Podcasts about celtic church

What to make of the differences between Dioceses? Was there a Celtic Church? Was St. Paul oppressive to woman? This and more in today's edition of Open Line Friday with Colin Donovan.

What to make of the differences between Dioceses? Was there a Celtic Church? Was St. Paul oppressive to woman? This and more in today's edition of Open Line Friday with Colin Donovan.

David Moore encourages us to belong to God's community of church. Community and church were very important for the Celtic Church. It is where we belong as Christ's people, where we grow in community together in Christ, where we serve others too, and where we can impact the world with the gospel. Watch: https://youtu.be/WXSKnjAQN5Y

A short history of the Augustinian mission to England and how he undermined the true church in the wilderness and set in place the tools that eventually overthrew it.

Join Uncharted host Fred Drummond in conversation with Scott Brennan. This episode explores practical insights for developing a meaningful spiritual life, with Scott drawing lessons from the approach of the Celtic Church. 

A daily news briefing from Catholic News Agency, powered by artificial intelligence. Ask your smart speaker to play “Catholic News,” or listen every morning wherever you get podcasts. www.catholicnewsagency.com - The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on a Catholic church in Istanbul during Sunday Mass that left one man dead. Two suspects described as members of the Islamic State group have been arrested following the shooting on January 28 at Santa Maria Church in Istanbul's Sariyer district. Turkish Minister of the Interior Ali Yerlikaya announced late on Sunday night that police had conducted raids on 30 locations across Istanbul following the attack during which the arrests were made. The Turkish bishops' conference has asked for prayers for the victim and his family in a statement released on January 28. The Turkish bishops also urged people “not to spread the culture of hatred and religious discrimination.” Earlier this month, Turkish news outlet Anadolu Agency reported that 25 suspected Islamic State members were arrested in Turkey on January 3 under accusation that they were plotting attacks on churches and synagogues. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256667/islamic-state-claims-responsibility-for-attack-on-catholic-church-in-istanbul Six pro-life activists are on trial in Nashville, Tennessee, facing federal charges related to a 2021 blockade of a nearby abortion clinic. The blockade, documented in a March 5, 2021, video posted on Facebook, showed a large group of pro-life activists ranging from elderly to young children walking into an abortion clinic and blocking access to the door by sitting in front of it. The video shows pro-life activists singing Christian hymns and praying. Police can be seen demanding they leave the Carafem Health Center Clinic in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, and while some do, others refuse. The federal government announced in October 2022 that it had charged 11 of the individuals under the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/256657/six-pro-lifers-face-face-act-charges-in-tennessee-could-see-11-years-in-jail Today, the church celebrates Saint Gildas the Wise. Gildas was probably born around 517 in the North of England or Wales. He is regarded as being one of the most influential figures of the early English Church. The influence of his writing was felt until well into the middle ages, particularly in the Celtic Church. He is also important to us today as the first British writer whose works have survived fairly intact. https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/st-gildas-the-wise-131

Joyfulness, prayerfulness and thankfulness (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18) are the basis for the Church in this country. There was a strong Celtic Church before Augustine was sent from Rome in 597AD. The people we hear about moved around this country as God directed them. Iona and Lindisfarne were particularly important. Prayer resulted in people walking and working with God. The Bible was translated into English, missonary schools were founded and many people started following Jesus as their Saviour and Healer. Let's be faithful to God in our own particular pilgrimage over the coming months. You can read the script for this Service here.

Figures such as Saint Patrick, Columba, and Columbanus, may be familiar to us, especially in Western contexts, but what impact did these figures make on the Church during their lives? Our guest today is Dr. Michael A. G. Haykin, professor of church history & biblical spirituality at Southern Seminary. Tune into to this episode to hear how Ireland, Scotland, and the surrounding areas were reached with the Gospel. Questions addressed in this episode: -In what ways did the geography (not being in mainland Europe) impact the Celtic Mission efforts positively or negatively? -Are there any examples of women being actively engaged in Celtic mission efforts? -A word of encouragement to missionaries working in Irish and Scottish contexts today? Books mentioned in this episode -St. Patrick of Ireland: A Biography. Philip Freeman. -The Celtic Church in Britain. Leslie Hardinge. Follow Amazon the Himalayas on: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook For more information on the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, go to sbts.edu For information on Boyce College, go to BoyceCollege.com

On this episode of Greyhorn Pagans Podcast, host StijnFawkes is joined by Thomas Sheridan to discuss Paganism and Druidry in the modern times. Sheridan starts the conversation by delving into how oral Nordic and Celtic traditions were later written down by Christian monks who put their own spin on the stories, often incorporating aspects of their own religion. From growing up in a working-class neighborhood in the northern area of Dublin to questioning the practicality of some Biblical stories, Sheridan shares his interesting views on religion and spirituality. Throughout the episode, Sheridan covers topics such as British Israelism, Celtic Church of Ireland, and the legacy of Christian monks who distorted the truth. Tune in to this episode to learn more about how ancient traditions are still affecting us today and the commonalities across all pantheons. Thomas is a social commentator, artist, European Pagan and content creator on YouTube and Odysee.   You can find all of his work and platforms through his Linktree:  https://linktr.ee/thomassheridan  https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/greyhornpagans/support Affiliate links: https://www.bonfire.com/welcome/3a61c90d5bd44/ https://www.castmagic.io/?via=stijn https://www.sudowrite.com/?via=stijn https://www.minds.com/register?referrer=StijnFawkes https://odysee.com/$/invite/@StijnFawkes:a --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/greyhornpagans/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/greyhornpagans/support

Oliver is a Wisdom Keeper, Author, Storyteller and Sacred Site Guide who lives in the Holy Mountains/Brecon Beacons of Wales with his partner and Celtic Rose Priestess, Alize Lily Mounter. Today we are talking about a new series of books which Oliver is writing, and amongst other things we cover; the forgotten story of the Celtic Church, Joseph's time with Jesus the child as his guardian, the connections between these holy figures & places such as Glastonbury, Wales and Cornwall. Being in the darkness and finding your way back to the light is a theme throughout (we recorded this just before the Winter Solstice) and Oliver shares with us the meaning of the Aramaic word 'Ethpatakh' which Yeshua would use when doing his healing work... I loved doing this interview with Oliver - there are SO many interesting things in it!! Enjoy!! ❤️ If you've enjoyed this podcast, as a thank you can treat Rachel to a cup of coffee here! https://www.buymeacoffee.com/rachelgo Oliver's Links Linktree: https://linktr.ee/OliverwHuntley Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/oliverwhuntley/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/oliverwhuntley

Halloween is an odd event—very odd, in a way, because in its origins it was not evil; it was actually good. A number of you probably know that “Halloween” is “All Hallows Even”; in other words, All Hallows Eve—the evening before All Hallows. And “All Hallows” is All Saints day. And, originally, All Saints Day (November 1st) was the day when all the saints were honored. In other words, it's a time that the Church had set aside to honor those people who had lived exemplary lives, who had blessed others by their lives, and were considered saints by the Church at that time.October 31st, though, among non-Christian Celtic people, was a different matter altogether. It was the festival of Samhain. What you may not know is the fact it was also New Year's Eve in Celtic and Anglo-Saxon England at that time. It was actually the end of the old year and the beginning of the new. It took place in the autumn, as a matter of fact. It was an occasion for fire festivals, they lit huge bonfires on top of hills to frighten off the evil spirits, and also it was a time when laws and land tenures were renewed.It harkens back, in a way, to the Old Testament. You'll recall where, in the year of release, all the captives were released. People who have been enslaved because of having been a thief and caught and sold into slavery were turned loose, in the seventh year. That was always in the autumn, not in the spring. In that Jubilee year, all the land again went back to its original family owner—the one who received it by lot. Here they had, in the autumn, a time when all the laws and land tenures were renewed.In the Celtic religions, the dead were supposed to visit their homes on this night. As a consequence, you get the sinister aspects of the festival. And, of course, you had the Celtic Church right alongside of the Roman Church; and the gradual melding that took place in these things over time created something along the lines of Halloween. And though it really became in later times a secular holiday, at the same time it has also retained a lot of those sinister overtones.“Halloween was thought to be the most favorable time for divinations, for marriage, for health, for death, and for luck. And it was the only day when the help of the devil was invoked in such matters.” I think that is fascinating. For people who call themselves Christians—who are believers in Christ, people who try to serve God—you can almost see how it would be tempting, in certain circumstances (and I want to talk about that a little later), to get some guidance from that side of the spirit world.Halloween is a night of great evil. But really, it's a night of great evil only because the devil is invoked in some of the customs and some of the practices. If it were nothing but a harvest festival, it probably wouldn't amount to much. The question is: Is there really a devil, and are there demons in a spirit world that come out on Halloween or at other times? I recently received a letter from a long-time correspondent, and he had what I think is easily the most comprehensive set of questions about the spirit world and the paranormal that I have ever received in my life. I mean, to answer it would require me to write a book, “Everything You Always Wanted to Know About the Spirit World But Were Afraid To Ask”. And he gave me a really good list. He asked me about spirit sightings, dreams that come true, UFOs, abductions, strange lights, hauntings, healings, psychics, miracles that seem to have nothing to do with God and yet are miracles, and a whole long list. And he asked that, somewhere along the line, I would do a sermon or a tape or something on the subject. And so you owe this sermon today to my friend who wrote to me about this.

On Thursday June 29th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will  present a symposium on the topic of Assumption of God and Goddess Forms  in magical ceremonies. Call in guests will include Frater Heracles John  Sheffield whose new rituals and articles suggested the topic, Soror  Urania Ann Finnin whose Celtic Church, the Roebuck, has been doing these  operations for years, and Soror Ariel Jo Carson of Feraferia who will be  presenting a Lammas Rite at Rivendell in August, so if you would like to attend this meeting of the minds on the subject of being God and Goddess-like,   tune in and we shall bring the heavens down to Earth.

The Celtic Church holds a special place in history and covered a wide area including modern day Ireland and Scotland. They lives and witnessed during a very tough time and yet they were very resilient and resourceful and evangelistic. In this podcast we interview Pastor Don Mackintosh, to whom the Celtic Church holds a special place due to his Scottish heritage. Join us and find out how the Bible truths were kept alive 1500 years ago and how this all plays into our lineage and history. ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★

In this episode we talk with Rev. Ray Simpson about his latest book called Celtic Christianity and Climate Crisis: Twelve Keys for the Future of the Church. Ray is also a founder of a new monastic order called the Community of Aidan and Hilda. Though Ray helped to start this community in the United Kingdom, it now includes people from all over the world—people who believe that values and practices of the ancient Celtic Church have particular relevance for contemporary Christ followers. The community draws on these ancient ways to create an order of life, or Waymarks as they are called. Among other things, this Way of Life recommends learning how to truly listen.Feedback to Earthkeepers: earthkeepers@circlewood.onlineVoicemail ("We want to hear from you")Guest:  Rev. Ray SimpsonDaily Prayer Tweet: Twitter@praycelticdailyResources, e-studies,weekly blog:  www.raysimpson.orgFacebook:  http://www.facebook.com/revd.ray.simpsonLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ray-simpson-5b311b2b/To receive daily Pilgrimage for Life: www.waymarksoflife.comRay's books mentioned in podcast: Celtic Christianity: Deep Roots for a Modern Faith Brendan's Return Voyage: A New American Dream: Indigenous, Post-Colonial, and Celtic Theology Celtic Christianity and Climate Crisis: Twelve Keys for the Future of the ChurchLinks to details from this episode:The international Community of Aidan and HildaAnamchara (soul friend)St. ColumbanusHopi TribeDesert Fathers and MothersRandy Woodley's book Shalom and the Community of CreationIan BradleyBible SocietyHoly Island of LindisfarneKey words: Celtic Church, Saint Patrick, Saint Brennan, indigenous, Native American, Maori, Hopi, New Monastic, New Monasticism, creation care, community garden, environmental justice, social justice, minimalism, Greta Thunberg, anamchara, Columbana, Desert Fathers and Mothers, Brendan, Randy Woodley

Full Text of ReadingsFriday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time Lectionary: 321All podcast readings are produced by the USCCB and are from the Catholic Lectionary, based on the New American Bible and approved for use in the United States _______________________________________The Saint of the day is St. Gildas the WiseSt. Gildaswas probably born around 517 in the North of England or Wales. His father's name was Cau (or Nau) and, came from noble lineage, and he most likely had several brothers and sisters. There is writing which suggeststhat one of his brothers, Cuil (or Hueil), was killed by King Arthur (who died in 537 AD), and it also appears thatGildas may have forgiven Arthur for this.There are two accounts of the life of St. Gildas the Wise, neither of which tell the same story.He lived in a time when the glory of Romehad faded from Britain. The permanent legions had been withdrawn by Maximus, who used them to sack Rome and make himself Emperor.Gildaswas noted in particular for his pietyandgood education, and was not afraidto publicly rebuke contemporary monarchs at a time when libel was answered by a sword rather than a Court order.Gildas lived for many years as a very ascetic hermit on Flatholm Island in the Bristol Channel. There he established his reputation for that peculiar Celtic sort of holiness that consists of extreme self-denial and isolation. At around this time, according to the Welsh, he also preached to Nemata, the mother of St David, while she was pregnant with the Saint.In about 547 he wrote a book De Excidio Britanniae (The Destruction of Britain). In this he writes a brief tale of the island from pre-Roman times and criticizes the rulers of the island for their lax morals and blames their sins (and those that follow them) for the destruction of civilization in Britain. The book was avowedly written as a moral tale.He also wrote a longer work, the Epistle, whichis a series of sermons on the moral laxity of rulers and of the clergy. In these Gildas shows that hewas well readinthe Bible and some other classic works.He was also a very influential preacher. Because of his visits to Ireland and thegreat missionary work he did there, he was responsible for the conversion ofmany on the island, and may be the one who introduced anchorite customs to the monks of that land.From there he retired from Llancarfan to Rhuys, in Brittany, where he founded a monastery. Of his works on the running of a monastery (one of the earliest known in the Christian Church), only the so-called Penitential, a guide for Abbots in setting punishment, survives.He died around 571, at Rhuys.He is regarded as being one of the most influential figures of the early English Church. The influence of his writing was felt until well into the middle ages, particularly in the Celtic Church. He is also important to us today as the first British writer whose works have survived fairly intact. Saint of the Day Copyright CNA, Catholic News Agency

Where can I sign up for apologetics classes?, What are all the different branches of the Catholic Church, for example Assyrian Church, Celtic Church etc. Are we not one church and what makes it different than the Protestants who have all the different churches?, How would you approach an atheist?, and more on today's Open Line Monday with apologist John Martignoni.

Dr. Gene Bailey explores Ireland’s Revivals with Rebecca Friedlander

Viking Asatru, Norse & Indian mythos, Sacred Geometry, Dragon/Ley lines, Shamanism & Psychonautics, Psychosis & Schizophrenia, Possession & Reincarnation, the Celtic Church, pagan roots of Nordic Christianity, Demons; Angels; & Gods, Tantra; Illumination; & (Lucid) Dreaming, are topics clarified by Dr. Erlendsson, who based on his new book discuss the nature of reality & Mind, exploring questions like: What's the difference between psycho-illness & psychic experience? The lower & higher self? What's the Way of the Fool? What's the wisdom of the Land? What's the structure & layers of Consciousness? And how to join his Esoteric Quest?   :: :: :: ::   All programs are gratis & listener funded. Please consider supporting our work and help cover costs by donating, subscribing to our channel, liking & sharing our posts. Subscribing to our website (https://www.forumborealis.net/contribute) gives you direct access to all shows before public release + various bonus & backstage clips. Our shows are chronologically arranged in different series collected in separate playlists.   :: :: :: ::   * Insanity vs Spirituality - A conversation with Haraldur Erlendsson (S06P04)   * © Forum Borealis. May not be reproduced in any commercial way.   * Guest: Dr. Haraldur Erlendsson (https://www.forumborealis.net/guests)   * Recorded: 19 April 2017   * Covert Art: © J. R. Slattum (http://www.jrslattum.com/)   * Bumper music used with cordial permission from © Loopus.net   * This Program is part of our sixth series called EXPLORING ESOTERIC PHILOSOPHY (Playlist: https://www.forumborealis.net/series)          

What do a jail break, a heart, a history book and a revolution have in common? Take five minutes to find out more about the significance of the role of Alexander Shields towards the end of Scotland's Forgotten History.  To dig deeper, visit https//www.scotlandsforgottenhistory.com TRANSCRIPT   Podcasts are usually studio-based discussions or broadcasts but, in this series, we want to go on location in the way that we did with our free online video series also called Scotland’s Forgotten History. If you haven’t seen the videos, head on over to www.scotlandsforgottenhistory.com and enjoy. Well today, I’m in Parliament Square, Edinburgh outside St Giles on the Royal Mile. If you’re looking carefully at the pavement just next to the high street you can see a motif amongst the cobbles. It’s in the shape of a heart. In fact it’s called the heart of Midlothian. This marks the spot of a building called the Tolbooth. This was a prison whose inside walls enclosed many of those connected with Scotland’s Forgotten History. In 1686, the preacher Alexander Shields languished here after spending time on the Bass Rock. After 14 months in the Tolbooth an escape plan was effected. In October 1686 Shields walked out of its doors disguised in women’s clothes. The government were enraged and they described Shields as ‘a person of most dangerous principles, a trumpet of sedition and rebellion’, and ‘a rebellious field preacher debauched unto ill principles and practices.’ After months of field preaching, Shields secretly traveled to Holland. The purpose was to publish a book that he had (in part) been able to write during his captivity. The book is called ‘A Hind Let Loose’. The subtitle shows that it is in part a history book. It is ‘A Historical Representation of the Testimonies of the Church of Scotland, for Christ in all its Periods’. Shields covers 7 periods of history from the early Celtic Church through the Middle ages and Reformation to the period that we call Scotland’s Forgotten History. It is interesting because he writes at the end of the period and is able to survey the way in which events have developed. He wants to show that the principles for which they were now suffering were only a development of the same principles that had been at stake in former ages. Things that “are now condemned, as new… notions, have been transmitted from age to age, from the beginning even to this present time, through all the Periods of this Church”. Shields was saying that Scotland had forgotten its history and the reasons why the Church had suffered and faced conflict in the past. By forgetting these principles it forfeited the practical lessons to be learned from the history. On several occasions Shields refers to the sufferings or sufferers of this time as “never to be forgotten”. And yet we have largely forgotten the principles for which they suffered. In many cases we have also forgotten the sufferings and sufferers. It is a powerful book by any account. So powerful that the copies imported into Scotland were destroyed by the government. But William of Orange was to see a copy in Holland and it influenced him to want to put an end to the persecution within the space of 12 months. For now I’ll leave you with a quote from Shields that challenges us to make use of what we learn from the history we have considered. “We are much obliged to our worthy ancestors: and shall none be the better of us? If we have no precedent or example, let us be good ones to them who come after us”.  

On Thursday June 29th, 2017 the Hermetic Hour with host Poke Runyon will  present a symposium on the topic of Assumption of God and Goddess Forms  in magical ceremonies. Call in guests will include Frater Heracles John  Sheffield whose new rituals and articles suggested the topic, Soror  Urania Ann Finnin whose Celtic Church, the Roebuck, has been doing these  operations for years, and Soror Ariel Jo Carson of Feraferia who will be  presenting a Lammas Rite at Rivendell in August, so if you would like to attend                                                                                                       this meeting of the minds on the subject of being God and Goddess-like,                                                                                                            tune in and we shall bring the heavens down to Earth.  

With the Old Gods being consigned to myth and sainthood we talk this week about Christianity, Patrick and the rise and fall of Pelagianism.   Music: Celtic Impulse - Celtic by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100297 Artist: http://incompetech.com/

The Origins of the Celtic Church 1 of 2, The Churches in Scotland and Ireland arose during the fifth and sixth century flowering of monasticism and produced many important Orthodox monastic saints. http://archive.org/download/OrthodoxChurchHistory/17a_Celtic_WEB.mp3

The Origins of the Celtic Church 2 of 2 http://archive.org/download/OrthodoxChurchHistory/17b_Celtic_WEB.mp3

This will be a special, broadcast ~ it will be intended as an Irish Blessing for all listeners and all Christian Warriors. I will talk about the life of Saint Patrick, the Celtic Church and about other Saints of Ireland. I will speak from the heart the truth about the glory that is in store for you, and I will pass on the secret of the Irish blessing. All this and much, much more are the gifts from the Holy Trinity and from the Emerald Isle on this very special day, when everyone has a wee, bit of the Irish in them and why everyone is apart of Celtic Cross Ministry.

This Episode's title is – “Expansion ”.We're going to spend a little time now tracking the expansion of the Faith into different areas during the Early Middle Ages.We ended last time with the story of the conversion of the Frank king Clovis in 496. When he was baptized on Christmas Day by Bishop Remigius of Rheims {Reems}, 3,000 of his warriors joined him. It was the first of several mass baptism that took place during the Middle Ages in Europe. And it raises the issue of the paganizing of Christianity.The task of Missions usually proceeds in 1 of 2 ways.The first & more common route is that of individual conversion. Though in the NT we find converts being called into immediate baptism, it wasn't long before conversion was followed by a period of instruction before baptism. That time for instruction in the basics of the Faith could be either short or long, depending on the standards of the bishop or community of believers.  This form of missions, that of individual conversion & baptism was the method used by the Church for the first 3 Cs, & by most Protestant missions from the 19th C to today. That's because of the emphasis on an individual change of heart in Evangelicalism. While this certainly finds support in Scripture, it can miss an important dynamic when people convert to Christ out of a pagan culture. Their change in faith almost certainly means being uprooted from that culture; sometimes leading to the need to physically relocate to an area where their faith will not endanger their life or the lives of their family.For that reason, another method of Missions has sometimes been used; that of mass conversion, where an entire group of people make a communal decision to forsake their old religion in favor of Christianity.Now, I suspect some of those listening will respond to this idea of mass conversion with distaste. Evangelicalism has placed such an emphasis on personal salvation that the idea of the conversion of an entire community at once is highly suspect. We often talk of receiving Christ as one's PERSONAL Savior. So the idea that an entire village or tribe would turn to faith in Christ at once seems disingenuous.But consider this: The idea of personal, individual freedom is in many ways a distinctly modern, western & democratic concept. Even in our own time, much of the world has little concept of personal or individual freedom. They understand themselves as part of a family, village, or tribe; as a member of a community of people where autonomous individuality is regarded as dangerous & a threat to the survival of the group. For much of history and a good part of the world, the idea that you would change your religion all on your own while everyone else believed in other gods was simply unthinkable. Conversion would enrage the old gods & so endanger your family & neighbors. This was something several Roman Emperors used as a reason for opposing Christianity.Some Christian missionaries realized the key to the conversion of these communal pagan peoples was to win the leader.  Because his choice was nearly always adopted by the entire tribe. To be sure, these missionaries understood salvation was an individual issue. But they knew the key to being able to work for individual salvations was to win the leader, who would in turn lead his people in a mass conversion. Then they could be free to work the faith into the lives of the people in a more intimate & personal way.The downside to mass conversion is obvious. Many who formally converted by being baptized, never went on to a real faith in Christ. They took the label of Christian without ever being genuinely converted. What made this especially troublesome was when it was the ruler who feigned conversion. Some did for purely pragmatic ends. Submitting to baptism often brought them political & economic gain. Mass conversions might make it easier for genuine converts to practice a new worldview, but it also imperiled the Faith because the unconverted brought with them old superstitions, blending them into Christianity in a syncretistic religious amalgam.This was the case with the Frank king Clovis. He went through the motions of conversion, but Jesus remained little more for him than a divine warlord.Gregory of Tours, who lived a century after Clovis, was his main biographer. Gregory says even after his conversion, Clovis used deceit, cunning, & treachery to expand his kingdom. He sent bribes to nobles and those responsible for protecting a rival king to betray him. He told another king's son if he killed his father, Clovis would support the son's ascent to the throne & make an alliance with him. The son did as Clovis hoped & killed his father. Clovis them promptly announced the son guilty of the heinous crimes of patricide & regicide &  took over his realm.As Dan Carlin likes to point out in his Hardcore History podcast-episode, Thor's Angels,  when you think of the Goths & the Franks of this time, think of a modern criminal biker gang. You're not far off the mark in what these Germanic barbarians were like; in both mindset & appearance. When Clovis submitted to baptism, all he did was trade in his black leather vest for a navy blue one.Among the barely converted Franks & other Germanic tribes, long-dead saints stepped in to replace their numerous deities. Each saint adopted a role the old gods had performed. St. Anthony took care of pigs, St. Gaul looked after hens, Apollonia cured toothaches, Genevieve cured fever, and St. Blaise soothed sore throats. For every human need the Germans posted a saint to take care of it.Many tales circulated about the miraculous powers of these saints. One told of 2 beggars, 1 lame, the other blind. They got caught up in a procession of the devoted who carried the relics of St. Martin. But these 2 beggars made their living off the alms of the pious & didn't want to be healed. Fearful lest they be cured by their proximity to the relics, they quickly struck a deal. The 1 who could see but not walk mounted the shoulders of the 1 who could walk but not see & they tried to exit the procession. They weren't able to get away quickly enough; both were healed. è Such stories were plentiful.As with Constantine the Great in the early 4th C, we can't be certain if Clovis' conversion was real or feigned. Certainly much of his behavior after his baptism is doubtful. But the political benefits of conversion were certainly not lost on him. Clovis was a man of huge ambition. He wanted to be more than a chieftain of the Franks.  He wanted to be king, a chief of chiefs. He knew he needed to distinguish himself among the many competing power centers in Western Europe. By joining the Roman Church he set himself apart from the other Germanic kings who were all Arian. This move secured the support of the Gaelic-Roman nobility throughout Gaul.Clovis was the first leader of the Franks to unite the tribes under one ruler, changing the leadership from a group of chieftains to rule by kings, ensuring the royal line was held by his heirs, known as the Merovingians.Not long after his baptism and the quick following by 3000 of his warriors, Clovis pressed other Frank nobles to convert & join the Roman church. He understood the religious unity of the kingdom was crucial in staving off assault, and to further campaigns to enlarge their borders. Wars of conquest became a means of “liberating other people from the error of Arianism.” And the church at Rome was not at all averse to having an armed force on its side.Clovis wasn't all that successful in expanding his borders south & east into the region of the Burgundians, but he was able to push the Visigoths out of Gaul, confining them in Spain. In the Battle of Vouille {Voo-yay}, the Visigothc King Alaric II was killed. In appreciation for his service in defeating the Visigoths, the Eastern Emperor Anastasius I declared Clovis Consul, a provocative title as it was reminiscent of ancient Roman leaders.Clovis made Paris the new capital of the Frank kingdom & built an abbey dedicated to Sts. Peter & Paul.Not long before he died, Clovis called the First Council of Orléans, a synod of 33 Gallic bishops. The goal was to reform the Church & forge an enduring link between the Crown and Church. The Council passed a little over 30 decrees that brought equality between the Frank conquerors and their Gallic subjects.Clovis died in the Fall of 511, leaving the kingdom to his 4 sons. Unlike Alexander the Great who made no provision for dividing his empire among his 4 generals, Clovis carved up Gaul into 4 regions, one for each son; Rheims, Orléans, Paris & Soissons. Clovis naively thought this would keep them content & result in peace. In truth, it ushered in a period of disunity which lasted to the end of the Merovingian dynasty in the mid-8th C.In Episode 37 we looked at the 5th C Irish missionary Patrick. The Irish had never been a part of the Roman Empire. Though they had frequent contact with Roman Britain, the Irish Celts were culturally, economically, & politically different. When the Roman army abandoned Britain as too costly & difficult to defend, the Church filled the vacuum. The spiritual outreach to Ireland was primarily the work of Patrick, who though British, planted a church in Ireland that remained independent of the Roman Catholic Church.Patrick understood the evangelistic dynamic of the Christian faith & discerned that it alone offered what the native Druids could not: Peace to a land troubled by constant tribal warfare. Patrick's strategy was to win the tribal leaders to Christ. Many local lords became Christians. Because of the way Celtic society was arranged, when rulers converted, so did those they ruled.Ireland was ripe for the message & offer of the Gospel. The religion practiced by the Druids was a brutal, demonic, religious terrorism that many of the common people were eager to cast off. The Gospel was about as OPPOSITE a message & offer from Druidism as one can imagine. There are estimates of as many as 100,000 genuine converts to Patrick's ministry.On the foundation of faith & church life Patrick laid, Finnian of Clonard built a pattern for Irish monasticism in the early 6th C.  Monasteries were founded all over Ireland. As they rose in number and prestige, the ecclesiastical organization Patrick established withered away. By the end of the 6th C the Irish church had become a church of monks. Abbots replaced bishops as the leaders of the Church. From the outset, Irish monks valued scholarship & an energetic spread of the Gospel.Interestingly, there's evidence that the missionary fervor that stands as one of Celtic Christianity's major traits may have been due to their system of penance. In an earlier episode we saw how the early church developed a view of repentance that included penance. The idea was that repentance needed to be demonstrated by some act showing contrition. The theology went like this: Repentance was a heart issue only God could see. But John the Baptist had said, “Bring forth fruit worthy of repentance.”  So, when people repented, their account before God was cleared. But how about restoring them to the Community of faith – fellowship in the Church? While man can't see the heart, he can see the actions that flow from that heart. Penance became a system of works people could perform that would mark repentance. It didn't take long before lists were made of what penance was due for what sins. One of the forms of penance Celtic Christians practiced was exile, banishment from their homes. Some of the intense missionary activity of the Celtic Christians was motivated by this form of penance.Irish scholar-monks ranged far and wide across Europe during the 6th & 7th Cs. This aggressive missionary activity of the Celtic Church eventually caused trouble since it remained independent from Rome. Churches started by Irish missionaries were often located in regions that later came under the control of Rome.In 636, south Ireland decided to fold their church community into the Roman Church. Then in 697, the church in Northern Ireland decided to follow suit. Though most of Celtic Christianity was eventually folded into Roman Catholicism, isolated communities scattered across Scotland, Wales & the British Isles continued their independence for many years.One of the Celtic-English missionaries who had a huge impact in Northern Europe was Boniface.Born Winfrid in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex in the early 670's, his family was prosperous and sent him to school at a monastery in Exeter. The life of the monks appealed to Winfrid & against his father's wishes, he decided to pursue a religious career. He showed a mastery of the Scriptures & great skill in teaching & organization, traits sought after in monastic life. For further training he moved to a Benedictine monastery in Hampshire. This monastery was led by a brilliant abbot who'd made it an industrious center of scholarship. Winfrid soon became a teacher in the monastery school & at the age of 30 was ordained as a priest. When the abbot died in 716, the logical choice to replace him was Winfrid. In a surprise move, he declined, and left for the region of Frisia, what today we know as The Netherlands.Winfrid had a passion to take the Gospel of Christ were it was yet to be planted. He'd heard of a similarly-minded missionary named Willibrord who worked in Frisia & needed help. They spent a year together but when war broke, both returned home.A year later, Winfrid went to Rome seeking an audience with Pope Gregory II. He shared his vision of seeing the Germanic tribes delivered from their Arian heresy into the Catholic faith. Gregory replied, “You glow with the salvation-bringing fire which our Lord came to send upon the earth.”The Pope renamed him ‘Boniface' after the 4th C martyr Boniface of Tarsus, & appointed him as the missionary bishop for Germania. This meant Boniface was a bishop without a diocese. The realm of his ministry had no churches. It was up to him to carry the light of Christ to the superstitious Germanic tribes. Boniface never returned to England.He focused his work in the regions of Hesse & Thuringia, leading thousands to Christ. He planted scores of churches.While the Germans were nominally Arian, entire regions were in reality still pagan, worshiping the ancient German gods and practicing superstitious rites. Boniface found some supposedly Christian missionaries as he made his way through Germany but they espoused heresy. It was little wonder they'd had little impact. When he confronted them, they resisted. So Boniface had them arrested & confined. He soon gained a reputation for being stern & determined.One story from Boniface's career is legendary. Whether or not it's factual is unknown. It's certainly not difficult to believe that a man who would go to Rome & ask for permission to single-handedly carry the Gospel to heretics & pagans might do something like what we're about to hear.The story goes that Boniface went to Geismar in Hesse where the Donar or Thor's Oak stood. As was common for Germans, they considered trees and forests to hold great spiritual power. Thor, god of thunder, was the chief deity in their pantheon.  The Donar Oak was dedicated to his power and glory. Boniface knew there was no Thor & that there'd be no backlash if he chopped down a tree. Some Germans might protest & take it on themselves to defend Thor's honor. So Boniface called them to gather round, then set them this challenge—let Thor, that mighty god of thunder, defend his tree himself. Certainly a god as great as the god of thunder could deal with a puny little Christian priest. Unless, à there was no Thor & the Christian faith was true. Boniface lifted his axe and began to strike. No lightening followed. No thunder shook the ground. But according to his early biographer Willibald, after Boniface had taken a dozen or so swings at the oak, a strong wind kicked up that knocked it over. It fell & broke into 4 pieces, revealing that it was in fact rotten. The message was clear; the old ways were like that rotten oak. The people were stunned and as though being released from a prison in which they'd long been held, renounced their belief in the old gods & in-mass converted to Christianity. Boniface used the wood from Donar's Oak to build a church.His skill in administration brought a remarkable level of organization to the now rapidly growing German church. In 732 he was made archbishop over Germany. He worked for an educated, disciplined, & pure clergy; something he knew in other part of the Europe was not the case. He tolerated neither laziness nor incompetency among clerics & purged the lingering rites of German paganism from church rituals. The syncretism that had been adopted in many other places, whereby pagans rites were absorbed into church traditions, was not something Boniface allowed. Using missionary volunteers from England, many of whom were women, he advanced organization and structure in the German church and filled it with zeal for obedience, service, and outreach.Along with his administrative and missionary work, Boniface built monasteries throughout Germany. The most influential was at Fulda, the geographical center of Germany.No church councils had been held in the Frankish realm for decades before his arrival. Boniface convened 5 of them between 742 and 747. At his urging these Councils adopted strict regulations for clergy and condemned local heretics.Boniface was a Benedictine monk. The Benedictines emphasized poverty, moral purity, & obedience to Christ. Benedict's Rule was the norm for monasteries throughout Europe at that time. They were places of worship, devotion, prayer, & scholarship—oases of culture & civilization in the midst of godlessness. Monks copied Scriptures and early Christian literature. Monasteries were about the only educational centers during the medieval period. Had it not been for them, there would have been no Renaissance. The monasteries are where all the learning was kept that formed the intellectual base the Renaissance came from. Sadly, over the centuries, many monasteries forsook their spiritual roots & became places of immorality & corruption. Those Boniface founded for the most part remained places of education, hospitality, & missionary outreach.Boniface understood all his work could turn to naught if war came. So he worked to nurture peaceful relations between the Franks, Germanic tribes & the Church. He was crucial in negotiating a treaty between the Pope & the Frank king Pepin that would eventually grow into a powerful church-state alliance later in the Middle Ages.After years of ministry in Central Germany, Boniface again felt Frisia in the North calling him. This was the place where he'd first tried his hand in missionary work. Now, in his late 70's, he resigned his post as the archbishop of Mainz [Mines] to head north once again. He and his followers roamed the countryside destroying pagan shrines, building churches, & baptizing thousands.A group of new converts was supposed to meet Boniface & his 52 companions at Dorkum. While Boniface waited for them, a band of outlaws arrived. In his earlier travels, Boniface went with an armed guard commissioned by the Frank ruler. Now he was in a realm beyond Frank control. At the first council he'd called years before, he'd pressed to disallow the clergy from carrying arms. All he had to defend himself was the large wood-covered book he was reading. He wielded it as a shield. As he batted away the thrusts of the outlaws trying to stab him, I wonder if he regretted his previous position. A book makes a poor shield, even if its cover is quarter-inch thick. Boniface & his entire party were slaughtered there on the shore of a river. When the converts arrived to meet up with him, they found his body, & next to it lay a copy of Ambrose's à The Advantage of Death, with deep slashes in it. The book is on display in Fulda.

Have you noticed that, generally-speaking, Christians like to argue?Maybe we get it from our spiritual ancestors, the Jews. Once while on a tour of Jerusalem at what are called the Southern Steps of the Temple Mount, our Jewish guide told us that a frequent joke among his people was that where there are 2 Jews, there's 3 opinions.Yeah; it seems controversy has been a part of the history of The Church since its inception. And maybe that's really more a “human” tendency than something unique to, or the sole prerogative of the followers of Jesus.In this 4th episode on the The First Centuries of the Church, we're taking a look at an acrimonious debate that split the Church into warring camps before the end of the 2nd C. Even while facing the pressure of persecution from without, believers decided to spin up their own internal stress.Surely: If Christians were going to draw lines and take sides while being battered by a world of hostile pagans, what they argued over must have been super-important, right? I mean, we must be dealing with some critical issue of theology; an essential of the faith!Well, they certainly thought it was important. We, on the other hand probably DON'T find it that crucial. It all had to do with the timing of Easter. Yep: They went to town on when to commemorate the death & resurrection of Jesus.As we examine this, I could go into the minutiae of detailed terminology and the fine nuances theological musings that under-pinned the different positions taken at that time. I'm not going to do that for this reason à It would bore the bejeebers out of nearly everyone, and, I'd be mouthing stuff I don't understand. BUT: by saying it, some might assume I do, and that would make me appear way, way smarter than I in fact am. That would be misleading. Honestly, as I read & researched this episode, I found I had to re-read numerous passages, several times, and only then conclude, “Uhh, I'm never going to understand that. Can someone please draw a picture; an illustration so my puny noggin can grasp that?”Ha! One of the marks of greatness as a teacher is the ability to take complex ideas and make them accessible to those of average intellectual capacity. So, it's been interesting over the years to read & research. When I find material that's verbose but after reading it, I find I'm no closer to grasping it than when I began, I've come to realize it's less about my incapacity as it is the writer's inability to communicate. It's rare that I read material that isn't pitched to what we'd call a general audience. I expect technical jargon and a bit of the opaque when reading something the author assumed would be read by a set of professional peers.And I say all that to share that when studying the early Easter Controversies, several of the authorities write of it in such a complicated manner, it makes me wonder if they grasped the material they recorded. Other authors admit handling this subject is a challenge. While we have some names and dates, parsing the subtlety of the debate is inordinately difficult.So, there's no way I'm going to shed light on the real crux of this issue. What I WILL do, is simply share a brief narrative of events as best we know it, and attempt to sort through the major themes.While the first record we have of a discussion on the issue of when to commemorate Easter dates to AD 150, that it DOES arise at that time, means it was something that was already at play in the life of the Church. Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna in Asia Minor, visited Anicetus [Ah-nee-kee-tohs] the bishop of Rome. As they shared, the issue of when to celebrate Easter arose. The Church in Asia Minor, that is, all those churches Jesus sent letters to in Revelation 2&3 as well as dozens of other fellowship lcaoted across the region, commemorated the Last Supper on the 14th of Jewish month of Nisan, the same date as the Jewish Passover, & Jesus' resurrection two days later, regardless of the day of the week. The Roman church was committed to commemorating Jesus' Resurrection on a Sunday. While the two church leaders discussed the merits of their positions, neither persuaded the other and parted, literally, agreeing to disagree.We have an interesting account of the dispute from Polycarp's pupil, Irenæus. 2When the blessed Polycarp sojourned at Rome in the days of Anicetus, and they had some little difference of opinion likewise with regard to other points, they forthwith came to a peaceable understanding on the [observance of Easter], having no love for mutual disputes. For neither could Anicetus persuade Polycarp not to observe inasmuch as [Polycarp] had always observed with John, the disciple of our Lord, and the other apostles, with whom he had associated; nor did Polycarp persuade Anicetus to observe who said that he was bound to maintain the custom of the [elders] before him. These things being so, they communed together; and in the church Anicetus yielded to Polycarp, out of respect no doubt, the celebration of the eucharist, and they separated from each other in peace, all the church being at peace, both those that observed and those that did not observe [the 14th of Nisan], maintaining peace.”Irenaeus' account proves Christians at the time of Polycarp knew how to keep the unity of the Spirit without requiring uniformity of ritual. Later in the same letter, Irenaeus goes so far as to laud this when he writes, “The difference in our [ways of] fasting, establishes the unanimity in our faith.”Eastern churches, followed a Jewish chronology, adhering to the authority of the Apostles John and Philip. They celebrated a Christian Passover on the same day as the Jewish Passover, the 14th of Nisan, which of course, could fall on any day of the week. They did this by keeping a fast which ended by sharing a meal & taking communion in the evening. Because we love labeling people according to all kinds of things, these Eastern, Asian Christians came to be called 14th-ers, but that doesn't sound very sophisticated, so they picked the latin Equivalent è Quartadecimanians. A little long to put on a team jersey, so I'm sure their more popular name was something like, “Quartas” or “Decamins.” Though the church at Rome followed a different calendar for commemorating Easter, the Quartadecimanian observance was most likely the oldest and accorded with the Synoptic Gospels  account of Jesus' last Passover, which it commemorated.The Roman church also appealed to custom and perennially celebrated Jesus' death on a Friday, the day of the week it was reckoned to have originally occurred, with His resurrection always on a Sunday after the March full moon.Nearly all Western churches agreed with Rome, and laid heavy stress on commemorating Jesus' resurrection on a Sunday. The Roman practice created an entire week of solemn fasting, ending with a feast celebrating the Resurrection while the Asiatic practice ended their fast in the evening of the 14th of Nisan, which might fall several days before Sunday.So, in short, the Eastern Church was more concerned to line up their commemoration of Jesus' death & resurrection with the Jewish Passover on the 14th of Nisan, regardless of what day of the week it fell on. The Western Church was all about keeping the commemoration of Jesus' death on a Friday and His resurrection on a Sunday.It was a controversy over a date in the month versus a day of the week.Heavy stuff. Break out the knives!The debate eventually settled in around the idea of how closely the Christian commemoration of Jesus' death & resurrection ought to be tied to the Jewish Passover. That was a no-brainer to the first Christians who as Jews continued to keep the Passover, though they saw it now as prophetic of, and fulfilled by Christ, the ultimate Passover lamb who takes away the sins of the world. But The Church became primarily Gentile in make-up, then hostility grew between Jews & Gentiles, Christians had no qualms of stepping away form its Jewish connections. On the contrary, some argued against the Quartadecimanians for precisely that reason. They wanted to expunge the Faith from any and all taint of Judaism.But the Johannean tradition dominant in Asia represented a clinging to historical precedent and had the advantage of an immovable Easter, without being Judaizing in anything but the observance of a fixed day of the month. The Roman practice seemed to stand for freedom and discretion with an independent festival schedule. Looked at another way, the Eastern practice leaned heavily toward commemorating Jesus' death, while the West placed the emphasis on His resurrection.As I prepare this episode, I've just finished the message for this coming Sunday out of Mark 7 where Jesus was challenged by His critics over questions of ritualistic tradition. So I can't help but analyze all this from what He said there. It seems clear to me that far more than questions of doctrine, Church leaders were consumed in these Easter Controversies with the dogmatic and ritualistic; with traditions far more about man-made rules than what God's Word said. Truth be told – where in any of Jesus' teaching, the Book of Acts, or in the letters of the NT do we see the Church being called on to commemorate Jesus' death & resurrection once a year? What we have is His command to celebrate the Lord's Supper, Communion, Eucharist, or whatever other label it goes by in the various movements of the Faith. But few and far between are those who think that means ONLY a once-annual event called Easter. Considering how acrimonious the whole argument got, with some coming to outright blows, we have to conclude the whole thing grieved God.Still, considering it purely historically, and remembering to evaluate things based not on our values, but those of the time, the controversy was fueled mostly from a profound awareness that everyone who called themselves a Christian ought to believe the same thing. That title catholic really meant something.Remember, the word means “universal” and long before it was used to describe a major branch of the Church and was modified by the term “Roman,” it simply meant what all Christians believed and practiced – as opposed to the schismatics who'd moved into error and broken away.Church leaders all owned the priority to maintain unity and to root out what they deemed divisive. So they regarded it as crucial to make sure everyone kept the commemoration of Jesus' death & resurrection on the same day. Heaven forbid that some people would be fasting in honor of His death at the same time others were feasting in celebration of His resurrection!And because of this, the Roman tradition eventually triumphed. Easter became a movable holiday whose date varies from the end of March to the latter in April.It was the first major church council at Nicea in 325 that the date for Easter was finally fixed. The Council condemned Quartodecimans as schismatics. Not heretics mind you – just schismatics. While a heretic has rejected the Faith and so is lost, a schismatic is going to heaven, but errors on an important point of doctrine. Not essential doctrine, but important enough they have to be put out of Communion with The Church.We'll end this episode by briefly say while the Council of Nicea effectively ended the Easer Controversy on the Continent, the Celtic Church in Britain refused to knuckle under and kept their own counsel regarding when to celebrate the death & resurrection of Christ. While ancient church leaders would likely argue the point, modern historians tend to see the Celtic position as more about the assertion of their independence than out of some dearly held belief of when & how to keep Easter.

Timothy talks with Brother Richard, a Franciscan monk, about various aspects of The Other as approached from a Christian contemplative tradition. Brother Richard talks about dealing with various kinds of paranormal entities; the vast and varied ecosystem of spirits; the early Celtic Church; the fae; folk saints; folk healing practices; intention and imagination as regards the paranormal; and much more. If you would like to help us continue to make Strange Familiars, get bonus content, t-shirts, stickers, and more rewards, you can become a patron: http://www.patreon.com/StrangeFamiliarsIf you would prefer a one-time payment to help us out, here is a PayPal.me link - you can change the number 25 in the URL to any amount: https://www.paypal.me/timothyrenner/25NEW! Strange Familiars ‘Awoken Tree’ t-shirts are available in our Etsy shop: https://www.etsy.com/listing/739690857/strange-familiars-podcast-awoken-treeCheck out the Strange Familiars ebay store: https://www.ebay.com/str/strangefamiliarsStrange Familiars t-shirts and other designs are available here: https://www.teepublic.com/user/darkhollerartsEpisode 131 notes and links:Timothy’s books: https://www.amazon.com/Timothy-Renner/e/B072X44SD5Our Lost Grave etsy shop has art, books, patches, and more ... including original art done for Strange Familiars: https://www.etsy.com/shop/lostgraveAlison: https://www.etsy.com/shop/odpeacockChad’s YouTube channel where you can see some videos of Pandemonium, the dynamite shack and more: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNB7MSJ2F1SRBPcQsEFLnvg (make sure to subscribe to Chad’s channel, Ruck Rabbit Outdoors.)Contact us via email at: strangefamiliarspodcast@gmail.comhttp://www.facebook.com/strangefamiliarsJoin the Strange Familiars Gathering group on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/strangefamiliars/instagram: @strangefamiliarshttp://www.strangefamiliars.comIntro and background music by Stone Breath. You can find more at http://stonebreath.bandcamp.comThe closing song is The Blessed of the Holy Trees by The Forest Beggars. It is available on the bonus CD which comes with Stone Breath’s The Shepherdess and the Bone-White Bird CD. You can find the CD here: https://stonebreath.bandcamp.com/album/the-shepherdess-and-the-bone-white-birdSupport this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/strange-familiars/donationsWant to advertise on this podcast? Go to https://redcircle.com/brands and sign up.