Lessons From the Life of Gottschalk A.D. 806–868
In the midst of the Dark Ages came a great light that men did everything they could to diminish. Gottschalk, the Benedictine monk of Orbais, was known to Almighty God before the creation, as one of His elect, given to Christ, the Son. He was born for such a time as this.
By divine decree, Gottschalk would manifest gifts of great learning, a passion for preaching the doctrines of grace, and a resilience to endure decades of persecution by religious authorities.
The rigors of a monk’s life were providential to prepare this man of God to suffer well for His Master’s honor and glory. Even on Gottschalk’s death bed, Hincmar, the archbishop of Reims, sent a parchment for the servant of God to sign. His judgment of excommunication by the Roman Catholic Church would be removed with stroke of the quill. The dying man of God would not partake of the pleasures of Egypt that had enslaved him for the final twenty years of his life.
Hincmar pressed the other monks at Hautvillers’ monastery to try and convince Gottschalk to recant of his belief in the biblical doctrine of sovereign predestination. Even to the very day of death, the adversary tempted the servant of God to deny his Master. Gottschalk was faithful to His Lord to the end, by the grace of God given to him. The very same grace he had preached and penned during his years of ministry and imprisonment.
Gottschalk’s family, monastery education, friendships, preaching prowess, arch enemies, trials, witness before rulers and kings, floggings, losses, imprisonment, writing acumen, and preservation unto the day of death grants every Christian a confidence in God’s faithfulness to us.
Gottschalk’s life and ministry are a gift of God to the true Israel of God, the church. We can read the story of this monk and marvel at the diverse manifestations of grace given for Gottschalk’s light, the light of Christ, to shine before men. Were his life not filled with so much suffering and affliction, that light would not be shining still today.
The story of individuals varies; but where grace for learning, grace for service, grace for suffering, and grace unto death is evident — all the more glory is ascribed to God.
Gottschalk had all the possibilities for power, position, and prosperity in the apostate church, but he received the knowledge of the truth of God’s sovereign election and reprobation. These doctrines were his thorn, his declension, and his place in church history. He learned them. He loved them. He suffered for them. He died embracing them.
The sufferings he endured at the hands of Roman Catholic archbishops, Maurus and Hincmar, were brutal; but the courage derived from his love of the truth is our example to follow because it reminds us of the apostle Paul and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Gottschalk’s memory, and the light he inflamed, faded in the centuries that followed him; but in God’s design, these have been resurrected for our benefit and stewardship. The story of the servant of God should be told and told again in every generation. May our children and children’s children know his peculiar name and his extraordinary story.
Our faithful God, who calls His elect into service, is true to the promises He has made in His revealed word. Heroes of the faith are really just vessels of mercy prepared for glory. They are mere clay in the Potter’s hand, and animated with His Spirit to perform the works created by God for them.
Gottschalk played his part in the divine drama, and today, it is our part to rejoice in God’s story, seen in the life of His servant…Gottschalk.
Here is my final recommendation for you to read Connie L. Meyer’s, Gottschalk: Servant of God (Jenison: Reformed Free Publishing Association, 2015). These five short articles were written for my own personal edification, having read Meyer’s inspiring biography of Gottschalk, and my prayer is for you to be edified, too. You can find Connie’s book at www.rfpa.org
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
March 8, 2022
