Required reading
The Protector: A vindication by J. H. Merle D'Aubigne (Available from Amazon or free here) - Read Chapter 6 (Ireland).
My summary
This week we learn of Cromwell's time in Ireland.
We hear about:
(i) the persecution of the Irish Protestants by the Irish Roman Catholics;
(ii) Cromwell's battles and punishments of the Irish;
(iii) Cromwell's theological position concerning Catholicism;
(iv) Cromwell's letters to family at the time.
Towards the end of the chapter, D'Aubigne himself makes comments about the dangers of the papacy and the means by which Roman Catholics must be won for Christ.
What grabbed me
I like how D'Aubigne continues to demonstrate Cromwell's love for Christ by pointing to the letters to Cromwell's family members: 'But he was always a father, and a Christian father. I am at a loss to understand how those who doubt Cromwell's real Christianity can explain his letters to his children. If the mighty ones of the earth insert a few words of religion in their public speeches, no conclusion can be drawn from them. It is a mere form, they say. But when the truest expressions of Christian piety are found in the sanctuary of a father's heart, who but God placed them there '
For Cromwell, Christianity was certainly not a means for political ends.
Next week's reading
Read Chapter 7 (Scotland).
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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