Summary of Pilgrim's Progress - Part 1
| John Bunyan | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | baptised 30 November 1628 Elstow, Bedfordshire, England |
| Died | 31 August 1688 (aged 59) London, England |
| Occupation | Writer and preacher |
| Genre | Christian allegory, sermons |
| Notable works | The Pilgrim's Progress |
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISgr8SgCYbY
Pilgrim's Progress From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Pilgrim's Progress
from This World to That Which Is to Come; Delivered under the Similitude of a Dream is
a 1678 Christian allegory written
by John Bunyan. It
is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious English literature, and has never been out
of print.
Bunyan began his work
while in the Bedfordshire county prison for
violations of the Conventicle Act, which prohibited the
holding of religious services outside the auspices of the established Church of England.
Conventicle Act 1664
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Conventicle
Act of 1664 was an Act of
the Parliament of England (16 Charles II c. 4) that forbade conventicles,
defined as religious assemblies of more than five people other than an
immediate family, outside the auspices of the Church of England.
The English text is divided into two parts,
each reading as a continuous narrative with no chapter divisions. The first
part was completed in 1677. The Second Part appeared in 1684.
Plot summary First Part
The entire book is presented as a dream sequence narrated by an omniscient narrator. The allegory's protagonist, Christian, is an everyman character, and the plot centers on his journey
from his hometown, the "City of Destruction" ("this
world"), to the "Celestial City" ("that which is to
come": Heaven) atop Mount Zion. Christian is weighed down by a great
burden—the knowledge of his sin—which he believed came from his reading
"the book in his hand" (the Bible). This burden, which
would cause him to sink into Hell, is so unbearable that Christian must seek
deliverance. He meets Evangelist as he is walking out in the fields, who
directs him to the "Wicket Gate" for deliverance. Since Christian
cannot see the "Wicket Gate" in the distance, Evangelist directs him
to go to a "shining light," which Christian thinks he sees. Christian leaves his home, his wife, and
children to save himself: he cannot persuade them to accompany him. Obstinate
and Pliable go after Christian to bring him back, but Christian refuses.
Obstinate returns disgusted, but Pliable is persuaded to go with Christian,
hoping to take advantage of the Paradise that Christian claims lies at the end of
his journey. Pliable's journey with Christian is cut short when the two of them
fall into the Slough of Despond, a boggy mire-like swamp where pilgrims'
doubts, fears, temptations, lusts, shames, guilt, and sins of their present
condition of being a sinner are used to sink them into the mud of the swamp. It
is there in that bog where Pliable abandons Christian after getting himself
out. After struggling to the other side of the slough, Christian is pulled out
by Help, who has heard his cries and tells him the swamp is made out of the
decadence, scum, and filth of sin, but the ground is good at the narrow Wicket
Gate.
On his way to the Wicket Gate, Christian is diverted by the secular ethics of Mr. Worldly Wiseman into seeking
deliverance from his burden through the Law, supposedly with the help of a Mr. Legality and his son Civility in the
village of Morality, rather than through Christ, allegorically by way of the
Wicket Gate. Evangelist meets the wayward Christian as he stops before Mount Sinai on the way to Mr. Legality's home. It hangs
over the road and threatens to crush any who would pass it; also the mountain
flashed with fire. Evangelist shows Christian that he had sinned by turning out
of his way and tells him that Mr. Legality and his son Civility are descendants
of slaves and Mr. Worldly Wiseman is a false guide, but he assures him that he
will be welcomed at the Wicket Gate if he should turn around and go there,
which Christian does.
At the Wicket Gate begins the "straight and narrow" King's
Highway, and Christian is directed onto it by the gatekeeper Goodwill who saves
him from Beelzebub's archers at Beelzebub's castle near the Wicket Gate and
shows him the heavenly way he must go. In the Second Part, Goodwill is shown to
be Jesus himself. To
Christian's query about relief from his burden, Goodwill directs him forward to
"the place of deliverance."
Christian makes his way from there to the House of the Interpreter,
where he is shown pictures that portray or dramatize aspects of the Christian
faith and life.
From the House of the Interpreter, Christian finally reaches the
"place of deliverance" (allegorically, the cross of Calvary and the open sepulcher of Christ), where the
"straps" that bound Christian's burden to him break, and it rolls
away into the open sepulcher. This event happens relatively early in the
narrative: the immediate need of Christian at the beginning of the story being
quickly remedied. After Christian is relieved of his burden, he is greeted by
three angels, who give him the greeting of peace, new garments, and a scroll as
a passport into the Celestial City. Encouraged by all this, Christian happily
continues his journey until he comes upon three men named Simple, Sloth, and
Presumption. Christian tries to help them, but they disregard his advice.
Before coming to the Hill of Difficulty, Christian meets two well-dressed men
named Formality and Hypocrisy who prove to be false Christians that perish in
the two, dangerous bypasses near the hill named Danger and Destruction.
Christian falls asleep at the arbor above the hill and loses his scroll,
forcing him to go back and get it. Near the top of the Hill of Difficulty, he
meets two weak pilgrims named Mistrust and Timorous who tell him of the great
lions of the Palace Beautiful. Christian frightfully avoids the lions through
Watchful the porter who tells them that they are chained and put there to test
the faith of pilgrims.
Atop the Hill of Difficulty, Christian makes his first stop for the
night at the House of the Palace Beautiful, which is a place built by God for the
refresh of pilgrims and godly travelers. Christian spends three days here, and
leaves clothed with the Armor of God (Eph. 6:11–18), which stands
him in good stead in his battle against the demonic dragon-like Apollyon, (the
lord and god of the City of Destruction) in the Valley of Humiliation. This
battle lasts "over half a day" until Christian manages to wound and
stab Apollyon with his two-edged sword (a reference to the Bible, Heb. 4:12). "And with that Apollyon spread
his dragon wings and sped away."
As night falls Christian enters the fearful Valley of the Shadow of
Death. When he is in the middle of the Valley amidst the gloom, terror and
demons, he hears the words of the Twenty-third Psalm, spoken possibly by
his friend Faithful:
Yea, though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death, I will
fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. (Psalm 23:4.)
As he leaves this valley the sun rises on a new day.
Just outside the Valley of the Shadow of Death he meets Faithful, also a
former resident of the City of Destruction, who accompanies him to Vanity Fair,
a place built by Beelzebub where every thing to a human's tastes, delights, and
lusts are sold daily, where both are arrested and detained because of their
disdain for the wares and business of the Fair. Faithful is put on trial, and
executed by burning at the stake as a martyr. A celestial chariot then takes
Faithful to the Celestial City, martyrdom being a shortcut there. Hopeful, a
resident of Vanity Fair, takes Faithful's place to be Christian's companion for
the rest of the way.
Christian and Hopeful then come to a mining hill called Lucre. Its owner
named Demas offers them all the silver of the mine but Christian sees through
Demas's trickery and they avoid the mine. Afterwards, a false pilgrim named
By-Ends and his friends, who followed Christian and Hopeful only to take advantage
of them, perish at the Hill Lucre, never to be seen or heard again. Along a
rough, stony stretch of road, Christian and Hopeful leave the highway to travel
on the easier By-Path Meadow, where a rainstorm forces them to spend the night.
In the morning they are captured by Giant Despair, who is known for his savage
cruelty, and his wife Diffidence; the pilgrims are taken to the Giant's
Doubting Castle, where they are imprisoned, beaten and starved. The Giant
and the Giantess want them to commit suicide, but they endure the ordeal until Christian
realizes that a key he has, called Promise, will open all the doors and gates
of Doubting Castle. Using the key and the Giant's weakness to sunlight, they
escape.
The Delectable Mountains form the next stage of Christian and Hopeful's
journey, where the shepherds show them some of the wonders of the place also
known as "Immanuel's Land". The pilgrims are shown sights that
strengthen their faith and warn them against sinning, like the Hill Error or
the Mountain Caution. On Mount Clear they are able to see the Celestial City
through the shepherd's "perspective glass", which serves as a
telescope. (This device is given to Mercy in the Second Part at her request.)
The shepherds tell the pilgrims to beware of the Flatterer and to avoid the
Enchanted Ground. Soon they come to a crossroad and a man dressed in white
comes to help them. Thinking he is a "shining one" (angel), the
pilgrims follow the man, but soon get stuck in a net and realize their
so-called angelic guide was the Flatterer. A true shining one comes and frees
them from the net. The Angel punishes them for following the Flatterer and then
puts them back on the right path. The pilgrims meet Atheist, who tells them
Heaven and God don't exist, but Christian and Hopeful remember the shepherds
and pay no attention to the man. Christian and Hopeful come to a place where a
man named Little-Faith is chained by the ropes of seven demons who take him to
a shortcut to the Lake of Fire (Hell).
On the way, Christian and Hopeful meet a lad named Ignorance, who
believes that he will be allowed into the Celestial City through his own good
deeds rather than as a gift of God's grace. Christian and Hopeful meet up with
him twice and try to persuade him to journey to the Celestial City in the right
way. Ignorance persists in his own way that he thinks will lead him into
Heaven. After getting over the River of Death on the ferry boat of Vain Hope
without overcoming the hazards of wading across it, Ignorance appears before
the gates of Celestial City without a passport, which he would have acquired
had he gone into the King's Highway through the Wicket Gate. The Lord of the
Celestial City orders the shining ones (angels) to take Ignorance to one of the
byways of Hell and throw him in.
Christian and Hopeful make it through the dangerous Enchanted Ground (a
place where the air makes them sleepy and if they fall asleep, they never wake
up) into the Land of Beulah, where they ready themselves to cross the dreaded
River of Death on foot to Mount Zion and the Celestial City. Christian has a
rough time of it because of his past sins wearing him down, but Hopeful helps
him over; and they are welcomed into the Celestial City.
Characters First Part
Christian, who was born with the name Graceless, the protagonist in the First Part, whose journey to the Celestial City is the plot of the story.
· Evangelist, the religious man who puts Christian on the path to the Celestial City. He also shows Christian a book, which readers assume to be the Bible.
· Obstinate, one of the two residents of the City of Destruction, who run after Christian when he first sets out, in order to bring him back. Like his name, he is stubborn and is disgusted with Christian and with Pliable for making a journey that he thinks is nonsense.
· Pliable, the other of the two, who goes with Christian until both of them fall into the Slough of Despond, (a boggy mire composed of the decadence and filthiness of sin and a swamp that makes the fears and doubts of a present and past sinner real). Pliable escapes from the slough and returns home. Like his name, he is insecure and goes along with some things for a little while but quickly gives up on them.
· Help, Christian's rescuer from the Slough of Despond.
· Mr. Worldly Wiseman, a resident of a place called Carnal Policy, who persuades Christian to go out of his way to be helped by a friend named Mr. Legality and then move to the City of Morality (which focuses salvation on the Law and good deeds instead of faith and love in Jesus Christ). His real advice is from the world and not from God, meaning his advice is flawed and consists of three objectives: getting Christian off the right path, making the cross of Jesus Christ offensive to him, and binding him to the Law so he would die with his sins. Worldly Wiseman has brought down many innocent pilgrims and there will be many more to come.
· Goodwill, the keeper of the Wicket Gate through which one enters the "straight and narrow way" (also referred to as "the King's Highway") to the Celestial City. In the Second Part we find that this character is none other than Jesus Christ Himself.
· Beelzebub, literally "Lord of the Flies," is one of Satan's companion arch demons, who has erected a fort near the Wicket Gate from which he and his soldiers can shoot arrows of fire at those about to enter the Wicket Gate so they will never enter it. He is also the Lord, God, King, Master, and Prince of Vanity Fair. Christian calls him "captain" of the Foul Fiend Apollyon, who he later met in the Valley of Humiliation.
· The Interpreter, the one who has his House along the way as a rest stop for travelers to check in to see pictures to teach them the right way to live the Christian life. He has been identified in the Second Part as the Holy Spirit.
· Shining Ones, the messengers and servants of "the Lord of the Hill," God. They are obviously the holy angels.
· Formalist, one of two travelers and false pilgrims on the King's Highway, who do not come in by the Wicket Gate, but climb over the wall that encloses it, at least from the hill and sepulcher up to the Hill Difficulty. He and his companion Hypocrisy come from the land of Vainglory. He takes one of the two bypaths that avoid the Hill Difficulty, but is lost.
· Hypocrisy, the companion of Formalist and the other false pilgrim. He takes the other of the two bypaths and is also lost.
· Timorous, one of two men who try to persuade Christian to go back for fear of the chained lions near the House Beautiful. He is a relative of Mrs. Timorous of the Second Part. His companion is Mistrust.
· Watchful, the porter of the House Beautiful. He also appears in the Second Part and receives "a gold angel" coin from Christiana for his kindness and service to her and her companions. "Watchful" is also the name of one of the Delectable Mountains' shepherds.
· Discretion, one of the beautiful maids of the house, who decides to allow Christian to stay there.
· Prudence, another of the House Beautiful maidens. She appears in the Second Part.
· Piety, another of the House Beautiful maidens. She appears in the Second Part.
· Charity, another of the House Beautiful maidens. She appears in the Second Part.
· Apollyon, literally "Destroyer;" the King, Lord, God, Master, Prince, Owner, Landlord, Ruler, Governor, and Leader of the City of Destruction where Christian was born. He is one of Satan's companion arch demons, who tries to force Christian to return to his domain and service. His battle with Christian takes place in the Valley of Humiliation, just below the House Beautiful. He appears as a huge demonic creature with fish's scales, mouth of a lion, feet of a bear, second mouth on his belly, and dragon's wings. He takes fiery darts from his body to throw at his opponents. Apollyon is finally defeated when Christian uses the Sword of the Spirit to wound him two times.
· "Pope" and "Pagan," giants living in a cave at the end of the fearsome Valley of the Shadow of Death. They are allegories of Roman Catholicism and paganism as persecutors of Protestant Christians. "Pagan" is dead, indicating the end of pagan persecution with Antiquity, and "Pope" is alive but decrepit, indicating the then diminished power and influence of the Roman Catholic pope. In the Second Part, Pagan is resurrected by a demon from the bottomless pit of the Valley of the Shadow of Death, representing the new age of pagan persecution, and Pope is revived of his deadly wounds and is no longer stiff and unable to move, representing the beginning of the Christian's troubles with Roman Catholic popes.
· Faithful, Christian's friend from the City of Destruction, who is also going on pilgrimage. Christian meets Faithful just after getting through the Valley of The Shadow of Death. He dies later in Vanity Fair for his strong faith and first reaches the Celestial City.
· Wanton, a temptress who tries to get Faithful to leave his journey to the Celestial City. She may be the popular resident of the City of Destruction, Madam Wanton, who hosted a house party for friends of Mrs. Timorous.
· Adam the First, "the old man" (representing carnality and deceit) who tries to persuade Faithful to leave his journey and come live with his 3 daughters: the Lust of the Flesh, the Lust of the Eyes, and the Pride of Life.
· Moses, the severe, violent avenger (representing the Law, which knows no mercy) who tries to kill Faithful for his momentary weakness in wanting to go with Adam the First out of the way. Moses is sent away by Jesus Christ.
· Talkative, a pilgrim that Faithful and Christian meet after going through the Valley of the Shadow of Death. He is known to Christian as a fellow resident of the City of Destruction, living on Prating Row. He is the son of Say-Well and Mrs. Talk-About-The-Right Things. He is said to be better looking from a distance than close up. His enthusiasm for talking about his faith to Faithful deceives him into thinking that he is a sincere man. Christian lets Faithful know about his unsavory past, and in a conversation that Faithful strikes up with him he is exposed as shallow and hypocritical in his Christianity.
· Lord Hate-Good, the evil judge who tries Faithful in Vanity Fair. Lord Hate-Good is the opposite of a judge, he hates right and loves wrong because he does wrong himself. His jury are twelve vicious rogue men.
· Envy, the first witness against Faithful who falsely accuses that Faithful shows no respect for their prince, Lord Beelzebub.
· Superstition, the second witness against Faithful who falsely accuses Faithful of saying that their religion is vain.
· Pick-Thank, the third witness against Faithful who falsely accuses Faithful of going against their prince, their people, their laws, their "honorable" friends, and the judge himself.
· Hopeful, the resident of Vanity Fair, who takes Faithful's place as Christian's fellow traveler. The character Hopeful poses an inconsistency in that there is a necessity imposed on the pilgrims that they enter the "King's Highway" by the Wicket Gate. Hopeful did not; however, of him we read: "... one died to bear testimony to the truth, and another rises out of his ashes to be a companion with Christian in his pilgrimage." Hopeful assumes Faithful's place by God's design. Theologically and allegorically it would follow in that "faith" is trust in God as far as things present are concerned, and "hope," biblically the same as "faith," is trust in God as far as things of the future are concerned. Hopeful would follow Faithful. The other factor is Vanity Fair's location right on the straight and narrow way. Ignorance, in contrast to Hopeful, was unconcerned about the end times of God, unconcerned with true faith in Jesus Christ, and gave false hope about the future. Ignorance was told by Christian and Hopeful that he should have entered the highway through the Wicket Gate.
· Mr. By-Ends, a false pilgrim met by Christian and Hopeful after they leave Vanity Fair. He makes it his aim to avoid any hardship or persecution that Christians may have to undergo. He supposedly perishes in the Hill Lucre (a dangerous silver mine) with three of his friends, Hold-the-World, Money-Love, and Save-All, at the behest of Demas, who invites passersby to come and see the mine. A "by-end" is a pursuit that is achieved indirectly. For By-Ends and his companions, it is the by-end of financial gain through religion.
· Demas, a deceiver, who beckons to pilgrims at the Hill Lucre to come and join in the supposed silver mining going on in it. He is first mentioned in the Book of 2 Timothy by the disciple Paul when he said, "Demas has deserted us because he loved the world". Demas tries two ways to trick Christian and Hopeful: first he claims that the mine is safe and they'll be rich, and then he claims that he is a pilgrim and will join them on their journey. Christian, filled with the Holy Spirit, is able to rebuke Demas and expose his lies.
· Giant Despair, the savage owner of Doubting Castle, where pilgrims are imprisoned and murdered. He is slain by Great-Heart in the Second Part.
· Giantess Diffidence, Despair's wife known to be cruel, savage, violent, and evil like her husband. She is slain by Old Honest in the Second Part.
· Watchful, another of the Delectable Mountains shepherds.
· Sincere, another of the Delectable Mountains shepherds.
· Ignorance, "the brisk young lad", (representing foolishness and conceit) who joins the "King's Highway" by way of the "crooked lane" that comes from his native country, called "Conceit." He follows Christian and Hopeful and on two occasions talks with them. He believes that he will be received into the Celestial City because of his doing good works in accordance with God's will. For him, Jesus Christ is only an example, not a Savior. Christian and Hopeful try to set him right, but they fail. He gets a ferryman, Vain-Hope, to ferry him across the River of Death rather than cross it on foot as one is supposed to do. When he gets to the gates of the Celestial City, he is asked for a "certificate" needed for entry, which he does not have. The King upon hearing this, then, orders that he be bound and cast into Hell.
· The Flatterer, a deceiver dressed as an angel who leads Christian and Hopeful out of their way, when they fail to look at the road map given them by the Shepherds of the Delectable Mountains.
· Atheist, a mocker of Christian and Hopeful, who goes the opposite way on the "King's Highway" because he boasts that he knows that God and the Celestial City do not exist.
Okay Readers, what do you think of the story? Please leave your comments and stay tune for the summary of Part 2 of
Pilgrim’s Progress next week.
Blessings,
job leon
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