The popular historian Thomas Cahill has written the widely-acclaimed, How the Irish Saved Civilization. A title of that sort is quite the boast! Whether or not one completely agrees with Cahill's assessment (and there is good reason to), one cannot deny the impact the Irish have made in Christian history and tradition.
We know the lives of Patrick, Brigid, Columba, who evangelized a pagan people, but they did so in a way that preserved the best of the pagan Irish culture, bringing it into unity with and gracious submission to the Christian Gospel.
Monastic Christian life flourished in Ireland in a time when the shadow of the so-called "Dark Ages" was felt throughout the rest of Europe. Because of these monastic communities, countless books - not least the beautifully illuminated gospels, the Book of Kells - were preserved that would have been otherwise destroyed. What is more, the Irish evangelized Scotland and England.
The Irish or Celtic Christian tradition still has something to teach us. As we read James Mackey's preface to Celtic Spirituality (Classics of Western Spirituality), answer the following on your blog. Note that the text has been attached below.
We know the lives of Patrick, Brigid, Columba, who evangelized a pagan people, but they did so in a way that preserved the best of the pagan Irish culture, bringing it into unity with and gracious submission to the Christian Gospel.
Monastic Christian life flourished in Ireland in a time when the shadow of the so-called "Dark Ages" was felt throughout the rest of Europe. Because of these monastic communities, countless books - not least the beautifully illuminated gospels, the Book of Kells - were preserved that would have been otherwise destroyed. What is more, the Irish evangelized Scotland and England.
The Irish or Celtic Christian tradition still has something to teach us. As we read James Mackey's preface to Celtic Spirituality (Classics of Western Spirituality), answer the following on your blog. Note that the text has been attached below.
- Identify & briefly describe three characteristics of Celtic Christianity from the reading on Celtic Spirituality?
- What questions do you have from the reading, or about Celtic Christian tradition or history in general?
- Read the section on magic in John Mackay's text. Why is magic incompatible with Celtic Christianity? Discuss the exercise of power in magic. How is this different than the Christian exercise of power?
celtic.pdf |