Decisions have been made in smoke-filled rooms, and the GSB team will be departing soon on its next adventure.
This time we have chosen England as our destination and the first millennium of Christianity as our subject. There will be a focus on Alfred the Great but with detours that will include Augustine of Canterbury and William the Conqueror.
We may even stray outside the confines of the first thousand years of Kingdom history in places like Oxford and Bath as we do what we always do: mine the Christian history out of a vacation destination.
If you don’t know much about Alfred the Great (849 – 899 A.D.), you are in for a treat. All English schoolchildren have heard of him but only rarely about his relationship with the Lord that made him one of the most courageous and determined figures in history. It is not an exaggeration to say that but for Alfred the Great, Brits and Americans today might be speaking Danish and worshipping Thor and other Viking Gods.
Augustine of Canterbury, not to be confused with the more well-known, Augustine of Hippo, lived at the end of the sixth century and early seventh century. He is considered the Apostle to the English because he brought Christianity back to a part of England that had adopted the paganism of the Angles and Saxons after the departure of the Romans.
Everyone has heard of William the Conqueror (1028 – 1087 A.D.) but mostly about the conquering part. We will study the man and his effect on the church in England.
Along with all this there will be the normal discussion, devotion, and humor you have come to expect from a GSB Travel Journal. So, stay tuned and plan to journey vicariously with us. GS