British Christianity

Chaste, Energetic, Generous, Modest, Temperate

The British Church is modeled on the historical Pelagian church. It is non-hierarchical, based on abbeys with daughter houses (when an abbey establishes a new foundation, it is known as its daughter-house), and its leaders obey secular rulers who generally have kept the right to appoint abbots. In belief, it conforms to their own Testament of Joseph (of Arimathea).

Christianity first reached Britain with the arrival of Jesus during the “missing years” of his life as shown in the Roman gospels. He came with Joseph of Arimathea, a tin merchant, who later gave his tomb for Jesus to be buried in. After the crucifixion Joseph was imprisoned for several years and was given neither food nor water. When his captors later opened his cell, expecting to find a dessicated corpse, they were greeted instead by a hale and hearty Joseph. He was kept alive by the Holy Grail, which appeared to him each day and provided food and drink. The Roman authorities, awed and fearful of this miraculous man, let him free.

Joseph gathered his family and followers and departed from the Holy Land, led by the Grail to found a new home in distant Britain where he already knew people who had traded him tin for the exotic goods of the near east. The island was not conquered by Rome yet. He was granted the lands of Glastonbury under extraordinary conditions, thanks to the piety of the king in Summerland. He established the first monastery, called Glastonbury. He began preaching to the locals, many of whom converted to the new faith. After many years he handed the Holy Grail over to a lineage of his descendants who became the Keepers of the Holy Grail. Others from his monastery began going about the country to preach and establish new abbeys. At Roman Sorviodunum, his son established the first new abbey after Glastonbury, called the Abbey on the Rock, which name also identifies the site. It is known that many druids converted to Christianity and kept many of their old ways.

Joseph’s testament set the monastic standards and tone of the new religion in Britain. Most British abbeys follow his code and wear simple red-brown habits, and so are called Russet Monks.

British Christianity differs from Roman Christianity in several important respects. The British Church:

* reveres the sacred cup of resurrection as being of greater importance than the cross of death;
* is largely subservient to secular patrons who first financed the abbey foundations, a type of holding called a benefice;
* has no priests, but instead has Teachers, sometimes also called Shepherds (It is the practice of the Celtic Church to designate all its teachers and missionaries as saints);
* has no bishops, but some abbots have the power to authenticate new Teachers (since the coming of the Roman Church, they are called abbot-bishops);
* holds worship services in a circle centered around a table where Teachers sit, rather than at an altar, worshippers praying by looking upward with open arms;
* allows women teachers and abbesses who are fully equal to the males;
* is more closely associated with the commoners in the countryside, rather that with a Roman city.

Note that many abbot-bishops contribute troops to their patrons, but are not barons since they are not held from the king.

St. Ninnian established the first monastery in Caledonia as long ago as the end of the fourth century. Candida Casa, on the south coast of Gorre, was the base from which he set forth to spread the Word of God to the Picts. These missions met with a good measure of success. He traveled tirelessly up and down the country establishing churches and baptizing people ~ Pict and Cymri alike. On his way north he founded churches at Glasgow (near AlcIud) and Stirling and then crossed into the Pictish kingdom of Benoic. It was here that he enjoyed his greatest and most lasting success. Among the many people he baptized here were a number of the leaders of the Circinn Clan - the ruling family of Benoic. With the backing of such influential people Christianity has flourished in Benoic and is now the dominant religion. St. Ninnian traveled so widely that he founded churches in Escoce and even as far north as the Orkney Islands.

Many turbulent years followed St. Ninnian's death. Most of the churches he founded have been abandoned and now lie in ruins. The legacy he has left, however, is a great one. Christianity has flourished in Benoic, and Candida Casa remains one of the most important monasteries in Britain. In addition, St. Ninnian had shown that those who preached the Gospels have no reason to fear the Picts, regardless of their deservedly fierce reputation.

## Celtic and Irish Christianity

Irish monks are prominent throughout Caledonia, working closely with the native clergy to spread the Faith across the region. In religious terms there are no fundamental differences between Irish and Celtic Christians; any differences are of temperament rather than belief. Thus no distinction is made between the two. Both are included within the term "Celtic Christian." It is worth mentioning some of the more important aspects of Celtic Christianity here.

There are a great number of differences between Roman and Celtic Christianity. Many of these are obscure and incomprehensible to those outside of Church politics ~ such as the row over how to figure the date for Easter. Some differences, though, go beyond politics and are fundamental differences of belief. It is these differences which make the Celtic Church the more suitable to spread the Gospel in Caledonia.

The Celtic Church is not based on the organization of parish and diocese like that of Rome, but on monasteries. Established monasteries are often associated with a particular tribe or clan. Celtic bishops have much less power than their Roman counterparts, to the extent that they rank below abbots. The Celtic Church has no strict hierarchy ~ individuals are free to follow their calling in their own way without undue interference from a central authority as often happens in the Roman Church.

The Celtic Church encourages a spartan, sometimes self-punishing lifestyle, believing such ascetic behavior to be an aid to inner sanctity. Although monastic life is ideal for some monks, many find it too easy-going. For long spells they leave the monastery to dwell in caves and on islands as hermits. Alternatively they abandon the monastery to "Journey for God," traveling throughout Caledonia unimpeded by worldly possessions and preaching Christ's Gospels to anyone they meet.

Finally, one other aspect of Celtic Christianity is worthy of note. It is a much gentler form of Christianity than that of the Roman Church. It places emphasis on the great goodness of God and the benefits of Christianity in this world and the next. The Roman Church is much more dogmatic and concentrates on spreading the message of the "Hellfire and damnation" awaiting non-Christians upon their death. The Celtic Church also holds women in much higher regard than the Roman Church. Because of the mingling of druidic beliefs with early Celtic Christianity, women are respected and allowed within its ranks in a way more reminiscent of pagan custom than of the Roman Church, which teaches that women are bad because (through Eve) they were responsible for tempting man into original sin. By contrast, the attitude of the Celtic church toward women makes Christianity more acceptable to pagans and is especially useful when dealing with the Picts, whose culture places great importance upon women. Indeed some older monasteries, like Candida Casa, house both men and women.

The gentler and more practical nature of the Celtic Church is best expressed in an instruction issued recently by an Irish synod to its followers. It states, "If we find the judgments of the pagan (or the heathen), taught to them by their better nature, to be good and not displeasing to God, we shall keep them." This approach is at present evident in Caledonia. Many of the Christian churches, monasteries and holy places are being founded on sites of pagan and heathen importance. The idea is to let the people absorb the concept of Christianity gradually. Then, once they have grown accustomed to the idea of One God and his only son, they will worship Him alone rather than as one of their many gods. In this way the monks try to win the support of the druids and Pictish fiosaiches rather than ostracizing them. Sacred heathen and pagan sites are not shunned or destroyed but utilized. For example, a common tactic is to take over a spring or a well that is an important pagan or heathen site, to bless it and then to allow worship to continue at the now holy well.

In this way Christianity is being spread throughout Caledonia. Many who consider themselves heathen or pagan will attend a Christian mass as well as their own ceremonies. Similarly (especially in Benoic where Celtic Christianity has been established longer than elsewhere in Caledonia), Christians still have customs and beliefs which date back to pre-Christian times.

## British Abbeys

The British church has had a history of holy men with secular responsibilities, or of secular leaders who adopted church titles and roles. The Russet Monks were widely established before the Roman Church ever came, especially in the western parts of Britain.

Because the church considers the place to be more important than its leader, the names of the important abbots are often given after the title. Some church leaders are known as “abbot(-bishops).” The leader’s title is “abbot,” and the -bishop part indicates that they also have the power to make new priests, while most of the abbots do not

Monasteries must combine the ascetic desire for solitude with the need to be close to potential converts. In Caledonia many monasteries are located on the coasts or on islands, especially those off the west coast. These are ideally situated since much travel around Caledonia is best accomplished by boat.

The monastic communities are less formal and the living conditions are more bracing and vigorous than those of a diocesan priest.

The education provided is of an exceptionally high standard when compared to that of any monastery in western Europe. Established monasteries attract students (irrespective of their religious ambitions) from far and wide. Students are taught Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Most monasteries have impressively stocked libraries containing the works of classical Greek and Latin authors as well as Christian literature.

The monk's life within the monastery is divided into three parts: solitary prayer and worship; scholarship ~ the copying of manuscripts is an important part of monastic life; and active work for the community. They live in individual beehive cells (reflecting the ascetic desire for solitude even within the monastic community), which are clustered around a small church. Also within the settlement is a refectory (dining hall), the library and a scriptorium where manuscripts are copied and lessons taught. There may also be a workshop, a forge, barns, a kiln, a mill and a guest house. The buildings are usually of wood and wattle. Stone is only used when suitable timber is unavailable. The settlement is enclosed within earthen ramparts, outside of which are the cultivated and pasture lands which supply the largely self-supporting monastery.

The highest authority within the monastery is the abbot. Abbots are chosen by the community and not imposed by outside intervention. Sometimes a bishop may live within the monastery, but his functions are different from, and of less importance than the abbot's. The bishop's most important function is the ordaining of deacons and priests for churches being founded in the region. The abbot is also a priest, but more too. He is responsible for performing all church ceremonies (which are. conducted in Greek as opposed to the Latin used by the Roman Church). Regardless of rank, all members of the community live the same life and have no wealth or luxuries. Any money given to the monastery is immediately given to the poor. Monks and nuns wear simple habits of coarse, unbleached wool. Their food is plain and they drink only milk and water. In addition they endure frequent periods of fasting. Visiting knights are assured of a warm welcome and are offered accommodation and any food available. The monks are hospitable and join their guests to eat, even if they arrive during a period of fasting, but they return to their fast with increased severity once the visitors have departed.