St. Patrick of Ireland

St. Patrick of Ireland

St. Patrick of Ireland

This biography was helpful because it presents a lot of information about St. Patrick in a clear, concise way that's easy to read. However, anyone with even the pretense of an orthodox Christian view will notice a bias--in some chapters more than others. It took me a while to get past p. 61: "We can admire the spirit of Pelagius and declare that Augustine was a killjoy who burdened Christian thought forever with the idea of original sin..." Really, can we? (That statement is not historically accurate, since original sin [yes, even Augustine's view of it,though his was better articulated] wasn't exactly a novel idea.) That said, Freeman does present a fairly balanced historical view throughout the book.

I don't claim any expertise on the matter, but one point of contention: It's odd that in quoting St. Patrick's beliefs from his "Confessions," (pp.77-78) Freeman references the Apostles' Creed. It would seem much more relevant to point to the revised Nicene Creed from 381 AD, the structure of which Patrick closely follows.
St. Patrick of Ireland