英语听力：探索发现 2012-08-10 爱尔兰的故事 Story Of Ireland—12

 What is his practical impact on Christianity’s development?

 

He in chance says that he went where no men went before. It’s a famous expression that survives down to the present day, and he clearly did go where no other Christian¹ missionary² had gone before. And that’s important because in the history of the Western Christian Church, that wasn’t the practice. People, generally speaking, didn’t head out into the brave, blue yonder because it was too dangerous a thing to do. And you certainly get the impression from his own writings that he was able to get on with the Irish to a degree which wasn’t impossible, say, for continental³ missionaries⁴. 

 

Patrick was not the Druid-destroying figure of myth. He left two documents, the most important, his confession⁵, notable for its humility⁶. “I’m a sinner”, he apologised, “the least among all Christians⁷.” It was these writings that would provide the later church with a vital, unifying⁸ symbol. 

 

At the end of the 7th century, the church has an interest in a far more stable society, the idea of a single island, and therefore a single people, and therefore a single nation, and therefore a single faith. Every other church could look back to the great converting Saint. “Gosh, we need to be as good as that.” And it looked back to its origins and it had no documents with one exception, and that was Patrick’s apology. So that had to be carefully edited, and that becomes the myth of the great patron saint.

 

Patrick died around 460 A.D., but there were other missionaries who blended Gaelic traditions with the Christian faith. Monasteries⁹ were founded. As a later Gaelic poem put it, “Heathendom has gone down, God, the Father’s kingdom fills heaven, earth and air.” But Ireland was not luxuriating in a Celtic idyll. The early missionaries moved through kingdoms frequently at war with each other.

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 missionary   

adj.教会的，传教(士)的；n.传教士

参考例句：

• She taught in a missionary school for a couple of years.她在一所教会学校教了两年书。
• I hope every member understands the value of missionary work. 我希望教友都了解传教工作的价值。

3 continental   

adj.大陆的，大陆性的，欧洲大陆的

参考例句：

• A continental climate is different from an insular one.大陆性气候不同于岛屿气候。
• The most ancient parts of the continental crust are 4000 million years old.大陆地壳最古老的部分有40亿年历史。

4 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 confession   

n.自白，供认，承认

参考例句：

• Her confession was simply tantamount to a casual explanation.她的自白简直等于一篇即席说明。
• The police used torture to extort a confession from him.警察对他用刑逼供。

6 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

7 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

8 unifying   

使联合( unify的现在分词 )； 使相同； 使一致； 统一

参考例句：

• In addition, there were certain religious bonds of a unifying kind. 此外，他们还有某种具有一种统一性质的宗教上的结合。
• There is a unifying theme, and that is the theme of information flow within biological systems. 我们可以用一个总的命题，把生物学系统内的信息流来作为这一研究主题。

9 monasteries   

修道院( monastery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• In ancient China, there were lots of monasteries. 在古时候，中国有许多寺院。
• The Negev became a religious center with many monasteries and churches. 内格夫成为许多庙宇和教堂的宗教中心。