Lately I have been reading about Celtic Christian Spirituality, a rich tradition which arose in the first millennium as a fusion between Christianity (think St Patrick of Ireland fame) and a creation centred belief in the countries that spoke various versions of Celtic languages (think Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Cornwall, Brittany, and the Isle of man).
We need to re-think the image of God as a super-being high in the sky and try to relate to God as Holy Mystery, and as even more that we can ask or imagine. Our human languages cannot begin to define such a mystery.
Over time, Celtic Christian Spirituality developed a distinct view of God, God’s purpose, creation and the place of humankind in creation—views that are part of the history of the church, but isolated geographically from Western theology.
For example, the Celtic tradition rejects Augustine’s 4th century notion of original sin which declared that babies who died without baptism would not enter heaven.. and that God became human in Jesus so that he would die to atone for, pay for, the sins of humanity (past, present, and future).
The Celts believe that God became human in Jesus to show us what being truly human would look like.
There is much more depth to the Celtic tradition particularly rooted in creation and humankind as part of nature. The world is of God, and the world is of Christ and God is both the origin and destination.
And these ideas tie closely to our reading today from Acts chapter 17 which quotes Paul saying: ‘In God we live and move and have our being…for we are God’s offspring’. To put this another way is to say that God lives in us as we live in God.
I think if we embrace the idea of God within, that each part of creation bears a divine spark, there can be significant implications for our spiritual life and the life of all creation.
However, the traditional Christian image of God is as a being ‘above us’ as in God above, man below. This historical image permeates our worship, song, and prayers and has done so for some 2,000 years. The concept of a three-tiered universe (such as is present in much of the Old Testament) is there in the ancient creeds we often recite. It is there in the hierarchical structures of order and authority in the church. It is there in the architectural design of churches new and old.
I think we are poorer for not having embraced a deeper image of the Holy based on that thought that we live and move and have our being in God because God lives in us and all of creation.
For example, a common translation of an important part of Genesis says that man will have dominion over the earth. This would infer that humanity is separate from nature rather than part of nature as affirmed by modern science; that humanity is lord over all creatures, and the water, earth and sky. For over 300 years, good folks of the churches in England and Europe justified slavery and prospered based on the premiss that the people of Africa were sub-human, animals, not equal in any way to those who would enslave them. A better translation of Genesis would call humankind to be the stewards/caretakers of all of God’s creation.
This re-thinking of the image of God was left to the mystics who were often cast aside by the church. Here, I think of Julian of Norwich, Hildegard of Bingen, and Meister Eckhart as well as people of this day such as Matthew Fox, Thomas Merton, and Marcus Borg.
We need to re-think the image of God as a super-being high in the sky and try to relate to God as Holy Mystery, and as even more that we can ask or imagine. Our human languages cannot begin to define such a mystery.