Open faith: Celtic and Classic Christians guide (Special edition) (PDF)

Celtic and Classic Christians guide (Special edition)

Classic Christian Pioneers - Trailblazers of the faith
by Hearts and Minds Media
 
Containing a wiki guide to over 80 Christian pioneers who changed the world with their views and action of the faith. This guide is intended to inspire and encourage the reader into considering new perspectives on the faith through reflection of the classic christians. Examples include, Luther, King, Tozer, Dickens, St John of the Cross, St Avila. Each profile is introduced with a short biographical summary, their photo, quotations and finally a wiki guide to their life's work.
Now updated with new graphics and layouts.
 
Celtic Christians Guide (2nd edition)
by Hearts and Minds Media
 
Celtic Christianity or Insular Christianity refers broadly to certain features of Christianity
that were practiced across the Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages.
Some historians have described a distinct Celtic Church, embodying Chalcedonian Christianity, that 
united the Celtic peoples and distinguished them from what would become the Roman 
Catholic Church after the Great Schism. Other historians classify it as merely a set of 
distinctive religious practices occurring in those areas.
Scholars now reject the former 
notion, but note that there were certain traditions and practices used in both the Irish and 
British churches but not in the wider Christian world.
These include a distinctive system for 
determining the dating of Easter, a style of monastic tonsure, a unique system of penance, and 
the popularity of going into "exile for Christ".
Additionally, there were other practices that 
developed in certain parts of Britain or Ireland, but which are not known to have spread 
beyond a particular region. The term therefore denotes regional practices among the insular 
churches and their associates, rather than actual theological differences.
The term "Celtic Church" is deprecated by many historians as it implies a unified and 
identifiable entity entirely separate from the mainstream of Western Christendom.
Others 
prefer the term "Insular Christianity".
As Patrick Wormald explained, "One of the common 
misconceptions is that there was a 'Roman Church' to which the 'Celtic' was nationally 
opposed."
In German, the term "Iroschottisch" is used, with Lutz von Padberg placing the 
same caveat about a supposed dichotomy between Irish-Scottish and Roman Christianity.
Celtic-speaking areas were part of Latin Christendom as a whole at a time in which there was 
significant regional variation of liturgy and structure with a general collective veneration of 
the Bishop of Rome that was no less intense in Celtic areas.
Nonetheless, it is possible to talk about the development and spread of distinctive traditions, 
especially in the sixth and seventh centuries. Some elements may have been introduced to 
Ireland by the Briton Saint Patrick, later others spread from Ireland to Britain with the Irish 
missions of Saint Columba. The histories of the Irish, Welsh, Scots, Breton, Cornish, and 
Manx Churches diverge significantly after the eighth century (resulting in a great difference 
between even rival Irish traditions).
Later interest in the subject has led to a series of "Celtic 
Christian revival" movements, which have shaped popular perceptions of the Celts and their 
religious practices