Hinds' Feet on High Places by Hannah Hurnard

First published: 1955

Edition(s) used:Hinds’ Feet on High Places. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, 1986

Genre(s): Novel

Subgenre(s): Allegory; parables and fables

Core issue(s): Faith; healing; obedience and disobedience; redemption; repentance; salvation; surrender; trust in God; union with God

Principal characters

• Much-Afraid, the protagonist
• Shepherd, a Christlike character
• Craven Fear, Much-Afraid’s cousin and intended husband
• Bitterness,
• Self-Pity,
• Pride, and
• Resentment, Much-Afraid’s relatives
• Sorrow, and
• Suffering, servants of the Shepherd and Much-Afraid’s traveling companions

Christian Themes

Hannah Hurnard’s beloved tale Hinds’ Feet on High Places draws heavily upon three sources: the Bible, her personal life, and John Bunyan’s classic The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come (part 1, 1678; part 2, 1694). The title, from the Bible, Habakkuk 3:19, reflects Hurnard’s belief that God will lift up even the most damaged soul:

The Lord God is my strength, and he will make my feet like hinds’ feet, and he will make me to walk upon mine high places.

Hurnard personally understood what it meant to be a damaged soul. From an early age she suffered from seizures and stuttering. As a result, she was afraid of many things, including public places and embarrassing herself in front of people other than her family. Furthermore, she suffered a crisis in faith until her dramatic conversion experience at age nineteen. In Hinds’ Feet on High Places, Hurnard’s protagonist, Much-Afraid, takes her name from the character in Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress and, like Hurnard, is a doubting soul, physically deformed. An orphaned shepherdess, Much-Afraid’s deformed mouth mars her speech and facial expression, while her crooked feet render walking difficult. These deformities are allegorical; the damaged mouth clearly represents Hurnard’s stuttering, while the feet symbolize her inability to live a holy life.

Much-Afraid’s greatest joy is in serving the Chief Shepherd, and she longs for healing because she wants to serve him better. She frequently visits the Shepherd, in whom she finds comfort and the promise of love surpassing that of family. Threatened with an arranged marriage, Much-Afraid turns to the Shepherd for advice. Despondent, she wishes to leave her home in the Valley of Humiliation and travel to the High Places, where relatives will be unable to inflict torment. The Shepherd offers to grant her wish, but Much-Afraid doubts she is physically capable of the journey. The Shepherd pledges to assist her by providing two traveling companions, Sorrow and Suffering, if she will completely trust him for guidance and safety. The Shepherd promises that, upon reaching the High Places, the location of the Kingdom of Love, Much-Afraid will become a new creation, receive a new name, and be freed of her disabilities. Excited, Much-Afraid agrees.

After some delay, Much-Afraid begins her journey. The journey takes her to the desert, the Forests of Danger and Tribulation, and upon paths that do not lead to the High Places. Her way is fraught with storms, dense forests, blinding mists, and angry family members trying to persuade her to return. Sometimes the path ahead is not visible, forcing her to trust the Shepherd, to move forward in blind faith. Much-Afraid’s trust in the Shepherd is tested continuously, her faith alternating between weak and strong. With each test and lesson learned, she builds an altar upon which she sacrifices her various weaknesses. Each offering is consumed by flame, leaving only a hard stone, which Much-Afraid retains. Periodically she reviews the stone collection as a reminder of her sacrifices and the Shepherd’s accompanying promises. In times of utter despair, she considers discarding the stones but finds that the Shepherd has kept each of his promises; to discard the stones would be a denial of the Shepherd.

Much-Afraid reaches the High Places, the Kingdom of Love, and finds an altar shrouded in mist. She remembers the Shepherd’s words—that she must sacrifice the flower of “natural human love and desire growing in her heart.” Just as Christ was sacrificed, Much-Afraid must make a sacrifice, and just as Christ asked that the cup be taken from him (Luke 22:42), Much-Afraid asks to be relieved. She calls for the Shepherd, but for the first time he does not appear; the cup will not be taken from her.

Much-Afraid tries unsuccessfully to remove the flower of human love and desire. The inability to remove the flower demonstrates the biblical principle that humans can do nothing to save themselves; they must call on Christ for salvation (Ephesians 2:8). In response to Much-Afraid’s cries for help, a priest appears who ties Much-Afraid to the altar and removes the flower. Exhausted by her ordeal, Much-Afraid utters, “It is finished,” falls into a deep sleep, and awakens in a cave wrapped in perfumed cloths. She bathes (an action that suggests baptism) and returns to sleep in the cave for three days. Her allegorical death, burial, and cleansing parallel Christ’s earthly death and the events leading to his resurrection. Like Christ, Much-Afraid awakens transformed in body, healed of her physical deformities.

Later she reunites with the Shepherd and realizes he was the priest. As promised, he gives her a new name, Grace and Glory, revealing that her fears, sorrows, and suffering on the journey were all for the grace and glory of God. The Shepherd also takes the twelve stones, possibly representing the twelve Disciples, and forms them into a crown; Grace and Glory has demonstrated faith and obedience and has received her heavenly reward. Sorrow and Suffering are transformed into new creatures, Joy and Peace, and the story concludes with the three companions traveling back to the Valley of Humiliation to undertake missionary work.

Christian Themes

Detractors of Hinds’ Feet on High Places claim the book is too simple, preachy, and redundantly plotted. Ron Kangas, for example, has interpreted portions of the story as heretical, claiming that Hurnard’s emphasis on nature borders on pantheism and the emphasis on “union” with God is based on the doctrine of reincarnation. Despite these criticisms, however, the book has remained immensely popular, included on the “Premier 100” list of best-selling backlist books, and has been reprinted every decade since its original publication; recorded on long-playing records (1983), cassettes (1993), and CDs (2004); translated into Chinese, Finnish, Spanish, French, Portuguese, and other languages; and released as an inspirational calendar. The simplistic writing style and story are attractive to young people, reluctant readers, and new adult readers, as well.

Interpreting Hurnard’s allegory requires familiarity with basic Christian beliefs. Numerous Christian doctrines are demonstrated throughout the tale; however, the overarching theme is that of being born again and obtaining salvation, or deliverance. According to this principle, human beings are born sinful, a condition that will result in eternal damnation and separation from God unless one can be “born again” by admitting the sinful condition, willingly accepting God’s gift of salvation, and believing in the death and resurrection of God’s son, Jesus Christ. The Christian concept of being born again does not equate with the achievement of perfection or freedom from sin. Rather, Christians believe they are called to a higher standard of living and service. The Christian embarks on a daily journey with Christ, responding to and obeying Christ in order to be continually forgiven of sin, to be rescued from fear and temptation, and to become empowered to serve him.

Much-Afraid’s sinful condition is allegorically expressed in her deformities. Her journey represents her search for deliverance, for salvation. Along the way, her faith and obedience are tested, and she realizes that she must rely upon the Shepherd. It is only with her willing sacrifice that she obtains salvation. The “death” of her body is symbolized by her time in the cave, and her healed body is the allegorical equivalent of being born again.

The story also closely parallels the biblical story of the bride journeying to the bridegroom in Song of Solomon 4. The bridegroom calls the bride to him, but the bride must come of her own free will and travel through dangers before meeting the bridegroom. Much-Afraid is the bride, also representative of the individual Christian, and the Shepherd is the bridegroom, Christ. Through sorrow, suffering, humility, faith, and obedience, weaknesses become strengths and fears become faith.

Sources for Further Study

Anders, Isabel. Standing on High Places. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, 1994. A simple, nonscholarly biography drawing heavily on Hurnard’s autobiography. Focuses on her spiritual life and missionary work.

Hurnard, Hannah. Hearing Heart. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House, 1975. An autobiographical account of Hurnard’s life from her childhood through age seventy.

Kangas, Ron. “Hannah’s Heresies.” Affirmation and Critique (July 1, 1996): 58-59. Kangas asserts that Hurnard’s emphasis on union with God is evidence of her belief in reincarnation.

Westenberg, Aletha. Review of Hinds’ Feet on High Places. Banner 112 (April 8, 1977): 24. A descriptive book review.