The Celtic Church in Britain (Paperback)

~ (Author)

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Product Description

A most fascinating and authoritative account of the Celtic Church, its beliefs and practices, and its remarkable theocracy based on Old Testament canon and the laws of the Pentateuch, including the keeping of the Seventh-day Sabbath.

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.

About the Author

Leslie Hardinge was born in Calcutta, India, and was educated in England and America. He received his undergraduate degree from La Sierra University, Riverside, California, and then went on to earn three advanced degrees at the Adventist Theological Seminary in Washington D.C. and finally his Ph.D. degree from the University of London in 1964.

He began his ministerial career in the South England Conference in 1933, serving first as an intern and then pastor evangelist. Coming to America in 1947, Hardinge became a Bible teacher first at Union College, Lincoln Nebraska, and then in succeeding years Columbia Union College in Washington D.C. Newbold College in England and Pacific Union College, Angwin California.

During a hiatus from teaching from 1973 to 1977 he came to southern California to pastor the Glendale City church and then his focus returned to education when he became president of Adventist University of the Philippines (formerly Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary, Far East). At AUP he planned and built a library for the seminary and dedicated his personal library of almost 1,000 books to it.

Probably best known for producing audio tapes for the weekly Sabbath School lesson, a favorite of Sabbath School class teachers in many countries for some 28 years, Hardinge's teachings were distributed by The Spoken Word. An authority on the Isarelite Sancturary, he often said that if people could understand what happened in the sancturary, they would understand the relationship between God and man. Mr Hardinge, was married to Mary, and had one daughter Judy, three grandchildren, and two great grandchildren.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Teach Services Inc (July 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572580348
• ISBN-13: 978-1572580343
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #538,019 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and insightful, June 13, 2000

By	Damon J. Casale (Seffner, FL USA) - See all my reviews

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.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hardinge's research pays off..., March 8, 2000

By	Kevin Patrick Byrne (Laguna Niguel, CA) - See all my reviews

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.