Biblical scholar, author, speaker, and fellow travel leader Stephen Binz has published an excellent resource that pilgrimage travelers to the Holy Land should know about. His book Holy Land Pilgrimage is strong in many areas, and to my knowledge, there is no other travel handbook quite like it. He is well qualified to cover the geography, history, and theology that he does, and he presents the regions and key sites of the Holy Land uniquely in the context of Christian pilgrimage.
Binz’s opening chapter “The Way of Pilgrimage” is worth the read by itself for Christian pilgrims. He briefly discusses the history, tradition, and significance of pilgrimage beginning in ancient Israel as we see it in the Bible. He continues into the early Church and the centuries that followed, the Middle Ages, and our own times today. His emphasis remains on the practice of pilgrimage not only as a matter of physical travel but also as a means to experience God. Binz rightly notes that “pilgrimage must be the simultaneous movement of the feet and soul” (p. 11).
What follows is a series of chapters that focus on different areas in the Holy Land and discussions of key sites in those areas. The areas that he “visits” are: Galilee, the Sea of Galilee, Samaria, Judea, the Judean Wilderness and Dead Sea, Jerusalem, the Mount of Olives, the City of David and Temple Mount, Mount Zion, the Via Dolorosa, and a few places associated with the Church’s expanding mission, such as Emmaus, Joppa, and Caesarea Maritima. Each area and site receives a geographical, historical, and biblical introduction that is brief but packed with information that helps to orient a pilgrim to the place. He describes what the visitor encounters and discusses the significance of the site, often making a helpful theological application as he concludes. After each site, Binz provides a short meditation in the form of a few reflection questions, scripture passages, and a brief prayer.
The author recognizes the abiding impact and value of pilgrimage beyond the Holy Land journey itself. In the last chapter, he says, “Pilgrimage draws us in two directions: inwardly to holiness and outwardly to mission. The final material in this guide encourages us to grow in both holiness and mission as we return home and continue the pilgrimage of life” (p. 288). The book embraces not only the spiritual transformation that we experience while on a Holy Land pilgrimage but also what it means to respond to that experience by living “with the heart of a pilgrim” and in “the spirit of pilgrimage” (pp. 288, 290). We do well to heed his concluding call to an ongoing reflection on our travels as we practice our faith and pursue our spiritual disciplines. Throughout the book and in this last chapter, he provides useful resources for doing so.
Readers will notice that Binz writes from a Roman Catholic perspective, and some of his devotional resources reflect that tradition. This presents no difficulty for Protestant Christian readers, however, because the vast majority of the book is not uniquely Catholic, and everything included is easily adaptable to the context of any Christian.
This excellent book will help any physical or virtual pilgrim traveler make new connections with the Bible through the land. It will facilitate a new dimension to one’s faith and will help Christians walk more closely with Jesus both in the Holy Land and on the holy ground of life’s ongoing journey.
Publication details:
Stephen J. Binz, Holy Land Pilgrimage (Liturgical Press, 2020), ISBN 978-0-8146-6512-1
(Note: I receive nothing in return for discussing this resource on the blog.)
