What is the difference between celtic christianity and roman christianity

The Celtic church uses Christianity to make a better community. This is not saying that one way is better than the other. They both had their own ideas on how to believe. Patrick was the main force behind Christianizing Ireland. Patrick believed in educating people, and tried to teach as many Continue reading this essay Continue reading.

Toggle navigation MegaEssays. Saved Essays. Topics in Paper. Example Essays. At the time, Ireland had many small independent kingdoms, Saint Patrick describes going around preaching to each kingdom individually. It was much easier to convert larger political entities, where if the king accepted the new faith, he would bring the nobility with him, and so on.

In Ireland, this process took many small acts of evangelism rather than a few large ones. At some point in the early 5 th century, other missionaries brought the monastic movement to Ireland, possibly from both southwestern Scotland and Wales. The decentralized nature of monastic churches fits very well with the Irish political landscape.

Christianity in Ireland was thus solidly grounded, thoroughly integrated into the life of the country, but not organized along the kinds of hierarchical lines that would be more typical on the European mainland. The first people to bring Christianity to Ireland may have been Christian slaves who were brought to Ireland against their will. Another possibility is that the Irish who were extending their links into England encountered Christianity and brought it back with them.

Saint Patrick was a Romano-British youth. He was captured by Irish raiders and brought to Ireland as a slave. He served his master for six years, tending sheep, probably in the northern part of Ireland. Ireland had many small independent kingdoms, unlike the larger kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon rulers. Thus, Saint Patrick had to visit each kingdom in turn to preach, which was a lot of hard work.

By Jennifer Paxton, Ph. A look at the modern world with regards to Christian missions reveals the clear divide between this Celtic Christianity and Roman Catholic Christianity. This divide is different than the Protestant-Catholic divide, culturally and in some ways, politically. The divide between Celtic and Roman Christianity has to do with a style of life and a style of administrative handling of faith.

Celtic Christianity became characterized by two prevailing trends: monasticism and evangelism. From the Celtic regions of Europe sprung forth missionaries and monks alike. Such is seen in the legacy of the Celtic churches which now are prevalent in church congregations throughout North America, China, and parts of Africa today. These congregations often lack the central organizational structure which still exists in the Roman Catholic Church, yet are very outward in their scope in terms of growth.

Differently, the legacy of the Roman Catholic church, seen strongest in places such as Latin America, is characterized by a continuation of rigid church structure and spread of the church through the planting of priests, rather than individualized evangelism. Through this model the fervor for the church seen in some cases from Celtic origins, is not present. And as seen with recent events and perpetuation of violence and societal distress in Latin America, the church as an institution for defining life may be fading away into a cultural backdrop, as it did in the case areas of the Roman Empire.

Unquestionably, and readily apparent through the scattered and varied nature of this letter, the study of Christian church history takes on a dynamic, ever changing character.