The Sacred Journey (A Book Review)

Charles Foster, The Sacred Journey (Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Press, 2010), 230 pages including notes, an index and a study guide.

For much of the Christian era, going on a pilgrimage was seen as a valid spiritual practice (at least for a small percent of the faithful). Christians would head to the Holy Lands, even after the Islamic invasion. Later, as Jerusalem became a more difficult destination, Christians would go to Rome or to Santiago or other places in Europe that were important to the faith, often to where relics of the saints were found. During the Reformation, Protestants discouraged this practice, thinking it silly for Christians to seek out relics or the need to travel to holy sites where they felt they could be closer to God. Yet, as Foster points out, human beings were created to walk and individual encounters with God seem to occur most often when we are less settled. Furthermore, when God summons, it’s often a call for us to move or to go somewhere (think of Abram).



Foster encourages Protestants to reconsider pilgrimage as a spiritual practice. He suggests that pilgrimages are a way to counter the ancient heresy of Gnosticism which is alive and well in our churches today. The Gnostics attempt to separate the body (which they see as corrupt) from the spirit (which they see as more godly). The struggles of a pilgrim merge together the body and spirit as one meets the challenges of the road. Another benefit of the pilgrim is to look at the world in a fresh and new way (with child-like eyes) which is easier when we are out of our comfort zones. A third benefit of a pilgrimage is the community that one finds on the road. Without the comforts of home, pilgrims are no longer divided by social castes and friendships abound as they learn to depend upon each other.


Although Foster writes from a Protestant Christian perspective, he draws from the larger Christian context as well as from other religious traditions. By looking at other traditions, we see the universal need for human beings to reach out and search for meaning beyond ourselves. Foster has many strong opinions that many Christians may find challenging if not offensive. Early on he suggests there is a need for a new awakening and in which we should get rid of language that carries to much baggage, including the words “God” (Foster prefers names like “Holy One,” “Blessed be He” or even the Hebrew “Elohim”) and “Christian” (after all, the faith was first known as “The Way”). Foster also makes some bold claims such as suggesting that “religion, like everything else, goes bad when imported into town” and that “Christianity is an Eastern religion that has had the misfortune to be particularly popular in the West.” Such hyperbole may seem shocking, but encourages the reader to think and consider Foster’s point of view.


Personally, I found a lot to ponder within these pages and recommend this book especially to those who are interested in exploring different spiritual practices. As a way of disclosure, I acknowledge I was given a copy of the book to review. Furthermore, I began reading this book with a certain presupposition toward pilgrimages. During a recent reread of my journal from the Appalachian Trail, I was reminded that even a quarter of a century ago I was struggling with the role pilgrimages play in faith development.

The Sacred Journey is the seventh book on ancient spiritual practices published by Thomas Nelson Press. I received a copy of it for review from their Booksneeze program. By the way, Frederick Buechner also has a good book with the same title!

A couple more "pilgrimage-type" books: Vagabonding and The Art of Pilgrimage