CELTIC CHURCH IN BRITAIN--- CONCLUSIONS

 The Celtic Church in Britain #12

Conclusions

by Leslie Hardinge (1972)

     And so the end of this investigation of the beliefs and practices 

of the Celtic Church in Britain has been reached. A group of Christian 

people has been considered, who emerge into history without a 

pedigree and disappear without posterity. As a desert stream, gushing 

from a secret spring, for a while irrigates the wilderness, bringing life 

and fragrance into being, and then disappears, so Celtic Christians 

for more than two centuries nourished Europe with the evangel of God. 

Carried forward with enthusiasm and devotion, seasoned with individuality

and good will, the salutary message of grace crossed England and

Scotland into Europe. And when the ravages of war, and the almost

equally devastating arguments of angry factions, threatened the

ruin of the Church on the European mainland, Celtic Christians in

the far west preserved and brought again into the current of European 

life the vital principles of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

(The truth of the matter is that Celtic Christianity had been in

Britain since the first few years after the death and

resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The author of this study

did not know that or did not research it or did not want to

believe it. For hundreds of years before the church of Rome came

to Britain about 500 AD, true Christianity reigned in those

special Isles of Great Britain. But as time went on like has so

often as happened pure truth became forgotten and corrupted. 

The Celtic people were still hanging on to some truths when Rome

arrived, and called them Jewish heretics, and claimed they were

Judaizing. The truth of when the true Gospel came to Britain is

on this website under this section of history - Keith Hunt)

     The seventh and eighth centuries were a time of transition

and conformity for Celtic Christians. During these years their

ancient usages gave place to those of Rome. Had there actually

been regular intercourse between believers in the Celtic west and

their fellows on the Continent before 600, it would hardly have

been possible for each to be ignorant of the beliefs and practices 

of the other. 

(Britain was in many ways "cut off" from Europe - and so Celtic

Christianity did not go forth until centuries after the Gospel

came to Britain - Keith Hunt)

     But when, following the gospel commission, Irish Christians

set out on their missionary enterprises and encountered their

continental brethren, problems appear to have arisen.

     Co-operation finally resulted only when the Celts surrendered 

their peculiar traditions. These are now to be summarized.

SUMMARIZATION

     The first had to do with authority. The Scriptures were

supreme. Literally interpreted, rigidly obeyed, biblical

regulations lay at the foundation of Celtic Christian belief and

life. No differences were made between the ethics and morality,

the legal system and theology of the Old and New Testaments. 

The individual exegete felt himself competent to explain and apply

the message of the Bible, and he used his own rules to interpret

its words literally. Whatever he considered usable he incorporated 

into the life and organization of the people. Any belief or practice 

which was thought to be at variance with the Scriptures was rejected. 

Hence patristic or papal notions and judgements held little weight 

with Celtic theologians. No appeal was made to the Apocrypha. 

The sole use to which it was put was to supply phrases and imagery 

for expressing any thoughts the Celtic writers desired. Various 

interpretations and differing points of view among the Celtic 

theologians themselves finally led to the weakening of their position 

and eased the conformity of Celtic with Catholic usages, and 

contributed to the ultimate disappearance of Celtic Christianity 

as such.

     The rules of the Old Testament which shaped the theocracy 

of Israel were followed by the Celts as a natural consequence of

their view of biblical authority. The role of the "Liber ex Lege

Moisi" was paramount. The laws defining clean and unclean animals

which might or might not be used as food, the methods of

slaughtering animals, the advice on hygiene applying to both men

and women, the Levirate marriage, the precepts modifying usury

and slavery, the treatment of widows and orphans, as well as the

payment of tithes and the offering of first-fruits, all were

thought necessary. Some Celtic teachers, including Columba

himself, went as far as to practise vegetarianism and teetotalism

on purely health grounds, regarding their bodies as temples of

the Holy Spirit. While fasting was extensively practised, it too, 

was carried out much more in the manner of the Old Testament

than in accordance with patristic traditions. Any time and any

manner was acceptable, provided the fasting was done with a

sincere desire to please God.

     This emphasis on obedience grew, not only from the Celtic

attitude which held the Scriptures in the greatest veneration,

but also from the concept that sin was disobedience, and that

man's free will was actually capable of rendering obedience to

the laws which had been broken. This theory might have developed

in consequence of the teaching of Pelagius the Celt. The philosophy 

which later came to be known as Pelagianism from its most famous 

advocate, might have been the articulate exposition of this Celtic 

point of view. While grace was held to be vital to salvation, 

man also had his part to play in obeying God's commandments, 

so that the atonement procured by Christ might become effective 

in the Christian's personal experience.

     The observance of the Sabbath of the Old Testament was a

natural outgrowth of this tenet. The seventh day was kept from

sunset on Friday until sunset on Saturday, and even until dawn on

Sunday in some places. No work was done on it, as the laws in the

"Liber ex lege Moisi" stipulate. While Sunday was also held to

possess minor sanctity, and religious services were carried out

on it, the daily chores, the gathering of food, the washing of

hair and taking of baths, the going on journeys and carrying out

regular business transactions were all permitted upon the first

day. There was no Sabbatizing of Sunday during the Celtic period.

This eventually came about with the Romanizing of these

Christians of the far west. There are records that during the

transitional period in places, at least the period of devotion

commenced at sunset on Friday and continued until dawn on 

Monday.

     Besides the weekly observance of the Sabbath, with minor

religious celebrations on Sundays and other days of minor

devotions, the Celts also observed the annual Easter. 

    The divergence of the date they set from the seventh-century 

Catholic timing of this festival and the grave troubles which this

difference caused are well known. The Celts cited apostolic

authority for their practice and felt that the invitation to

change was tantamount to a request to surrender their

independence. The issue was one of authority as well as of

principle. They believed they were right. When they eventually

stepped into line with Western usages, they accepted the

sovereignty of Rome in all things. The same was true of their

attitude towards the tonsure. The Celtic cleric evidently wore

the hair style of a pre-Christian teacher in his country, and

regarded the giving up of this as a surrender of a symbol of 

very great value.

(It was over time that the Celtic church bowed to Rome and

was not fully surrendered until about the 11 century A.D.

Keith Hunt)

     The services conducted by the Celtic ministry were for

worship, but more especially for the instruction of each member.

To this end the preaching was probably conducted in the

vernacular. It was simple and practical. The Lord's Supper was

performed with the use of both bread and wine, partaken of by

all, as emblems of the body and blood of Christ. There is nothing

in the sources to suggest that anything of a mystical nature was

attached to them. Baptism of instructed and believing candidates

was carried out by triple immersion. This was followed by a

service of feet-washing and then of Communion, suggesting, 

from the only records extant, that adult baptism was the practice

which was recognized. Pre-Communion feet-washing is also an

interesting Celtic usage.

(As I stated before, we see the simple truth being corrupted over

the centuries concerning baptism - Keith Hunt)

     The penitential discipline of the Celts sprang from their

veneration of the Scriptures. Sin was disobedience to law, and

therefore further rules were devised to aid and define obedience,

and hence to assist in virtuous living. Penalties, modelled on

those of the Old Testament, exacted what was regarded as justly

due, and ranged all the way from "cutting off from the people",

banishment or separation from fellowship for life, to going

without supper for failure to respect a superior. By taking the

substitutionary exactions of the Old Testament to a logical

conclusion, all kinds of penalties were concocted by which

something might be done or given to compensate for the injury 

or delinquency or crime. This practice eventually degenerated into

great abuses. Confession might be public or private, as might

also be the service or act of reconciliation.

     The ministry of the early Celtic Christians grew out of New

Testament teachings. A bishop-presbyter ministered to each

congregation, and hence bishops are found in great numbers

scattered over Celtic lands. When a cleric ceased to minister to

a congregation, he was still known as a bishop, and hence bishops

turn up in the story of the Celtic Church in strange places doing

things which would be an outrage to a regularly enthroned

metropolitan of later centuries. The clergy were permitted to

marry - in fact, during the early Celtic period, marriage prior

to ordination was mandatory as it was in New Testament days, but

unmarried members of the ministry were tolerated. There is some

evidence that women exercised the highest ecclesiastical

functions and might even be consecrated as bishops.

(Again on the latter point a departure from the truth of the NT.

But so none misunderstand, the reader should study "The Role of

Women in the Church" by Dr.Samuele Bacchiocchi, on my website -

Keith Hunt)

     The monasticism of the Celts can also be better understood

from the standpoint of Old Testament usages. Modelled on the

cities of refuge, the monastery consisted of a walled village in

which the mixed society of a Christian community lived lives of

virtue and devotion separated from the evils of their heathen

neighbours. The sacred place was marked by a pillar, and later by

a cross, upon which might be depicted scenes from the Bible.

These would be used as illustrations for teaching Scripture

stories as required by the Mosaic regulations. Within the walls

asylum was granted to those in need and hospitality was

dispensed. Men, women, and children, single and in families,

lived under the guidance of a leader who might be a clergyman or

a layman, and was called an abbot. As was the case among the

Hebrews, these "cities" were part of the inheritance of the

different tribes, and remained as a tribal possession handed down

by hereditary laws. Occasionally, as with Hulda the prophetess in

Old Testament times, women might preside over such communities.

Bishop-presbyters, functioning in religious and ceremonial

affairs, would occupy positions inferior to that of the

abbotchieftain. Marriage was permitted to all classes, although

celibacy later came to be regarded as the mark of deeper

devotion. Poverty was not insisted upon. Individuals and families

might grow wealthy. The community consisted, on occasion, of many

persons who pooled their abilities and resources for the common

good.

(Some truth and some error in all of this type of living, but the

main point to be taken was that the Celtic community was the

welfare system of the peoples of Britain - Keith Hunt)

     Theologically Celtic Christians held ideas which were a

natural outgrowth of their view of the Scriptures. Theirs might

be called a biblical theology. It was essentially practical and

is characterized by a complete absence of discussion and

definition and speculation. The supreme authority was the Bible

as the revealed word of God. This revelation must be accepted and

obeyed in all its parts. God was held to be the supreme Creator

and Sustainer of the universe. The Godhead was made up of Three

Personages, the Father, his Son, and the Holy Spirit who was sent

forth by Christ. 

(The "trinity" was not defined as "three persons" per se, but as

three in the Godhead - the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

The understanding of the Holy Spirit must be defined as from the

totality of the Bible, which I have given you on my website in

other studies - Keith Hunt)

     Man was created by God and placed on probation on this earth

to live in obedience to the divine will. Endowed with freedom of

choice man was to exercise his will constantly on the side of

right. The fallen angel, Satan, had warred against God in heaven,

and continued his warfare against Christ through man whom he

seduced to his side. As an antidote God granted fallen man grace

through Jesus Christ and the ministry of the Third Person of the

Trinity, to help him to obey. The emphasis on the sovereignty of

the human will, and the pragmatic individuality to which it gave

rise in Celtic circles is a fact which must never be allowed to

become obscured. While man is left to choose what he should do 

in all circumstances, he must remember that, should he prove

obdurate in sin, he will be punished in the lake of fire. The

righteous, on the other hand, witnessed by their life of obedience, 

will be resurrected to dwell with Christ for ever.

     There is no mention in Celtic sources of purgatory or any place

of intermediate reformation.

     The position of Christ as the substitutionary sacrifice for

sin was stressed. He took man's place and died in his stead,

meeting the demands of justice, and granting to the penitent hope

of eternal life. Adam's sin and fall apparently did not infect

mankind with original sin. Each individual himself sinned through

the example of Adam by the exercise of his own choice, and was

not condemned because of inherent guilt which he had inherited

from his parents. As he could accept Christ's gracious life as an

example, so he might choose to follow Adam's rebellion in his own

personal sinning day by day. Having once made the right choice on

behalf of Christ's programme of righteous living, the Christian

was freely justified by Christ's righteousness imputed and

sanctified by our Lord's righteousness imparted. Both these

transactions became operative through faith and obedience on the

part of the man, and mercy and grace on the part of God.

     Man had been created capable of death. Unending life was

conditional on his obedience. When man sinned he became subject

to death. This was a natural consequence of the fall, and had

nothing penal about it. But when the sinner was finally judged to

be guilty, he would be resurrected to receive his sentence and

punishment by the infliction of penal death, which would seem,

from the sources, to be annihilation. It was in the realm of his

body that man was to maintain virtue, for it was the temple of

the indwelling Christ. Hence he must guard it against sins and

weaknesses of all kinds by carefully disciplining everything he

did or thought. As sin resulted in death, so by the final restoration 

through Christ, those who accepted him would be privileged 

to live a life that had no end.

(It was indeed true that Celtic Christianity did not teach the

"immortal soul" doctrine; neither the error of eternal punishment

is a hell-fire, burning in pain forever - Keith Hunt)

     To help man Christ provided the ministry not only of the

Holy Spirit but also of holy angels. These had themselves

resisted the seduction of Satan, and so could succour the needy.

There is no mention in the sources of help in any form gained

through the mediation of men who had become saints.

     Celtic eschatological views were simple and concrete. The

Christian was commissioned by his Saviour to preach the gospel to

those who were ignorant of it. Then, all men having decided for

or against Christ, the Lord will descend to this earth in the last days 

to judge all mankind. This second advent would be very unlike the 

first, and might be paralleled with the spectacular descent by God 

on Sinai to proclaim his law. Final sentence would be given to both 

the righteous and sinners. The former would be heirs of bliss with 

Christ, while the latter would be destroyed with the devil and his 

evil angels. These final events were believed to be near at hand.

(Some errors and just plain not fully understanding the whole

plan of God is here seen. The Celtic Christianity by 500 AD had

lost some truths, and corrupted other truths and was yet in need

of finding more truth, which it did not, as it became consumed by

the church of Rome - Keith Hunt)

     There appears to have been no attempt to formulate any sort

of doctrine of the Church. There was a concept of Christianity

forming God's tribes on earth in contradistinction to the secular

septs of the pagans. God's clans were regulated according to Old

Testament theocratic ordinances adapted to the tribal

organization of the Celtic peoples generally. Each group seems to

have been dependent upon the founder and his tribe, but

independent of all others. The records note that representatives

of various sections met, under the aegis of some venerable saint,

to discuss points of controversy, particularly relationships with

the Western Church. But in all these discussions democratic

freedom seems to have prevailed. No church leader among the Celts

was held to be the spokesman of all. Even Adamnan could not

persuade those who were directly under his jurisdiction to do

what they considered was not according to the Scripture. There

was little unity of purpose. Had they presented a united front,

the Celtic Church might have lasted for centuries, but they were

absorbed into Catholic Christianity piece by piece, and the

remnants which withstood, weakened and alone, finally

disappeared.

     And so passed the Celtic Christians in Britain. Here and

there marks of the old saints of these islands remain. Mouldering

and roofless shells, with ancient burying grounds hard by, tell

of a people who have gone. In some places there may be seen an

old stone cross, majestic in its indomitable thrust heavenward

even today. Books and artifacts which were beloved by Celtic

Christians, and on which they lavished all the skill of their

ardent souls are still cherished in museums. Each priceless

volume whispers of a culture sometime respected and of a faith

once victorious. Celtic bells no longer call the pious to pray,

their croziers have no flocks to guide into the the way of life.

Some Celtic saints are even now well known; most are records 

in the annals of their people. Here and there a fountain or a

village recalls by its name, twisted by alien tongues, the Celtic

ecclesiastic whose memory it commemorates. But save to the

historian or antiquary, the Celtic Church has moved into the

shadowy legends of the ancient chroniclers. It awaits the loving

researches of investigators who will bring back to life the

Christian peoples and their ways and culture out of the welter 

of tradition with which their story has become encrusted.

..........

NOTE:

WHAT  WE  CAN  SEE  FROM  CELTIC  HISTORY  BESIDES  THE  FULL 

HONOR  TO  THE  BIBLE  ONLY,  AND  NO  HEAD  APOSTLE,  AS  IN 

THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME,  IS  THE  OBSERVANCE  OF  THE  7TH  DAY 

OF  THE  WEEK  AND  THE  KEEPING  OF  THE  PASSOVER/DEATH  OF 

CHRIST  MEMORIAL  WITH  WHAT  ROME  CALLED  THE  QUARTODECIM  

PEOPLE  -  THE  14TH  OF  THE  FIRST  MONTH.  THESE  TWO  POINTS  OF  

PRACTICE  HAD  THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME  CALLING  CELTIC  CHRISTIANS  

HERETICS  AND  JEWDAIZING.  THEY  WERE  CORRECT  IN  OBSERVING  

THE  7TH  DAY  SABBATH  AND  KEEPING  THE  MEMORIAL  OF  CHRIST'S  

DEATH  ON  THE  EVENING  OF  THE  14TH  OF  THE  FIRST  MONTH  IN  THE  

JEWISH  CALENDAR.  THEY  HAD  OTHER  CORRECT  TEACHINGS  FROM  

THE  BIBLE,  BUT  ALSO  HAD  LOST  TRUTH THROUGH  THE  CENTURIES.  

AS  THE  WRITER   HAS  SAID,  CELTIC  CHRISTIANITY  FINALLY  WAS  CRUSHED  

OUT   BY  THE  CHURCH  OF  ROME,  WHO  AS  IT  WAS  FORETOLD  IN  THE  BOOK  

OF  REVELATION, WAS  TO  MAKE  ***ALL  NATIONS***  DRUNK  ON  THE  WINE  

OF  HER  SPIRITUAL  FORNICATION.  AND  SO  IT  HAS  COME  TO  PASS.  BUT  

ROME  WILL  BE  DASHED  TO  PIECES  AND  ALL  OF  HER  THEOLOGY  WITH  

HER  WHEN  JESUS  RETURNS  TO  DESTROY  MYSTERY  BABYLON  THE  GREAT, 

AND  TO  ESTABLISH  THE  KINGDOM  OF  GOD  ON  EARTH.

Keith Hunt