In 663 AD at Whitby Abbey, the English Church held a debate over Easter's date and papal authority. Colman argued for Celtic tradition, Wilfrid for Rome. The Synod sided with Rome, aligning the English Church with Roman practice and settling a dispute that had divided the church for decades.
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663
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February 8, 2017
Whitby, England. Today a seaside town. But the spiritual heritage of this town dates all the way back to the seventh century. In 656, the abbey was founded by Abbas Hilda. And in 663, the Whitby Synod was held here between the leaders of the Celtic Church and the leaders of the Catholic Church. And it was not without confrontation. This synod set the dates for Easter that are kept by the Church today. And it also led to the establishment of the Roman religion elsewhere in England.
At that time, in this part of England, the Celtic Church was the dominant faith due to the missionary work of Aiden, who had been sent over from Iona. These people were Bible believers. They kept the Sabbath and they did not recognize the papacy as ruler in spiritual affair.
Coleman was the successor of Finan. Finan was a successor of Aden, who originally started the work here in England. And Coleman had only been working for three years. When the Council of Whitby was called, he had a couple of things against him. Firstly, that he had only been working for three years. Secondly, that his opponent, Wilfred, was well drilled in the papal arguments. And thirdly, that the queen of the king was Catholic. The principal question of the debate was when would the date of Easter lie? Now, Wilfrid had spent four years before this in Rome, where he was well studied, and he wanted to come back here to Northumbria, determined to bring the Celtic Church into subjugation. He wanted an open debate and King Osby agreed for an open forum. So on one side you had Colman, the Scottish clerks and Abishilda, and on the other side you had the king, the prince, the queen and Wilfred. And so the debate began.
Coleman skillfully answered the questions in regards to Easter. But Wilfred brought the debate around to the issue of Peter's authority and eventually succeeded in convincing the king of his arguments. The king and the people decided to conform to the pretended superiority of the papal Easter and thus aligned the Church in England with with the papacy, a shift from its original roots.
Coleman soon left for the island of Iona. And following this, four dark centuries followed in England. Soon after, the Danish Vikings swept through England, bringing with them a flood of paganism. The Celtic Church would remain strong in Scotland, in Wales and in Ireland. But even in England, followers of truth would persist over the centuries. The seed sown by Aidan Finnan and Coleman would continue so that when John Wycliffe began his marvelous revival centuries later, his followers are thought by some to be those who maintained from generation to generation the doctrines of Aidan. One thing we learn here from the Council of Whitby is that though the cause of God took an apparent defeat, we have to remember that we're living in a great controversy. But there's a battle between truth and evil. And like in the words of the song Once to every man and Nation, where the words go, though the cause of evil prosper, yet his truth alone is strong. Sometimes in our lives or in our work, it can look like the cause of God is taking a beating. It can look like the cause of God is suffering. Yet we need to remember that we're living in a great controversy. There's a battle between truth and error, between right and wrong, between God and Satan. If we abide in Christ, if we align ourselves with God, we can know that we will always end up on the winning side, though on the way there will sometimes be apparent defeats.
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