Curtis W. Freeman, Ph.D., research professor of theology and Baptist Studies at Duke Divinity School and the director of the Baptist House of Studies, has written a new book that guides newly baptized Christians to discern the mysteries of the gospel, written as a series of letters by Interpreter, the teacher, to Pilgrim, the newly baptized Christian.

The theological and ecclesial scope of the letters is evangelical-catholic, free church-ecumenical, and ancient-future. In Pilgrim Journey: Instruction in the Mystery of the Gospel, each letter is shaped by the prophetic imagination of the biblical illustrations of William Blake and informed by the narrative spirituality of The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan. 

This book serves as a sequel and companion volume to Freeman's most recent book, Pilgrim Letters: Instruction in the Basic Teaching of Christ (Fortress Press, 2021) which provides instruction in the basic teaching of the Christian faith for candidates preparing to be baptized.

Pilgrim Journey begins with an introduction to the mystery of redemption hidden through the ages and revealed in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The disclosure of these secrets in the Christian church has been designated for those who have been catechized and baptized in the basic teachings of Christ.

The program of instruction contains the exposition of seven mysteries, each of which displays the central mystery of the gospel: (1) God speaks one true word in Jesus Christ; (2) the two sacraments of baptism and the Lord's Supper signify and seal the reconciling work of Christ; (3) the one true God is made known in the three persons of the Holy Trinity; (4) true knowledge of God is discerned through reading the sacred Scriptures literally and spiritually, especially in attention to the formation of faith, hope, and love; (5) a clear understanding of God's mysterious providence is aided by a sense of the scope of Scripture from creation, covenant, Christ, church, and consummation; (6) the marking of Christian time attends to God's unfolding revelation in Scripture as shown in the seasons of Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Easter, and Pentecost; and (7) Sunday worship marks Christian awareness of time to be attuned to the transformative power of Easter in the ordinary. The book closes with a final summary and conclusion about the way that things deep, hidden, and mysterious shape the daily active living of Christians as disciples of Jesus Christ.

Freeman’s research and teaching explores areas of Free Church theology. He is also the author of Contesting Catholicity: Theology for Other Baptists, A Company of Women Preachers: Baptist Prophetesses in Seventeenth-Century England, and Baptist Roots: A Reader in the Theology of a Christian People.