I decided to make this a new thread, as they could be a good discussion around this subject.
Alison said in the “keeping faith in lockdown” discussion that it “Would be good to learn more about the Celtic Christians :) (A)”
I wrote an essay on Celtic Christianity when I was at theological college, which I will attached to this post in case anyone is really really bored during lockdown. (It wasn’t my best work). But in short, they loved writing poetry and prayers. In fact, most of what we know about Celtic Christians belief comes from these poems and prayers.
the Celtic Christians had a real appreciation of the revelation of God through nature. They saw him as being imminently present within it, while also remaining transcendent to it. They loved going out into nature and spending time with God there and experience him, while at the same time it proclaimed to them the wonders and beauty of our God. Which some of you have been experiencing during this lockdown yourselves as you have been going out and seeing nature without the hustle and bustle of people.
They loved going on pilgrimage, in fact pilgrimage was an important aspect of their spirituality. However, pilgrimage looked very different to them than it looked during the Middle Ages and what it looks like to us today. In the Middle Ages it was about earning credit with God taking time off purgatory by going to religious sites, today as we talk about pilgrimage especially in relation to the year pilgrimage, we are talking about it as being a journey with God growing closer to him developing our spirituality. For the Celts pilgrimage was about going off into nature to meet God in it, to see where he would lead them and who they would encounter in order to proclaim the necessity of Jesus for salvation to them.
We also know that they had a high view of Scripture, they were thoroughly Trinitarian in their theology, and had a real focus on the necessity of Jesus full salvation and place a strong emphasis on living faithfully for him.
There are of course modern-day expressions of Celtic Christianity but I’m going to pretend they don’t exist for now (read my essay if you want to know why). So my conversation starting questions for you are;
Since this conversation started from remarks about the beauty of creation and seeing God within it;
what do you learn about God as you look at creation?
Does any aspect of Celtic Christianity peak your interest?
Do you have any favourite Celtic monuments?
Do you know of any poems or prayers that might be worthy of Celtic Christianity?
Came across this...(A)
Cover My Soul with the Shadow of Your Wing
Thanks to you, O God, that I have risen today, to the rising of life itself; may it be to your own glory, O God of every gift, and to the glory of my soul likewise. O great God, aid my soul with the aiding of your own mercy; even as I clothe my body with wool, cover my soul with the shadow of your wing. Help me to avoid every sin, and the source of every sin to forsake; and as the mist scatters on the crest of the hills, may each ill haze clear from my soul, O God. Source: Adapted from Carmina Gadelica.
I've just been reading up on the standing stones in Llantwit Church WWW.LLANILLTUD.ORG.UK. (Guessing there is a link directly to that site from here... but alternatively, see above.)Well worth dipping into the downloadable booklet Llanilltud The Stones. The designs are so intricate...Am wondering now why I haven't stopped to examine them at close-quarters, before! The Houelt Cross is just stunningly beautiful! (A)
I will revisit your essay, Marc... Thank you for making it available to us. After reading through...I am feeling a certain affinity with the Celtic Christians. Some lines have resonated: “The edge of glory is to be found at the level of the ordinary” and their sense of a balance to be maintained between man's actions & the preservation of the natural world. (Lots of other points: I find their lack of materialism refreshing but their punishments/accountability sound harsh; it would be interesting to know more about women's roles too.) I suppose what caught my attention towards the end was the split/difference that grew, between the orthodox and those whose focus was on emotion & independent thought: "These communities can be divided into two groups those who are biblically orthodox and those who reinvent their faith around an emotional and subjective ideas." (A)