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Poetic & Creative
St Patrick’s Breastplate
Jesus the salmon – wisdom and prophecy and sacrifice
Re-telling of the Christian story in local myths
create... something both Christian and Contextually Relevant
Power Encounters
There was an expectation of the miraculous
Healing, Miracles, Dreams, Visions etc.
Resonates with 21st Century Charismatic Christianity
See Bede’s account of Cuthbert & Columba
Believing but not Belonging (Grace Davie 1994 )
The Celtic model reflects the adage that for most people, 'Christianity is more caught than taught!'
As Professor Robin Gill observes 'belonging comes before believing'. For this reason, evangelism is now about "helping people to belong so that they can believe".
Wandering Groups
Hermits
Forget the big monastery - a collection of huts outside a town
Role to care for and evangelise the area and its people.
Fraternizing relating to local people with an ‘alternative way of life’ (Moynagh 2012)
Ireland SW Scotland & Wales – Ninian (400), Palladius(435), Patrick(470), Dyfrig (500)
Picts and Anglo -Saxons – Columba (597), Aidan (651).
Continent (Italy, France, Poland, Germany) - Columbanus (615)
'I saw a man coming, as it were from Ireland. His name was Victoricus, and he carried many letters, and he gave me one of them. I read the heading: "The Voice of the Irish". As I began the letter, I imagined in that moment that I heard the voice of those very people who were near the wood of Foclut, which is beside the western sea—and they cried out, as with one voice: "We appeal to you, holy servant boy, to come and walk among us.'
Academic Considerations
All the rage – Over 8000 titles in Amazon !
Nostalgia – current nationalism & anti-catholic
Overlaying of history & myth – Hagiography
Only 2 documents attributed to Patrick
Bowman comments that ‘it is important to grasp that there is no one authoritative, universally accepted version of ‘the truth’ about the Celts, past and present’, Bowman, M. (2002)
Patrick dates are the estimates of Liam de Paor (1993),
Saint Patrick's World from www.christianitytoday.com
Characteristics of The Celtic Mission
Monastery - Set up monastery outside village and relate
Constantly moving on and starting up – leave a community and move on.
Target leaders - They would target the leaders – if the leaders convert, then the people follow and their children as well. (This clashes with our understanding of individuals making their own minds up).
Culture Friendly – Local languages and adapted local folk tales opposed to the Benedictines (Romans) who prized Latin.
People Friendly – Whereas the Roman church saw the Celts as barbarians, Patrick saw them as people with value (Hunter 2004).
A Positive Outlook – Bradley argues that in ‘Patrick’s Breastplate’ he blesses everything. Parallel with Jewish blessings for almost everything. Today many Irish blessings are prevalent on bookmarks, tea-towels etc.
Pastoral – The Celtic approach had very detailed penitential’s – Hunter argues a caring approach to the perpetrator, about forgiveness and personal growth.
Religion Friendly – Instead of rejecting all religious imagery, The Celts ‘borrowed ‘images from the local religion to express and explain the Christian message. They built churches on sacred sites, used local stories, replaced heroes with biblical figures and re-interpreted symbols. Pope Gregory told Augustine to make use of the existing temples – ‘if they are in good state, cleanse them and use them’.
Vivid imagery of Evil & Death, everyday features of the culture. Celts saw evil as external and very real as opposed to Augustine (seeing it as part of the people).
They blurred the sacred and the secular – all things, places and objects could be holy. Life and work and spirituality mixed, church on Sunday was not the way. – less compartmentalised.
They were not intellectual – there were few Celtic theologians.
Peregrinati – Wanderers for Christ - So much they were reprimanded for wandering at the Synod of Hertford.
Penetentials – Manuals to diagnose and cure spiritual sin and malaise. Lots of abstinence and suffering to deal with sin. Seen as a form of restoration of right relationship instead of the predominant’ eye for and eye’ justice.
Conclusions
Using peoples’ own signs and symbols
Fraternizing
Relevance to the people with whom you are working
Presenting a recognisable alternative
Ability to re-produce and move
Belonging before you believe
Perseverance and tenacity
Risk-takers
Melissa Turner