About this Book
This is an authoritative study of the beliefs and practice of the Celtic Church which at the same time holds much interest for the non-specialist, containing as it does fascinating descriptions of the life of the early Celtic Christians in their monastic walled villages modelled on the Old Testament cities of refuge.
Their clergy were permitted to be married and women were allowed to exercise the highest ecclesiastical function. Their elaborate penitential discipline was based on Old Testament compensatory regulations. Obedience to the Scriptures led them to establish a remarkable theocracy based on the laws of the Pentateuch and including the keeping of the Seventh-day Sabbath.
Dispute with the Anglo-Roman Church centered on their dating of Easter and on the style of tonsure they adopted. Eventually they had to give way, and, in the author's opinion, their most outstanding quality, the sturdy independence of each segment, led to their absorption, for they lacked the unity of purpose which a recongnized leadership might have provided.
This book is illustrated with line drawings taken from the crosses which were a notable feature of Celtic church architecture, and with examples of documents of the period.
In the chapter entitled "The Role of the Scriptures," the author demonstrates the various methods of teachings used by the Celtic clergy. One of those methods was a question and answer liturgy of which the following is an authentic specimen (answers in parentheses):
Who died but was never born? (Adam)
Who gave but did not receive? (Eve, milk)
Who was born but did not die? (Elias and Enoch)
Who was born twice and died once? (Jonas the prophet, who for three days and three nights prayed in the belly of the whale. He neither saw the heavens nor touched the earth)
How many languages are there? (Seventy-two)
Who spoke with a dog? (St Peter)
Who spoke with an ass? (Balaam the prophet)
Who was the first woman to commit adultery? (Eve with the serpent)
How were the Apostles baptized? (The Saviour washed their feet)
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