What methods of persuasion were used by Saint Augustine to convert Angles and Saxons to Christianity and how successful were they?

Answer 1

Some of Augustine's most successful methods of persuasion were either violent or otherwise unethical. In a letter recorded in Bede's eighth-century A History of the English Church and People, Pope Gregory tells Mellitus that when they come across pagan temples the idols are to be smashed but the temples themselves are to be re-consecrated for Christian use with altars to be set up and relics of the saints set into the former temples.

Furthermore, if there has been a custom of sacrificing animals on a certain day in honour of the pagan idols, those days should be changed: "Let some other solemnity be substituted in its place, such as a day of Dedication or the Festivals of the holy martyrs whose relics are enshrined there."

Answer 2

Saint Augustine used methods of persuasion such as preaching, sharing miracles, performing acts of healing, and emphasizing the promise of eternal salvation through Christianity. His efforts were largely successful in converting the Angles and Saxons to Christianity, as many were drawn to the new religion's message of hope and salvation.