Newell, J. Philip. _Listening to the Heartbeat of God: A
Celtic Spirituality._ (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1997). xi, 112
pp.
Reviewed by Timothy A. Mahoney, tmahoney@uta.edu,
University of Texas at Arlington
This book is a short, popular introduction to Celtic Christian
spirituality by the Warden of Spirituality for the Anglican Diocese
of Portsmouth who formerly served as Warden at the reconstructed
Abbey on Iona. Its narrow scope and lack of scholarly references
makes it of limited interest to discussions on this list; however,
the book should arouse the interest of any reader unfamiliar with
Celtic Christianity.
The author aims at showing that the Celtic emphasis on
"listening for God" in every created thing provides a necessary
corrective to the historically dominant view which sharply
distinguishes between the "holy and redeemed" Church and the
"fallen" creation outside the Church. The contrasting emphases are
introduced in a brief account of the Synod of Whitby (664) which
determined that the Roman mission would have priority over the
Celtic mission in the future of Christianity in the British Isles.
The title refers to St. John, the disciple who "listened to the
heartbeat of God" (p. ix), whom the Celtic mission at the Synod
claimed as its authority. St. John is seen as emphasizing the
presence of God in all things. By contrast, the tradition of St.
Peter, whom the Roman mission claimed as its authority, emphasizes
the role of the Church as the vehicle of salvation in a fallen
world. The tension between the two traditions is a central motif
of the author's sketch of the history of Celtic Christian
spirituality from its inception down through today. Newell claims
that the two should be complementary aspects of the Church: the
"contemplative" tradition of John that discerns God in all things,
and the "active" tradition of Peter that promotes the kingdom of
God through the Church. The "villain" of the book is not the
Petrine tradition itself, but the Augustinian-Calvinist strand
within that tradition. According to Newell, this strand stresses
the Fall and the resulting evil within creation and within humanity
itself, and it is this strand which has suppressed the Celtic
tradition and its outstanding representatives such as Pelagius and
John Scotus Eriugena. Yet the Celtic Christian tradition is making
a comeback spurred on by what the author calls "the creation
awareness that is being awakened in all sorts of people throughout
the world today" (p. 4). One of the primary virtues of the book is
that it makes a good case that this tradition does not merely
address an escapist longing for a never-to-return simpler time.
Rather, the tradition can provide a source of inspiration for right
relation "to life in the city and the way most of us live today"
(p. ix). The author persuasively argues that George Fielden
MacLeod (1895-1991) -- a Moderator of the general Assembly of the
Church of Scotland, winner of the Templeton International Prize in
religion, peace activist, and the primary force behind the
rebuilding of the Abbey of lona (headquarters of St. Columba's
sixty-century Celtic mission) -- is an outstanding example of how
this tradition can be united with the Petrine tradition in a single
individual who addresses the situation of the modern world in a
profound and effective way.
The book is arranged chronologically save for a brief
introduction and a concluding chapter which summarizes the main
themes. The first two chapters treat the beginnings of Celtic
Christianity through the Middle Ages. Pelagius (in chapter one)
and John Scotus Eriugena (in chapter two) are presented as paragons
of this spirituality, and Newell defends them against their formal
condemnations by the Church. Pelagius is seen as promoting the
idea that grace elicits the expression of the goodness inherent in
every created thing, an idea depicted as attacked by Augustine and
generally misunderstood by the Church. Chapter two continues the
description of the appropriation of pre-Christian Celtic themes by
a Christianity which for two hundred years developed independently
of Rome because of the withdrawal of the empire from Britain. The
"Breastplate" prayer, traditionally attributed to St. Patrick,
illustrates the way in which the nature emphasis of the former
religion is seamlessly incorporated into Christianity. Monasticism
and a strong sense of mission are also distinguishing features of
this period. Newell defends Eriugena against the charge of
pantheism, seeing him instead as providing a philosophical and
mystical exposition of the interweaving of the realms of spirit and
matter, a fundamental Celtic motif. Chapter three is devoted
primarily to an account of the _Carmina Gadelica_--"the song and
poems of the Gaels" (p.41)--compiled by Alexander Carmichael
(1832-1912) from the prayers passed down by the oral tradition of
the Hebrides and the west coast of Scotland. These prayers, a few
of which are included, are strikingly beautiful expressions of
central themes of Celtic Christian spirituality. Carmichael
himself saw that he was saving these prayers from potential
oblivion. This was so for two main reasons. First, Celtic
spirituality was under attack by the continuing Calvinist emphasis
of the official Church; second, the culture in which these prayers
were rooted was being destroyed by the Highland Clearances
beginning near the turn of the nineteenth century. The fourth
chapter is devoted primarily to the writer George MacDonald
(1824-1905) and the clergyman Alexander John Scott (1805-1866) who
was deposed by the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland for
heresy in 1831. Both are depicted as using the Celtic Christian
tradition as the basis for combating in writings and in action the
entrenched Calvinism of the Scottish Church and the ills of
burgeoning industrialism. The fifth chapter focuses on George
Fielden MacLeod, but also briefly mentions his grandfather Norman
MacLeod (1812-1872) who was also a Moderator of the General
Assembly of the Church of Scotland and a vigorous opponent of
legalistic Sabbatarianism. The final chapter, entitled "Two Ways
of Listening: John and Peter," summarizes what Newell sees as the
two complementary traditions of Celtic and Roman Christianity.
The book accomplishes its main task of introducing Celtic
Christian spirituality in a stimulating way. Unfortunately, it
mentions few resources for readers to pursue the subject further.
Although I am no scholar of the topic, readers interested in
another introduction might try Esther de Waal's _The Celtic Way of
Prayer: The Recovery of the Religious Imagination_ (New York:
Doubleday, 1997). De Waal is a well-known scholar who, among other
things, has edited a version of _Carmina Gadelica_. Her book is
arranged topically (e.g., "Journeying," "The Trinity"), and
effectively interlaces original Celtic prayers with the text. It
includes fairly extensive notes with references to current work on
Celtic Christian spirituality. It also addresses the ascetic
strand that runs throughout the tradition and which demonstrates
that asceticism is compatible with a deep reverence for and delight
in the world of nature. Perhaps other list-members could suggest
further material to read in this tradition.
Paulist Press