Fascinating conversations with pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago, Camino del Norte
These photos are from the whole trip. Many of these places will be talked about in the second episode.
Notice the boat suspended from the ceiling of a churchNick waits out a downpourBilbao, SpainPilgrims boarding a boat to cross a bayWalking on the beach!Snails! There were SO many snailsInside of our albergue room in Guemes, Spain where Ernesto did his thing. Posters like this are often used to claim that all religions are the same. They are not.Ernesto’s truck hostel in GuemesA group of hikers on our last day of hikingChris and Nick on the last day of the hike, just east of RibadesellaWhaling museum!Chris and Nick in Bilbao before the hikeNick with his credential in San Sebastian
On this bonus episode, Chris takes you along with him as he hiked 250 miles on an old Catholic pilgrimage route called the Camino de Santiago.
History of the Camino de Santiago
The Camino has a complex history and is actually comprised of more than one trail. The Norte, the oldest (if you take the Primativo), is along the northern coast, the Frances runs east-west through the middle, and the Portuguese routes are north-south from Lisbon to Santiago. You can walk from Turkey following a Camino, or from France. There are webs of them all across Europe. Many lead to the bustling city of Santiago de Compostela in the west of Spain. With lots of tourist traffic, ice cream shops, restaurants, and lodging that caters to pilgrims. The trails converge on a large square and a giant cathedral. This cathedral, started in 1078, as legend has it, is the resting place for the bones of Saint James, one of Jesus’ apostles. If you approach the altar, you’ll find a door to the right down a set of stairs. Inside, you can see a silver box containing the relics.
Pilgrims have travelled there for over a thousand years. Some for religious purposes, others as criminals who were forced to walk as part of their sentence, a journey that could take years, and claimed the lives of many. Others hiked to absolve their sins, something Pope Calixtus II declared could happen if they did it in a year where St. James’ Day fell on a Sunday. In the 12th and 13th centuries, as many as a quarter of a million pilgrims made one of these journeys. Today, these routes are experiencing a renaissance. As hundreds of thousands more walk for their own reasons. To the chagrin of seasoned hikers who think the routes are too crowded.
In this two-part series, you’ll hear Chris and his brother Nick as they talk with people about the Camino, as they share Jesus with people, and find their way on this ancient route.
What to pack for the Camino de Santiago
Any packing list is going to be incomplete, because everyone likes their own things! But you REALLY should consider keeping it light. You will have more fun and fewer injuries if your pack stays light.
Rain poncho
2 x hiking shirts
1 x hiking pants
1 x hiking shorts
mini toiletries
shoes (already broken in)
hiking poles
a broad-brimmed hat
app with maps and GPS (we like Camino Ways)
sun glasses
journal and pens
plastic bags for dry stuff
light jacket
2 x hiking socks (I like the dual-layered kind)
a small bottle of sunscreen
cash (at least 3–400 euros) because not all albergues take cards
So many people define their faith by what they believe about Donald Trump. How can godly Christians return to the gospel to get us back on track?
In this round table discussion episode, Chris is joined by Pastor Ray McDaniel of First Baptist Church in Jackson, WY, and Nick Staron to prepare us for the season.
Topics Discussed:
What is Christianity?
The importance of forgiveness and going to those who are angry with us
Why is it important to cover things like the Watergate scandals of the 1970s in a Christian podcast?
The need for humility in our lives
The gospel in 10 words or less
Do you have a gospel message in 10 words or less? Find Truce on social media and let us know!
Now that we’ve read In His Steps together and discussed it, let’s talk about another work of fiction. Looking Backward was written by Edward Bellamy. That name may sound familiar! We talked about his cousin Frances Bellamy in the episode about the Pledge of Allegiance. Frances was a Christian socialist. Edward wrote his famous book looking forward to the year 2000. He predicted that the United States would be a socialist paradise. People would work hard, retire early, and equality would reign.
None of that came true.
We’re talking about it today in order to understand the zeitgeist in the late 1800s. This book sold over half a million copies in its first few years of publication. It is now over a million copies. That doesn’t happen without stirring something in society. As we’ll see, socialism was tied to the Social Gospel. The opposition to the Social Gospel is what would go on to create the Christian fundamentalist movement.
Who is an evangelical? If you go by the news today, you probably think evangelicals are all American middle-class white men. Nope! Evangelical Christians come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. They can be men or women from anywhere in the world. They can speak any language. And they can have a lot of variety in their beliefs.
This season on the Truce Podcast we are examining the history of Christian fundamentalism. How did fundamentalism begin? What is Christian fundamentalism? Is Christian fundamentalism a good thing, a bad thing, or somewhere in between?
In this episode, we’re joined by author and professor George Marsden. He’s the author of Fundamentalism and American Culture, which is THE book everyone else refers to when they talk about fundamentalism. According to Marsden, fundamentalism is “militantly anti-modernism protestant evangelicalism”. That is a lot of big words! By the end of the season, you should understand all of that. One important part of that definition is the word “evangelicalism”. It is one of those words that has been used so much in so many different ways that it can be difficult to define it. There are whole movements to create new definitions these days. But in order to move forward this season, we need to pick some frame of reference. I chose David Beggington’s definition of what defines an evangelical:
Bebbington’s Quadrilateral
Biblicism (a focus on the Bible)
Conversionism (an emphasis on evangelism)
Crucicentrism (the centrality of the cross)
Activism
Those four things, according to Bebbington, are what make up an evangelical. Again, it is a hotly debated subject.
So when did evangelicalism begin? Many of the sources that I found pointed to the revivals in the decades leading up to the American Revolution. Evangelists like Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield spread the gospel using a post-millennialist vision of the end times mixed with Calvinism. This was part of the First Great Awakening. Then there were others after the revolution who spread an Arminian view of salvation. Guys like Finney. Belief in God became more personal, without the direct oversight of a priest or minister. It became an individual’s responsibility to look after their spiritual growth.
Welcome to season 5! God willing, I’ll be releasing new episodes every other week.
Discussion Questions:
What is an evangelical?
What is a fundamentalist?
If fundamentalists are evangelicals who are angry at something, what are they angry at? Are you one of those people?
Do you believe in the Calvinist view of salvation or the Arminian one? Does it matter? Why?
The Great Awakening movements established a sense that belief in God was not something that needed to be handed down by a priest or minister. Do you think that was a positive move? What are some potential drawbacks (if any)?
Transcript of the Scopes trial (book, though you can find it free online)
Correction: The original version of this episode incorrectly represented Arminian belief. It involves the belief that once grace is offered by God that a sinner can reject the offer. The original version stated that the sinner made the first move to initiate a relationship. That is incorrect. Arminians believe that God makes the first move, but His offer can be rejected. The error has been corrected in this version, My apologies for any confusion.
The United States and Russia ran along parallel tracks in the late 1800s and 1900s. Both were empires. Both were tangled in war. Both were feeling the weight of the Industrial Revolution. But they divided in how they would deal with labor. That critical difference changed the history of the world.
In this episode, Professor Heath Carter of the Princeton Theological Seminary starts the first of a two-episode conversation about Christianity and labor. Mr. Carter is the author of Union Made and editor of books such as The Pew and the Picket Line.
