2. Pattern in Europe
• History of Christianity:
• 1st Century spread to Jews in Palestine
• 2nd Century: Missionaries eg Paul spread it to
gentiles and others across the Roman Empire.
• Evidence that it reached Britian and it is
possible some Celtic Irish heard about Jesus at
this time
3. Emperor Diocleation 285-305
• Spain: Reports of Martyrdom and persecution
of Christians in 303
• Bede a monk writing in the eight century
suggested that the martyrs of St. Alban in
Britain due to Diocleation Persecutions
4. Emperor Constaintine
• 311: gave Christians the rights to worship and
build churches
• 313: Edict of Milan: granted full freedom to
Christian Worship.
6. Evidence of Christian Structure
• Gaul: several Dioceses sent bishops to council
of Arles
• Britian : 3 bishops from London sent to
Council of Arles
• Spain: several bishops to Council of Arles
• By end of the fourth century church was
established in Britain with priest,deacons and
bishops.
7. Church Buildings
• Designed on the structure of large Basilicas
( Civic buildings used for public meetings and
law courts) rather than Roman Temples
• Decorated with mosaics and coloured glass
did not use statues as roman temples were
full of statutes of Pagan Gods
• Nave, 2 side aisles, Altar and main door.
8. Main Characteristics of
Christianity
• 1. Predominance of disputes about matters of
doctrine and belief
• Libyan Priest Arius stated son of God did not
exist: Council of Nicaea in 325: Arius
condemned and the Nicene Creed adopted by
Britain and Gaul: Key Beliefs of Christian Faith
9. Main Characteristics of
Christianity
• 2.Inculturation of Christianity into Celtic
Ireland
• Ireland was steeped in Celtic tradition and
beliefs. People met at sacred hills, rivers and
wells to worship their Gods.
• Sacred times of the year :Samhain Lughnasa
• Q arose do you demolish or adopt these
practises
10. Main Characteristics of
Christianity
Pope Gregory sent missionaries to Britain and told
them to incorporate Christian practises in the
existing Pagan Practises.
St. Patrick adopted this approach in converting
pagans to Christianity in Ireland.
Inculturation: dynamic of trying to convert pagan
Ireland to Christianity.
11. Examples of Inculturation
• 1. Croagh Patrick
• Christianity: Reek Sunday: Last Sunday in July,
Pilgrims climb to the summit know as
Domhnach Chrom Dubh. It is regarded as a
penitence for wrong doing, a place where the
darkness in a persons life can be overcome
12. Croagh Patrick:Celtic Tradition
• Festival of Lughnasa : Proper day to climb the
mountain is Friday or Chrom Dubh (Aoine
Chrom Dubh) also referred to as Ceann
Cruaich who was a pagan harvest God who
could be placated with the sacrifice of a first
born animal or child
13. Inculturation
• Story that Maigh Sleacht Pagan Idol stood in
gold surrouned by 12 stone idols on the hill.
St. Patrick approaches to put the staffof Jesus
in his hand. The Idol moved towards Tara and
the mark of the staff was on the left side of
the Idol even though St. Patrick never touched
him,he banished the Idol and all the others to
hell with a bell, that was used in the
pilgrimage up till 19th Century
14. Samhain and the Christianity
• Celtic Tradition: SAMHAIN IS THE BEGINNING
OF THE Celtic Year, Bonfires are lit to
encourage the sun to keep shining through
the long winter.
• It was a time when the dead were believed to
be present and the door between the spiritual
world and this world was open
15. Christian Festival of all Souls and
Saints
• Was a feast day of All Saints that used to be
celebrated in Spring time in the Eastern
Church
• Missionaries to Ireland decided that they
would incorporate it with the Pagan Festival
of Samhain as many of the readings are
dealing with the relationship between the
spiritual world and this world and the passing
of the dead to the next world
16. Characteristics of Irish Christianity
• Two main characteristics of Irish Christianity:
• Monastic Art
• Irish Penitentials
17. Monastic System
•
•
•
•
•
First Monasteries to be set up in Ireland were:
Clonmacnoise
Glendalough
monks dedicated their time and talents to God.
Monasteries were places of great discipline, Study
and work
• A scriptorium was where monks carried out the
detailed work of recreating/copying Biblical Texts
18. Monastic Art
• The copying of biblical text was a demanding
job, they had to be accurate and perfect. As
the bible was held in such reverence by monks
they dedicated their lives to outlining the
Pages and the reproductions became more
then just simple texts but works of art.
19. Examples
• The Book of Durrow (7th century) is visually
striking because of its use of colour and
lavishly decorated capitals. Entire pages are
dedicated to the symbols of the Gospel
writers.
20. Examples
• Book of Kells
• 9th century, contains the 4 gospels
• Some capitals are so decorative take over an
entire page
• Most significant is that it is able to convey
through picture and colour meaning of the
text
• Important as most people of the time were
illiterate. (SEE PAGE)
21. High Crosses
• Another example of monastic art
• Earliest examples: simple in design: central
pillar and a crossbeam carved in stone
• Later Examples: Celtic high cross, gradually
became more ornate, series of panels
depicting Biblical Scenes conveyed the story of
the Christian faith to those who were
illiterate.
23. Penitentials
• Special book used during confession
• In the early Christian church act of confessing ones
sins often led to a severe form of penance.
• It was believed that sin effected the whole
community so penance needed to be performed in
public
• Penance could only be done once in a lifetime and
included punishments like: Prohibition to marry,
become a cleric or military service. Most people left
it till the end of their lifetime to repent.
24. Penitentials
• This system was unsatisfactory and by the 6th
century a new form penance was developed
based on monastic practices.
• Monks had regular spiritual direction and
penance for sins that they accuses themselves
of. This was adapted for the laity to a private
form of penance in which public punishment
was no longer required.
25. Penitentials
• Penance for sin was now on a graded basis
and only for a limited duration so the process
could be repeated.
• The grading of the penance And the
appropriate penance to give were outlined for
priests in a book known as the penitentials.
