The Pilgrim’s Progress, Part 4: Home At Last

If you’re just joining us, here’s the Introduction, Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

For the Project Gutenberg online version, go here.

The worst is over—in a way.  In another sense, Christian’s greatest trial is still ahead, but for awhile longer he will be plodding along with Hopeful, encountering other travelers and engaging in “profitable discourse.”  Here’s where John Bunyan’s Puritan leanings really hit the fan—there was nothing he and his fellows like better than talking doctrine.  As we’ve seen, when people like Talkative jump into in what might be called the finer points, it’s anything but profitable, but our friends’ experience and piety lend them an authority worth hearing.

Ignorance

When Christian and Hopeful part from the Shepherds {306}, they are given a “note” (i.e., map) of the remaining distance, plus a warning not to stray from the path.  Where have we heard that before?  The travelers soon catch up with “a very brisk lad,” Ignorance, who is going along at his own comfortable pace.  Notice his native land, Conceit.  Romans 11:25 specifically links conceit with ignorance, but the boy seems to have a lot on the ball: “I know my Lord’s will, and I have been a good liver; I pay every man his own; I pray, fast, pay tithes, and give alms, and have left my country [like Abraham, you know?] for whither I am going.”  Sounds good—but wait a minute.  Sounds a lot like a certain Pharisee praying in the temple (Luke 18:9-14).

Hopeful seems more hopeful about Ignorance than Christian does, but both agree it’s a waste of everybody’s time to talk to him now.

The Story of Little-Faith

Their next encounter {311} is more sobering—was that Turn-away, who lived in Apostasy?  Bound with cords and led away by devils?  Hard to be sure, but it’s clear the man once presented himself as a believer.  An apostate is one who deliberately turns his back on the faith he once professed, and this one has made the fatal mistake of sweeping his house without receiving the indwelling spirit (Matt. 12:45).

To steady their nerves, Christian recalls Little-faith, a fellow pilgrim who was assaulted by rogues and robbed of everything except “the one good thing” {313}: his faith, meager as it was.  Little-faith continued his journey poor and wretched, mourning and complaining at every step, but nonetheless gained entrance into the Celestial City.  Hopeful has a problem with this—why didn’t the man use the means of grace available to him?—leading to an argument with Christian {314}, who contends that even a little faith is enough, so long as it’s genuine.  This is an interesting point: the question is not, How much faith is enough, but rather, Is it real faith?  Quality vs. quantity.  In the comparison between Little-faith and Esau, what do you see as the differences?  What other biblical examples of weakness does Christian offer in {322}?  In this discussion, how does Christian’s experience and Hopeful’s naiveté manifest themselves?  (And what does that tell us about judging fellow believers whose faith seems weak?)

The Flatterer

What happens next should check the pride of both men.  In spite of the Shepherd’s warning, they are drawn away from the path—don’t you want to just yell at them?  Until you remember that time you did something similar . .  They are not jumped by rogues but led astray by the subtler temptations of deceit—an easier path, a false assurance.  “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is destruction” (Prov. 14:12).   Because they belong to the Lord, he rescues them, but not with an indulgent smile and a pat on the head!  Their punishment {329} seems harsh, but remember Heb. 12:6.

Atheist

If I remember correctly, this is the first traveler they’ve met voluntarily going the opposite way.  Everybody else was going in the same direction, though faster or slower, and likely to stray at some point.  This is an apt comparison: almost everybody thinks they’re headed toward heaven, if they think much about it at all.  Atheist is at least true to his conviction that there’s no such place, but false in other ways.  He claims to have sought the truth, but you have to wonder, especially in light of the Lord’s assurance that if we seek we shall find.  Some public atheists like Richard Dawkins proudly say they never believed, but others claim they “tried God” and it didn’t “work.” Christian’s faith seems to wobble a little in this man’s flat denial—have you ever suspected that the atheists may be right?  They seem so sure, and heaven seems such a pipe dream sometimes . . .

The Enchanted Ground

“Enchantment” is a positive term these days, but John Bunyan and his contemporaries saw it as a wile of the devil to distract, and charm, and lure away.  This whole section is a vindication of Jesus’ command to Watch! (Mark 13:37, 14:38; I Th.5:6).  To keep awake, the two friends engage in a conversation {338} – {352} that might put the rest of us to sleep!  But it’s worth paying attention as Christian encourages Hopeful to share the details of his conversion.  Some of his experience may be hard to relate to, because these days conversion is often presented as a single moment, after which one is never the same.  Hopeful relates a series of experiences, beginning with the witness of Faithful and a clear warning that continuing in sin would lead to death.  His attempts to shut out such warnings didn’t work—because, as Christian observes, “God’s blessed Spirit” was working on him.  In {341}, notice all the “hounds of heaven” that God sent after him to stir up his soul to the point where Hopeful finally perceived his sin and knew his danger and threw himself on the Lord’s mercy.  But that was not the end.

Puritan theology allowed that a person could be deeply under conviction, enough to call on the Lord, and yet not be saved.  This was the “seeker” phenomenon—Hopeful recalls how he cried out for mercy “over and over, and over” without receiving it, but was graciously spurred to call out all the more.  That’s pretty far from our evangelical notion of “the vilest offender who truly believes, that moment from Jesus forgiveness receives,” and I’m not sure how biblical it is, but it’s certainly an indication of how seriously the Puritans took conversion, and how deep their understanding of human depravity.  Bunyan himself wrote, “Conversion to God is not so easy and so smooth a thing as some would have men to believe it is.”  It’s a shattering experience that totally reorients us away from ourselves and toward God.  The Puritans urged intense self-examination from time to time, to determine if one was truly walking in the faith.  That’s a practice that could become morbid self-absorption, but taking stock periodically can also keep us from becoming complacent.  For me, the “shattering” took place over a long period of time without a single defining “experience”—how does your conversion compare with Hopeful’s?  See especially {351}—is this the place where all our stories meet?

Ignorance Again

Our “brisk young lad” seems to be flagging a bit—he likes to march to his own drum.  Of all the types we’ve met in Pilgrim’s Progress, Ignorance is the one most often encountered today—he’s everywhere!  How many times have you heard his bland assurance that “my heart tells me I’m right”?  “Follow your heart” is the advice our culture gives young people, to which Christian might scornfully reply {356}, “Ask my fellow if I be a thief!”  In other words, Is your heart going to tell the truth about you, any more than a thief would tell on his partner?  Or is it more like a bubble-headed dashboard doll, nodding approval at whatever you choose to do?  If so, do you dare to make Christ just another bubble-headed doll, aligning himself with your principles and your ideas of what’s right?  (Have you ever had a non-believer tell you what Jesus would or would not tolerate?)

Parts of this conversation are glaringly contemporary, and other parts might seem more obscure. One point that struck me this time is Christian’s exposition of where Christ fits in all this.  Notice especially point #3 in {363}: “This faith [of Ignorance] maketh not Christ a justifier of thy person, but of thy actions.”  Perfect!  We want somebody to cover up our mistakes (because nobody’s perfect) but don’t want to be completely overhauled—that amounts to admitting we’re rotten to the core.  (This seems to be what Mormons, for example, believe about Christ as Savior: he justifies their sinful actions, but not their sinful selves.)  Well, says Ignorance, you can believe that, but I certainly don’t.  To each his own, right?

When Ignorance falls behind again, the other two talk about back-sliding {371} – {381}: another “profitable discourse,” because it shows the “why” and the “how,” indicating signs to watch out for in ourselves.  And so discoursing, they come to

The Land of Beulah

Beulah means “married” in Hebrew, which accounts for the marriage theme.  The pilgrims’ long engagement to Christ is almost over, and the wedding is at hand.  How many references to Song of Solomon can you spot?  Have you ever felt “sick from love?”

The River

This is obviously a metaphor of death, borrowed from pagan mythology (e.g., the River Styx).   One would think, after all he’s been through, that Christian would meet this last challenge calmly and quietly, but it proves to be his greatest trial yet {392}.  Is it wide?  Is it deep?  Stormy or calm?  Depends.  Everyone’s experience is different, as Bunyan has been careful to show all through the journey.  Hopeful crosses the same river at the same time, but with a completely different attitude.  Some die peacefully and with full assurance, others suffer stabs of doubt and fear all the way to the end—but both end well.  Both receive the same reward, pass through the same gate, are received by the same shining ones.  I had a conversation last week with some dear long-term sisters about the idea of “ending well”—is it a matter of our effort, or God’s grace?  It has to be grace, start to finish: awakening our hearts and keeping our hearts through times of confidence and failure; directing our steps and re-directing them when we stray; encouraging us through fellow believers and spurring us to encouragement; holding our hands when we cross the river; never, never, never letting go.

How Bunyan, the narrator, would love to walk through those gates!  But he’s still on this side of the river.  So are we all, but we remain awhile to see Ignorance turned away, like the man at the wedding without the wedding garment of Christ’s righteousness.  The gate closes, the brightness dims—we still have a ways to go.  But don’t lose heart, Christian.  You don’t know all the twists and turns on the road, but you know the end.

Activities:

• In what ways have you been tempted to feel proud of your faith?  Write a confession to God about that, along with a plea to be corrected.
• Rewrite the dialogue with Atheist as though you were talking to a famous contemporary atheist like Christopher Hitchens or Sam Harris.
• Write a scene showing Hopeful’s awakening by the Holy Spirit, either at the beginning of his conversion process {338} or at the end {351}.
• You probably know an Ignorance.  Review his second conversation with Christian and Hopeful, and note specific arguments that might be helpful in talking to him or her.  Write an imaginary dialogue showing how your acquaintance might respond.  Then pray for the opportunity to have this conversation!