Celtic Christian Mission and the Salvation Army - Essay Example

Celtic Christian Mission and the Salvation Army s Religion and Theology Department 23rd January Mission as understoodin theological sense implies the task and intention of spreading a religion beyond the borders of a certain territory, preaching its doctrine to the flock and multiplying the number of adherents. For Christianity is one of the oldest religions, Christian missionary organizations emerged right after its establishment as the human was blessed to preach God’s doctrines to others. Thereby, according to the definition of Encyclopedia Britannica, Christian mission is “an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith» (Britannica, 2013). Therefore, the missionary activity incorporates multiple instruments and strategies, which are all aimed at showing the glory of the Christian god to people, evangelizing them and leading them to salvation through faith. Beholding the idea of the triune God and living in the Spirit, a person is ready to proclaim the fruits of the faith (Bosch, 2013, p. 170). In other words, mission is directly connected to spirituality and may be understood as its result. In accordance with Jesus Christ’s teachings, who bequeathed to make new disciples and churches to his apostles, the main task of the missionary activity is multiplication of Christ’s adherents. Thereby, the mission could be divided into two directions: converting people of other cultures and countries and bringing the word of Christ among gentiles living on the canonical territory of Christianity. Christian mission has been manifesting itself throughout centuries in its diversity acquiring guises of different Christian denominations and fulfilling Christ’s Great Commission in conditions of permanent “religious rivalry” (Ustorf, 1998, p.592): various missionary movements have produced great impact on religious landscape of Europe, China, New World’s colonies (and now the U.S. and Canada), Australia, many African countries etc. Although all missionary movements in Christian tradition are originally aimed at evangelizing other cultures as well as planting the seeds of faith in their own, the wide array of Christian missions is highly heterogeneous, varying in many aspect including time framework, denomination, directions of missionary work, principles, organizational structure, territorial expansion and others. In the current paper, two rather different missionary movements will be described and compared: Celtic missionary movement and the Salvation Army. Celtic Christianity and mission Celtic missionary movement rests upon the teachings of Celtic Christian church dating back to the historical period, when Christianity was at its dawn and Europe, its cradle, was virtually torn by conquests, wars and territory carve-ups. Roman Christian church was closely connected to reining monarchs, early Middle Ages. Due to constant wars, the existing kingdoms were strong in political and military aspects, but their religious piety and godliness were weak and their morality was wretched. For instance, Frankish kings were generally behindhand in virtue, visiting lupanars and punishing the undesirables with cruelty. The reason of providing the Franks as an example is that Clovis I succeeded in uniting all Frankish territories into one kingdom and adopted Orthodox Christianity, thus connecting clergy and politicians. Although cooperation between kings and church demanded compromise on both sides, Christian dogmas were often neglected, because it were kings who had power not only over the kingdom, but also over appointment of bishops. Political power disrupted the original authority and purity of the church and Christianity was driven into a deplorable state Moreover, the church was surrounded by pagans and hostile Arians and needed moral and scholarly incentive from the outside. Meanwhile, such incentive was formed in Britain and Ireland, secluded islands, where Christianity developed autonomously, moving along its own trajectory due to St. Patrick’s influence. Although it unclear, how Christianity came to Ireland and Britain originally (Hardinge, 1995, p.5), by the fifth and sixth centuries this territory had become a secluded center of Christianity and learning. In these conditions, authentic Celtic missionary movement related to Celtic Christian practice had formed. Celtic Christian mission is rather peculiar in its character as this movement is monastic, which is the fruit of a peculiar style of church organization (Dyrness & Kärkkäinen, 2009, p.565). Thereby, great emphasis was laid upon establishment of monasteries and spreading the peculiar Celtic monastic rules. Although numerous monasteries were founded in the territory of the British Isles earlier, it is establishment of the Iona monastery by St. Columba in 563 that is accepted as the starting point of the Celtic missionary activity in Britain and in continental Europe. Initially, Columba, the Irish monk, and his fellow monks carried the Gospel of Christ to Picts and Scots and then moved to the continent. The typical feature of Celtic Christian mission was priority of monasteries (which were founded everywhere the missionaries came) over dioceses (Ott, 1912); moreover, the monastic rule created by St. Columbanus was stricter than that of St. Benedict, promoting relatively ascetic lifestyle, corporal punishment and fasting. The monks took the vow of chastity and preferred enlightenment to marriage; they went on pilgrimage to the continental Europe seeking to adapt their Christian doctrine to peculiarities of local cultures and tribes. In other words, this was the early example of religious inculturation, as Celtic monks preferred to evangelize peoples considering their culture instead of imposing their cultural background. Many missionaries didn’t set a certain destination, travelling at random and starting their missionary activity in places, where they got to – this was called peregrinatio pro Christi. However, such remarkable monk missionaries as Columba, Aidan and St. Patrick did travel with the certain purpose: carrying the word of God around Europe, Columbanus established numerous monasteries in Lombard and Frankish territories and in Italy; and Aidan found Lindisfarne priory in Northumbria in 634 (Stenton, 1987, p.118). There, in Northumbria, the ruler of the lands Oswald adopted Christianity, and his support helped Celts to convert thousands of his citizens and created monasteries, which became scholarly centers. According to Hunter (2000, p.35), “the Celtic Christian Movement proceeded to multiply mission-sending monastic communities, which continued to send teams into settlements to multiply churches and start people in the community-based life of full devotion to the Triune God”. The movement was important not only for restoration of morality and discipline in continental European lands, which were ruined with wars, but also for struggle against Arian heresy and paganism. In fact, Celtic missionary movement was a whiff of fresh air for Christianity in the early medieval Europe, where Roman church failed at that time. In comparison to the latter’s strict hierarchy and more structured organization, Celtic mission preached more freedom and initiative of the part of the monks and greater significance of monastic communities. In addition, whereas Roman Christianity offered more individualistic view of Christian life, Celtic missionaries planted a community-oriented approach towards it. However, such organization enabled intensive educational and enlightenment process and preserved moral authority of the church. Although the movement saw certain decline after death of such prominent leaders as Aidan and Columba, it eventually became a salvation for morally corrupt Christian tradition cultivated by Rome. Celtic mission was intended to reevalngelize European society and help revive Europe out of aggression and immorality, and it eventually achieved considerable success after several generations (Hunter, 2000, p.39). The Salvation Army Being much younger than Celtic mission, the Salvation Army is a missionary and charitable organization established in the second half of the nineteenth century in an attempt to improve the condition of the contemporary Victorian society. In the middle of the 19th century, more than a half of England’s population inhabited cities, and therefore all the vices of the contemporary society manifested themselves in their entirety. Rapid urbanization gave rise to blatant social consequences: clots of homeless citizens in the suburban areas of the cities; disruption of blood ties and patriarchal family model; extremely long working days; massive demoralization of the working class; poor life conditions. Critical rise in the number of alcoholics, roamers, harlots, and beggars was observed at that time. “Prostitution was common In Victorian society, and many girls as young as twelve years of age were sold into that trade by poor parents in need of money” (Green, 2008, p.9). All these issues were burning and needed to be dealt with. Considering the social conditions of the period, the Methodist minister William Booth and Catherine, his wife, started a missionary organization originally named East London Christian Mission in East End in 1865. The protestant movement was strongly influenced by the idea of revivalism and promoted the idea of revival for English society. “Beginning among the poor in the East End of London in 1865, this evangelical organisation identified with various cultures at home and abroad as it spread around the globe» (Eason, 2009, p.9). Today the organization successfully operates in more than 100 countries of the world, having expanded beyond the boarder of Great Britain. On the other hand, it is necessary to mention that the response to activity of the Salvationists at the initial stage was quite negative, with an opposition embodied in the so-called Skeleton Army, the group of opponents standing against anti-alcohol propaganda of the Salvation Army. The organization included bar and public house owners, who incurred losses, and mainly members of lower and middle class (Horridge, 1993, p.101). Confrontations between the two movements resulted in many injured people and even deaths of several Salvation Army members. However, activity of the Skeleton Army seized by the early 1890’s. The identity of the movement formed predominantly among the poor and marginalized social elements (the couple started evangelizing people in East End) and was embodied in the aim to bring salvation to them: the doctrine promoted by the Booths implied that human beings are able to truly behold the word of God, only when all their physical needs are satisfied. That is why the main target group for the missionary movement includes drug and alcohol addicts, prostitutes and other undesirable members of society (Cruz, 2008, p.70). According to the Army’s doctrine, the worship tradition does not include such sacraments as Holy Communion and baptism, as its adherents are expected to focus on grace and faith themselves, not on their outer manifestations. Based on Old and New Testaments, The Salvation Army’s teaching presupposes converting people and spreading beliefs and dogmas via sermons and rendering humanitarian assistance to people in need. Thereby, the Salvation Army has been running soup kitchens, shelters for the homeless, youth clubs and volunteer groups lending assistance in case of natural disasters. Christian mission undertaken by the Salvation Army is evangelization efforts, satisfying basic human needs, creating opportunities for spiritual and moral revival as well as physical recovery of all people in need regardless of race, age, gender and denomination. The described missionary movement has a clearly organized structure and resembles a military organization in many aspects: the members of the Salvation Army are referred to as soldiers, local commanders are Commissioners and the head of the organization is called the general. Therefore, William Booth, the founder, became the first General of the “Army”. All Salvationists wear military-like uniforms, which are meant to indicate the person’s affiliation and identify an individual as an adherent of the Salvation Army and the one people in need can address for help. Furthermore, the mission possesses its own unique set of symbols including the flag and the logo. Nowadays, the Salvation Army is a developed network of “soldiers” and volunteers holding the leading position in terms of efficient disaster relief. Comparing the two movements Celtic Mission and the Salvation Army both belong to Christian Missionary movements, yet they possess a considerable number of differences and peculiarities. The cardinal feature unifying both missions is undoubtedly the fact that both of them recognize and comply with the Old and New Testaments. As it was already mentioned, the key purpose of Christian missionary activity lies in evangelization and multiplication of the religion’s adherents. In this aspect, the movements are similar, yet the methods used for these purposes differ in some ways. In fact, I would even assert that one could trace more distinguishing features than similarities in the Salvation Army and Celtic Mission – firstly, it is justified by the fact that these two are separated by the enormous abyss of time. Generally, one can identify several key differences in the movements: time frame, methods of spreading Christianity across cultures and countries, organization and structure, presence of the sole leader and others. Time frame. Great difference is preconditioned by the huge gap in time between Salvationists and Celts. Whereas at the time of Celtic missions Christianity was still a rather young religion and the society was at a lower stage of development; the second half of the 19th century, when the Salvation Army was founded, was marked by the more ramified system of Christian denominations and, of course, existence of Protestantism, which wasn’t present in the early Middle Ages. However, there is a common feature typical for both periods, and this is corruption and sad state of the society (which had virtually sparked both missions, as the society needed to be “fixed”). Methods. In general, both Salvationists and Celts sought to convert new adherents of the church though sermons; yet activity of the Salvation Army is more focused on charitable work. In other words, the focus has now shifted to lending assistance to people in need and relieving disasters, though Christian pretext of the missionary activity is still preserved. Furthermore, Salvationists’ activity has been far from sporadic: the missionaries travel around the world with a clearly defined purpose, establishing their offices in different countries, converting people to their denomination and recruiting them to become soldiers. On the other hand, missionary activity of Celtic monks wasn’t more sporadic and depended solely on the initiative of the missionary. Notwithstanding this difference, both movements focused primarily on marginalized elements, who experienced moral and spiritual crisis. Organization and structure. The imprints of time period can be also traced in the organization of the movements. It is obvious that the Salvation Army has had a rather clear structural model and hierarchy: there are junior soldiers, soldiers, commissioners, colonels, generals; certain ranks are connected to specific administrative units of the church, and there are the main headquarters in London and local headquarters in all countries. By contrast, Celts didn’t have a distinguished organizational pattern and the monks were rather independent within the monastic communities. Leader. The aspect of leadership also serves as a distinguishing feature for the two movements: William and Catherine Booth are the recognized cofounders on the Salvationist movements and its first leaders. Since the time of establishment, the Army has had a leader – a general – who runs the organization at the global level. Generals are elected by the High Council of the Salvation Army. Contrasted to the Army, Celtic mission didn’t have a distinguished leader, yet it had several prominent monks, who inspired missionary activity during their lifetime: Columba, Aidan, Boniface etc. Of course, it is necessary to mention the differing types of movements: Celtic mission was a monastic movement, whereas the Salvation Army is a quasi-military institution granting little attention to establishment of monasteries. Thereby, it is obvious that the rules the missionaries comply with differ. Firstly, members of the Salvation Army aren’t required to observe celibacy; moreover, there are even separate ranks for officers’ spouses; secondly, the Salvation Army doesn’t require ascetic way of live, on the contrary, Salvationist doctrine asserts that fulfillment of all earthly needs including physical needs ensures understanding on the God’s words. Furthermore, only one of the movement has survived until nowadays and continues operating – it is the Salvation Army. Celtic Christianity, in its turn, was suppressed and overwhelmed by Rome. Conclusion Having described and contrasted the Salvation Army and Celtic Missionary movement of the early medieval Europe, one can easily distinguish a wide range of differences between the organizations, yet some general similarities are present, too. Generally, these two movements could be defined as similar in nature but different in numerous specific aspects. Both of them emerged to meet immediate spiritual needs of contemporary societies, which were at the verge of moral decline in those periods. Despite dissimilarities in the aspects like methodology, historical period, structure and leadership, both movements are devoted to the common goal of spreading Christianity across cultures and enhancing moral and spiritual state of societies. Nevertheless, the important peculiarity of the modern Salvation Army lies in its strong orientation towards charitable work, which is positioned almost equally with the religious activity of a denomination. And, finally, it is scale that matters – whereas Celts managed to cover only Europe (of course, numerous historical and geographical factors played their role), the Salvation Army has succeeded in covering the lion’s share of the globe for almost 150 years of existence. References BOSCH, I. L. (2013) Christian Mission Reread in the Freedom of the Spirit. International Review Of Mission, 102, 2, p. 167. [Online] MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost. Available from http://www.ebscohost.com/ [Accessed January 23, 2015] CRUZ, S. J. (2008) An Enduring Mission. Victorian Homes 27 (6). Orange, CA: Action Pursuit Group. pp. 68–72.  DYRNESS, W. & KÄRKKÄINEN, V.-M. (2009) Global Dictionary of Theology: A Resource for the Worldwide Church. InterVarsity Press. EASON, A. M. (2009) All Things to All People to Save Some: Salvation Army Missionary Work among the Zulus of Victorian Natal. Journal Of Southern African Studies, 35, 1, pp. 7-27. [Online] Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost. Available from http://www.ebscohost.com/ [Accessed January 23, 2015] ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. (2013) Mission. [Online] Available from http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/385426/mission [Accessed January 23, 2015] GREEN, R. J. (2008) Catherine Booth, The Salvation Army, and the Purity Crusade of 1885. Priscilla Papers, 22, 2, pp. 9-18. [Online] Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost. 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