c. 675 – 754

Boniface

Worth knowing

Born Wynfrith in Devon, England, he was sent by Pope Gregory II in 719 to preach to the Germans and given the name Boniface.
At Geismar in about 723 he cut down the sacred oak of the god Donar, and nothing happened to him.
He founded the monastery of Fulda and reorganised the church in Germany.
He was killed with his companions by raiders at Dokkum in Frisia in 754.

In Scholar’s Dream, Boniface has one book

Boniface’s LettersThe Correspondence of Boniface, Apostle of the GermansHistoryEcclesiology

Boniface’s quotes in the game

Every quotation from Boniface that a player meets in Scholar’s Dream, attached to the move that says it. Or see them as a plain list →

In Scholar’s Dream, books argue with each other, and each thing a book can do in a debate is called a move. Every quote below is spoken by one of those moves. Open “How it works in the game” under a quote to see the move, which books learn it, and which arguments it answers best.

“because of our sins the course of our mission is threatened by many storms. Everywhere toil, everywhere sorrow… And most serious of all, the snares of false brethren surpass the malice of the heathen.”
Boniface to Abbess Eadburga (c. 742–46), trans. Edward Kylie, The English Correspondence of Saint Boniface (1911), public domain. (trimmed quote)public domain

How it works in the game: the move Snares of False Brethren

EcclesiologyArgument · power 64 · 100% accurate

In the gameAfter thirty years in the mission field, Boniface wrote to an abbess in Kent that the pagans were not his worst problem. False brothers were: clergy with a stake in the abuses he had been sent to reform.

Learned byBoniface’s Letters (Lv 1)

“So now I beg thee to carry still further what thou hast begun, and to copy in gold the Epistles of my lord, Saint Peter”
Boniface to Abbess Eadburga (c. 735), trans. Kylie (1911), public domain. The letter goes on to give the reason: that the Scriptures may be honoured when the preacher holds them before the eyes of the heathen.public domain

How it works in the game: the move Copied Out in Gold

BibleArgument · power 68 · 100% accurate

In the gameBoniface asked for Peter’s letters written in gold, so that when he held the book up before people who could not read, the book itself would impress them.

Learned byBoniface’s Letters (Lv 32)

“thou shouldst propose to them in no irritating or offensive manner, but with the greatest calmness and moderation… so that the heathen more out of confusion than exasperation may blush for their absurd opinions”
Daniel of Winchester, Letter to Boniface (c. 723), trans. Kylie (1911), public domain. (trimmed quote)public domain

How it works in the game: the move Calmness and Moderation

EthicsStat shift · 100% accurate

In the gameA bishop’s advice to a missionary about his tone. Ask your questions calmly, and the other man falls quiet from confusion instead of digging in from anger.

Learned byBoniface’s Letters (Lv 38)

“point out to them that the whole world was given over to the worship of idols until, illuminated by the knowledge of the Omnipotent God, its creator and ruler, it was vivified through the grace of Christ and reconciled to God.”
Daniel of Winchester, Letter to Boniface (c. 723), trans. Kylie (1911), public domain.public domain

How it works in the game: the move The Whole World Was Given Over

HistoryArgument · power 88 · 100% accurate

In the gameThis answers the charge that the faith is foreign. Every nation worshipped idols, the Saxons’ ancestors included, until it was taught otherwise. Every nation shares one condition and one remedy.

Learned byBoniface’s Letters (Lv 44)

Strong against

×3The Common Law of the Peoplean argument · why?

It answers the one way that concedes nothing — everyone’s fathers were idolaters, and ours were too.

Who else was alive

Boniface against everyone else in the game.

A.D. 450A.D. 700A.D. 950A.D. 1200A.D. 1450A.D. 1700A.D. 1950

Boethius Boniface John of Damascus Daniel of Winchester Timothy I Alcuin of York Pope Leo III Eulogius of Córdoba Paul Alvaro of Córdoba Rimbert Humbert of Silva Candida Michael Cerularius Peter III of Antioch Anselm of Canterbury Ari Thorgilsson Ebo and Herbord Thomas Aquinas John Wyclif Lorenzo Valla Girolamo Savonarola Pope Paul III Martin Luther Miles Coverdale William Tyndale Emperor Charles V John Calvin Teresa of Ávila John Jewel The Council of Trent The English exiles at Geneva Hugo Grotius René Descartes John Owen Blaise Pascal John Bunyan Louis XIV of France Pierre Bayle Joseph Butler Jonathan Edwards Thomas Reid George Campbell William Paley John Henry Newman J. C. Ryle Friedrich Nietzsche James Orr B. B. Warfield Herman Bavinck W. R. Sorley James Denney J. Gresham Machen

Solid bar = firm dates · faded = approximate51 authors sit outside this window