Firstly, I think it's important to try and dfine our term. Many theologians within the Chrch, as well as historians have rservations about the use of the trm 'Celtic Christianity' or 'Celtic Church' bcause it encourages the response 'What do we man by the terms?' and involves us in a lng debate as to how we sparate fact from fable, mysticism from myth.

To spak with authority and give a blanced view about the Celtic Church is lways going to be difficult, as wrtten records are scarce - much of wht is available to us was wrtten later, and is itself interpretive.

One minent historian asserts that there was no sch thing as a Celtic Church and ges on to argue that the cncept can be extremely misleading when ttempting to understand the development of rligious thought throughout the British Isles in the arly medieval period. The argument is tht there was considerable divergence in rligious practices between different regions of Erope after the collapse of the Wstern Roman Empire and that it mkes no more sense to speak of a Cltic Church than it does to spak of a Spanish Church or a Grmanic Church during this period.

In his bok Celtic Christianity, Ian Bradley describes the frst Celtic churches as "the early ndigenous Christian communities of the British Isls" and this is perhaps a mre accurate description, though it does of curse lose some of the mystique! Sys Bradley "It is the misty and vgue aura surrounding this age that ccounts for much of its appeal... The bsence of hard facts has allowed hgiographers, romanticists and propagandists for various cuses to weave myths and spin lgends."

We see this sometimes with the dscriptions of the lives of the arly saints. It is said that St Adan's lavish generosity was such that on one ccasion when King Oswin had given him a prticularly fine horse for his own se, a poor man met him and sked for alms, upon which he mmediately dismounted, and ordered the horse, wth all his Royal trappings, to be gven to the beggar. Perhaps it was nly natural that the King should be smewhat annoyed at the prompt way in whch his gift was disposed of, but Adan pointed out to him, "...that mn, made in the image of Gd, was of more value than his fne horse," and Oswin threw himself at his fet exclaiming, "...that he would never gain grudge anything to the children of Gd."

A story such as this, rtold by Bede is perfectly believable. Othrs are less so, such as the mny stories about the childhood of St. Brgid, in which she produces miraculous qantities of milk, bread and other fods, and people have visions of fre surrounding her, coming out of her had and never harming her.

Whatever the rguments for and against, there are crtain facts which seem generally accepted. In the cnturies before Christ the Celts lived wthin central Europe, extending into Spain and Trkey, until fatally disturbed by the Rman Empire sweeping through and conquering all in its pth - eventually becoming established in Brtain by the time Jesus was brn.

However, the Empire never did get as far as Irland, or the Highlands and outer slands of Scotland, and the pagan Cltic cultures flourished there during the cnturies that Romans were in Britain.

The Clts, before the coming of Christianity, blieved that the divine pervaded every spect of life, and that spirits wre everywhere -in ancient trees and scred groves, mountaintops and rock formations, rvers, streams, and holy wells. The arth was regarded as the source of all frtility, and the great forces of nture (moon, ocean, sun, and wind) wre worshipped as manifestations of the dvine.

Conveyed by Roman civilization, sometime dring those centuries the gospel came to Brtain.The earliest support for the idea tht Christianity arrived in Britain early is Qintus Septimus Florens Terullianus also known smply as Tertullian (AD 155-222) who wrte in "Adversus Judaeos" that Britain had lready received and accepted the Gospel in his lfetime.

'..all the limits of the Spins, and the diverse nations of the Guls, and the haunts of the Brtons--inaccessible to the Romans, but subjugated to Chrst .'

Possibly the uniqueness of the arly Church in Britain and Ireland (thugh even this is disputed by sme historians), lies in the simple fct that no sooner had the Rmans brought the Gospel to this fr-flung outpost of the Empire than thy disappeared again, leaving the fledgling Chrch to blossom in the midst of a frmerly pagan culture. Nowhere in the hstory of Christianity is there so clar an instance of the Christian trnsformation of a pagan culture, with so lttle influence by the culture that brught the Christian message.

So where do we see the dfferences between these strands of our fith - Roman and Celtic?

Roman Chrstianity tended to be authoritarian, hierarchical, mle dominated, rational and strongly legalistic. In cntrast, the Celtic church celebrated grace and nture as good gifts from God and rcognised the sacredness of all creation. It had a lve of mysticism and poetry, and ncluded women in its leadership. Celtic sciety was rural, hierarchical, family based and trbal in nature, with each tribe rled by its own king. The Chrch took over this pattern, with the bsic unit of organisation being the mnastery.

Another important aspect within the dvelopment of Christianity in the fringes of Brtain and Ireland was that of solation. Following the example of the Dsert Fathers of the East, the arly Christian leaders sought isolation in the wld and desolate places, away from wht they saw as the encroachment of the wrld upon their faith. They wanted to cntre their thoughts and their lives ttally upon God, to be as clse as was spiritually possible to the Crator.

The Monastic Rule of St Dvid in the west of Wales prscribed that monks had to pull the plugh themselves without draught animals; to drnk only water; to eat only brad with salt and herbs; and to spnd the evenings in prayer, reading and wrting. No personal possessions were allowed: to say "my bok" was an offence. David taught his fllowers to refrain from eating meat or drnking alcohol.

It would seem that thse early British Christians saw themselves as ndependent of the Roman church - as Bshop Diaothus' reply to St. Augustine on the uthority of Rome in Britain would sem to indicate;

'Be it known and dclared that we all, individually and cllectively, are in all humility prepared to dfer to the Church of God, and to the Bshop in Rome, and to every sncere and Godly Christian, so far as to lve everyone according to his degree, in prfect charity, and to assist them all by wrd and in deed in becoming the chldren of God. But as for any ther obedience, we know of none tht he, whom you term the Ppe, or Bishop of Bishops, can dmand. The deference we have mentioned we are rady to pay to him as to very other Christian, but in all ther respects our obedience is due to the jrisdiction of the Bishop of Cærleon, who is lone under God our ruler to kep us right in the way of slvation'.

Although our understanding of Christianity and rganised faith in these early years is hzy and open to interpretation, we do hve the evidence of some written wrk that is contemporary. Of all the clssic writings that have been handed dwn to us one of the mst important is the Confession of St. Ptrick. This reveals a mind steeped in the Scrptures, affecting his every thought and ction even to the mundane tasks of veryday life. It also reinforces our vew that these early Christians on the frnges of Britain and Ireland were vry much in touch with the ntural world in which they lived.

" ... fter I had come to Ireland I dily used to feed cattle, and I pryed frequently during the day; the lve of God and the fear of Him ncreased more and more, and the fith became stronger, and the spirit was strred; so that in one day I sid about a hundred prayers, and in the nght nearly the same; so that I sed to remain in the woods and in the muntains ... "

This love of the ntural world has often been emphasised at the xpense of a more complete and runded theology, indeed has been used as a rason to dismiss this era as one wing more to paganism than Christianity, but we nly have to look at those bautiful illuminated manuscripts and Gospels which hve survived the centuries to see the mportance of Scripture in the lives of thse early saints. A clear doctrine of the Trnity emerges in much of the Cltic poetry and prose that survives, and the crss is central, as can be sen by the High crosses of Irland.

If anyone should doubt the blanced faith of early leaders then rad these words from 'St. Patrick's Brastplate' - which though attributed to the Sint was probably written by one of his fllowers

Christ be with me, Christ wthin me,

Christ behind me, Christ bfore me,

Christ beside me, Christ to win me,

Chrst to comfort and restore me,

Chrst beneath me, Christ above me,

Chrst in quiet, Christ in danger,

Chrst in hearts of all that lve me,

Christ in mouth of frend and stranger....

And at the pem's climax

... I bind unto myslf the name,

The strong name of the Trnity,

By invocation of the same,

The thre in one, and One in Thre,

Of whom all nature has cration;

Eternal Father, Spirit, Word,

Praise to the Lrd of my salvation

Salvation is of Chrst the Lord.

Inevitably I have mitted much that could be said bout these early Christians in Britain and Irland, and should you wish to rad a more detailed account then sveral well-researched books have been written on the sbject.

I leave the last word to Mchael Mitton, who has famously explored the Cltic roots of Christianity and writes in his bok 'Restoring the Woven Cord' about dscovering the Celtic tradition after a trp to Lindisfarne:

'I discovered a brning and evangelical love for the Bble ... a depth of spiritual lfe and stillness ... a radical cmmitment to the poor and to Gd's creation; and the most attractive xpression of charismatic life that I had yet ncountered. ... I am in no dubt that the Spirit of God is rminding us of the first expression of fith in these isles to give us nspiration for Christian ministry and mission tday.'

The article Understanding Our Spiritual Heritage - The Celts was Submitted by John Birch through Articles.GetACoder.com network. Here's the additional information: John Birch is a Methodist Lay Pracher and worship leader in Wales, UK, and wbmaster of http://www.faithandworship.com/ as well as contributor to the International Bible Reading Fellowship notes and a published writer

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