Author: Howard, Michael.

This fascinating book traces the history and development of Celtic Paganism and Celtic Christianity in the British Isles, including Ireland, from the Iron Age up to the present day. It also studies the transition between the old pagan religions and Christianity and how the early Church both struggled with and later absorbed the earlier forms of spirituality it encountered. The arrival of the Roman Catholic Church in England in the 6th century, with St. Augustine, how this affected the Celtic Church, its suppression by the Roman Church and the resulting effect on Church history and theology during the later Middle Ages is discussed in depth. The influence of Celtic Christianity on the Arthurian legends and the Grail romances is explored as well as surviving traditions of Celtic bardism in the medieval period. The conclusion of the book covers the interest in Celtic Christianity today. How, despite attempts to eradicate it from the pages of clerical history, its ideas and ideals have managed to survive and are now influencing New Age concepts and are relevant to the critical debate about the future of the modern church. A fascinating and thought provoking book.