The New Testament as seen by the traveler: The Bible as a travelogue revealing the direction and meaning of Journey to Heavenly Jerusalem: travel theology on the background of New Testament texts
Abstract
While the Old Testament largely takes place on the road and implicitly reveals the very essence of wandering, the New Testament introduces us to an entirely new reality of wandering through a dramatically adventurous travel story: it invites us to the Way in a radically new way; that leads to eternity; it invites us to a completely new and highest dimension of the Way: it is the Way from death to life, from slavery to freedom, from nothingness to God's closeness and participation in God's inner life; it is an absolute journey for man - the goal of this journey is the heavenly Jerusalem, who is not on the map of the world, and yet leads the way through the world and time. The first Christian pilgrim to embark on this beautiful journey, Paul of Tars, is probably the most famous traveler in the world, and his travel story, which is an integral part of the New Testament, is the most read of all pilgrims in world history after two thousand years.
The oldest texts of the New Testament were written by a pilgrim on a very adventurous journey, and the whole Bible can be read with great usefulness as a travelogue, a travelogue of all the best, deepest and most valuable. Christianity is in fact a pilgrim religion, and theology is shaped more by Eastern thought than we usually realize.