Long before Christianity was divided into splinter groups, there was the old catholic Church. Each locality had a church, and each church had its bishop who superintended their spiritual life. All churches and all bishops stood on equal footing with one another. For they were all direct recipients of the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the Apostles.
Each locality applied the Sacred Scriptures to their unique cultures. And from that effort, four great branches of Christianity developed: Asian, Greek, Latin and Celtic.
The Asian branch represented the Aramaic and Parthian perspective, which developed into the “Church of the East”. It was later called the Nestorian Church. This great church evangelized the Asian world (including China) and gave us the Peshitta – the Textus Receptus in the language spoken by our Lord.
The Greek branch developed in the Hellenistic world which later became the Byzantine Empire. Most of the great Church Fathers came from this branch. They were responsible for formulating the early Creeds of Christianity. Russian Christianity shares a heritage in this branch of Christianity.
The Latin branch originated in North Africa and later rooted in southern Europe. The Roman Catholic Church and many Protestant denominations have come from this branch. It became the Classical expression of Christianity during the Middle Ages.
The Celtic branch of Christianity has been the minority branch within Latin Christianity for the last one thousand years. But during the first one thousand years of the Christian era, it was the dominant branch in northern Europe and the British Isles. It was responsible for the survival of Christianity and of general knowledge during the barbarian invasions following the collapse of the Roman Empire.
Celtic Christianity represented the interaction of the Druids with the teachings of the Bible. It was responsible for the unique personal consciousness, love of liberty, and the curiosity of Western man.
THE CAMBRIAN CHURCH
The Church of Cambria was the fountainhead of Celtic Christianity from the time of the Apostles and for many centuries thereafter. This was the logical result of the fact that Cambria had also been the center of Druidism. Converted Druids became the leading bishops of the Celtic world.
During the early Middle Ages, the Cambrian Church formed the core of the resistance to the dictatorial tendencies of the Roman Popes. During the late Middle Ages and the early Modern Era, its spiritual heirs continued that resistance against the entire edifice of Latin Christianity, whether Roman Catholic or Protestant. Today, the Cambrian Church is in “diaspora”, especially in America. That means it was scattered, much like the Jews were scattered in ancient times. While Wales is the Cambrian homeland, Wales, like Palestine, is only a shadow of its glorious past. America has become its most recent refuge.
Institutionally, the Cambrian Church was absorbed by the Anglican Church. But spiritually, it survived in the various Protestant sects which came to America. Roger Williams and Thomas Jefferson were seekers and neophyte spokesmen for its tradition. Non-sectarian churches, Christian libertarians, mystics and familists, although unconscious of their heritage, nevertheless, reflect the influence of Celtic Christianity today.
If you too are a truth-seeker and lover of the “Word made flesh”, you may be hearing the call of your spiritual ancestry. If you are tired of organized religion and want to connect with a free, yet historic church with Apostolic foundations, then consider further this Celtic Church.
DRUIDIC ORIGINS
Proponents of modern witchcraft, Wiccan religion, and New Age philosophy tend to see the current Celtic renaissance as a rebirth of pre-Christian paganism. They see neo-Druidism as part of that pagan past. The Cambrian Church disputes that reasoning.
A careful look at the historical record demonstrates the opposite. The two philosophical perspectives which struggled for the support of early Christianity were two opposing systems: the one was Druidism; the other was Gnosticism.
Druidism taught a Trinitarian view of God. Gnosticism taught a dualism. The Gnostics, like modern man, were alienated from nature because they thought it was evil and the creation of an evil god. Druidism sought harmony with the created order, and virtue – the discipline of man’s moral will – was the chief methodology in that quest.
New Age religions are dualistic and seek harmony with nature through the denial of their humanity. Their roots are in Mithraism and Gnosticism, not Druidism.
The Druids loved Jesus Christ because they saw in Him the key to man’s cosmic destiny, which they, like the Magi, looked forward to with great expectation. They saw in Christ’s death and resurrection salvation from the endless cycle of self-atonement. Mankind was no longer stuck in the past of a fallen world. There was now a future full of hope.
As was said above, the converted Druids became the bishops of the Celtic churches. They were the immediate successors of the Apostles in Celtic lands. When the Dark Ages arrived, those churches were destroyed or converted into pagan temples by the barbarians. Often in flight, the successors of the Druid bishops became known as Culdees. They were the founders of the great monasteries of Europe. Among this great constellation of holy men (and women) were Morien (Pelagius), Dewi (David), Patrick, Columba, Columbanus, Kentigern, Asaph, Alcuin, Gall, Brigid, Hilda and many more.