Customer Reviews

Christ of the Celts: The Healing of Creation

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

For far more than 1,000 years, Celtic Christians have been evangelists from a distant land, bringing fresh insights to the faithful around the world -- and sometimes finding themselves harshly rebuffed for their effort. Throughout the 20th Century, in fact, the Celtic revival flowered and began to re-seed Christendom -- even before similar movements took hold in the U.S.

Millions of Americans are familiar with Jim Wallis, the best-selling author of "God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It (Plus)" and founder of Sojourners. But, in Scotland in 1938, 10 years before Wallis' birth in 1948, the Rev. George MacLeod founded the Iona Community with principles that are a first cousin to what Wallis shaped decades later.

Millions of Americans are aware of a renewed interest in the Orthodox realm of Christianity -- rediscovering the beauty of icons, the seemingly fresh perspectives of Orthodox theology and the way that Orthodox worship engages all the senses. MacLeod was making this connection in the 1930s.

Millions of Americans love the hauntingly beautiful Celtic music that's everywhere these days. But the Celtic musical revival in worship really is the full flowering of a generation of Iona leadership in which J. Philip Newell ran the historic abbey in the far west of Scotland and talented musicians like John L. Bell literally were producing a whole new hymnal and book of liturgy.

Countless Americans already know Newell's inspirational voice -- calling to them to re-engage their spiritual senses through popular books like "Listening for the Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality." Now, Newell takes a startlingly different approach toward readers and offers a full-fledged manifesto that seeks to reshape the way most Western Christians think about the core of their faith.

This isn't the first time Americans have heard this appeal to a Creation-based spirituality -- and an abandonment of the original-sin-and-redemption approach to the faith. In 1983, for instance, American theologian Matthew Fox published, "Original Blessing: A Primer in Creation Spirituality Presented in Four Paths, Twenty-Six Themes, and Two Questions," a milestone in the rebirth of this strain of spirituality.

In his earlier books, Newell already has been reflecting these themes. But "Christ of the Celts" -- weighing in at a remarkably slim 161 pages -- is really Newell's full-fledged Christology.

And, since timing is everything in our rapidly churning global culture -- Newell couldn't be hitting American bookstores at a more opportune time. Everywhere readers look these days, American evangelicals are engaged in vigorous -- sometimes even angry -- debate over the future of Christianity.

From the traditional end of the spectrum, Wheaton College English professor Alan Jacobs has a brand-new book appearing this month, "Original Sin: A Cultural History" trying to remind Americans that the traditional original-sin approach to faith still serves a very good purpose. The book proclaims that "original sin" is nothing short of "the cornerstone of our self understanding."

Then, at this precise moment, here's this slender, smiling pilgrim from Scotland, his curly hair perennially windblown from hiking the highlands, stepping onto the global stage and telling Jacobs -- and all of those arguing American evangelicals: "Sorry, friends. You've got a few things wrong."

Whether you agree with Newell -- or regard him as a heretic, as many surely will -- his spiritual message is powerful. He calls to weary men, women and young people and asks them simply to: Remember God's goodness within you.

He says: At the core of our lives is goodness, not original sin.

He says: At the core of the Earth community, there is goodness. And, as God says in Genesis, the Earth itself is -- good.

This is a voice you cannot afford to miss in the historic debate on Christianity's future. This is a book that, if your small group tackles its 8 chapters, you'll be overflowing with discussion for a couple of months -- and, likely, more.

Bold and Exciting !

Newell asserts that "There is despair about much of what Christianity has to offer. So many of its teachings and practices seem either irrelevant to the deepest yearnings of the human soul or flatly opposed to them."

A soft-spoken poet no more, he boldly addresses the woes of Christianity today and offers practical solutions for the healing of the human soul. "What we need today are insights and spiritual practices that remind us of the Unity of our origins and that further nourish the longing for peace that is stirring among us."

Whatever our religious inclinations, Newell invites us to consider the ancient teachings of the Celtic tradition that emphasize the innate goodness of humankind as exemplified by Christ as the restorer of self-less giving and the importance of Creation with reference to the interconnectedness to all things. Without a working knowledge of these two foundational truths, wholeness in ourselves and our world is not possible.

A must-read for anyone interested in psychology, politics or religious philosophy.

Today, we need this message more than ever. As a future ecopsychologist, this work resonates with me both intellectually and spiritually. I am also a recovering evangelical Christian who has come, through my personal journey and studies, to see that the path to wholeness is the truest hope for salvation...and that it must be communal rather than individual...this work is powerful and precious. The message is timely.

This book changed my world view toward Christianity. In fact, to call it Christianity would be a disservice because the church has gotten a very bad reputation in the last century for being judgmental and hypocritical. This book shows us a Jesus and a theology that has been lost to time. I strongly encourage you to read this book and discover the power of love and the Christ that dwells in each of us.

Every Western Christian should read this book. It challenged a lot of the preconceived ideas and much of the teaching I have received in traditional western Christian churches. It is very well written and has opened up new doors in my personal journey with Christ. One of the best books I have read as a Christian.

Philip Newell writes movingly and powerfully about Christ of the Celts.
Some of what he writes will rattle a few pre-set notions about who we are, and how we are created in God's image. He tells stories of people he has met and how they have struggled with what they have been taught by their churches, and what they feel inside. It is challenging, and for me rewarding and enriching.

Newell manages to build a bridge for me between the natural world of Celtic religion and the structured liturgy of my Anglican faith. This book has opened my eyes and heart to a fuller understanding of creation and our place within it. Some parts puzzle me, which is good because it sends me seeking for more answers, but mostly this book has answered many questions for me. I'm on my second read through and will probably read it many more times before I'm through. A truly heartwarming, uplifting and challenging read.

In this book, J Philip Newell presents the view of the life and death of Jesus that was held by Celtic Christians prior to the time when Christianity became the religion of the Roman Empire. It is a beautifully written book and a "must read" for thoughtful Christians to whom the doctrines of Original Sin and Substitutional Atonement are at odds with their view of a loving Creator in whose image we are all formed.Christ of the Celts: The Healing of Creation

Review of "Christ of the Celts," by J. Philip Newell, Jossey-Bass, 2008

This book is much more than an introduction to the treasures of Celtic Christianity for our time. It is a response to what the author and many others see as a deep longing for peace in the world among nations and peoples today, a longing against which are ranged forces of fear and fragmentation "that are wedded to the mightiest political powers and religious fundamentalisms of the world today." A scholar of Celtic Christianity, Newell presents its unifying vision of a harmony that is at the core of all life, and its vision of Jesus of Nazareth as a unifying figure for today, a figure that has been controlled and obscured by the official Church from the fourth century on. Jesus and his ministry, Newell says, is not the property of the Church; he belongs to the world, to every religious tradition. He speaks to everyone, just as he spoke to everyone during the very brief career of what he regarded as his ministry, to heal the sick, free the downtrodden and oppressed, and turn the political and religious powers on its collective head, not by force, but by revealing how they systematically oppress the needy by exerting control over whom they regard as their "subjects". Newell documents this process very well within the history of Christianity, which moved away from a free-spirited "people of the Way" and into a tightly-controlled, imperially modeled hierarchy that robbed people of their freedom and their self-confidence, and punishing those who maintained a point of view more in line with that of Jesus, who preached and lived unity and loving-kindness.

It is high time for a change, and Newell's beautiful book is a clarion call for a more open and unifying spirit within Christianity and between people of all faiths. He is not alone here, and it is high time: Walter Wink ("The Human Being"), Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer ("Jesus Against Christianity", "Saving Christianity From Empire" and "Is Religion Killing Us?"), Philip Gulley and James Mulholland ("If Grace Is True: Why God Will Save Every Person") join him, as do Desmond Tutu, Thich Nhat Hanh, the Dalai Lama, and many, many others from across and beyond the religious spectrum. It is time that we listen to these people as guides for our future and the future of our world. It is way past high time for us to ignore and repudiate those who call for division, specialness, violence, resentment and hatred.

"Christ of the Celts" is a very important companion for anyone who seeks to live a more loving, compassionate and realistic life in these turbulent times.

It is not, however, going to be warmly received by the fundamentalist community, who are likely to regard it as another in a long line of heretical texts, and who miss the point of Jesus' ministry entirely.

Christ of the Celts: The Healing of Creation
by J. Philip Newell
Those who have heard J. Philip Newell in person--in the
Twin Cities or at Ghost Ranch or elsewhere--and those
who have read his earlier books will recognize his gentle,
clear and the sometimes "eyes twinkling" lilt to his voice
and his down-to-earth yet subtle mind in his just released
Christ of the Celts. Drawing upon his ongoing research,
he shares his understanding of the deeply lived faith of the
Celtic Christians, the unceasing wish among many of
them to be open and responsive to God's presence in
every element of creation and of their daily lives.
And in this book, subtitled The Healing of Creation,
Philip particularly explores the theological and daily living
implications--for the Celtic Christians and for us--of the
repeated refrain in the creation story, "And God saw that
it was good. . . ."
...
Christ of the Celts is at the same time both an "easy read"
and movingly powerful. Lessons to be learned from the
Celtic Christians seem not just historically interesting but
seem to offer understandings that may be crucial for
Christians in this time and this place.
Marilyn & Alan Youel, for Thin Places
www.thinplaces.us Click 52 for whole review