Did the Celtic churches deny Original Sin, and isn't Pelagius ("Morgan") a Celtic Saint?
Celtic Christians have always rejoiced that God the Father sent God the Son, Jesus Christ, into the world to ransom us and lift us up to Him. The Celtic churches followed the teaching of Saint John the Apostle and Evangelist very closely. Perhaps the most famous verse of the Gospel of St. John is: "For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. " (St. John 3: 16). The Celts, like all true Christians, rejoice that Christ came to save us. Yet there is still a debate as to whether Christ merely provided a helping hand or whether we really need to be saved.

Most who have read the writings of the Celtic churches will agree that the Celtic churches did not follow the erroneous teaching of Augustine of Hippo (359-430 S.D.) that we are born guilty and deprived of God's Grace. However, some incorrectly claim that the Celts followed the teachings of Pelagius Britto (also known as Morgan) and did not believe that we are born with deficiency inherited from the Original Sin of Adam and Eve. This is based on the idea that in a debate one of the two sides is correct and the other wrong. The supposition is that since Pelagius and Augustine debated these issues and the Church did not accept the views of Augustine then Pelagius must be correct. In fact the Church did not accept the views of Pelagius, and his views were condemned by an Ecumenical Council. In a debate, one side can be correct; both sides can be correct or both can be incorrect. That is reality, and sadly it is not as convenient as we might like. Idea A and Idea B are false if reality is in fact C.

Based on the few remaining writings by Pelagius or attributed to him, we find some details of his errors: Pelagius said that

Adam's sin injured only Adam and has no effect on us. Sickness and death are part of our human nature as God created us. There is no such thing as original sin with the tendency to sin as one of its consequences. Baptism is only to join us to Christ and is not for remission of sins as stated in the Creed. We can live without committing any sins just as Christ did., and do so without God's Grace. Grace is merely the example of Christ..

The only "grace" Pelagius would acknowledge was what some have called "external grace," such as the example of Christ, the teaching of his Apostles, His sermons, parables, etc. Note that this excludes Grace through the Sacraments or the Church's understanding of Grace as God's energies working for our Salvation, but reduces Grace to mere example.

There are many statements in the prayers and writings of the Celtic churches on inherited deficiency from the original sin of Adam and Eve. Saint Columbanus of Luxeuil and Bobbio, an acknowledged exemplar of Celtic Christianity in his own lifetime, spoke of Original Sin. He comments on Psalm 50 (Greek numbering), stating: "the one conceived, inherits material substance from an iniquitous conception" and that we are conceived "imperfect" in "deficiency." A prayer of Saint Ambrose of Milan (339-397 A.D.) is found in various early non-Roman Western Liturgies including the Lorrha "Stowe" Missal and some Gallican (early "French" Celtic) fragments of Liturgies. That prayer clearly states that we have "inherent impurity." From this it is clear that the Celtic churches accepted the Orthodox view of Original Sin and could not consider Pelagius' view acceptable.

Since the Pelagian denial of Original Sin denies our need for Christ's Incarnation, that doctrine and Pelagius himself were condemned by many Bishops of his day. The first Bishops who condemned his teaching were the Celtic Bishops of Britain. They requested help from the Celtic Church of Gaul which had already condemned Pelagian teachings. The Bishops of the Church of Gaul sent Saint Germanus of Auxerre. Saint Patrick, who was a Priest at the time, is said to have assisted Saint Germanus in this mission to Britain to preach against Pelagius' teachings. So the claim that the Celtic churches shared Pelagius' ideas is clearly false. There were no churches of the Celts that did not condemn Pelagius.

Yet some modern 'Celtic Christian' groups have chosen to teach some of these same errors. Such ideas are spiritual poison. They contradict even Christ Himself, Who said, "There is none that liveth that sinneth not." and, "This is my blood of the New Testament, which shall be shed for many unto remission of sins." Pelagian falsehood also contradicts the Creed by which we confess that Baptism is for the remission of sins.

It is also incorrectly stated that no Ecumenical Council of the Undivided Church ever condemned Pelagius. Canon IV of the Third Ecumenical Council which met in Ephesus in 431 A.D. condemned the teaching of Celestius because he tried to teach the people of Ephesus that we are born without Ancestral or Original sin. That is the same idea that Pelagius taught. The Council of Ephesus was acting based on the Canons of the Synod of Carthage which states in part: "It has pleased the Council to decree that whosoever denies the little ones, newly born from their mother's womb, when they are being Baptized, or asserts that they are Baptized for the Remission of Sins, but they have inherited no original sin from Adam obliging them to be purified in the Bath of Rebirth (whence it follows that in these persons the form of Baptism for the remission of sins is not true, but is to be regarded as fictitious), let him be anathema: for no other meaning ought to be attached to what the Apostle has said: 'Sin entered the world through one human being.' (Romans 5: 12)" The Council Ephesus also issued an edict ratifying a letter from Pope Celestine condemning and deposing Pelagius for preaching that same false doctrine in the West.

A seven part analysis of Nestorianism by St. John Cassian of Gaul was commissioned by the Council. In that essay, Pelagius is shown to be guilty of an extreme form of Nestorianism which formed the basis of all of the other errors which he taught. The Council had no choice but to condemn Pelagius for sharing the error of Nestorius as well as for his own errors. The Celtic churches sent Bishops to the Council of Ephesus and those Bishops signed both the Canons condemning the rejection of ancestral sin and the letter to Pope Celestine condemning Pelagius.

From this, it is clear that the Celtic churches stood with the rest of the Church and condemned the denial of ancestral sin and those who taught it.

Let us pray for the conversion of those that teach such errors in our time.

Since the Celts did not deny Original Sin, did they believe in forms of predestination or original guilt as taught by followers of Augustine of Hippo?
It is possible for both sides of an argument to be wrong. Pelagius with his denial of ancestral sin, and the implication of that denial that humanity does not need the Incarnation of Christ represents an extreme error. Augustine with his belief that we are born guilty, utterly corrupt, cut off from God's grace, and Augustine's implying that God bestows the Grace necessary for Salvation only on a select few He wishes to save, are also extreme errors.

The Celts emphasized the need for constant dedication to penitence, and therefore denied the radical Augustinian ideas of Calvinist predestination and Eternal Security (the idea that accepting Christ guarantees salvation). Salvation is freely offered to all who believe and receive Baptism, but labor is expected. We are not cut off from grace: the Holy Spirit gives us the grace to confess Jesus Christ as God, Lord and Savior, but it is we that chose to follow through in the life in Christ. Even after Baptism, we have a choice. As in Jesus' Parable of the servants who are lent money by their master, we have free-will and can choose how to increase or even diminish the gifts given at Baptism. That is the meaning of "Devote yourselves to penitence" (also translatable as "Repent") which is repeated before Communion in the Lorrha Stowe Missal. That dedication is a free choice which requires effort. God created all humanity with the intention that all of us be saved, but God did not create us as puppets of His will. We are created in His image and likeness and have free will, although a confused free will: we hear the call but must chose to be saved by our words, thoughts and actions. As the service of Baptism in the Lorrha Stowe Missal states, the devil tries to set traps for us to prevent us from making that choice and living up to it. We must set our sight on God, ask His help, and resist those snares.

The Augustinian denial of the possibility of reception of God's Grace by unredeemed humanity clearly contradicts the Old Testament. It was also clearly not the understanding of the Celts. St. Columbanus of Bobbio cited a Latin translation of Psalm 50: 7 (Greek numbering) saying: "Et in delictis peperit me mater mea." "And in deficiencies did my mother conceive me." The usual translation of "peccatis," is "sins." Deficiency is not guilt. Furthermore, it is something that can be remedied, and is not a total loss of the image and likeness of God. It is as if one were smeared with something which obscures the image and likeness of God in us but does not destroy it. We are smeared with "inherent impurity" and are "weighed down in the faults and desires of our flesh" as the Prayer of Saint Ambrose says at the beginning of the Lorrha "Stowe" Liturgy. Nowhere in traditional Celtic Christian writings is there a reference to Augustine's error that we are born guilty. Any guilt is due to our own acts because we are "weighed down by the faults [deficiencies] and desires of our flesh [inherited from our first parents]" which makes us tend to sin and makes even our good works inferior.

Our initial deficiency does not leave us cut off from God's grace. The Celts wrote that by acts of penitence, that is to say, by acts which direct us and our lives toward God, we may receive His Grace and come to "enjoy eternal life in the Heavens." As another prayer says, one is "accused by a guilty conscience" concerning the errors of one's life. One is not born guilty.

What is the Orthodox position regarding the Immaculate Conception of Mary, The Birthgiver of God?
Participation in Redemption is offered only through the Mysteries of Christ's Church. That Church is not present where the Faith is not present. While the Church allows certain latitudes of interpretation, those latitudes never cause confusion in Doctrine.

The Holy Spirit, speaking through the Holy Seven Ecumenical Councils, set guidelines for belief. No belief is compatible with the Truth if it challenges the authenticity or fullness of the humanity received and redeemed by our God, Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son and second Person of the Holy Trinity. No belief is compatible with the Truth if it says that our Redemption comes through anyone other than God.

The union of our deficient humanity to Jesus Christ's Human and Divine perfection is the basis of our Redemption. Jesus is the first and only human born without original sin because He is the True God in Whose image and likeness Adam was originally fashioned. At the moment of His Conception at the Annunciation, Jesus Christ began the actual restoration of our humanity to Adam's original state before the Fall. He received our humanity from the Birthgiver of God and ever Virgin Mary. Our redemption was completed in Jesus Christ's human Death on the Cross when the Light of his Divinity overthrew our Death. At the Resurrection and Ascension, humanity was raised to anew potential higher than that of Adam, as Saint Leo the Great said, both in the tome of St. Leo and St. Leo's prayers of the blessing of the Candle of the Easter Vigil.

The humanity of the Virgin had to be like ours. She shared the deficiency of Original Sin. Otherwise, the humanity which Christ received, renewed, and elevated to a new height is not our humanity.

The Birthgiver of God, the ever virgin Mary is free of the stain of a sinful life. She was also free of guilt inherited from Adam, as we all are. Original Guilt is an error set forth by Blessed Augustine. That error requires the error of the Immaculate Conception to explain the Virgin Mary's freedom from the stain of that Guilt. Although Original Sin is a fatal deficiency which makes us tend toward sin, it did not impart guilt nor did it cut humanity off from God's Grace. Guilt is only possible where there has been sin by the individual. We are told: "Et in peccatis (and in sins) [interpreted as delictis (deficiencies) by commentators] peperit me mater mea" (did my mother conceive me) [Ps 50: 7]. Deficiency is not guilt. Original Guilt confuses understanding of our human nature and compromises belief in the humanity which Christ received and redeemed.

Were women Ordained as Priests or Bishops in the Celtic churches?
The practices of the Celtic churches are relatively unknown by most. This ignorance has caused confusion as to whether the Ordination of women as Priests or Consecration of women as Bishops were practices of the Celtic churches. Various statements concerning the Churches of Ireland and Britain add to the confusion.

According to reliable sources, when Saint Brigid was to be professed as a nun and blessed as Abbess, Saint Mel, the Bishop, read the prayers of consecration of a Bishop over her. Some said it was a mistake, but due to the circumstances with various Bishops wandering Ireland, it was most probably a way to allow Saint Brigid to administer her convent without Bishops' making claim to authority over the community. There is no indication that Saint Brigid ever functioned as a Bishop. No Bishop ever claimed that she was one of the previous Bishops in his Succession (the list giving the names of the Bishops that Consecrated him, and the Bishops that Consecrated them, etc., back to the time of Christ). Furthermore, we know that no Abbess or Archabbess ever functioned as a Bishop. Each abbey had its own Priest and each arch-abbey had its own Bishop. These male chaplains reported to the Abbess. Had the Abbess been a Bishop or Priest, there would have been no need for a chaplain to be available to administer the Sacraments or to profess nuns.

Images of nuns with Crosiers seem to suggest there were women Bishops, but that too is misleading. Abbots and Abbesses were (and are) given Crosiers. This was not a symbol of a Sacramental role, but of their leadership.  Other confusing images include that of an empress symbolically represented as presenting the Offerings at the Altar. Various titles in inscriptions are like the title "Presbytera" mean "priest's wife" not priestess.  Other images show montanist presbytides (women priests). The montanists had instituted ordination of women to the Priesthood. The montanists were condemned for false prophecy, rigid legalism, and their practice of ordaining women to the Priesthood was officially rejected by Local and Ecumenical Councils.

Another issue is the references to Deaconesses. The only concrete surviving reference to Deaconesses in Celtic churches from the churches themselves is a prayer from the Pontificale of Egbert. A Deaconess was a type of acolyte whose primary duty was preparing and assisting at the Baptism and Confirmation of women. They may have had a liturgical function, but it is clear that they never became Priests. They may have been in charge of the Cohospitae, who were female servers. It has also been stated that the Deaconesses and Cohospitae administered the Chalice to communicants. That is possible. However, they did not Consecrate its contents. The Celtic Orthodox Christian Church has a list of duties of Deaconesses which is consistent with the evidence.
 
 

Those who support women's Ordination to the Priesthood with "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." [Gal 3: 28] are mistaken in that they confuse equality with uniformity of function. Saint Paul describes diversity of function within the equality of the Church: "For by one Spirit are we all Baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit. For the body is not one member, but many. If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?" [1 Cor 13-15]

"And God hath set some in the church, first Apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. Are all Apostles? are all prophets? are all teachers? are all workers of miracles? Have all the gifts of healing? do all speak with tongues? do all interpret? But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet show I unto you a more excellent way." [1 Cor 12: 28-31] One must not covet a ministry that is different from the ministry that has been given. As stated in 1 Corinthians 12: 15, one must not leave the Body of Christ because one has not been given the ministry one prefers.

While this does not mention gender, it does indicate that there are limitations to individual ministries. Throughout his letters, Saint Paul documents several of those limitations, for example: "A Bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife,.." [1 Tim 3: 2] He also states: "But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence." [1 Tim 2: 12] This may seem like an attempt to demean women, but Saint Paul also says: "And those members of the body, which we think to be less honorable, upon these we bestow more abundant honor." [1 Cor 12: 23] Difference of function is not to be a difference of honor. Equal dignity is to be given to all for all that are of the body of Christ. St. Catherine of Alexandria and St. Brigid were teachers, but not Priests.

The belief that Sacramental ministry is a higher honor is an error: it sets the Sacramental ministers above those they are to serve. It also demeans the ministries, even the very lives, of those who are not Deacons, Priests, or Bishops: such as the Virgin Mary, the Birthgiver of God, Brigid, Ita, Scetha, Sinecha, Samthann, Mary Magdalene, Thecla, Photini, Martha, Sarah, Rebecca, Elizabeth, Judith, John the Baptist, Joseph the husband of Mary, Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimethea, etc.,.
 

 

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