By Jacqueline Giesbrecht
This is the first post in a series that will detail Jacqueline’s undergrad thesis research. If you find this post interesting, stay tuned for more!
As a previous theology student, I am sometimes asked why I switched from studying theology to religious studies. In order to understand that, I need to briefly explain why I chose to study theology in the first place. When I started attending university, I thought that I wanted to study history. However, I found that I not only wanted to study history, but I also wanted to study literature, languages, and psychology. I flip-flopped between degrees numerous times and finally decided to declare as a Biblical and Theological Studies Major since this degree managed to combine many of my interests. I thrived in this degree, especially when I was able to research what I loved best — the historical development of (often controversial) religious phenomena. Early on in my degree, I began these research projects as a method of existential questioning. However, as I progressed in my degree, my research settled into being descriptive rather than prescriptive, and I began to feel much more content in living in ambiguity and nuance than in a world of constructed certainty. Even throughout this, I thought that I would probably end up going to seminary to become a pastor. However, I was never very excited about this path — it just felt like something that I was expected to do.
I found my passion in a very unexpected place. In the fall of 2015, I enrolled in a course titled Who is Jesus? This class looked at the quest for the historical Jesus as a phenomenon. While researching for this course, I came across a brief mention (in a footnote) of a myth in which Jesus went to England as a boy. Before I knew it, I was writing a paper on what is called the Glastonbury myth. In this myth, Jesus’ rich uncle Joseph of Arimathea was a merchant and was deeply involved in the tin trade, often importing Cornish tin and Mendip lead from Britain to the Roman Empire. According to legend, young Jesus went along with his uncle on one of these trips to England and they stayed in the small town of Glastonbury in the southwest of England. Glastonbury was of Celtic importance due to its Druidic university and, in some variations of the legend, Jesus learned math and astronomy from the Druids. Joseph returned to England sometime between 37-63 CE with the intent of bringing the Christian message to the Druids.[1] With him, he brought the Holy Grail (the Chalice used by Jesus at the Last Supper in which Joseph had collected Christ’s blood at the Crucifixion), two vials of Christ’s blood, and sweat from Christ’s brow. He additionally brought a staff which, upon touching the ground, became a tree (now known as the “Glastonbury Thorn”). This tree is a tree native to the Holy Land and flowers on Christmas Day. Also, the church in Glastonbury is said by some to have been built either by Jesus or by Joseph, making it the first church in England.
Is this myth true? Through the lens of historical accuracy, this tale seems unlikely. However, it was and is true to someone, and I found that this was all that mattered to me. Regardless of whether Jesus actually “walked upon England’s mountains green,”[2] this myth has captured people’s imaginations for centuries and has shaped their experience of the world. Glastonbury Abbey became a frequented center of pilgrimage during the late Middle Ages, helped by the belief that Saint Patrick built the Abbey, having come there in his old age to become Glastonbury’s first Abbot.[3] For another, Joseph brought the Holy Grail to England, making Glastonbury a mecca for Holy Grail enthusiasts. As well, King Arthur and his wife Guinevere are said to be buried in the churchyard. These layers make the lore rich and multi-faceted. This myth fascinated me so much that I decided to go on my own pilgrimage to Glastonbury. On this trip, I also visited other places of Celtic Christian importance: Lindisfarne in England and Iona in Scotland. I also spent some time in Ireland, though at the time, I was ironically more familiar with the Celtic sites in Britain. Following this trip, I completed an independent study on Celtic Christianity and eventually my thesis on Celtic Christianity in Ireland. Though Glastonbury is not in Ireland, it was Glastonbury that drew me to the topic of my thesis.
My interest in Celtic Christianity was from the beginning a focus on the interaction between religion and culture, which allowed me to appreciate complexity and paradox in my study of Celtic Christianity in Ireland. Thus, when I was applying to grad schools, I specifically looked for programs that seemed to have a dynamic interaction between religion and culture. With so many of the professors in Queen’s School of Religion also teaching in Cultural Studies, Queen’s quickly made it to the top of my list. I continue to be interested in the areas in which religion and culture overlap — such as vernacular religion, lived religion, and material religion. These are all exceptionally interdisciplinary and allow for the study of religion as it is lived — and without the feeling of being pressured to support an explicit or implicit theological orthodoxy. This post is not an attempt to de-value theology. Rather, I just mean to say that I realized that the work of theology is not for me. And that discovery all started with one small and unexpected footnote.
[1] Michael Mathias, Glastonbury (North Pomfret, VT: David & Charles, 1979), 10.
[2] William Blake, “Jerusalem,” in Milton (London, ENG: A.H. Bullen, 1907).
[3] Ian Bradley, Celtic Christianity: Making Myths and Chasing Dreams (Edinburgh, SCT: Edinburgh University Press, 1999), 72.
Portions of this entry were taken from Jacqueline’s undergrad thesis. Pictures in the collage were taken by Jacqueline.
Jacqueline Giesbrecht is an MA student in Religious Studies. She completed her Bachelor of Arts with an Honours in Biblical and Theological Studies and a minor in Psychology at Canadian Mennonite University in 2018. Jacqueline’s research interests include vernacular religion and material religion; folklore and group formation; and disability, religion, and spirituality.
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