by Glenn Sunshine | Jun 25, 2025 | Featured, Historical Tours
My last several posts have been on Celtic Christianity. I wrote those in preparation for the historical tour I would be leading in Ireland this month. The tour finished last week. I’d like to thank the 20 people who came with us. I certainly enjoyed the trip, and I...
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...
