Rating: 
Summary: not exactly celtic
Review: I would have given this book a higher rating had it not claimed to be the "celtic" way of evangelism. Hunter presents excellent concepts for evangelism but his study of the celtic church is unimpressive. He argues that there was a contrasting view of Roman vs. Celtic ways of doing things yet many of his examples of how "Celtic" monastaries would have done things are drawn from the very "Roman" rule of Benedict.
He also accuses the "Roman" wing of the church imposing her liturgy on the Celtic churches around the 5th Century. Sure, the tonsure and dating of Easter were brought in but this was quite a while before a standard liturgy was imposed throughout Europe. Check out the Gallican Liturgy and Stowe Missal. I get the impression that the author drew examples from some stories about St. Patrick and ideas of modern authors to back up his own ideas of evangelism. I appreciate his understanding of theories and theology of evangelis, I just don't see how it is based on solid study of the Celtic church.
Rating:
Summary: not exactly celtic
Review: I would have given this book a higher rating had it not claimed to be the "celtic" way of evangelism. Hunter presents excellent concepts for evangelism but his study of the celtic church is unimpressive. He argues that there was a contrasting view of Roman vs. Celtic ways of doing things yet many of his examples of how "Celtic" monastaries would have done things are drawn from the very "Roman" rule of Benedict.
He also accuses the "Roman" wing of the church imposing her liturgy on the Celtic churches around the 5th Century. Sure, the tonsure and dating of Easter were brought in but this was quite a while before a standard liturgy was imposed throughout Europe. Check out the Gallican Liturgy and Stowe Missal. I get the impression that the author drew examples from some stories about St. Patrick and ideas of modern authors to back up his own ideas of evangelism. I appreciate his understanding of theories and theology of evangelis, I just don't see how it is based on solid study of the Celtic church.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Study On Celtic Christianity
Review: In this book, Mr. Hunter has written an excellent thesis on Celtic Christianity. This is not light reading, but neither is it too heady for the average reader to understand.The basic thesis of this book is an interesting study of the fifth century evangelization of Ireland by Patrick and how his methods may be effective in today's culture. Mr. Hunter does a fine job of educating the reader about the ways Patrick used to reach a barbaric, pagan nation with the Gospel using very non-traditional methods. He theorizes that in today's world, there is a generation of "New Barbarians" - people whose lives have never been influenced by Christianity and have no true Christian experience. As in the days of Patrick, the religious institutions have failed to make the Gospel highly relative to this culture. He concludes his study by giving examples of specific churches and ministries who have adopted creative new methods of evangelizing this largely unreached generation and have succeeded. He also issues a moving challenge to Church leaders to make the necessary changes to bridge the gap between the Church and the unchurched and bring in this vast harvest of people who are searching for God in all the wrong places. I found this book very helpful and encouraging. I highly agree with Mr. Hunter's thesis and join with him in issuing this challenge to the Church. As a pastor, I began making these changes in our church years ago, with some success. More recently, we have been introduced to ministry groups who are literally going into the darkest parts of this alienated culture, living among the people and sharing the good news of the Gospel. The fruit of their ministry is tremendous and has challenged us to go even further to make the Church a place where everyone who is seeking God is welcome, regardless of how "uncivilized" they may be. Those churches who are bold enough to make this change will be rewarded with an army of passionate young warriors of the faith who will go anywhere and do anything to share the love of Jesus Christ in the streets. Buy this book if you are serious about reaching the lost. You won't regret it.
Rating: 
Summary: Great book!
Review: Terrific and quick read. Hunter gives a very interesting account of Celtic Christianity and how Celtic principles can positively shape modern day "church." I highly recommend this book. It's a great primer for those with little knowledge of the Celts or of church history. But it also has great insights for those that know lots about both.
Rating:
Summary: Good insights on a new/old way of evangelism
Review: This book is part history and part "how-to." There is a lot of good historical information in a very short space on Patrick and some of those he influenced. If, like me, all you knew about Patrick was that he had something to do with the Irish people, wearing green and shamrocks, then this book will introduce you to the real reasons for Patrick's fame - his bold missionary ministry to the Irish.
As far as the how-to's go I think the gist of the book can be summed up in a little summmary table that Hunter gives contrasting what he believes is the Celtic Way vs. the Roman Way. The Roman way said that a person has to believe before they can belong. The Celtic way said that a person must belong in order to believe. Therefore, the Roman process of evangelism was 1 - Preach the Christian messsage, 2 - Call to a decision for Christ, 3 - Invite into the fellowship of the church. In contrast, Hunter says that the Celtic was is to 1 - Invite the unbeliever into the community, 2 - Engage them in ministry and conversation - a kind of conversational evangelism focusing on answering the questions of the unbeliever rather than pushing them along a predetermined path or presentation, and 3) Invitation to commitment to Christ and the ministry of the community. Hunter says that, in the Celtic community, "seekers" often came to Christ in a matter of days or weeks as a result of participating in the life of the Christian community.
Hunter suggests that our evangelistic methodology today looks more like the Roman way and that we would be well advised to adopt the Celtic way. As evidence he cites some of his own research showing that most people who do come to Christ come to Christ along a more "Celtic" path - i.e., being welcomed into a group where they can hear and see the gospel lived out over time, and gradually embracing this gospel. Hunter says the Celtic way affirms that the Christian faith is more caught than taught.
If we were to take Hunter's insights seriously, many churches would have to seriously re-evaluate how they do "evangelism." If Hunter is correct, the standard confrontational approaches of evangelism, where we give the whole gospel presentation at one time and call for a decision right then and there, would need to be modified to allow some time and breathing room for the "seeker" to "catch" the gospel.
If you read this book in conjunction with Richard Peace's book "Conversion in the New Testament," you will find that such a "Celtic" methodology dovetails nicely with the way Jesus evangelized the disciples. Peace demonstrates that the book of Mark is the story of the conversion of the disciples, which took place in the context of a group, over a long period of time. This is what Hunter is advocating as the "Celtic" way of evangelism.
There are a few places I wondered about in this book. In talking about the way the Celts presented the gospel, Hunter takes principles from Aristotle and Kierkegaard and reads them back into the Celtic way of evangelism. This seems a little artificial to me, although there is some food for thought there. Also, especially troubling, and this seemed to be troubling to Hunter to, is that the Celts seemed to portray Christ as one who brings fulfillment rather than the savior of sinners. This is espcially troubling because if there is no sin, there is no need for a savior. The essence of the gospel always has been and always will be that Christ is the savior of sinners. Finally, in their prudent zeal to contextualize the gospel to the Irish and find common ground, the Celts may have bluured the lines between contextualization and accomodation.
Overall, a tremendous book, a few things need to be theologically filtered, but as far as evangelistic methodology goes there is much to learn from here.
Rating:
Summary: Good insights on a new/old way of evangelism
Review: This book is part history and part "how-to." There is a lot of good historical information in a very short space on Patrick and some of those he influenced. If, like me, all you knew about Patrick was that he had something to do with the Irish people, wearing green and shamrocks, then this book will introduce you to the real reasons for Patrick's fame - his bold missionary ministry to the Irish.
As far as the how-to's go I think the gist of the book can be summed up in a little summmary table that Hunter gives contrasting what he believes is the Celtic Way vs. the Roman Way. The Roman way said that a person has to believe before they can belong. The Celtic way said that a person must belong in order to believe. Therefore, the Roman process of evangelism was 1 - Preach the Christian messsage, 2 - Call to a decision for Christ, 3 - Invite into the fellowship of the church. In contrast, Hunter says that the Celtic was is to 1 - Invite the unbeliever into the community, 2 - Engage them in ministry and conversation - a kind of conversational evangelism focusing on answering the questions of the unbeliever rather than pushing them along a predetermined path or presentation, and 3) Invitation to commitment to Christ and the ministry of the community. Hunter says that, in the Celtic community, "seekers" often came to Christ in a matter of days or weeks as a result of participating in the life of the Christian community.
Hunter suggests that our evangelistic methodology today looks more like the Roman way and that we would be well advised to adopt the Celtic way. As evidence he cites some of his own research showing that most people who do come to Christ come to Christ along a more "Celtic" path - i.e., being welcomed into a group where they can hear and see the gospel lived out over time, and gradually embracing this gospel. Hunter says the Celtic way affirms that the Christian faith is more caught than taught.
If we were to take Hunter's insights seriously, many churches would have to seriously re-evaluate how they do "evangelism." If Hunter is correct, the standard confrontational approaches of evangelism, where we give the whole gospel presentation at one time and call for a decision right then and there, would need to be modified to allow some time and breathing room for the "seeker" to "catch" the gospel.
If you read this book in conjunction with Richard Peace's book "Conversion in the New Testament," you will find that such a "Celtic" methodology dovetails nicely with the way Jesus evangelized the disciples. Peace demonstrates that the book of Mark is the story of the conversion of the disciples, which took place in the context of a group, over a long period of time. This is what Hunter is advocating as the "Celtic" way of evangelism.
There are a few places I wondered about in this book. In talking about the way the Celts presented the gospel, Hunter takes principles from Aristotle and Kierkegaard and reads them back into the Celtic way of evangelism. This seems a little artificial to me, although there is some food for thought there. Also, especially troubling, and this seemed to be troubling to Hunter to, is that the Celts seemed to portray Christ as one who brings fulfillment rather than the savior of sinners. This is espcially troubling because if there is no sin, there is no need for a savior. The essence of the gospel always has been and always will be that Christ is the savior of sinners. Finally, in their prudent zeal to contextualize the gospel to the Irish and find common ground, the Celts may have bluured the lines between contextualization and accomodation.
Overall, a tremendous book, a few things need to be theologically filtered, but as far as evangelistic methodology goes there is much to learn from here.
Rating:
Summary: one of the best in years
Review: This book opens up the whole understanding of reaching out and evangelism in a way that is respectful of others and authentic to who we are as followers of Jesus Christ. I recommend this book for all church folks who are seeking to not simply get new members, but want to share the good news of Jesus Christ with people.
Rating:
Summary: Great intro, need more practical suggestions?
Review: This is a powerful little book. Hunter describes the ministry of Patrick in Ireland and outlines some of the principles that made his, and his followers', ministries so powerfully effective. Essentially, Patrick entered a foreign culture (he was not Irish, in fact he first went to Ireland as captive of pirates!) and managed to capture some of the local culture while keeping his focus on reaching out with the gospel. In fact, people seemed not to even know they were being evangelized. They were welcomed into the Christian community and some time later "realized they'd become Christians." Hunter makes a decent historical case that Patrick's pattern was successful in Ireland and transferable to Britain, but then was squelched by Rome. I'd want to see more historical evidence, though. This is a compact book and doesn't give a lot of detail. Maybe the most fascinating aspect of the book is its insight into Celtic spirituality, as well as the reminder that we shouldn't insist people match up to our standards before they become part of our community.
I'd like to see more of an outline as to how this can be translated to the modern church. Hunter refers to his colleague Christine Pohl's work on Christian hospitality, so maybe he didn't mean this book to be a blueprint. He definitely stirs thought and great discussion! It's such an important topic, I applaud Hunter's effort to make us think more deeply about how we live out the gospel.
Rating:
Summary: The Celtic Way of Evangelism
Review: This is an excellent book that makes us able to do intentionally what we have been doing intuitively in our proclaiming the Gospel. We are using it at our Vestry Retreat this Spring as a study document in order to put into practice many of the Celtic aspects of doing evangelism. The Rev'd Glynn Harper, Rector
St. Anna's Episcopal Church
New Orleans, LA 70116 Rector@stannas-nola.org
Rating:
Summary: Who says relationships aren't important?
Review: Using Patrick of Ireland as an example Hunter shows the value of respect for others experience and their value as human beings in evangelism. He posits the Irish monestary (different from what we have become used to in the last 700 years) as a model for evangelism. Extending the relational emphasis of much recent writing (including his own) on evangelism, Hunter helps us to place emphasis on faith being caught in the day to day activities of living. Excellent book
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