I saw this book available for review on Netgalley and knew
it would be THE perfect book for St. Patrick's Day!
Synopsis: As the light of their empire faded into history, the ancient Romans made one last-ditch effort to plant the seed of their civilization in a foreign land—they launched a mission to bring Christianity to Ireland. And there, on a little Emerald Isle that had never been conquered and occupied by Rome, something extraordinary happened. In the process of converting from paganism to Christianity, the ancient Irish developed a remarkable approach to the Christian faith that would one day make science, democracy, and our modern world possible.
In this joyous and illuminating journey through more than ten centuries of history, James and Leo Behan follow the astonishing story of how the holy men of Ireland shepherded the West from antiquity to the modern era. With their powerful brand of Irish Christianity, the monks of Ireland transformed Europe and produced the key that would ultimately unlock the awesome potential of the Christian faith.
Review: Ever had a professor who was SO entertaining, that even a boring subject matter suddenly seemed ever so amazing? This book is those professors telling the long story of the evolution of Christianity and Western Civilization! No, don't groan- I'm serious! This was one of the most intriguing books I've read so far this year, I could NOT put it down once I started reading it! I was 9 chapters in before I even took a break, I was so enthralled! I learned so much that seemed left out from other Western Civ textbooks! The authors capture your imagination and keep you reading til you finish the book!
I'm not sure why the VERY simple concepts in the book have never been fully brought out in history classes, except that the truth is that without Ireland's native Celts melding their native views on cause and effect, with the Christianity of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance era could not have occurred. Think about that for a moment. The fifth century was the era between the Roman and European civilizations, and the key between these very different eras, was the Christian faith.In today's era of taking religion out of discussions, is it any wonder the effect of a faith to change Western Civilization is ignored?
The Roman Emperor had not been the head of the Catholic (remember the ONLY Christian faith at the time) church, when in 418 Emperor Honroious decided to settle a long standing fuel over Christian doctrine between the North African bishop Augustine and Pelagius, over the core doctrine of original sin. Pelagious believed man was not born with original sin, but had choice to do so. A total change of the long held doctrine of man being born with sin. By condemning Pelagius, he forced the church to make Augustine's views of original sin, church doctrine.
The papacy felt like it has lost control, by the Emperor taking over the decision making of the Catholic church, and the papacy decided the church needed to act like their own institution, separate from the Roman government, to prove to the Emperor, that he was NOT in charge of the church, and the only way to do so, was to establish itself in a country not touched by Roman hand, or controlled by them. I had to laugh at the author's description of the members of the bishops spreading out maps and trying to figure out where that would be (especially in this week of the cardinals selecting a new pope, I had a good visual image!). Can you only imagine their faces when they realized the one place was the one deemed 'too uncontrollable' by the Romans- Ireland!. Hence it was decided to 'invade' the one area not touched by Roman hands- Hibernia, known to it's natives as Eirinn, and to later generations as Ireland.
You see St. Patrick may have taken the 'snakes' out of Ireland, but without the arrival of Palladius before him in 431,as the first bishop of Ireland, to "fight the remaining Pelagians, who ran to Britain, when the Pope declared them as heretical, who established the Christian church there, St Patrick could not have helped set up the system of Christian monasteries, that would influence the world. The bishops may have wanted to convert the entire country and make themselves above the Emperor, but Christianity in Ireland would not hold to the established 'Catholic' rules. The monasteries were in charge of the Irish Christian faith by the 6th century- bishops were mere figureheads, the monastic abbots ruled and were able to offer the concept of asking God for forgiveness at any given time, and receiving penance, to the new Christians. This reversal to the thoughts of Pelagius, helped form modern Christianity as we know it today.
The monasteries provided education, religion, medical services (such as they were) and the concept of art (via the monk's illuminated manuscripts, like the Book of Kells).Native Celtic beliefs melded with Christianity inside their walls. The Irish Christianity that resulted was based on free will, penance and the imitation of Christ (to try not to sin and to serve others), and by 704 had taken over Ireland and Britain as well. It even changed the laws of the land via the Admonan's Law of Innocents, in 697, which prohibited violence against women, children and churches during warfare (a precursor to the Geneva convention). The Irish Church held the issue as an imitation of Christ, and it would become the first human right's law. Didn't realize that did you? Yup, it came from Ireland!
This combined 'Secret Gospel of Ireland' that was different from what the Roman part of the Christian church preached, reached European shores in 590 by the arrival of Columbanus to Northern France. Within 20 years he had converted much of France and Northern Italy to the Irish thought, and was exiled back to Ireland (by Theuderic II of Burgundy), but the changes held, and by 1215, the Roman church changed it's doctrine to include annual penance. This core thought of penance, and free will, would be the basis for the concept of democracy, and the changes that would lead to the Renaissance.
The authors lay out a WHOLE lot more than this in the book- I'm giving you only a kernel of the view, but you can see how well researched the book is, and how the Irish REALLY did change Western Civilization via changing the prevalent Christianity doctrine, which blended into changed n law and support for human rights, and the education of man.
Pick up this book and re-educate yourself on how Western Civilization owes it's existence to the Irish!
You won't regret it!
About the Authors: James Behan is a graduate of Harvard Law School and holds a bachelor of science degree from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a lawyer who specializes in international business transactions and has practiced law in cities throughout the United States and abroad, including New York, Tokyo, Palo Alto, and Chicago. He possesses a deep interest in the relationship between science and religion, as well as a passion for golf, which he enjoys sharing with his wife and family.
Leo Behan is a graduate of Boston College Law School and holds a degree in history from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a lawyer and a military veteran, having served in the United States Air Force JAG Corps. He is passionate about history and philosophy, as well as classical guitar.
James and Leo are brothers who originally hail from the San Francisco Bay Area. They have inherited their love of Ireland and the Irish from their father, who immigrated to America from Ireland many years ago. Check out the book's Facebook page for more!
Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this ebook, free of charge, from NetGalley, via Skywest Publishing, for review purposes on this blog. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post about it
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