Protestant Evangelical Pilgrimages: Hagiography, Supernatural Influence, and Spiritual Mapping

Abstract

Christian pilgrimage sites can be separated into three broad categories: Biblical sites (e.g. Jerusalem, Ephesus, Patmos, and other locations where significant events happen in the Biblical narratives); older Catholic and Anglican sites whose importance has been established over a long history of many centuries (e.g. the Vatican, Lourdes, Canterbury); and lastly, newer sites associated with more recently established Protestant denominations and groups such as Methodism, Lutheranism, Pentecostalism, and others. With a shorter history and lacking either the Biblical significance or the political or national dimension of Catholicism and Anglicanism, other Protestant sites can be considered “popular” or “excentric” sites. These construct their significance through strategies relying on evangelical and Pentecostal discourses and meanings, particularly the construction of great spiritual figures who wield supernatural and invisible influence over history and society. These constructions propose a Spiritual Mapping that is superimposed onto historical and political events, creating an alternative significance for touristic purposes. This paper examines two sites for Protestant evangelical pilgrimages, centered on the figures of John Wesley and Rees Howells, that demonstrate this touristic construction of protestant hagiography, supernatural influence, and Spiritual Mapping.