Since
the 1950s, millions of American Christians have traveled to the Holy Land to
visit places in Israel and the Palestinian territories associated with Jesus's life
and death. Why do these pilgrims choose to journey
halfway around the world? How do
they react to what they encounter, and how do
they understand the trip upon return? This book places the
answers to these questions into the context of broad historical trends, analyzing how
the growth of mass-market evangelical and Catholic pilgrimage
relates to changes in American Christian
theology and culture over the last sixty years,
including shifts in Jewish-Christian relations, the growth of small group spirituality, and the development of a Christian
leisure industry.