Many Christians go on pilgrimage, whether to Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago, or some other destination, but few think hard about it from the perspective of their faith. This book fills that gap, looking at the biblical and theological elements in pilgrimage and asking how we could do pilgrimage differently. Exploring the current resurgence of pilgrimage from a Christian viewpoint, this book seeks to articulate a theology of pilgrimage for today. Examination of pilgrimage in the Old and New Testaments provides a grounding for thinking through pilgrimage theologically. Literary, missiological and sociological perspectives are explored, and the book concludes by examining how such a theology could change our practice of pilgrimage today, raising such questions as how tourism to the Holy Land should reflect the situation in the region today. Pilgrims, students and all interested in contemporary pilgrimage will find this accessible book a valuable articulation of the different elements in a Christian theology of pilgrimage.

Whether a pilgrimage centers around a place, a visionary individual, or a text, it brings widely diverse individuals and their beliefs, doctrines, and expectations into contact with each other. This important collection assesses the qualities and power of pilgrimage shrines as sites for accommodating various, often competing, meanings and practices, both among pilgrims and between shrine custodians and devotees. Contributors discuss the highly organized shrine at Lourdes and also the shrine at San Giovanni Rotondo in Sangiovannesi, Italy, where conflicting interests among townspeople and pilgrims have crystallized around the life and the remains, respectively, of a holy man. Other contributors consider the competing images of Jerusalem among pilgrims of various Christian faiths-Greek Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Christian Zionist-and explore the unique attributes of shrines in Sri Lanka and Peru. A major advance in understanding the complexity of pilgrimage, Contesting the Sacred provides valuable insight into the process of exchange between human beings and the divine that gives pilgrimage its central rationale. John Eade's new introduction places the book's theoretical frame in the context of recent thinking and writing on pilgrimage and considers the impact of globalization and tourism on pilgrimage cults and sites.

The place in which we stand is often taken for granted and ignored in our increasingly mobile society. Differentiating between place and space, this book argues that place has very much more influence upon human experience than is generally recognised and that this lack of recognition, and all that results from it, are dehumanising. John Inge presents a rediscovery of the importance of place, drawing on the resources of the Bible and the Christian tradition to demonstrate how Christian theology should take place seriously. A renewed understanding of the importance of place from a theological perspective has much to offer in working against the dehumanising effects of the loss of place. Community and places each build the identity of the other; this book offers important insights in a world in which the effects of globalisation continue to erode people's rootedness and experience of place.

Ragman and Other Cries of Faith, Little Lamb, Who Made Thee? and Miz Lil and the Chronicles of Grace are among Walter Wangerin Jr.'s earliest and best-loved books. Each is a multifaceted jewel containing stories, essays, parables, prayers, and meditations, all bearing the mark of Wangerin's trademark poignancy and lyricism. Yet while the books stand on their individual merits, the author originally conceived them as an interlinking set---a trio that would together weave a complex and vivid tapestry of human experience and 'story theology.' In This Earthly Pilgrimage, these beloved Wangerin classics come together at last, along with brand new writings, in an omnibus that lets the reader trace the tapestry's threads from their source to their completion. The interlocking stories in Ragman and Other Cries of Faith helped usher Walter Wangerin to prominence as a Christian writer. The opening chapter, 'Ragman,' remains one of Wangerin's most popular works and leads the reader into thirty-three other writings in a variety of styles. Ranging from the gently reflective to the incantatory, they are powerful, thought-provoking explorations of the meaning of faith, the person of Christ, the community of believers, and the individual servant of faith. Eleven new pieces make this an updated and definitive edition. The stories, essays, prayers, and poems in Little Lamb, Who Made Thee? continue the themes the author began in Ragman and Other Cries of Faith. Here are children, teenagers, adults, and parents grappling with the deep realities of life. Painting with bold brushstrokes of human emotion and using a wise and gentle humor, Wangerin probes the relationships between children and their parents and what they have to show us about God and ourselves as his children. Like Ragman, this volume includes twelve new stories, fresh from the master storyteller's pen. In Miz Lil and the Chronicles of Grace, a well-conceived unit of twelve beautifully told stories, anecdotes, and reminiscences evokes the experience of growing up American and living out a spiritual quest. Culled from Wangerin's childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, and his years as an inner-city pastor, the interwoven stories lend flesh, feeling, and immediacy to themes that are vital to every Christian. With a new Afterword by the author, Miz Lil and the Chronicles of Grace unfolds the moving story of a pastor and storyteller's career and the drama of his faith.

Place is fundamental to human existence. However, we have lost the very human sense of place in today's postmodern and globalized world. Craig Bartholomew, a noted Old Testament scholar and the coauthor of two popular texts on the biblical narrative, provides a biblical, theological, and philosophical grounding for place in our rootless culture. He illuminates the importance of place throughout the biblical canon, in the Christian tradition, and in the contours of contemporary thought. Bartholomew encourages readers to recover a sense of place and articulates a hopeful Christian vision of placemaking in today's world. Anyone interested in place and related environmental themes, including readers of Wendell Berry, will enjoy this compelling book.

Publisher Description

In Mystical Theology and Contemporary Spiritual Practice several leading scholars explore key themes within the Christian mystical tradition, contemporary and historical. The overall aim of the book is to demonstrate the relevance of mystical theology to contemporary spiritual practice. Attention is given to the works of Baron von Hugel, Vladimir Lossky, Margery Kempe, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Thomas Merton, and Francisco de Osuna, as well as to a wide range of spiritual practices, including pilgrimage, spiritual direction, contemplative prayer and the quotidian spirituality of the New Monasticism. Christian mystical theology is shown to be a living tradition, which has vibrant and creative new expressions in contemporary spiritual practice. It is argued that mystical theology affirms something both ordinary and extraordinary which is fundamental to the Christian experience of prayer.