Jerusalem Bound. Rodney Aist
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Название: Jerusalem Bound
Автор: Rodney Aist
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Религия: прочее
isbn: 9781725255289
isbn:
Christological images likewise contain pilgrim themes. Jesus is our spiritual guide. He is the way, the light of the world in a land full of darkness (John 8:12). Providing spiritual nourishment, he is the bread from heaven and the water of life. As protector, he is the shepherd as well as the sheep gate (John 10:9, 2–4). As the sum of our lives, Christ is the alpha and the omega, the A and the Z, the beginning and the end—or, the beginning through to the end. Christ is our departure, our destination, and every step in-between. We encounter Christ in the middle and in the meantime. He is our past, present, and never-ending future: “on the road the pilgrim learns that searching for God is already to have found him and that direction is much more important than destination, because God is not just an end, nor a beginning, but for us he is always a beginning without end.”19 Likewise, in the words of Boethius:
To see Thee is the end and the beginning.
Thou carriest us, and Thou dost go before,
Thou art the journey and the journey’s end.20
Christological images fuel the pilgrim experience.
Conclusion
Scripture speaks in plentiful ways to our experience of God, self, and the Other through time, place, journey, and people, and we can easily cite more examples. Pilgrimage confronts life’s most important questions: Job and Ecclesiastes provide the manuals. The book of Ruth is about a foreigner who becomes the matriarchal Other in Jesus’ bloodline. Prophetic voices challenge the quest for power, the love of money, and the oppression of the poor, reminding us that pilgrimage should be an exercise in virtue, compassion, and mercy rather than an empty form of religious ritual. God favors justice and righteousness over solemn assemblies (Amos 5:18–24).
This raises two related points: scripture critiques certain aspects of pilgrimage, and the Bible records the evolution of ideas and attitudes, like those toward holy places. In light of Christ’s resurrection and the temple’s destruction, the New Testament church sought God in the gathered community rather than in designated places and replaced temple theology by emphasizing the presence of Christ in the breaking of the bread. Yet, we must still contend with Old Testament scriptures that sanction practices counter to Christian sensibilities, while pilgrim-related concepts, such as a theology of the land, diatribes against foreigners, and a covenantal understanding of a chosen people, raise questions regarding their present-day applications. Having surveyed scriptural images for Holy Land pilgrims, the chapter encourages further conversation on how the Bible informs contemporary expressions of the pilgrim life.
13. Scholars likewise point out that neither the kingdom of God nor the church are defined in the Bible. Biblical expressions require interpretation.
14. The word “pilgrimage” occurs three times in the King James Version (Gen 47:9; Exod 6:4; Ps 119:54), twice in the New International Version (Gen 47:9; Ps 84:5), and five times in the New Jerusalem Bible (Ps 84:5; Isa 30:29; Amos 8:14; Acts 8:27; 24:11). It is not found in the New Revised Standard Version. The Old Testament references utilize various Hebrew words. Magurim, the plural form of magor, which appears in Gen 47:9, Exod 6:4, and Ps 119:54, means sojourn. Mesillah, better translated as highway (see Isa 40:3), occurs in Ps 84:5. Derek, used in Amos 8:14, is the common word for road. Hag, which denotes a festival, is used in Isa 30:29. The examples underscore the diversity of pilgrim concepts: Acts 8:27 refers to Jerusalem worship, while Gen 47:9 concerns the earthly sojourn. Thanks to Andrew Davis for help with the Old Testament terms.
15. While our focus here is upon his foreign status, as a regional figure common to Christians, Jews, and Muslims, Abraham is an important starting point for interreligious dialogue. See Levenson, Inheriting Abraham, which details how the patriarch is distinctively viewed by Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.
16. See Deut 16:16–17; Exod 23:14–17; 34:18–23.
17. In light of the doctrine of God’s omnipresence, can we claim the existence of differentiated spaces? While pilgrim theology holds the tension in place, pilgrimage becomes significantly less interesting if physical space is completely undifferentiated. See Wynn, Faith and Place, which explores the question.
18. Whereas Jewish tradition conceives the world as a series of concentric circles of decreasing holiness, Islam recognizes the elevated sanctity of three locations: the Great Mosque in Mecca, the Mosque of the Prophet in Medina, and the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem. By comparison, Christianity has never promulgated a similar view of inherently distinct sacred space.
19. Hughes, In Search of a Way, 50.
20. Quoted in Appleton, The Oxford Book of Prayer, 7.
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