Oliver Davies. Celtic Spirituality. New York: Paulist Press, 1999. 550 pp. $29.95 (paper), ISBN 978-0-8091-3894-4.

Reviewed by Thomas Finan (Departments of History and Religious Studies, Webster University, St. Louis)
Published on H-Albion (June, 2001)

Type the words "Celtic" and "Spirituality" into the search engine of any online bookstore such as Amazon.com or Barnes and Noble and you will find dozens of books by self-proclaimed experts in either the history of Celtic Christianity, the practice of Celtic Christianity (both past and present), or the archaeology of Celtic Christianity. The problems are, of course, that these experts rarely bother to learn the language of their sources, or, perhaps even worse, they fail to examine modern scholarship within the last twenty to thirty years that have altered many of our understandings of early Christianity in Ireland, Wales and Scotland. However, the academy is also to blame: why can't a well-written history of the early church in Ireland be directed towards a popular audience to inform and enlighten without falling prey to the "how the Irish saved civilization" mindset?

Oliver Davies, with Thomas O'Loughlin, has created a collection of texts with Celtic Spirituality to answer that question, and the result is a useful tool for experts, undergraduates, and common readers alike. The volume is part of the Paulist Press collection Classics of Western Spirituality, an ongoing library of spiritual texts encompassing many traditions and time periods under the overarching theme of "spirituality." Davies' work is clearly important because it places the spirituality of Patrick, the hagiography of Irish and Welsh saints, and deeply religious poems created in the world of early Christian Ireland and Wales at the level of the other great spiritual classics. With that said, the collection is important simply because of the items found together within this single volume.

As Davies points out from the outset, though, the title of this collection, Celtic Spirituality, is troubling to say the least. Thirty years ago the notion of a Celtic Christianity that was spiritually, organizationally, and traditionally different than the rest of Christian Europe in the fifth through the ninth centuries was challenged by Kathleen Hughes and Wendy Davies. But as Davies suggests, Hughes and Davies were concerned with the structure of the institutional church, and in that sense perhaps there was not great dissimilarity between Ireland, Wales and the rest of Europe in the fifth through ninth centuries. On the other hand, what does mark the Irish and Welsh in this period as being distinctive are the less formal, and less structural aspects of the churches in Ireland and Wales, such as spirituality and what might be called their religious vision. In this sense, Davies seems perfectly justified in using this title, and creating the collection in the first place. The word "Celtic" was not even used by the inhabitants of early Christian Ireland or Wales, but, for lack of a better term to describe a group of people with some shared cultural and religious traits and who also enjoyed linguistic similarities, the title seems appropriate.

As with many collections of translated and edited texts, the reader is likely to find precious gems in the various introductions to the topics covered in this volume. Davies O'Laoghlin provide the reader with nearly seventy pages of necessary background information. While placing each type of introduction with the appropriate text may be helpful to some readers, I found the collection of material as a unified chapter at the outset useful. After discussing the issue of Celticity and justifying the topic (as mentioned above), Davies offers introductions to the various types of spiritual texts, including hagiography, poetry, liturgy, apocrypha, and theology. The introductions are sound. In some cases Davies chooses to bypass modern debates concerning the texts and the interpretation of those texts in favor of presenting the material in terms of their spiritual and religious significance, as opposed to their literary or historical importance. Following already published editions for nearly all of the selections, Davies does not seem to have been concerned with the minutiae of critical editorial practice. This, perhaps, may be the strength of this collection.

For example, when discussing the Patrician material, Davies does allude to the "Problem of Patrick," but he also lets the reader investigate the matter further on his or her own. In presenting Patrick's Confessio, Davies suggests that it is more important to place Patrick in relation to other contemporary fifth century spiritual writers and to show Patrick's knowledge of scripture. In both regards, Patrick is firmly placed in the western spiritual tradition. Moving to Muirchu's late seventh century "Life of Patrick," Davies follows the standard edition of Bieler, but offers one bit of intriguing background information. It is well-known that Patrick is portrayed as a Moses figure to the Irish people. He is a messenger to the Irish people, and challenges the King of Tara just as Moses challenged Pharaoh in Exodus. But Davies (or O'Loughlin; the author of this section is unclear) takes a further step and states that just as Judaism was a precursor for Christianity, paganism in Ireland was somehow a precursor for Christianity. Davies does not elaborate, but his point does raise some interesting questions. Does this mean that Muirchu and other hagiographers were trying to create a balance between paganism and Christianity at the end of the eighth century?

I found myself wanting more from this volume, but at 500+ pages, that is quite selfish. The introduction is excellent, and the choice of texts more than representative of the spirituality of Ireland and Wales in the early church period. With the bibliography provided, the reader can certainly investigate questions that the texts and commentary raise. However, given Davies' definition of Celtic, could there be justification for the inclusion of later texts of the bardic period, from the thirteenth through sixteenth century?

Who should read this volume? First, anyone who has a vague interest in the history of the church in the British Isles will find value in the introduction and the texts. The student interested in this topic out of curiosity or for research purposes will find ready resources, along with excellent commentary to lead them through the labarynth of Early Christian Ireland and Wales. And finally, the learned reader of this volume will no doubt appreciate the seventy pages of notes and comments at the end of the text. In all, the book is highly recommended.

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Citation: Thomas Finan. Review of Davies, Oliver, Celtic Spirituality. H-Albion, H-Net Reviews. June, 2001.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=5242

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