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A review by lory_enterenchanted
A Pilgrimage to Eternity: From Canterbury to Rome in Search of a Faith by Timothy Egan
adventurous
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
3.0
Reviews and more on my blog: Entering the Enchanted Castle
A mix of personal spiritual memoir, travelogue, and religious history that brought many insights and epiphanies, although I was not always enamored of the author's journalistic style. I confess I had not realized how much Christianity is in decline in Europe, which may seem sad in some ways, but I think the old shell of that religion has to die, so that a truer, more authentic experience can come into being.
I was also somehow not quite cognizant (clueless American that I am)of how bitterly religious wars have shaped Europe. Catholics against heretics, Protestants against Catholics, Protestants against other Protestants. (A story about John Calvin cruelly executing a man who had come to him for refuge in Geneva, because he had somewhat different ideas, was quite telling here.) Again, this warfare would seem to be something that needs to die away, although it seems to be simply morphing into political antagonisms as religion loses its power. Truly, the real Christianity of love is still to be born in our time.
It was notable that Egan seemed to recover his faith simply by walking -- a reminder that SLOW DOWN is the most central tenet of any valid religious practice.
A mix of personal spiritual memoir, travelogue, and religious history that brought many insights and epiphanies, although I was not always enamored of the author's journalistic style. I confess I had not realized how much Christianity is in decline in Europe, which may seem sad in some ways, but I think the old shell of that religion has to die, so that a truer, more authentic experience can come into being.
I was also somehow not quite cognizant (clueless American that I am)of how bitterly religious wars have shaped Europe. Catholics against heretics, Protestants against Catholics, Protestants against other Protestants. (A story about John Calvin cruelly executing a man who had come to him for refuge in Geneva, because he had somewhat different ideas, was quite telling here.) Again, this warfare would seem to be something that needs to die away, although it seems to be simply morphing into political antagonisms as religion loses its power. Truly, the real Christianity of love is still to be born in our time.
It was notable that Egan seemed to recover his faith simply by walking -- a reminder that SLOW DOWN is the most central tenet of any valid religious practice.