Celtic Christianity, does this sound legit?

http://explorefaith.org/celtic/index.html


There is the link is to a site that claims to be Celtic Christian. I read some pages and it sounds interesting enough, just thought I would post. Feedback would be great.

I think the authors' intentions and beliefs are sincere, however, for the believer who is seeking the authority of the Bible in all matters of faith and belief, the site seems a little thin in terms of Biblical truth, relying rather of emotional and traditional experiences (not altogether invalid, but never to be placed above the teaching of scripture).

What an interesting site! This caught my eye:

"Following the proclamation of the author of the letter to the Hebrews (?Since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses?, Heb. 12:1) the Welsh poet Waldo Williams observed that we are ?keeping house in a cloud of witnesses.? The rounds of daily life are lived out with this company. As we go through our regular chores and work, the saints are with us. These saints, alive in the eternal life of the Risen Christ, are not ghosts. Nor are they merely the product of our imaginations. The communion of saints is the astoundingly diverse and rich family of the Christ ?in whom all things hold together.? (Colossians 1:17) "

Having become a Christian in a Protestant church, I sometimes don't understand the significance other religions put on saints... but this makes sense to me. I always thought of the 'cloud of witnesses' as being just people of faith who had already died & gone to paradise. But that would include people deemed as 'saints', of course.

Thanks for the link!

I think there is a lot of nonsense about the churches when it comes to saints.

The only saints the Bible speaks of refers to anyone who loves and obeys the Living God.
So EVERY true Christian is a saint.

sure, some have been more faithful, Patrick, Columba, Paul, John, Peter etc. and they shall be rewarded in the Kingdom when it comes.

Psa 30:4 Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

Rom 1:7 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Rom 15:25 But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints.

I think you get the picture.

Any other tradition of churches re. canonising people is just the tradition of man, nothing more.
Certainly praying to the saints is idolatry, we are to worship God only, not men, living or dead.

But the cloud of witnesses? Hebrews 11 makes it clear who they are, and I thank God for them.

Not quite. It's no different than asking your neighbor or some one in this forum to pray for you. Only you're asking some one who is already standing in God's presence.

Amen.

-caliang

Jesus never said to change your culture. I do believe if you follow Jesus with ALL your heart, culture won't matter to you. Lots of things won't matter and you'll WANT to change. A lot of the traditions we see in the Christian churches today do come from pagin beliefs that were converted to Christian traditions. I think the missionaries did this in order to win certian peoples to Christ.

Culture, even modern-day values and morals, just seem to fade away when Christ starts opening your eyes to what really counts, what really matters...
Once you see the truth of the modern world, He puts it in your heart to make a difference where you are... He leads you to situations where you need to speak up, to take a stand, to encourage someone else.

Here's a question

Why ask dead people, siants that the bible does not say listen to prayers, to pray for you when you can go directly to God yourself?

Hebrews 4:16
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.

1 Timothy 2:5
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

True, the saints are all dead and that custom is a little off but I'm sure the original missionaries had hoped that it would change with time which it hasn't . Just a thought or theory.

Honestly I agree with Caliang. Feels the same as asking people at church to pray for oneself. But I don't really do either. I feel like asking people at church is for show and the saints are too busy enjoying heaven.

I know I would be to busy enjoying heaven

sings
"Heaven is a wonderful place
filled with glory and grace
I want to see my savior's face
Oh heaven is a wonderful place
I want to go there"

Maybe we should investigate the Church's teaching on saints before we cast about our opinions.

This will help, and there's plenty more info on that website:

http://www.catholic.com/library/Praying_to..._the_Saints.asp

Indeed, the practice of venerating saints is not limited to Catholicism, but to the Orthodox Churches as well. It goes back to like 100 AD, not too long after the Bible was written by a few other saints.

Celtic Cat, that was a really interesting article. Thanks for sharing. I think I once read somewhere that Celtic Christianity was "an earthy Christianity", or that celebrates Jesus and God but was also very in touch with the natural world. Anyway, thanks for the link.