  This latter is indeed something that would have been an important aspect of early Celtic Christianity.

I seem to have gotten much more theological in my musing this morning that I usually do, but then I have to remember, that, in preparing for Advent, I should be doing more than just talking about Celtic Saints, even though I love doing that.  Perhaps what I needed today was for a Saint like Deiniol to lead me to thinking about Pelagius, and that doctrine on sin.  In roughly 2 weeks we will celebrate the birth of the Christ, the coming into the world of the divine light that guides us past our own inadequacies, past our own tendencies to constantly put self first, to think more highly of ourselves than we should.  I know I am guilty of those short-comings.  I still think creation was created as "good," and that Augustine was a little over the top, but I also know that I cannot depend on my own prowess, my own skills, to get me in line with what God wants for me.  I need the light of Christ, and it is coming.  So....

Thank you Lord, for St. Deiniol.  There is a lot about his life that I could use as a focus of meditation.  But in preparation for Advent, You have used his life to lead me recognize, once again, my dependence on You, and that I cannot do it alone.  Through Your Son and the Divine Spirit, Amen.