Jul 13 2008
St George’s slaying days are over?
 Pic: keith1999 |
I wonder what has happened in the story about the slaying of St George that appeared in the MailOnline in 2006? They report:
His dragon-slaying heroics have kept his legend alive through the centuries. But the Church of England is considering rejecting England’s patron saint St George on the grounds that his image is too warlike and may offend Muslims. Clergy have started a campaign to replace George with St Alban, a Christian martyr in Roman Britain. The scheme, to be considered by the Church’s parliament, the General Synod, has met a cautious but sympathetic response from senior bishops. The proposal has been put forward by the Rev Philip Chester, vicar of St Matthew’s, Westminster, who has called the use of St George as patron saint ‘dotty’. His call for a change is based on the lack of firm historical evidence that George - said to be a Roman general from the 4th century AD who was put to death by Emperor Diocletian for professing Christianity - ever existed. |
The saint became an English hero during the crusades against the Muslim armies that captured Jerusalem in the 11th century.
An apparition of George is said to have appeared to the crusader army at the Battle of Antioch in 1098.
His dragon-slaying legend is thought to have begun as an allegory of Diocletian’s persecution of Christians.
Wouldn’t it be sad if such a symbol of our heritage, with such obvious folklore behind it, disappears in a world obsessed with political correctness?
![[Post to Twitter]](http://celticmythpodshow.com/blog/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/tweet-this-small.png)
Tweet This
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
