Pilgrims on the Way -- Wisdom from Our Reformed Fathers in Uncertain Times
The Pilgrim Journey
There is a good reason why Michael Horton’s volume The Christian Faith is subtitled, A Systematic Theology for Pilgrims on the Way. The Christian life can, perhaps, be best understood as a pilgrim journey to the heavenly city. This has long been a theme in Reformed theology—especially when our fathers were wrestling with the question, “what kind of theology do Christians possess in a fallen world?” John Bunyan’s beloved allegory, Pilgrim’s Progress, explores this conundrum when his own pilgrim journey landed him in an English jail as a non-conformist. Bunyan took up his pen to explain his traumatic circumstances in light of his confidence in God’s sovereign purposes. Understanding the Christian life as a pilgrim’s journey resonates with us because Christian believers experience life’s ups and downs precisely as a journey to a better place.
A generation ago, many Americans Christians felt like the “pilgrim” moniker really wasn’t fitting, nor was it particularly useful. Yes, life has its ups and downs, but all in all, many (especially evangelicals) felt quite at home. Life was pretty good. The pilgrim’s journey will likely take us to better places. America was the world’s sole super power after all, making another destructive world war unlikely because the biggest and baddest kid on the block isn’t likely to be challenged. Despite occasional fears of recession and a few economic blips, America’s economy rolled along with relatively low inflation, with a good return on investments. Better yet, this was a time of great advances in consumer technologies and home electronics. American Evangelicals even had a seat at the table of political power, or at least thought they did—the reality was they were allowed a place in partisan politics because they represented an important voting block. Enjoying the post World War Two good times, American Christians easily fell victim to the malaise Francis Schaeffer identified as “personal peace and affluency.” Sure, many thought, we may be pilgrims, but our pilgrim journey doesn’t take us through genuine peril. Yes, there were still the usual annoying trials and troubles, but there was no real sense of urgency to reach the goal. All is well. We like it here and we are in no hurry to leave.
But all that has changed of late. There is now ominous cultural, political, and religious change in the wind. We see the ideological storm clouds gathering, a harbinger of perilous times yet to come. We worry about where these changes will take us. There is much uncertainty. The personal peace and affluency of the baby boomers and their parents is fading fast, giving way to anxiety, fear, and the anger of tribal politics. We worry that our affluency might fall victim those moths and rust about which Jesus warned us in Matthew 6:19. We’ve enjoyed our time in green pastures, but now it looks like a desolate wilderness lies ahead. We couldn’t see it before. But we can see it now.
In such times of uncertainty, it is helpful and encouraging to remember that our Reformed fathers have left us a with treasure trove of theological reflection upon the pilgrim way, a category through which to understood the Christian life, with its great moments of joy and blessing, but which are often punctuated by persecution, suffering, loss, and sorrow.
Pilgrim Theology (theologia viatorum):
There is much wisdom and explanatory power in understanding the Christian life as a pilgrim journey. Our Reformed fathers have much to tell us here. Not only is this the way many of us actually experience life in a fallen world, but we can do so with the confident hope that God will be with us throughout the journey. The final outcome of the journey is never in doubt. The pilgrim is guided by God’s word, we can trust in God’s sovereign purposes no matter what our current circumstances, and we know that our hope is firmly anchored in the promises God makes to his people. Although the road ahead may be fraught with peril, we are en route to inherit all those riches and treasures promised us by Jesus himself, which he guaranteed to us by his shed blood, empty tomb, and his ascension to the Father’s right hand, even as he is placing all things under his feet until his return (1 Corinthians 15:28).
In a profound sense, the current technological and cultural disruptions, along with the attendant anxieties caused by such, ought to wake us from the malaise of our prior peace and affluence. Difficult times shout to us that we are more like Adam and Eve after being cast from Eden than we dare consider. More than ever, we feel the uncertainty of a life wandering in the Land of Nod, east of Eden. Yet, the rapidly changing cultural landscape of our age should not come as a surprise to us. Due to human finitude and sin, we should not be surprised when personal peace and affluency don't seem as secure or as the ultimate concerns they once did. We know that our neighbors will not find God within, nor by seeking God in places where he veils himself. We also know not to listen to those who are hopelessly lost when they give us directions to help us find our way to the heavenly city. The only true knowledge of God comes primarily through Scripture, wherein God supremely reveals himself to us in Jesus Christ, giving Christian pilgrims confidence in knowing where to turn for explanations regarding the fundamental questions of life, especially in times of unnerving uncertainty like ours. Wisdom tells us to seek wise counsel, which our Reformed fathers often give us.
Take, for example, Amandus Polanus, a German theologian, who, in his A System of Christian Theology (1609), describes pilgrim theology as follows,
The theology of pilgrims is the wisdom of divine things communicated by Christ through the Holy Spirit to human beings living in this earth, by means of gracious inspiration, so that the light of the intellect might contemplate God and the things of God through its growth; that they might rightly worship God, until in heaven they see him clearly and perfectly, to his glory. Concerning this, it is written, 2 Cor. 13:9, 12; Eph. 4:11–13; 1 Peter 1:8. (Syntagma, l.ix.).
As Polanus points out, Christian pilgrims have everything we need to find the way to the heavenly city, worship God as we ought, and live in the hope of reaching our goal—the heavenly city. A pilgrim theology is a thoroughly biblical theology, grounded in God’s word, which explains both the dignity (the imago Dei) and the inherent sinfulness of our fellow humans whom we meet along the way. As we pass through the trails and travails of the wilderness, we know that ours is a fallen world. We are aware that non-Christians think and act like non-Christians, something which should not come as a shock. At the same time, we know there is redemption from the consequences of human rebellion. We learn of the wonders of God’s grace in Jesus Christ, and learn that the duties of Christian life are summarized as loving God and neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40).
Because God has spoken to us in his word, he does not leave Christian pilgrims on their own, groping in the dark while undertaking the journey. This is not a journey we make alone. Indwelt by the Holy Spirit, God’s people are called out of the nations to assemble together as Christ’s church, to worship him according to his word, while benefiting from his divinely-appointed means of grace; the preached word and the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper, supported by prayer, fellowship with other pilgrims, and through the mercy administered to those in need by the deacons of the local church. This church, composed of pilgrims on the way is the church militant (Ecclesia militans), which struggles mightily against the three great enemies of the Christian pilgrim: the world, the flesh, and the devil. Pilgrims make their journey in the light of God’s word, strengthened by the sacraments, encouraged by the fellowship of other assembled pilgrims, and privileged to enjoy their Lord’s Day rest. Hard as the journey can be, Jesus leads and guides us just as the cloud and pillar of fire led Israel out of bondage in Egypt.
The theologia viatorum is not the theologia beatorum.
Our Reformed fathers were careful to point out the theologia viatorum stands in sharp contrast to what they identify as a Theology of the Blessed (theologia beatorum). The theologica beatorum, is that of the elect who are already in heaven, and who witness the glory of God first hand along with all the blessed. The importance of this distinction becomes clear because it is a constant temptation for Christian pilgrims on the way to confuse our pilgrim theology with the theology of the blessed which cannot yet be attained. Confusion here can produce what political philosopher Eric Voegelin once described as immanentizing the eschaton, or put more simply, expecting the blessings of the saints in heaven to be realized upon the earth before Christ returns. Secular versions of this take an inevitable political and utopian direction (Marxism and Nazism are two such examples) in which deep human needs and longings are thought to be satisfied in and through the secular state and in allegiance to its leader. As many have pointed out, such utopian ideologies are on the rise all around us.
Yet, there are also Christian forms of utopianism, usually associated with millennialism, which overlook (or ignore) the careful distinction made by our fathers between a theologia viatorum and a theologia beatorum. Confusion of these two theologies can be seen in the case of certain forms of postmillennialism and transformationalism. The specific error made by those who confuse the two theologies is that the pilgrim journey is thought to culminate in a “Christianized” society, or a transformed culture before we reach the heavenly city. Extreme forms of millennialism confuse the goal (the heavenly city) with the nature of the journey (as a pilgrim), in which it is mistakenly thought that endeavoring to transform the city of man into the heavenly city is the whole point of the journey. Although a theologia viatorum acknowledges that pilgrims ought to leave the world they pass through in better shape than they found it upon arrival (i.e., building strong families, planting true churches, engaging in local evangelism and world missions, establishing God-honoring cultural institutions, and seeking to be good citizens in the civil kingdom) a proper grasp of the theologia viatorum/theologia beatorum distinction reveals that the city of man is, and will remain, hostile to Christian pilgrims even when the city offers us a smile, and even when there is notable improvement in the quality of life.
The theologia beatorum is not a present reality, and cannot be so. It is our future hope. In the midst of the journey, Christian pilgrims will indeed discover that this world has many blessings for those on the way (often identified as “common grace”). Yet, those things we enjoy as we make the journey, should not give us the false expectation that the blessings of the heavenly city will be fully realized this side of the eschaton. These good things are hints at the glories which will be ours when we enter God’s presence or when our Lord returns. A theologia viatorum reminds us not to get ahead of ourselves. The journey to the heavenly city, however long that may be, still must be made, before we can know the theologia beatorum. The ups and downs of the Christian life are to be lived out in that faith which God gives through the word and strengthens through the sacraments, and which focuses upon the merits of Jesus Christ and his saving grace.
Meanwhile, as pilgrims making the journey, we must realize that we live at a point in time when American Christians no longer enjoy the respect of our neighbors because of our faith in Jesus Christ. To many, we are self-righteous oddballs. Nor can we count upon the cultural and political privileges once enjoyed by the Protestant establishment. Christendom in America is over. Even worse, those things which once offended Christian sensitivities and still should (which we used to call ‘sin”) are now thrown in our faces. Christian pilgrims are mocked, Christian morality is often ignored, or sneered upon as a superstitious relic of the past. We are pilgrims, we are facing difficult times, and yet we cannot allow the cultural optimism of some to confuse us about who and what we are before the return of Christ—Christian pilgrims on the way.
I’m reminded of the line in “Band of Brothers” when Captain Dick Winters is warned by a panicked solder, “Captain Winters, we are about to be surrounded.” Winters’ reply was calm yet resolutely offered. “Soldier, we are paratroopers, we’re supposed to be surrounded.” So, when our fellow pilgrims lament, “things are really getting worse,” what should our response be? “We are pilgrims, we are supposed to expect hard times.” But since we’ve read the back of the book, we know how the journey ends. Our heavenly inheritance awaits! How do we know this? Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again!
We may be pilgrims, but we will reach our goal. We will be stripped of our filthy rags and given the robes of glory! And then we will know that theologia beatorum in all of its splendor.