About the Book
Pilgrim Journey guides newly baptized Christians to discern the mysteries of the gospel. It is a sequel and companion volume to Pilgrim Letters (Fortress, 2020). Like its predecessor volume, Pilgrim Journey is a series of letters written by Interpreter, the teacher, to Pilgrim, the newly baptized Christian. The theological and ecclesial scope of the letters is evangelical-catholic, free church-ecumenical, and ancient-future. Each letter is shaped by the prophetic imagination of the biblical illustrations of William Blake and informed by the narrative spirituality of The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. Pilgrim Journey begins with an introduction into the mystery of redemption hidden through the ages and revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The program of instruction contains the exposition of seven mysteries, each of which displays the central mystery of the gospel: (1) God speaks one true word in Jesus Christ; (2) the two Testaments form the one canon of Christian Scripture; (3) the one true God is made known in the three persons of the Holy Trinity; (4) true knowledge of God is discerned through reading the sacred Scripture literally and spiritually, especially in attention to the formation of faith, hope, and love; (5) a clear understanding of God's mysterious providence is aided by a sense of the scope of God's story from creation, covenant, Christ, and church, to consummation; (6) the marking of Christian time attends to God's unfolding revelation in Scripture as shown in the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost; and (7) the infinite reality of God becomes present in finite forms in seven sacramental signs of preaching, baptizing, blessing, breaking bread, washing feet, forgiving sins, and anointing. There is a final summary and conclusion about the way things deep, hidden, and mysterious shape the daily active living of Christians as disciples of Jesus Christ.
Table of Contents:
Introduction: The Mystery Hidden Through the Ages
Mystery 1 One Word: Jesus Christ
Mystery 2 Two Testaments: Christian Scripture
Mystery 3 Three Persons: The Holy Trinity
Mystery 4 Four Senses: Reading Literally and Spiritually
Mystery 5 Five Acts: The Scope of God's Story
Mystery 6 Six Seasons: The Church Year
Mystery 7 Seven Sacramental Signs: Holy Things for Holy People
Conclusion: Things Deep, Hid, and Mysterious
About the Author :
Curtis W. Freeman (PhD, Baylor) is research professor of theology and Baptist studies and director of the Baptist House of Studies at Duke Divinity School. He is the author of Undomesticated Dissent: Democracy and the Public Virtue of Religious Nonconformity (2017), Contesting Catholicity: Theology for Other Baptists (2014), A Company of Women Preachers: Baptist Prophetesses in Seventeenth-Century England (2011), and Baptist Roots: A Reader in the Theology of a Christian People (1999). He is an ordained Baptist minister and serves as editor of the American Baptist Quarterly as well as on the Baptist World Alliance Commission on Doctrine and Christian Unity.
Review :
Curtis W. Freeman provides a series of elegant epistles that enlighten pilgrims on the Christian journey to understand more clearly the mysteries of the gospel. A gifted theologian, skillful teacher, faithful pastor, and fellow traveler, he crafts biblical, scholarly, literary, and ministry sources into an accessible text that unpacks deep insights to illuminate the path of Christian formation. Freeman invites pilgrims to join him on the way to learning and living the gospel more faithfully. --David Emmanuel Goatley, president and Clifford L. Penner Presidential Chair, Fuller Theological Seminary
We couldn't have a more wise, insightful guide than Curtis Freeman to lead us deeper into the mystery of the God who, in Jesus Christ, has journeyed toward us. In Pilgrim Journey, Curtis celebrates the wonder of Christian discoveries about the God who discovers us. He helps us preachers, who talk about God to others, speak about the wonder of God With Us without taming the mystery. No Christian will come away from an encounter with Pilgrim Journey without being brought closer to Christ. Here are the riches of our faith made available, practical, and fresh by a master teacher of the faith. --Will Willimon, professor of the practice of Christian ministry, Duke University; United Methodist bishop, retired; and author of God Turned Toward Us: The ABCs of Christian Faith
The last hundred years of Western society have been a relentless quest for certainty. In Pilgrim Journey, Curtis Freeman reminds us that the heart of the Christian faith is a mystery that will never be fully explored or completely explained. Yet in trying to untangle that mystery, we find purpose, meaning, and hope. --Ryan Burge, Eastern Illinois University; author of The Nones: Where They Came From, Who They Are, and Where They Are Going
