Celtic Christianity?

Question

Ok..so I spent the weekend at a Scottish festival learning all about my heritage. Upon arriving home, I started looking up info about Scotland and the history etc...I found a topic of Celtic Heritage, and other "celtic" things. Can someone explain to me what exactly "celtic" means, I always thought it was related to Pagans? Also, has anyone ever heard of Celtic Christianity? Sounds like an oxy-moron. Thanks for all your help!

Answer 1

My understanding is the 'Celts' were the British, Irish and Scottish. They had their own religion that was mainly nature based and there were gods/goddesses that presided over some aspect. When Xianity was introduced, the Xians used what they could of the Celts mythology to slowly intermix the religion. For example, they used the clover to represent the Trinity. Hence, a lot of holiday traditions have a lot of 'Celtic' flair. For example (a big one coming up) Halloween (called Samhein originally in the Celtic areas), I read somewhere that the term 'bonfire' came from some tradition that involved burning bones-bone fire's; jack'o'lanterns were based on a story about an evil guy named Jack who used a carved turnip as a lantern; the Xmas tree is based on the Celtic Yule log-the lights represent the 'light of the Son', in Celtic tradition, Winter Solstice was celebrated at the same time (Dec. 22 or 21) to celebrate the return of the sun; Easter Egg Hunt, baby animals-related to fertility rituals of the Celtic region; I read once that a 'St. Brigid' was really originally a goddess (Brigid) the Xians couldn't get the Celtic people to stop worshipping, there are other gods/goddesses turned into saints but I can't remember names
Celtic Christianity describes the type of Xianity that developed when introduced in that area

Answer 2

Most of the others have provided a good answer on what constitutes "Celtic." Celtic Christianity was the variation on Christianity that arose in the British Isles - heavily influenced by the Irish, but the whole Isles, in one way or another, pitched in.

There were a number of differences between the Celtic Church and the Roman Church - so much that Rome got *very* upset about it. Some of the doctrines tought things like humans being inherently good - completely in contradiction of the concept of Original Sin. That belief, for example, got parodied into Pelagianism, and was declared a heresy.

The Celtic Church, as an organization, was officially suppressed by Rome, eventually. Even still, some remnants continued and became pretty much commonplace. Modern Celtic Christianity may or may not (depending on the group) attempt to bring back some of those suppressed doctrines.

Answer 3

Celtic is a language family. the word Celtic has absolutely nothing to do with Paganism, and I bet there's alot of Celts out there who are really annoyed that it's been Co-opted by the neo-Pagan movement.

Nowadays it referrs mostly to people on the British Ilses, Whales, Ireland, Scotland, etc. Celts once roamed over much of Europe. Gaelic and Welsh are some examples of surviving Celtic languages. There are many people who identify Celt who have adopted the langues of their conquerers or the majority in their areas, but they are still Celtic by blood.

Answer 4

Welsh, Ireland and Scottish are the three basic areas which are considered Celtic. Celtic Christianity has a deeper respect for the Ancient Ways than most other Christian Religious belief systems according to my sister.

Answer 5

Celtic is a generic term meaning the culture and language of the Brythonic and Gaelic Celts from Ireland, Scotland and Wales. Celtic Christianity was once the dominant form of Christianity in Britain with its centre in the western isles such as Iona until it was superseded by Roman Christianity around 600 or 700 AD.

Answer 6

The Celts are a race of people and the last true vestages of that race are to be found only in Ireland and Scotland. Celtic doesn't neccesarily mean pegan. Celtic Christianity is a form of christianity that embraced the Celts respect for nature. It's simply more nature based is all.

Answer 7

Celtic just means Western European. English, Irish, Scots, Welsh, and so on. They can be Christian. Prior to the Christians coming to the area of Great Britain, the Celt's religion were pagan. But so was everyone outside of Judaism and Christianity. Celt is no more pagan that Roman or American.

Answer 8

The term Celtic refers in general to people in Ireland, the Isle of Man, and a few other places. Celtic Christianity is a term used for a denomination of Christianity that differed from the regular Latin Roman Catholic style of Christianity. It supposedly sprang up during the Early Middle Ages. Wikipedia.com has some good information on the subject. I've provided the link below.

Answer 9

Specifically, Celtic Christianity refers to the branch of Christianity which was unique to the peoples of the British Isles during the early Middle Ages.
http://grailchurch.org/celtic.htm

Answer 10

The celts were an ancient race that invaded the British isles during the first century.They took over the island and esablished rule there.As you can see, the original race merged with the celts to form the peoples we know today.Oh yeah,In tha fifth or sixth century, the anglo saxons invaded he british isles and also merged with them.This applies to spain(visigoths),France(franks),Italy(lombards) and so on.All races in europe were not pure bred.