Reimaging Christianity — Part 3

Listening For The Heartbeat of God: A Celtic Spirituality by Dr. John Philip Newell — Book Review — Part 3 of 3

Introduction: Listening Within Imagination

In Part 1 of this book review we discovered the Celtic tradition’s emphasis upon seeing the image of God in everything and everyone and why it is best reflected in the biblical character and writings of the “beloved” John the Apostle. This perspective was sharply contrasted by the Roman tradition’s emphasis upon seeing the image of God in doctrine, order and church traditions, and is best reflected in Peter the Apostle, referred as “the rock” upon which the church is built upon.

We also reviewed Dr. Newell’s explanation of the first major theological clash in the 4th century between Celtic monk and teacher, Pelagius — who espoused a deep confidence in the “original goodness” of mankind and the earth — and Augustine of Hippo — who taught mankind and the earth “original sin” — a popular theory among religious/political leaders in the new “Holy” Roman empire.

In Part 2 we examined the role that four important Celtic leaders played in carrying and spreading the tradition during the 6th through 9th centuries — the well-known Irish evangelist Saint Patrick, the Scottish evangelist and founder of the Iona Abby Columbo, Ireland’s female patron saint Brigit of Kildare, and John Scotus Eriugena, considered the greatest teacher the Celtic tradition has ever produced.

In Part 3 we will briefly cover the turbulent and violent dispersion of the Celts during the Middle Ages, but primarily focus on the post-Reformation Celtic leaders from the 19th and 20th Century — Scottish theologian John Alexander Scott (1805–1866) , Scottish author, poet and minister George MacDonald (1824–1905) and Church of Scotland minister and social reformer George MacLeod (1895–1991).

From Roman Missions to Highland Clearances (1061–1792 A.D.)

The Roman mission received a big boost in Scotland with the marriage of Margaret, a devout member of the Roman Catholic Church, to King Malcolm in 1061 A.D. “Although the Celtic mission had been outwardly suppressed, its tradition of prayer and spirituality lived on,” writes Newell. The Celtic tradition declined further with the Roman building of the Benedictine monastery on Iona in the 13th century.

During these times of Roman church domination the Celts relied heavily upon oral traditions to pass down their prayers and teachings from generation to generation. “These prayers , usually sung or chanted rather than simply said, were recited as a rhythmic accompaniment to the people’s daily routine, at the rising of the sun and at its setting, at the kindling of the fire in the morning and at its covering at night,” writes Newell.

“Alongside this emphasis on the goodness of creation, the Celtic prayers convey a tremendous earthiness. In a blessing for the house there is an unabashed asking for ‘plenty of food, plenty of drink, plenty of beds, and plenty of ale’. Life was seen as have been created good, very good, and the people had no hesitation in looking to God at times of festivity and fun…To look to God is not to look away from life but to look more deeply into it,” according to Dr. Newell.

Formal opposition to the Celtic prayers and tradition ramped up in the 16th century following the Scottish Reformation. “With its emphatically Augustinian-Calvanistic theology there was little sympathy with the Celtic spirituality…It was generally felt that the people of the Western Isles were ‘little better than pagan until the Reformation,” explains Newell.

During the 18th and 19th century the fundamentalist Evangelical revival increased the emphasis upon original sin and the division between spirit and matter and the sacred and secular.

“Although the religious establishment tried to suppress the old Celtic prayers, the most decisive blow against their continued use was probably struck by the Highland Clearances of the first half of the 19th century,” writes Newell.

“Tens of thousands of people were torn from their lands and islands and separated from clan and family…1792 was known as ‘The Year of the Sheep’ because the sale of wool was more profitable than leasing the land to the people for traditional, small scale family farming that had characterized the Highlands and Islands for centuries.”

The Highland Clearances represented a combination of both physical and spiritual displacement of Celtic traditions at the hands of government, the Church and large landowners during this period. Yet despite “a dwindling remnant of a strong and deep spiritual tradition” survived, and as we shall see Celtic spirituality thrived again in the next century.

Alexander John Scott: A Rebirth of Sacred Imagination

“What is most divine, is most human,” said Alexander John Scott (1805–1866) a brilliant Scottish theologian, who later would became the first principal of Owens College, a major university in Manchester, England. Dr. Newell devotes and entire chapter (as well as his doctoral thesis) to Alexander John Scott in his latest book, “Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul.”

During this post-Reformation era the rigid belief in predestination and original sin were incorporated into the Westminster Confession of Faith (1647 A.D.) and strictly required a signed confession by all clergy in the Church of England and Scotland. Scott refused to make such a confession, which he felt was contrary to the original goodness and God’s love in and for all people.

“Everywhere, Scott maintained, can be found the ladder that connects heaven and earth, God and humanity…Scott described creation as ‘a transparency through which the light of God can be seen,’” writes Newell.

The Church of Scotland felt threatened by the 26-year old Scott’s teachings, so he decided to flee to England. He was accused of heresy in 1831 because he refused to sign the Westminster Confession and was therefore banned from preaching in any British pulpit.

This total rejection by the Church led Scott to furthetr broaden his reading and teachings to include other wisdom traditions. His combination of a brilliant, childlike mind and imaginative teaching attracted the attention of many young followers, including John MacDonald, who would later transform Scott’s teaching into magnificent works of fictional writing that would further broadcast the Celtic message worldwide.

Newell explains, “Scott defined sin as what is out of harmony with what is deepest within man and the earth. Heaven and hell are present realities; it is when we are untrue to the unity that we create a hell on earth…Redemption is about overcoming disunity…Redemption is when we wake up to the interconnectedness of all things.”

Scott used the imagery of a ‘golden thread’ to explain the relationship between the divine within us, saying, “If a golden thread is removed, the whole garment will unravel…As with us, without the divine we would cease to exist. Jesus reveals the joining of the human and divine that forms the essence of our being.”

“To be made of God is to be made of sacred imagination,” taught Scott.

“The sum of the whole matter is this: The most important work for us to do — from year to year, month to month, hour to hour — is to combine earth with heaven, spirit with matter, time with eternity. This is the role of sacred imagination, to help us remember the oneness from which we have come.”

Dr. Newell believes the most pressing issue facing the church today is whether or not we will see the light of Christ as… alien to the universe… or what is deepest within every human being. “Will we be guided by our love of the light in Christ to look for this light, adore it, and serve it within one another and within the body of the earth?” asks Newell. This question deserves our serious contemplation I think.

George MacDonald — The Princess and the Goblin

George MacDonald (1824–1905) was a Scottish author, poet and Christian minister. He was a pioneering figure in the field of modern fantasy literature and the mentor of fellow writer Lewis Carroll and later C.S. Lewis.

As a student of Alexander Scott, MacDonald owed much of his Celtic spirituality and beliefs that God’s love was in and for all people. He took the teachings of Scott and creatively wove them into fictional novels — the most famous being “The Princess and the Goblin” published in 1872.

Here is the publisher’s summary: “Young Princess Irene is sent to the country to be raised in a half-farmhouse, half-castle located in the side of a mountain. While exploring the top of the castle, Irene becomes lost and inexplicably finds her way to a mystifying and beautiful woman spinning a thread. Princess Irene is drawn to the woman whom she discovers is her great-great-grandmother. But after she returns, her nurse, Lootie, refuses to believe in the old woman’s existence, and the young Princess cannot find the way back to her great-great-grandmother.

Days later, while on an outing with Lootie, Princess Irene believes that she detects a Goblin. They meet a young miner, Curdie, who confirms her sighting. Soon Curdie discovers Goblins lurking under the castle that have constructed an evil plot against the king and his palace. Princess Irene’s belief in her great-great-grandmother’s powers becomes essential as she and Curdie work to foil the sinister Goblin plan. As the Princess tells Curdie, ‘sometimes you must believe without seeing’.”

Macdonald incorporated Scott’s ‘golden thread’ into the story which helps bring to life this imagery of God’s all-encompassing love and cohesiveness of the universe and mankind. Seeing nothing but the goodness of God in all circumstances led MacDonald to even teach that even Satan himself would in the end be restored to his original role as angel of light.

“MacDonald understood the attraction of the sexes as essential to life, continuity and fruitfulness…and must manifest something in the nature of God’s desire for union,” writes Newell. “This made room for an awareness of the essential goodness of the sexual energies, which reflect God’s yearning for intimacy, creative expression and new life.”

“We may have forgotten that we have come from God,” said MacDonald, “just as we forgot our time in our mother’s womb, but at the very core of our life we are begotten by God, his sons and daughters.” This led MacDonald to question the traditional doctrine of creation out of nothing. “Our souls have not come from nothing,” said MacDonald. Rather, as Eriugena had asserted long before, “our life comes from the very substance of God’s life.”

MacDonald’s novels had great impact and found broad acceptance from both clergy and laity and “opened a side door for the Celtic spirituality’s reentry into the Church.”

George MacLeod — Listening… Then Taking Action

George Fielden MacLeod (1895–1991) was a Scottish soldier and clergyman; he was one of the best known, most influential and unconventional Church of Scotland ministers of the 20th century. He was the founder of the Iona Community on the island of Iona.

In the Celtic tradition MacLeod believed… “God was to be found in the material realm, not in an escape from it. He liked to say ‘matter matters’— whether that be the matter of our physical bodies, the matter of creation or the matter of bodies politic — because the spiritual is to be found at the heart of the material,” says Newell.

George MacCleod had the uncanny ability to hold together the mystical perspective of Celtic spirituality with his ministry in the established Church of Scotland. “He is known for many things and perhaps mainly for his peace activism, but his greatness lies in having brought Celtic spirituality’s way of seeing back into the Church’s formal life,” writes Newell.

MaLeod’s unique mixture of humility and humor helped him to bridge the gap between the organized Church and Celtic tradition. “As nearly everyone who met him in Scotland will remember, one of the first questions he’d ask was. ‘Are you a Presbyterian or a Christian?’ MacLeod constantly used laughter to show others a new way of seeing life, not merely some religious aspect of it.”

In 1938, MacLeod began to rebuild the ancient Abbey on Iona. “With the Western world on the very brink of War, MacLeod and the young Iona community made a commitment to re-establish the foundations of peace. He was a very popular radio preacher throughout the British Empire, but because of his pacifism the BBC prevented him from broadcasting during WWII.

“In 1957, this Celtic visionary had so integrated his spirituality with his churchmanship and gained such respect throughout the Church that he was elected Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, appointed to the House of Lords and received the Templeton International Prize for progress in religion. These honors, he said, all confirmed that ‘I never was a real prophet.’

Conclusion: Can Two Ways of Seeing Become One?

Dr. Newell has done the Christian world, as well as the wider world of all spiritual wisdom traditions, a great service in this book which reveals the distinctive Celtic spirituality of the last 1,700 years. The practice of listening for God within the whole of life, based upon St. John’s gospel is not limited to the Celtic tradition, but is found in a growing number of mystical wisdom traditions today.

Newell concludes, “The strength of the Peter tradition is precisely that it does have four walls…It enshrines the light of truth within the Church and its traditions and sacraments. It is a rock, a place of security and shelter in the midst of stormy change. These two ways of seeing can combine to create a spirituality that is simultaneously well-rooted in a specific tradition and open to God in the whole of life.”

Both of the Apostles John and Peter listened to God in different ways. Dr. Newell urges readers to bring together these distinct perspectives and draw on the complimentary traditions going forward so that the Christian church might become a place of spiritual unity rather than division. Amen!