Oddly enough, Celtic Christianity pre-dates
traditional Christianity by two-thousand years…
At a time shortly after the great flood: Noah had a
youngest son Japheth, who had among his sons – Javan… who also had sons, among
whom were Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim (Gen 10:4)…
These great grandsons of Noah were credited for
settling the islands now know as the “UK” – or – the Celtic islands…
Traditional and oral history prior to the modern
written word – passed down through the generations – depict the progression of
religion that closely followed the original religion given to Adam.
If one were to closely look at how the Celts
worshiped during these ancient times – one would see a strong resemblance to
this ancient Biblical worship and the practices of what we call “The Druids”
The term Druid is actually an office of High Priest
– along with the Bairds and Ovates – this ancient religion (with no official
name) was simple, and focused on caring for our planet, equality among all, loving
and accepting each other for who we are, and of course – loving and worshiping
God.
These Celtic islands were not isolated from the
world as many have speculated, and along with commerce and trade throughout
Scandinavia to the Ivory coast, the written word too became distributed.
These Celts understood the prophesy of our coming
Lord, and looked forward to His arrival.
At the time of the life of our Saviour, a man named
Joseph became friends with the Celts, and negotiated a trade deal between the
owners of the tin mines in the region now known as Wales, and the Romans.
The Clan Chieftains granted this Joseph 12 Hides
(one hide being a unit of land measurement approximately 166 acres) of property
near Glastonbury, and hailed him as a noble.
Joseph too taught of this coming Saviour.
Being a native of The Holy land, Joseph frequently
traveled between the lands, and kept the Celtic tribes updated as to events
that later led to the development of Christianity.
As the Celts learned of this Jesus – they understood
that the gospel He was teaching closely followed the teachings and practices
they had long believed, and when taught He was the prophesied Saviour, they
accepted Him willingly.
Shortly after the beginning of the Roman occupation
in the year 43, Joseph was protected by certain Clans, escorted to safety in
the Caledonia region, and later organized the Christian Church somewhere in
north-central Scotland in the year 44.
Since that time, the Christian Church has taken
several names, but none more prevalent than Anglican, which was given by Queen
Elizabeth 1 in 1559 – to which the Celts had no objection because this word
being a Gaelic compound word of Angel, and our dwelling (home) interpreted
meant our Holy island.
The Order assigned to maintain the progression and
succession of the priesthood was entitled “The Order of Arimathea” after the
man who originally brought Christianity to The Celtic people – Joseph of
Arimathea.
Celtic Christianity believes as do our ancient
beginnings – that all are equal, that God loved us enough to send us His Son,
and that we all need to love each other, care for our planet while using its
resources prudently, and practice that gospel Christ taught – and no one else.
Nothing taught and believed in Celtic Christianity
goes against anything Jesus Christ Himself taught – it is imperative that we
know and understand what that is, so we do not become mired in the teachings,
traditions, and tenets of traditional Christianity.
