by Glenn Sunshine | Jun 12, 2025 | Celtic Christianity, Church History, Featured, History
In the early middle ages (roughly AD 500-1000), European civilization was in serious decline. The climate had gotten colder and wetter, resulting in a shorter growing season and declining population. People moved out of the cities into the countryside to survive, and...
by Glenn Sunshine | Jun 4, 2025 | Celtic Christianity, Church History, Featured, History
One of the unique aspects of Irish Christianity was the practice of peregrinatio, or pilgrimage. To understand this, it is helpful to look at Irish concepts of martyrdom The Different Martyrdoms The Irish church distinguished three types of martyrdom. Red martyrdom is...
by Glenn Sunshine | May 26, 2025 | Celtic Christianity, Church History, Featured, History
On a theological level, the most important contribution of the Irish church was its penitential practice. But on a cultural level, a holdover from Celtic paganism led them to make a far more wide ranging contribution to western history. Irish Paganism We don’t know...
by Glenn Sunshine | May 21, 2025 | Bible & Theology, Celtic Christianity, Church History, Featured, Sacraments
The Irish church’s major innovation, measured in terms of its impact on the larger Latin church, was its approach to penitence. Sin in the Early Church To understand what happened, we need to step back and look at how the church had been dealing with sin. For...
by Glenn Sunshine | May 15, 2025 | Celtic Christianity, Church History, Featured, History
A unique feature of Celtic Christianity was the central role of monasteries throughout the “Celtic Fringe”—Brittany, Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, and of course Ireland. Many of the most important contributions of the Celtic churches, including scholarship, art, and the...
