The journalist Clifford Langley writes about religious matters for the London Times. He felt strongly that that it is time for a backlash against Celtic Christianity.
"It is truly the myth whose time has come. But its very convenience, its extraordinary ability to meet so many current needs, should make us suspicious. For it is also, to use an old Celtic expression, phony baloney—a legend still in the process of being invented. … It will be all things to all men and score high in the ballyhoo department. A touch of scepticism would be timely."There is some truth in what he says but I believe we also have to acknowledge that what is called Celtic Christianity has enriched the faith of many. We must not lose perspective. While we recognise that there may be some helpful truths in ancient prayers and verses, we must not forget that they also come from a time where the understanding of the world was very different to our present day world-view. We cannot jump back centuries and inhabit the mindset of iron age people, if we really could know what that was. The dangers and trials we face day to day are very different to those faced by people in centuries past. Life was different - very very different then and we kid ourselves if we imagine that we can simply transfer their way of looking at the world into our lives. I enjoy elements of Celtic spirituality in my Christian practice but I don't pretend that this is anything other than a contemporary way of looking at the world.
I took the photo in the grounds of Iona Abbey, Scotland.
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