In the early middle ages (roughly AD 500-1000), European civilization was in serious decline. The climate had gotten colder and wetter, resulting in...
Columbanus (540-615): An Irish Missionary Monk
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The Irish Peregrini
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...
Irish Christianity and Education
On a theological level, the most important contribution of the Irish church was its penitential practice. But on a cultural level, a holdover from...
The Irish Church’s Major Innovation
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...
The Center of Celtic Christianity
A unique feature of Celtic Christianity was the central role of monasteries throughout the “Celtic Fringe”—Brittany, Cornwall, Wales, Scotland, and...
Celtic Christianity and Nature
In the previous post, I noted that scholars have been questioning whether there is such a thing as Celtic Christianity. They point out that there...
In Search of Celtic Christianity
“The term ‘Celtic’ is a magic bag into which anything can be put, and out of which almost anything can come…. Anything is possible in the Celtic...