Review: Water from an Ancient Well

I have always been interested in Celtic Christianity. Perhaps it's my family’s Irish roots, my fondness for Irish and Celtic folk music, my fascination with the lush Irish countryside. So when I saw this new book Water from an Ancient Well: Celtic Spirituality for Modern Life (Kenneth McIntosh, Anamchara Books) and realized it explores early Celtic Christianity, I wanted to take a closer look.

In many ways I wasn't disappointed. I learned a great deal about those early days of the Christian faith on the British Isles. I learned, for instance, that the "Gal" in "Galatians" is really a reference to the Gallic (Celtic) peoples who had migrated to the region Paul addressed in his letter to the churches there. I learned more about the amazing ministry of Patrick, who managed to convert the entire island from paganism to Christianity. I learned that Celtic Christianity, while it held fast to basic Christian doctrine -- the Trinity and the Apostles Creed, for instance -- developed its own unique and diverse Christian art forms. 

But I was disappointed in the volume in other respects. This looked like a book that needed an editor's sure hand. For one thing (and this is a small thing) I didn't like the font used in the quotations at the end and beginning of each chapter, italicized Papyrus, not the kind of thing that a professional typesetter would have done, I think.

The writing was uneven, sometimes light and even a little juvenile in the stories that opened the chapters, as if it were aimed at a young adult audience, sometimes in a scholarly, almost pedantic tone when it discussed historical and theological details. It was as if McIntosh couldn’t decide what kind of audience he wanted to reach. The lack of focus extended to its content: sometimes focused on ancient Celtic spirituality, sometimes jumping forward to modern church outreach. I think McIntosh tried to do too much with too little focus.  

There is a good index, always useful in a book crammed as this one is with information. But there are no footnotes or endnotes or bibliography. And for a book that contains as much fascinating historical information as it does, source information would have been helpful.

I think the book was a good idea, but it wasn’t rendered well. I give Water from an Ancient Well two stars (out of four).