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Christ of the Celts: The Healing of Creation | 
 enlarge | Author: J. Philip Newell
Publisher: Jossey-Bass
Category: Book
List Price: $19.95
Buy New: $10.89
You Save: $9.06 (45%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 28742
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 160
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8.4 x 5.6 x 0.8
ISBN: 0470183500
Dewey Decimal Number: 230.089916
EAN: 9780470183502
ASIN: 0470183500
Publication Date: May 16, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand New, Perfect Condition, Please allow 4-14 business days for delivery. 100% Money Back Guarantee, Over 1,000,000 customers served.
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Product Description
Christ of the Celts
"I explore the Celtic image of Christ as the Memory of what we have forgotten. He remembers the dance of the universe and the harmony that is deep within all things. He is the Memory also of who we are."
--from the Prelude
"Diagnosing the human soul with a longing for peace in the face of fear and fragmentation nurtured by global political forces and fundamentalisms, Newell offers the ancient traditions of Celtic Christianity as a way forward in healing humankind and the earth."
--Publishers Weekly
"This graceful, wise, and important book is a superb introduction to the treasures of Celtic Christianity for our time."
--Marcus Borg, author, The Heart of Christianity
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| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
 Mostly metaphors September 17, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I liked Listening for the Heartbeat of God far better than this work. In Christ of the Celts, Newell makes God to look like what he wants humanity to look like. The metaphorical language quickly becomes laborious, and leads to sentimentalism, in my opinion. It's simply vague metaphor after metaphor until the vision of Christ he creates is far more cloudy than clear. This work is full of abstract ideas and words that the author uses to validate his viewpoints. It's heavy on emotion and wanting for balanced perspective. For example, Newell's criticism of Christianty as influenced by the Roman empire does not give due justice to the many branches and traditions of the Christian faith that have developed since the fourth century (including many of the Protestant descendants of the Reformation) - who take very seriously the call to safeguard truth.
Newell villainizes the impact of the Roman Empire, and though correcting the romanticized view of Western historical influence is important, the author seems to write off centuries of sincere and faithful Christian thinkers, and relegate them to pawns of the power-obsessed Roman ("Western") worldview. I'm sorry, but I simply will not buy that the "Christ of the Celts" is diametrically opposed to the Christ of the Apostle Paul, or that Celtic theology is irreconcilable with orthodox Christianity as defended for the last 1500 years - and more to be honest, for the books of the Bible are older than the non-biblical sources Newell cites, and their teachings confirm many of the ideas he tries to dismiss. The book has a pretty cover, though ... but you know what the old saying is about a book and its cover...
Christ of the Celts- Which Celts? July 25, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I basically like Newell's book, and agree that the Celtic vision he evokes answers some deep longings in the post-modern cultural-religious desert we all wander in. Sometimes I found myself a little annoyed when Newell is clearly working out his Presbyterian religious issues assuming them to be universally shared by other Christians, and by a de-valuing of the vitality of the Catholic vision and experience and especially the sacrementality which the reformed tradition is now reclaiming. That there once was a historic Celtic church that identified itself as distinct from the Catholic communion, and was crushed by the nefarious forces of Rome is a Protestant fantasy. Certainly,there was in the Celtic lands a local church with distinctive Celtic customs and emphases in spirituality, but Newell's rhetoric over-reaches the historical realities. Also, he simplifies the conflict between Augustine and Pelagius, overplaying the dark sides of the late Augustine, and failing to point out the problems in Pelagius' de-emphasis on grace in the human equation. But enough kvetching! This is a pretty good book, an excellent introduction to Celtic Christian spirituality. John Hayes
 A Trustworthy Guide For These Turbulent Times June 21, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Review of "Christ of the Celts," by J. Philip Newell, Jossey-Bass, 2008
This book is much more than an introduction to the treasures of Celtic Christianity for our time. It is a response to what the author and many others see as a deep longing for peace in the world among nations and peoples today, a longing against which are ranged forces of fear and fragmentation "that are wedded to the mightiest political powers and religious fundamentalisms of the world today." A scholar of Celtic Christianity, Newell presents its unifying vision of a harmony that is at the core of all life, and its vision of Jesus of Nazareth as a unifying figure for today, a figure that has been controlled and obscured by the official Church from the fourth century on. Jesus and his ministry, Newell says, is not the property of the Church; he belongs to the world, to every religious tradition. He speaks to everyone, just as he spoke to everyone during the very brief career of what he regarded as his ministry, to heal the sick, free the downtrodden and oppressed, and turn the political and religious powers on its collective head, not by force, but by revealing how they systematically oppress the needy by exerting control over whom they regard as their "subjects". Newell documents this process very well within the history of Christianity, which moved away from a free-spirited "people of the Way" and into a tightly-controlled, imperially modeled hierarchy that robbed people of their freedom and their self-confidence, and punishing those who maintained a point of view more in line with that of Jesus, who preached and lived unity and loving-kindness.
It is high time for a change, and Newell's beautiful book is a clarion call for a more open and unifying spirit within Christianity and between people of all faiths. He is not alone here, and it is high time: Walter Wink ("The Human Being"), Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer ("Jesus Against Christianity", "Saving Christianity From Empire" and "Is Religion Killing Us?"), Philip Gulley and James Mulholland ("If Grace Is True: Why God Will Save Every Person") join him, as do Desmond Tutu, Thich Nhat Hanh, the Dalai Lama, and many, many others from across and beyond the religious spectrum. It is time that we listen to these people as guides for our future and the future of our world. It is way past high time for us to ignore and repudiate those who call for division, specialness, violence, resentment and hatred.
"Christ of the Celts" is a very important companion for anyone who seeks to live a more loving, compassionate and realistic life in these turbulent times.
It is not, however, going to be warmly received by the fundamentalist community, who are likely to regard it as another in a long line of heretical texts, and who miss the point of Jesus' ministry entirely.
Christ of the Celts June 9, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Phillip Newell is one of my favorite writers. He has the ability to bring together the ideas in a way that is easy to understand, clear even when somewhat complicated, and beautiful.
the memory of the song June 8, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Newell manages to build a bridge for me between the natural world of Celtic religion and the structured liturgy of my Anglican faith. This book has opened my eyes and heart to a fuller understanding of creation and our place within it. Some parts puzzle me, which is good because it sends me seeking for more answers, but mostly this book has answered many questions for me. I'm on my second read through and will probably read it many more times before I'm through. A truly heartwarming, uplifting and challenging read.
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