The “Introduction – Contesting the sacred: the anthropology of Christian pilgrimage” by Eads and Sallnow provides an innovative anthropological framework in gaining deeper insights into the religious institution of pilgrimage. The book takes a critical examination of the doctrines, beliefs, and expectations of diverse individuals. As opposed to other forms of literatures on Christian pilgrimage that sought to either subvert or support the social order, the article proposes a new agenda that focuses on dissecting pilgrimage and seeing it as possessing the power to accommodate a wide range of meanings and practices of diverse individuals.
Through an examination of highly organized shrines at San Giovanni Rotondo in Singiovannesi, Sri Lanka, Peru, and Lourdes, the authors examine the conflicting views, interests, and beliefs of the pilgrims on the life and remains of a holy man. Furthermore, the article also takes a critical examination of the manner in which pilgrims of diverse Christian faiths consider competing images of Jerusalem. The authors therefore adopt a multi-dimensional approach to develop a better analytical typology of pilgrimage and argue that pilgrimage is far much more than visiting shrines and sacred sites. This is done to develop a view of pilgrim that is not narrowly focused on social relations, but that which encompasses a realm of competing discourses. Pilgrims throng these sacred sites and shrines in the hope of receiving blessings of holy men (Eade & Micheal, 14). Contesting the Sacred provides a deeper analytical examination into the link between human beings and the divine which makes pilgrimage a very critical institution in all the world religions.
The authors integrate “the theoretical frame of the book within recent perspectives on pilgrimage and examine the contributions of tourism and globalization on pilgrimage shrines and sacred sites” (Eade & Micheal, 13). In summary, this article serves as a rich and significant contribution to the complex and growing field of anthropological literature opens the field for the need to explore recent developments and the future of Christian pilgrimage.
Works Cited
Eade, John and Micheal Sallnow. Introduction in Contesting the Sacred: The Anthropology of Christian Pilgrimage. London and New York: Routledge, 1990. Print.