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The Celtic Way of Evangelism, Tenth Anniversary Edition: How Christianity Can Reach the West . . .Again
Celtic Christianity the form of Christian faith that flourished among the people of Ireland during the Middle Ages has gained a great deal of attention lately. George G. Hunter III points out that while the attention paid to the Celtic Christians is well deserved, much of it fails to recognize the true genius of this ancient form of Christianity. What many contemporary Christians do not realize is that Celtic Christianity was one of the most successfully evangelistic branches of the church in history. The Celtic church converted Ireland from paganism to Christianity in a remarkably short period, and then proceeded to send missionaries throughout Europe.
North America is today in the same situation as the environment in which the early Celtic preachers found their mission unfamiliar with the Christian message, yet spiritually seeking and open to a vibrant new faith. If we are to spread the gospel in this culture of secular seekers, we would do well to learn from the Celts. Their ability to work with the beliefs of those they evangelized, to adapt worship and church life to the indigenous patterns they encountered, remains unparalleled in Christian history. If we are to succeed in reaching the West . . . again, then we must begin by learning from these powerful witnesses to the saving love of Jesus Christ.
This classic book on the power of indigenous evangelism has been thoroughly revised and updated, proving once again how much these ancient Christians have to teach anyone who seeks to spread the word of the gospel.
North America is today in the same situation as the environment in which the early Celtic preachers found their mission unfamiliar with the Christian message, yet spiritually seeking and open to a vibrant new faith. If we are to spread the gospel in this culture of secular seekers, we would do well to learn from the Celts. Their ability to work with the beliefs of those they evangelized, to adapt worship and church life to the indigenous patterns they encountered, remains unparalleled in Christian history. If we are to succeed in reaching the West . . . again, then we must begin by learning from these powerful witnesses to the saving love of Jesus Christ.
This classic book on the power of indigenous evangelism has been thoroughly revised and updated, proving once again how much these ancient Christians have to teach anyone who seeks to spread the word of the gospel.
144 pages, Paperback
Published November 15, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 29, 2026
I would give this book a 2.5
The central premise of this book is to analyze why Saint Patrick and other Celtic leader’s evangelism was so successful when compared to the church in Rome. He makes helpful points such as St. Patrick spent time studying the Irish culture before jumping in, the value of nature and prayer in one’s spiritual walk, and comparing the barbarians of the old with people in our post modern context today. I really enjoyed this book until the author started to find examples of this form of evangelism today in the final chapter.
The author states that many programs, leaders, and churches are employing Celtic evangelism even if they do not know it. He spends extended time comparing addiction recovery to evangelism which in a hospitality and caring sense can be accurate, but much of his theology goes out the window. The emphasis is not on people coming and knowing Christ but rather in building bigger churches and having people do good works. Here is a quote of the authors that particularly disturbed me. “It is also possible that the Holy Trinity, like in increasing numbers of churches, has picked up some pieces of the Celtic way of doing church without conscious regard to their historic source.” The Trinity itself is learning from the Celts? He also puts forward many pastors and churches that seem to misunderstand the mission of the church which is to save the lost and give God glory.
I appreciate the central idea of this book and it has challenged me to reconsider directing outreach activities primarily towards people that can easily integrate into a church. I found his analysis on historical events fascinating. However I really reject most of his examples of Celtic evangelism playing out in society today as being true sources of evangelism.
The central premise of this book is to analyze why Saint Patrick and other Celtic leader’s evangelism was so successful when compared to the church in Rome. He makes helpful points such as St. Patrick spent time studying the Irish culture before jumping in, the value of nature and prayer in one’s spiritual walk, and comparing the barbarians of the old with people in our post modern context today. I really enjoyed this book until the author started to find examples of this form of evangelism today in the final chapter.
The author states that many programs, leaders, and churches are employing Celtic evangelism even if they do not know it. He spends extended time comparing addiction recovery to evangelism which in a hospitality and caring sense can be accurate, but much of his theology goes out the window. The emphasis is not on people coming and knowing Christ but rather in building bigger churches and having people do good works. Here is a quote of the authors that particularly disturbed me. “It is also possible that the Holy Trinity, like in increasing numbers of churches, has picked up some pieces of the Celtic way of doing church without conscious regard to their historic source.” The Trinity itself is learning from the Celts? He also puts forward many pastors and churches that seem to misunderstand the mission of the church which is to save the lost and give God glory.
I appreciate the central idea of this book and it has challenged me to reconsider directing outreach activities primarily towards people that can easily integrate into a church. I found his analysis on historical events fascinating. However I really reject most of his examples of Celtic evangelism playing out in society today as being true sources of evangelism.
December 30, 2025
I read this book because I like medieval and celtic stuff. I didn't have high expectations, but it wasn't bad. I don't agree with his argument about evangelism nor his pulse-reading on the church in America, but his summaries in celtic history was cool. That's why I wanted to read it anyway. Chapter three was the highlight of the book for me because of that.
He was basically arguing that since the early church in Britain did not want to be Romanized, America should also practice Christianity with its own American flare. He sounded very Baptist/non-denom, but he's actually a Methodist. I feel like he didn't really present evidence for why his model of church would work better other than his own experiences or sweeping claims that had little to no data behind them.
Again, the history of Britain not wanting to be Romanized was cool though. I'm Anglican, so I like learning about the early tensions between Britain and Rome.
Oh! Also, his writing style had some silly tendencies. He summarized every previous chapter of the book at the beginning of every new chapter and used an abundance of lists. This did make it a very easy read though.
He was basically arguing that since the early church in Britain did not want to be Romanized, America should also practice Christianity with its own American flare. He sounded very Baptist/non-denom, but he's actually a Methodist. I feel like he didn't really present evidence for why his model of church would work better other than his own experiences or sweeping claims that had little to no data behind them.
Again, the history of Britain not wanting to be Romanized was cool though. I'm Anglican, so I like learning about the early tensions between Britain and Rome.
Oh! Also, his writing style had some silly tendencies. He summarized every previous chapter of the book at the beginning of every new chapter and used an abundance of lists. This did make it a very easy read though.
July 15, 2024
Fascinating combination of mission history, analyses of methods, and suggestions for the future. Occasionally chased a few unrelated hobby horses and seems more interested in social gospel stuff than actual gospel communication, but overall a good read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews