Celtic Christianity is as exciting as it is intriguing, from the first native Christians in the British Isles, through to the great saints such as Patrick and Columba; coupled with the trials and triumphs of the historic Anglo-Saxon kings. For centuries, this unique and isolated expression of Christianity thrived in Britain and Ireland. Together Celtic Christians ignited a Celtic Golden Age of faith and light which spread into Europe. Discover this striking history, how a nation dedicated to God was born and what we can learn from the heroes of Celtic Christianity.

The islands of Britain have been a crossroads of gods, heroes, and kings-those of flesh as well as those of myth-for thousands of years. Successive waves of invasion brought distinctive legends, rites, and beliefs. The ancient Celts displaced earlier indigenous peoples, only to find themselves displaced in turn by the Romans, who then abandoned the islands to Germanic tribes, a people themselves nearly overcome in time by an influx of Scandinavians. With each wave of invaders came a battle for the mythic mind of the Isles as the newcomer's belief system met with the existing systems of gods, legends, and myths. In Gods, Heroes, and Kings, medievalist Christopher Fee and veteran myth scholar David Leeming unearth the layers of the British Isles' unique folkloric tradition to discover how this body of seemingly disparate tales developed. The authors find a virtual battlefield of myths in which pagan and Judeo-Christian beliefs fought for dominance, and classical, Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, and Celtic narrative threads became tangled together. The resulting body of legends became a strange but coherent hybrid, so that by the time Chaucer wrote "The Wife of Bath's Tale" in the fourteenth century, a Christian theme of redemption fought for prominence with a tripartite Celtic goddess and the Arthurian legends of Sir Gawain-itself a hybrid mythology. Without a guide, the corpus of British mythology can seem impenetrable. Taking advantage of the latest research, Fee and Leeming employ a unique comparative approach to map the origins and development of one of the richest folkloric traditions. Copiously illustrated with excerpts in translation from the original sources,Gods, Heroes, and Kings provides a fascinating and accessible new perspective on the history of British mythology.

This first full-length theological study of sources from early medieval Wales traces common Celtic features in early Welsh religious literature. The author explores the origins of the earliest Welsh tradition in the fusion of Celtic primal religion with primitive Christianity, and traces some considerable Irish influence. These specific Celtic spiritual emphases are examined in the religious poetry of the Black Book of Carmarthen, the Book of Taliesin and the Poets of the Princes, and in prose texts such as The Food of the Soul and the Life of Beuno. Many of these Welsh texts appear here in English translation for the first time.

From the city of Calais, on the northern coast of France, one may look over the water on a clear day and see the white cliffs of Dover, in England. At this point the English Channel is only twenty-one miles wide. But this narrow water has dangerous currents, and often fierce winds sweep over it, so that small ships find it hard to cross. This rough Channel has more than once spoiled the plans of England's enemies, and the English people have many times thanked God for their protecting seas.

This lively and original account of early Celtic Christianity - which was of far greater importance in the development of Western culture than we commonly realize - is told against the background of European history of the first seven centuries A.D. It focuses on the lives of Saints Brendan, Columba, and Columbanus, who lived active and effective lives in the cause of the early Church. Brendan, one of the founding fathers of Christianity in Ireland, was known in legend as a voyager and was thought to have reached the Western Hemisphere long before the Vikings. Columba took Celtic Christianity to Scotland and helped to re-establish it in Wales and in the North and West of England. Columbanus was the great Irish missionary to continental Europe, where he and his followers helped to convert the heathen invaders from the East. When Rome, in the person of St. Augustine, Pope Gregory's apostle to the Angles, penetrated again to England, a showdown between Roman and Celtic Christianity was inevitable. The dramatic confrontation occurred at the Council of Whitby in 664. Rome, with its organization and authority, won, and Celtic Catholicism went into eclipse. But some of its influence persisted all over Europe, and it had a large share in shaping the culture that ultimately emerged from the dark ages. This book's fascination is the picture that it gives of the movements of peoples, the shaping of new countries, and the development of ideas during those too-little-known centuries.

Samuel Rees Howells, A Life of Intercession: The Legacy of Prayer and Spiritual Warfare of an Intercessor by Richard A. Maton, Paul Backholer and Mathew Backholer Rees Howells, a powerful intercessor, taught his son Samuel the principles of intercession and commissioned him some weeks before his death, stating, “Whatever you do, stand and maintain these intercessions.” For the next fifty-four years, Samuel Rees Howells exercised a powerful intercessory ministry as he focused prayer on gospel liberty, in order for the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be given to every creature. With the mantle of intercession weighing heavily upon him, Samuel spent decades participating with others in their own countries, in profound spiritual struggles that shook world events and shaped history for God’s glory! Discover how Samuel was led by the Holy Spirit to exercise authority over the principalities and powers, and to ‘pray through’ until God’s purposes were fulfilled in many lethal world conflicts. Learn how God still intervenes in world history, from the Korean War to the Cuban Missile Crisis, and from the Six-Day War to the fall of the Soviet Union! Beginning in the days of Rees Howells, this book continues this powerful story of intercession and traces its effectual legacy into the twenty-first century. Filled with principles of intercession, faith and spiritual warfare, this book provides a fascinating insight into what is possible when the Holy Spirit finds an individual, who will stand in the gap and become a channel for His intercession. Ezekiel 22:30, Romans 8:26-27, Ephesians 6:12. Richard A. Maton worked under Samuel’s ministry for forty-seven years and provides us with an eyewitness account of Samuel’s life of intercession. Richard is married to Kristine who joined Rees Howells’ Bible College in 1936 and prayed alongside him. Together Richard and Kristine spent more than 120 years at the College!

Updated in 2020. Samuel, Son and Successor of Rees Howells: Director of the Bible College of Wales – A Biography by Richard A. Maton. The ministry of Samuel Howells and the Bible College of Wales (BCW) have touched the lives of countless numbers of people all over the world. The author invites us on a lifelong journey with Samuel, to unveil his ministry at the College, life of prayer and the support he received from numerous staff, students and visitors, as the history of BCW unfolds alongside the Vision to reach Every Creature with the Gospel. In 1950, Samuel became Director of BCW when his father Rees Howells was taken into glory and he led the work for the next fifty-two years; living a life of faith and intercession. Samuel lived through a time of tumultuous change in the world, and oversaw the work of the Bible College and Emmanuel Grammar School as it sailed through six challenging decades. This biography remains as a historical record of the life of a great man of God, Samuel Howells, the Director of BCW, its four estates, school, and its worldwide ministry.

Walking with Jesus – two minutes a day to encourage and inspire. Have you ever wished you could have sat at Jesus’ feet and heard Him speak? Jesus Today is a concise daily devotional defined by Jesus’ teaching and how His life can change ours. See the world from God’s perspective, learn who Jesus was, what He preached and what it means to live abundantly in Christ. 100 days of Christian inspiration to draw you closer to God. 2020 edition.