Customer Reviews

The Celtic Church in Britain

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It's rare that a historian will lay aside partisan, deeply held beliefs to render an accurate picture of early Christianity. Hardinge succeeds, inasmuch as the scant information on the Celtic church in Britain allows. One comment that struck me as particularly insightful was Hardinge's quote of a twelfth century Catholic biographer of an earlier Celtic saint. The biographer lamented that the "life of so priceless a prelate" should be tinged with heresy. So, he rewrote the story, seasoning "the barbarous composition with Roman salt." Even if this biographer was sincere (and it appears he was), he, like many others, clouded and obscured the little historical information that we do have access to.

Unfortunately, Hardinge does not spend any time researching some of the earlier records of Christian missionary work in Celtic Britain. "Christianity crept quietly into Britain," he says. Nothing could be further from the truth, as any reading of even Catholic historians such as Baronius will attest. Even if the records of Joseph of Arimathea's mission to Britain in 37 AD is considered legendary, Hardinge could have at least mentioned it. In fact, there's more evidence that Joseph of Arimathea went to Britain than that Columbus discovered America in 1492. Nevertheless, other books (such as "Drama of the Lost Disciples" by Jowett and "St. Joseph of Arimathea at Glastonbury" by Smithett-Lewis) more than make up for this lack. Hardinge definitely has his place among those who tirelessly searched out the dusty records of Christianity's passage through time. And, definitive or not, we owe him a debt of gratitude for his pioneering work in the early Medieval British Isles.

Through painstaking research, Mr. Hardinge has captured the ancient aspects of true Celtic Christianity. Much has been recently written about Celtic Christians and about the British Isles in general, but Mr. Hardinge's meticulous devotion to original sources and quotations from the ancient enemy of Celtic Christianity (Roman Catholicism) have served to give a highly accurate and engaging outline of how ancient Celtic Christians must have evangelized, preached, lived their lives, showed their devotion to God and generally defied Catholic authority during their time.

If its implications are understood correctly, this book will throw much of what goes as "church history" on its ear. Patrick a seventh-day Sabbath keeper? The ancient Celts defiant toward Augustine? True historians will take note of this book.

I have read this book and am amazed at the amount of research put into this work. The author must have spent a huge amount of time in libraries and other places of reference to gather the excellent material in it's pages. Leslie Hardinge the author, was a Pastor at our Seventh-day Adventist Church here in Edinburgh, Scotland from 1942 and had access to first hand sources of information on the once great Celtic church. The keeping of the seventh day Sabbath, the dating of Easter and married clergy were among the major differences that seperated it from the Roman church. The Celtic churches influence and teachings reaching as far as the Ukraine in the east to Scandanavia in the north and south as far as Italy was a triumph of the gospel truth and sowing the seeds of the Reformation. The great Catholic saints of Patrick, Columba, Cuthbert, Aiden etc; were actually members of the Celtic church and had no relation to Rome - being hi-jacked by the Rome due to their inability to wipe them from history. It often bafffles me why Andrew became the Patron saint of Scotland and not Columba since he brought the gospel of Christ to these islands more than any other? Anyway heaven will reveal the truth to us one day I know. The excellent learning centres of Clonmacnoise and Clonfert in Ireland, Iona in Scotland and Lindisfarne in England being the best of their kind in Europe are also mentioned and their subsequent demise and takeover by the various Benidictine orders. A sad story maybe but triumphant in the end in the preservation of Christianity during the Dark ages. A real gem of a book.

Patrick Dillon
Edinburgh
Scotland

I ordered this book in anticipation of a 2011 trip to Ireland, knowing I would visit multiple ancient Pagan and Christian sites throughout the country. At first, I was a little intimidated by the extensive footnotes in the back, suspecting this might be above my level of interest. However, when I started reading the book on my first flight I quickly warmed to the topic and the author's presentation. I read much of the book on my two flights to Dublin, even though I should have taken a nap.

While touring the ancient worship and study sites throughout Ireland, I frequently encountered references to the characters from this book. For example, visiting the ruins of an Abbey like Monasterboice, and knowing that its founder Buite was a disciple of Patrick, and knowing about the serious scholarship that occurred here, added greatly to my appreciation for the importance of the site.

Indeed, due to what I'd learned about the historical significance of many sites, I went out of my way to visit ones that would have otherwise not been on my list. Guide books just don't go into the level of detail that can help one make those choices.

I hope to again visit Ireland, and expect that this book will again accompany me on my flights; even if I re-read portions in preparation for the sites I plan to visit.