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SCHOOL of DIVINITY
The University of Edinburgh
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Course Code:

ECHS08005

Course Name: History of Christianity as a World Religion

Exam Number: B076465
Essay Title: Assess the distinctiveness of early Celtic Christianity,
prior to the Synod of Whitby (664)

An overall mark is given on the basis of Knowledge, Argument and Analysis, Language and
Expression, and proper Scholarly apparatus. Full marking guidelines, including a copy of the
Extended Common Marking Scale, can be found on the School of Divinity website at
http://edin.ac/1uR1aib

Date: 2/11/2015
Word count: 2,017
Tutor/Lecturer: Sarah Parvis

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Throughout the centuries, Celtic Christianity has captured much attention and
experienced multiple revivals. Romanticized as a gentle, anarchic, deeply spiritual movement,
Celtic Christianity has consistently been subjected to anachronistic and partisan renderings of
history, obscuring its historical reality. Through careful analysis of author commentary on
historical texts and events related to Celtic Christian life, this paper aims to strip away the veneer
of romance surrounding Celtic Christian practice, assessing the distinctiveness of early Celtic
Christianity, prior to the Synod of Whitby in 664.
First, to fully understand Celtic Christianity, it is important to contextualize it within
wider early Celtic society. Following the withdrawal of Roman rule and protection from Britain
after 410, early Celtic society was in uproar. Power began to shift from a centralized Roman
government to a fragmented power struggle amongst warring Celtic tribes. In the midst of this
transition, Celtic Christianity and kingship progressed together, inevitably linked as royal
patronage helped to fund churches and monastic support helped to legitimize kingship in early
Celtic society. This close relationship between church and society had many important
implications for the church as monasteries began to be run like kingdoms, with abbots coming to
wield significant power in the early Irish church. Perhaps the most notable of these leading
monastic figures was St. Columba of Iona. Of noble birth, Columba was known for his
involvement in administrative affairs, alternating periods of intense activity with lengthy spells
of quiet reflection. Noted for this sense of duality in his character, Columba was said to have
behaved like an Irish high-king, structuring his monastic communities, or familia, according to
contemporary secular power structures. A consequence of the close link between the spread of
Christianity and the development of kingship in early Irish society, this tendency to follow

leaders rather than institutions was a marked feature of Celtic Christianity formed within the
immediate social context of early medieval Ireland. 1
Moreover, penitence, another distinct feature of Celtic Christianity was also strongly impacted
by the structure of early Irish society. Pastoral outreach, or the provision of spiritual guidance in
terms of baptism, burial and spiritual counselling was almost certainly stronger in the Christian
communities of Ireland, Scotland and Wales than in Continental monasteries, clearly a
distinguishing facet of early Celtic monastic ministry.2 Influenced by the social climate of early
Irish society, penitence was not only designed to address the guilt of the penitent, but also to help
their victims and provide reparations for injuries incurred. This sense of justice was deeply
informed by the wider political interests of the monastery, one of which was the replacement of
feuding chieftains and warlords with a more settled and peaceful system of authority.3 Promoting
the institution of kingship in such a way secured patronage for the church, exemplifying the close
bonding between church and monarchy that distinguished Christianity in early Irish society.
Another distinct feature of Celtic Christianity which seems to spring from the specific social
circumstances of early medieval Ireland is that of pilgrimage.4 Early medieval Irish society was
characterized by strong family ties, an importance of landed wealth and local patriotism, and
legal bars on traveling. As a consequence of these circumstances, peregrinus, or a lifelong
pilgrimage of voluntary exile away from home and family became the most comprehensive form
of asceticism available to early Irish monks. Considered a distinctive Irish contribution to the
1 Ian C. Bradley, Columba: Pilgrim and Penitent (Glasgow: Wild Goose, 1998), 25-44
2 Bradley, Columba, 82
3 Bradley, Columba, 83
4 Thomas Owen Clancy and Gilbert Markus, Iona: The Earliest Poetry of a Celtic Monastery
(Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 1995), 157

ethos of pilgrimage and asceticism, this theology of dispossession became a very prominent
theme associated with the idea of Celtic Christianity.5 Coupled with the severe bodily austerity
characteristic of early Irish monasticism, this clear influence of the desert fathers of Egypt and
Syria on Irish Christianity provides one indisputable difference between Celtic and Roman
Christianity in the early medieval period.6
Aside from these two main themes associated with Celtic Christianity, provisionality, or the
sense of a less fixed, more fluid movement within the church, also distinguishes Celtic Christian
practice from that of their continental counterparts. Given the itinerant nature of many Irish
monks as a consequence of their emphasis on pilgrimages, a view of church as a community or
a movement rather than a fixed organizational structure seems a natural development within
early Celtic Christianity. Evidenced in the lack of stone buildings throughout Celtic
Christendom in favor of earthen hovels, this sense of provisionality prompts juxtaposition with
the Roman proclivity to erect stone structures. Romanticized in Ian Finlays analysis of early
Celtic Christianity, this provisional, itinerant aspect of Irish monasticism is seen as reflective of
a gentle Celtic spirituality distinct from the imperialist Roman mentality.7
However, there are some very significant issues with this assessment of the distinctiveness of
Celtic Christianity. First, there was no sense of a comprehensive Celtic Christianity in and of
itself let alone in juxtaposition to Roman Christianity. Celtic Christianity had its local,
particular aspects in early Ireland and Britain, but there was still significant variation from place
to place and from people to people. Even the term Celtic Christianity presupposes some aspect

5 Clancy and Markus, Iona, 189

6 Bradley, Columba, 71-72
7 Bradley, Columba, 83-107

of uniformity that did not exist among the highly diverse Celtic tribes.8 Furthermore, the
conception of the Synod of Whitby as a contention between gentle, anarchic Celtic Christianity
and authoritarian Roman imperialism is a patent misrepresentation of history. Not only was there
no uniform Celtic system of reckoning Easter, as much was determined by individual church
leaders among the Celtic tribes, but Southern Irish churches and many northern ones had already
changed to the Roman way of dating Easter prior to the Synod.9 In fact, the most spirited
defender of the Roman way of dating Easter was an Irishman, clearly situating the Synod not as
a clashing of the Celtic church with the Roman church, but as an ongoing process to bring
uniformity to the diverse practices of Christendom as a whole.10
Furthermore, the attempt to position Celtic and Roman Christianity in opposition to each other
becomes blatantly absurd when considering the influence Roman belief and praxis had on Celtic
Christianity. Often romanticized as existing in isolation from the Romanized world, Celtic
Christianity is commonly magnified as a purely indigenous movement.11 However, in reality,
Celtic churches were far from isolated. In fact, monasteries were almost certainly the busiest
institutions in Celtic society, fulfilling the roles of school, library, hospital, guest house, and arts
center.12 Early Celtic Christianity was also far from being a purely self-contained religious
movement. Significantly informed by the ideals of the Egyptian desert fathers as well as from
visits to the Continent and trade with the Mediterranean world, Celtic Christianity had a
8 Bradley, Columba, 65
9 Clancy and Markus, Iona, 13
10 Donald E. Meek, The Quest for Celtic Christianity (Edinburgh: Handsel Press, 2000), 138
11 Meek, The Quest, 133
12 Bradley, Columba, 25

number of far-flung influences beyond the Insular world, making it impossible to divorce the
arrival of Christianity in Britain and Ireland from Roman contribution.13 Similarly, the
association of Pelagianism, a condemned heresy in the fifth century, with early Celtic
Christianity further stems from this attempt to separate Celtic Christianity from Roman
Christianity. However, the early Celtic poems of Iona do not support this association. In fact,
poems like Cantemum in omni die tend to speak in highly Augustinian terms of grace, suggesting
that Roman orthodox was actually more central to Celtic Christian belief than Pelagianism. Thus,
the claim that there is a uniquely Celtic theology of grace is largely unsubstantiated within
Irish monastic literature.14
Additionally, the poems of Iona serve to further highlight the more dubious claims of distinction
between Celtic and Roman Christianity. For example, the conception of Celtic Christianity as
more creation-centered and affirmative of the natural world than Rome is not consistent with the
Celtic monastic literature of Iona. Poems like the Altus present a much more terrifying vision of
nature, completely devoid of the supposed optimism about the world and humanitys place in it
commonly attributed to Celtic Christianity. Moreover, not only was the celebration of nature in
early medieval Europe not solely restricted to Celtic life, but there was also significant withingroup variance among the Celtic peoples in regard to their view of nature. In fact, while Welsh
and Hebridean poems are admittedly more nature centered, and praise God through the beauty of
nature, many of the Iona poems reflect a view of nature as a powerful, fearsome force, requiring
the aid and protection of God against the caprices of nature. Thus, the conception of Celtic

13 Meek, The Quest, 139-147

14 Clancy and Markus, Iona, 77-80

Christian belief as green is clearly unfounded as there is as much evidence in Celtic literature of
the fear of nature as there is of its innocent delights.15
Nevertheless, there are still features of Celtic Christianity that are distinct to the social and
political climes in which they adapted. As a non-literate culture, pre-Christian Celts relied
heavily on the oral tradition, assigning high roles to poets in their societies. This deep reverence
of poets and poetry was not displaced with the coming of Christianity, instead manifesting itself
in the Celtic Christian emphasis on benediction. Echoing as it did a wider Celtic appreciation of
the power of the spoken word, prayer also became an important practice in Celtic Christianity,
influenced by the Celtic tendency to pray in poems and to express their faith in terms of images
rather than concepts.16 Continuing this poetic tradition, many of the Iona poems such as Amra
Choluimb Chille and The Alphabet Devotion show a thorough mixing of native poetic techniques
with Christian vocabulary, suggesting a markedly inclusive approach to Celtic Christianity
through the integration of traditional poems and songs.17
However, this Celtic tendency to incorporate pre-Christian Celtic paganism with
Christian beliefs has its parallels with other Christianized cultures throughout the history of
Christianity. An example of the more impressionistic and rhythmic aspect of Celtic Christian
literature, the Iona poem Auiutor laborantium uses a rolling multiplication of titles and symbols
applied to God. While similar to the style of secular Irish praise poetry, these long lists of
glorious titles have been a part of Christian poetry from the very earliest period, influenced by
the pre-Christian prayers of Eastern Sumerian and Assyrian liturgies. 18 Thus, rather than being
15 Clancy and Markus, Iona, 79-92
16 Bradley, Columba, 78-79
17 Clancy and Markus, Iona, 96; 199
18 Clancy and Markus, Iona, 74-75

endemically particular to or distinctive of Celtic Christianity, this mixing of pagan and

Christian values is better seen as the result of inculuration, or the adaptation of Christian belief
and praxis to non-Christian cultures. Indicating a process of synergy, inculturation suggests that
localized Christian practice can only ever be as distinctive as the local pagan culture with which
it interacts. Celtic Christianity, while influenced by the local cultures of the Celtic peoples,
represents just one adaptation in the wider evolutionary process of inculturation. Thus, rather
than being viewed as an intrinsically unique religious movement, Celtic Christianity should be
seen as a distinct cultural adaptation within a larger Christian dynamic.
To conclude, the distinctiveness of Celtic Christian practice is best understood as being
qualified by inculturation. Significantly influenced by the social and political climate in which it
sprung, Celtic Christianity did have distinct, local aspects; however, these varied significantly
from region to region and from people to people. As such, there was not a self-conscious sense of
unity amongst the Celtic tribes. Understood as a complex interplay between pre-Christian culture
and Christian ideology, the distinctiveness of Celtic Christianity lay in its relationship to the
wider process of inculturation. Thus, Celtic Christianity is more distinctive as a cultural
adaptation than as a uniquely religious or spiritual movement.

Bibliography

Bradley, I. C. Celtic Christianity: Making Myths and Chasing Dreams. Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press, 1999.
Bradley, I. C. Columba: Pilgrim and Penitent. Glasgow: Wild Goose, 1998.
Clancy, T. O. and Markus, G. Iona: The Earliest Poetry of a Celtic Monastery. Edinburgh:
Edinburgh University Press, 1995.
Meek, D. E. The Quest for Celtic Christianity. Edinburgh: Handsel Press, 2000.