He opens the chapter with what is almost a truism: over the years, lots of different people have had lots of different things to say about the universe and its origins. The same is true today. Pick a religion—any religion—and it has some explanation of how the universe began. And in every religion there are moral deductions to be made from the origin of the universe; our author here is about to allude to that. But before I leave the first paragraph, I notice that Athanasius speaks of those holding unbiblical beliefs about creation like this: “many have held different opinions, and as each one wished, so he decided it.” There’s a slight accusatory tone coming out of his mouth, if I’m not mistaken. It’s probably warranted.

Because there are moral imperatives—truths about right and wrong that require human action or restraint—which come from the nature of creation, it’s important how we believe creation occurred. Take for example the Epicureans Athanasius mentioned in paragraph 2. They were a sensual bunch—they were the, “eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die,” crowd. “The senses exist to be gratified,” they would say. They didn’t believe in some grand moral order or design because they believed the universe spontaneously sprung into existence without a mind to guide its genesis. If the universe spontaneously popped into existence and we possess the senses to enjoy it, why not use them with reckless abandon? Clearly that’s what our senses are for, and there is no one there outside of or above the world to tell us otherwise. We’re just part of a random and amoral universe in which we should gratify our senses until we die. 

But that doesn’t make sense, does it? Athanasius points this out: the universe appears to be a finely tuned system of intricate, interworking parts. If everything sprang into existence spontaneously with no mind behind it, there is no explanation for how those systems were put into place! Everything that exists would be similar if it was spontaneously generated, because there would have been no mind to say, “this should fit with that, this should work with this, this is created to do this with this other thing over here.” The world as we know it doesn’t make sense if you try and conceive of it as being the product of spontaneous generation. No, there must be someone behind it who designed it. If there's someone who designed it, that someone decided how it ought to work. That "ought" means anything against the design is wrong. Thus we have morals. Athanasius called the person behind this design, “God,” and we agree with him. 

Then Athanasius jumps on Plato (who, by the way, got close to some pretty important truths many times). Plato and his folks believed that God made the world, but they didn’t believe he created it—which is an important distinction. They believed that God created the world out of preexistent matter. In their mind, way back in eternity past—which is a busted concept since eternity is timeless by definition but go with me here—both God (or the gods to the Greeks) and unformed matter existed. The matter was just that—matter, mindless and shapeless. And whatever deity there was took that mindless and shapeless matter and made the world out of it. Athanasius points out that to believe this, you have subjected yourself to what may be an unintended consequence: your god has become weak! He needs something else in order to do his work. If he doesn’t have unformed matter with which to make, he’s become like a carpenter with no wood: impotent.

As a sidenote, there’s another unintended consequence Athanasius didn’t mention. To believe this, you force yourself into a situation where you drift toward pantheism. Pantheism is the belief that everything which exists possesses the attribute of being divine, or at least partly divine. How does this work? Well, God is who he is because he is the only one who is, no matter what. That’s how he introduced himself to Moses: “I AM.” That seems like a weird name until you realize the stunning claim God made to him and the attribute he intended to highlight about himself. God is the only thing in the universe that exists with no dependence on any other thing. Every other being or object in the universe exists by virtue of someone bringing it into existence. Only one being exists with no dependencies, and that being is the God of the Bible. But what if you extended that divine attribute to one other thing—the matter behind creation itself? What if it possessed absolute existence as well? It would share what both Christians and Jews believe to be one of God’s greatest, if not the greatest, attributes. A case could then be made that the stuff the universe is made of is also God, which would mean everything made of it is also, in some way shape or form, divine. What kind of difference does that theological leap—the belief that everything which exists is a small part of God—make? Hinduism is on line one and would like to speak with you.

The final paragraph—and I may be wrong on this, but it’s what I think—may be useful in other contexts but isn’t as useful to us here. Athanasius wrote it in order to refute heretics who had departed from the orthodox Christian belief in a biblical creation at the hands of the Father. They were introducing the idea that someone other than the Father, some other divine or divine-ish being, had created the world. In the age we live in now, the most likely situation in which you believe a different God created the world is one in which you are not a Christian in the first place. I’ve never run across someone who claimed to be a Christian and simultaneously believed someone other than the Father created the world.

To end this chapter, Athanasius draws attention to the words of John in John 1:3: “All things were made through Him (Christ) and apart from Him not even one thing was made.” It’s a short few sentences at the end, but they’re important to sum up the ideas in the chapter, which we can do like this: 

1. The universe did not spontaneously pop into existence out of nothing. There’s too much order for that to make sense.
2. The universe was created by God out of nothing, not merely fashioned by God out of something else which was also preexistent. If that were the case, we’d have a weak god or we’d be gods.
3. The all-powerful God of the Bible created an ordered universe out of nothing, and he did it through the agency of the Son, because “all things were made through Him (Christ), and apart from Him not even one thing was made.” Ask yourself: if God created the world through the Son in the first place, who do you think he’d fix it through if and when it broke? That’s where we’re headed! 

Thoughts? Let’s hear them in the comments!

I’m going to start posting something new on the blog here. I’ve wanted to start writing again for a while, and this is a good excuse to do it. A few Sundays ago, I quoted Athanasius’ most famous work, “On the Incarnation of the Word,” and got some quizzical looks. Let’s remedy that!

Athanasius is an early church father who is probably responsible for most of the way you process the incarnation of Jesus Christ. You may not know his name, but we are theologically indebted to him. His writing is ancient, so you can find a copy of On the Incarnation easily in multiple places on the internet. I’m going to be reading it in small chunks and just posting my thoughts on it as I go. Don’t think of this as another installment of the Stapleton Baptist Book Club; I’m not going to have a set schedule. I’m just going to write as I read and think, and you can join in with me by talking to me in the comments.

Today we’re going to look at chapter one. It should be fairly short and sweet, I think: chapter one is the introduction. But Athanasius uses it to explain what he’s trying to do.

The book is written to a dear friend of Athanasius named Macarius. It’s written as a follow-up to another book that we’re not going to worry about right now. In introducing the topic for discussion, Athanasius spends a paragraph or two discussing with Macarius the intellectual response Jews and Greeks have to the core Christian claim, namely that God himself has taken on a human nature and come to dwell among us here on earth.

According to Athanasius, the Jews “calumniate” the doctrine of the incarnation, which means “utter maliciously false statements, charges, or imputations,” or to “injure the reputation.” This may sound antisemitic, but pump the brakes on that. To consider oneself a Jew (as opposed to a Messianic Jew or a Christian, neither of which are in view here) is to make a religious statement. After the first advent of Jesus, continuing in Old Testament Judaism necessarily entails a denial of Jesus being the Christ. To accept Jesus as the Christ would move one into the Messianic Jewish or Christian camp (Messianic Jews are just Jews who recognize Jesus as the Messiah and possess saving faith in him…they’re Christians, but they use the term “Messianic Jew” to maintain connection to their heritage). Jews who continue to deny Jesus is the Christ do calumniate his incarnation. They don’t believe it happened, and the thought of it is offensive to them.

Athanasius also said the Greeks “deride” the incarnation. “Deride” means “to laugh at contemptuously.” Greek thinkers thought of the incarnation as a silly doctrine. There could be multiple reasons for this. First, why would a god become a human? Not just take human form, mind you, but actually become a real human? Humility was not a Greek virtue, and that’s not an insult; it literally wasn’t. They didn’t think humility was a good thing, and for a god to become a man would be the height (depth?) of humiliation. There was also the gnostic-ish belief that spiritual existence was more pure and good than physical existence. Why would a god who exists spiritually by nature dirty himself by being subjected to the griminess of physicality on earth? It just didn’t make sense to the Greek mind.

Christians, however, “venerate” the doctrine of the incarnation. We see it and marvel. We see it and are driven to worship. Athanasius saw the incarnation as further proof of God’s “godness.”  He took something the Jews believed to be impossible and did it anyway. He took something the Greeks thought to be unseemly or silly and made it beautiful and Divine. He won the greatest battle in the cosmos by becoming the least. And because he became the least, one day all will recognize him as the greatest. It’s quite the whirlwind of wonder.

But then at the end of chapter one, having established that Jesus did take on flesh, Athansius asks the million-dollar question: why? He didn’t want Macarius to be ignorant of the reason Jesus took on flesh, and we shouldn’t want to be ignorant either. If God was going to save us, there was only one way to do it, and it required the Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us. The second person of the trinity does not, by nature, have a physical body, but he had to take one upon himself if he was going to win salvation for us. In short, Athanasius’ reason for why the Word became flesh was this: God wanted to save us and there was no other way to do it.

There’s one transitional paragraph at the end of chapter one: our next stop is an examination of God’s initial act of creation. In Athanasius’ mind, salvation in Christ is a “re-creation,” a making new of something that has been damaged or corrupted. Since the first creation was created by God through the Word, it only makes sense that the re-creation would be accomplished by him through the same Word.

Thoughts? Let’s hear them in the comments! You’ll get chapter two…soon? Maybe? Likely. See you then!

I encourage you to pick up a copy of the book and read chapter eleven before reading the rest of this. The goal here is not to explain the chapter in its entirety; it’s making some observations from my reading and facilitate a discussion amongst ourselves that hopefully results in some learning and Christian growth. Be sure to avail yourselves of the comment section at the bottom of the page to weigh in with your own thoughts so we can talk about them.

This is the last chapter! Have you enjoyed it? I know I have. Let’s take a look at chapter eleven:

1. As they got closer to the city, they were more and more conscious of it. Can you imagine coming to the river and having no promise of entrance to the city on the other side? Christian and Hopeful didn’t have that fear to face...despite what Christian may have felt.
   
   
2. The river, if you couldn’t tell, was a symbol of death. The only two men in the Bible to enter heaven deathless were Enoch and Elijah, as Bunyan referenced. 
   
   
3. The river was the same river for both men, but they both experienced it differently. Don’t ever forget that small faith is still faith, and fear doesn’t eliminate facts. The fact of the matter was this: Christian had entered at the gate and possessed a certificate of entry. Though the river may not have been pleasant, it could not keep him from the city.
   
   
4. Hopeful, on the other hand, waded across easily. I’ve known people to wade across that river gracefully. Every Christian should hope to meet death with that confidence and resolve. But don’t ever forget: Hopeful was no more saved than Christian was. Only his experience was different.
   
   
5. The stuff that happened beyond the river was speculation...the Bible doesn’t say anything about the Shining Ones coming to escort us to the gates or anything like that. But it does tell us that there is a celebration in heaven every time someone repents and turns from his sin. How much more of a celebration do you think there is when the repentant ones actually arrive?
   
   
6. Ignorance finally showed up again. If I’m not mistaken, I told you we’d see him again. He crossed the river with ease...which is by itself a bit scary. The ferryman, Vain-Hope got him across the river with no trouble at all. Everybody crosses the river. The question is not how you cross it, but what awaits you on the far bank.
   
   
7. No one waited for Ignorance. There was no one there to receive him. And there was no announcement of his arrival. Why? He didn’t belong in the city. He didn’t come in at the gate. He didn’t have a certificate that allowed him entrance. And he was stunned by his refusal.
   
   
8. Should he have been stunned? This isn’t an observation from this chapter, but from Ignorance’s story as a whole. He had been warned. He had been told that he would not be received. But his response was that his people had gone to the city that way since time immemorial. But you have to wonder...had he ever spoken to someone who came back across that river? Did anyone ever reach the city and write back to confirm his safe arrival? If the answer was no...was he really wise to be so confident?
   
   
9. How horrible to live your whole life assured that heaven is yours and be surprised by refusal at the very gate! He was sent away by the King WHILE STANDING IN SIGHT OF HEAVEN because the King never knew him. This is what Bunyan meant when he said he perceived that there was a way to hell from the City of Destruction and from heaven.

What about you? What did you observe?

I encourage you to pick up a copy of the book and read chapter ten before reading the rest of this. The goal here is not to explain the chapter in its entirety; it’s making some observations from my reading and facilitate a discussion amongst ourselves that hopefully results in some learning and Christian growth. Be sure to avail yourselves of the comment section at the bottom of the page to weigh in with your own thoughts so we can talk about them.

Chapter 10...this chapter was excessively short, so I probably won’t get to ten observations.

1. “I think of God and Heaven.”
   “So do the devils and lost souls.”
   Believing God and heaven are there is not the sole prerequisite for a relationship with God and entry into Heaven.
2. “Follow your heart” is the dumbest advice you to which you could possibly listen. Your heart is deceitful, and ignorant was...well, ignorant of its deceitfulness.
3. "Well, Ignorance, wilt thou yet foolish be, To slight good counsel, ten times given thee? And if thou yet refuse it, thou shalt know, Ere long, the evil of thy doing so.” There’s something about the danger of refusing good counsel. You never know if you’ll get the chance to hear it again.
4. This was a brief chapter, wasn’t it? What about the man Temporary? He seemed to start strong, but when he encountered Mr. Save-self, he just fizzled. As the companions said to Ignorant, it’s a lot harder to leave all behind than most believe.

What about you? What did you observe?

1. Be thankful for our persecuted brothers and sisters throughout the world. Bunyan took the time to mention that were it not for the sacrifice made by Faithful, Hopeful would not be Christian's companion on the way. Tertullian said, "The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church." I disagree with his terminology; the "seed" of the church is most definitely the gospel, and we fling it far and wide. But tell me: do you think witnessing Stephen's death put a burr under Paul's saddle? If not, why did Jesus ask him how long he planned on kicking against the goads (Acts 26:14)? Does Paul end up unsettled if not for witnessing that event? It's not the martyrs' death that changes the lives of others; it's their faithfulness that unfortunately resulted in death. Whether or not we face death, let the world see your faithfulness.
   
   
2. Regarding Mr. By-ends and all his friends, I'm just going to leave this right here. Enjoy.
   
   
3. Be very careful with Mr. Hold-the-world. He's probably the most dangerous one of the group. Mr. Hold-the-world really wants to have his Christianity and the world too, and he's great at making Scripture say whatever he needs it to say to make his lifestyle acceptable to his compatriots. Also notice that when he gives his little monologue, he mixes vague biblical references with extra-biblical proverbs. Sounds smart, is actually dangerous.
   
   
4. The Giant Despair is a horrific character and don't miss the allegory. He is beating them. He is causing pain and telling them it's better for them to give up. He is the personification of despair and his goal is to make them quit...on everything. For what it's worth, I think John Bunyan may have had a blind spot here. We know a lot more about the human brain (note that I said "brain," not "mind." I'm talking biology, not psychology) now than he did then. Lots of people find themselves caught in the throes of depression, which often has a physiological cause and requires medication. If you need medical help for depression or anxiety, get it. That's not being weak or showing a lack of faith. Your depression or anxiety doesn't mean that you strayed from the way like Christian or Hopeful. THAT BEING SAID, straying from the path can take you there, and while not all depression is spiritual, some is. The best way to not suffer from that despair is to keep walking the path, but if you're found in Despair's dungeon, don't forget your key, "Promise."
   
   
5. Another note on Despair and his dungeon...never forget that we're a people of facts, not feelings. We have faith, yes; we base our faith on a historical event. Jesus Christ is risen, no matter how we may feel about our current situation. The Father has promised us life based on our faith in the risen Lord's identity and finished work, and that has nothing to do with our emotions. Despair can't handle facts very well. In the sunshine of clarity, his limbs stop working. He can't beat you if we take the battle off the field of emotion.
   

Chapter 8. 

1. Isn't it cool that the shepherds have the privileged knowledge in this story, too? It's almost like John Bunyan never got past the sheer wonder of God choosing to let shepherds be part of his first line of Truth-Tellers in the New Testament.
   
   
2. How about that warning to not dance too close to the peak of Error? Doctrine is important. Theology is important. That's why I rarely do "felt needs" preaching. Sometimes we need things we don't feel that we need. Sometimes (all the time?) an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. 
   
   
3. I never got past this exchange: "Then said the pilgrims one to another, 'We have need to cry to the Strong for strength.' Shep. 'Ay, and you will have need to use it when you have it, too.'" When we pray for something and God answers us, do we make use of what He's given us? We can't afford to pray for strength and then play the coward.
   
   
4. The shepherds provided some brilliant advice to our pilgrims…now for a brilliant question: would they listen? The shepherds gave the pilgrims wonderful resources for the journey, but they would be useless if the pilgrims didn’t use them. Almost like that Bible that hasn’t been opened outside of church in years, right?
   
   
5. Isn’t it good that there are rest stops like the Delectable Mountains along the way? But any time you find yourself on a mountain top, unless you’re in Heaven, the only way to go forward is to go down into the valley. You can’t stop while you’re walking through the valley of the shadow of death…don’t expect to stop on the mountaintop either.
   

Chapter 9

1. Bless Ignorant’s heart. He comes from the town Conceit…is there any wonder? He doesn’t know what he doesn’t know, but he’s too prideful to have someone tell him. Unfortunately, this will come back to bite him. Never be too prideful to accept that there just might be something you don’t know.
   
   
2. If I may push back on Mr. Bunyan one more time regarding Mr. Turn-Away from the town Apostasy: this story is allegory, but it is an allegory based on Scripture. When it doesn’t provide 1-1 allegory, we need to question it. While Pilgrim’s Progress is a classic, it’s not Scripture. It’s easy to tell a story about men walking down a road to reach a destination and cast a character who met an undesirable end because he turned around. It logically makes sense…but why did he turn around? The way on which they walk symbolizes the Christian life. Was he truly saved but then became lost? Scripture explicitly says in 1 John 2:19 that if someone leaves the church, it’s because they were never part of it. For the allegory to hold true to Scripture, the man who turned around must not have been a legitimate traveler.
   
   I know this is a longer answer than just about any other entry, but I want to make sure I get it right. There is a difference in believing something to be true factually and believing in something. It is possible to believe everything the Bible teaches about Jesus is factually true but still decide that Jesus’ truth is not worth following. I think this is more what apostasy shakes out to be. Hebrews defines apostasy this way in Hebrews 10:26-39: "For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins…”
   
   If you believe the factual truth that Jesus Christ is the end of sacrifice but you reject Jesus as Lord out of your love or fear of something else, you sin. And what will be your atoning sacrifice for that sin?  There is nothing left. You have not turned from God. You have failed to turn to Him despite His most generous offer. He can’t offer anything greater. You have crucial knowledge but reject it, even if you fool everyone else into believing Jesus is your greatest joy. At that point there is nothing left but for the pretender to be bound up and cast into hell.
   
   
3. Short observations the rest of the way because 12 was so long. We’d do well to take Christian’s advice to Hopeful: Don’t malign others who struggle in moments of little faith, because you don’t know how you’d react under similar circumstances. Remember that Peter, the leader of the apostles, was afraid of a servant girl at one point. Never underestimate our own potential for failure. Be gracious. And trust Jesus to bring you the victory, because you can’t trust yourself.
   
   
4. Christian and Hopeful were disciplined for listening to the Flatterer. Does that seem unfair to you? It may have been...if they hadn’t been warned. But they had been. Not listening to the warning was their sin.
   
   
5. Rather than go through Hopeful’s entire testimony of conversion, consider the encouragement they both received by recounting it. How many times have you sat down with another Christian and talked about how Jesus brought you to Himself? It would be a worthwhile thing to do!
   

I encourage you to pick up a copy of the book and read chapters five and six before reading the rest of this. The goal here is not to explain the chapter in its entirety; it’s making some observations from my reading and facilitate a discussion amongst ourselves that hopefully results in some learning and Christian growth. Be sure to avail yourselves of the comment section at the bottom of the page to weigh in with your own thoughts so we can talk about them.

1. Christian and Faithful both set out from the City of Destruction. Never forget that. No matter how good you may believe you’ve always been, you left the same city as every other pilgrim. Don’t deceive yourself. None of us have been on the path forever. We were all destined for wrath before God sent us our very own Evangelist.
   
   
2. According to Faithful, every citizen of the City of Destruction held Pliable in contempt. Nobody admires a traitor—even when the traitor is supportive of his cause or values. He couldn’t stick to his guns in the city, and he couldn’t stick to them on pilgrimage either. He was just a weak man who couldn’t decide who he wanted to be. Remember this when you’re tempted to abandon your walk to please someone else.
   
   
3. Adam the First and Moses are two peas in a pod. Moses was on Faithful’s trail because of Faithful’s willingness to even listen to the old man, and Moses doesn’t know how to show mercy. Law is law, and the willingness to listen to the old man in the first place is what God designed the Law to point out as wrong. If it weren't for Jesus who comes and bids Moses to forbear, he’d do worse to us than he did to Faithful.
   
   
4. Discontent spoke one truth: there is no opportunity in the Valley of the Shadow of Death to please Pride, Arrogance, Self-Conceit, and Worldly-Glory. Have you noticed in the middle of this virus how silent the prosperity gospel preachers have gotten? If God intends you to always be healthy and happy, where is He in a pandemic? No, we’re not always promised health and happiness. We’re promised faithfulness and a future. That means that in this world, we will have trouble. But take heart; Jesus has overcome the world.
   
   
5. Shame isn’t ashamed! He’s an interesting paradox of a character, but when you think about the way Bunyan did this, it makes sense. Shame wants Faithful to feel bad. Shame in a Christian is actually the same as pride. Shame berates Faithful for all the “valuables” he is leaving behind to walk the way he does. Faithful only escapes victorious when he remembers that the values of the Lord differ from those of the world. 
   
   
6. Talkative is funny. He sounds good and says he’ll be brief, but he never is. He just likes the sound of his own voice and believes being able to speak about a truth intelligibly is the same as living that truth. His solution is always more talk, never more action. This is his undoing. As soon as Faithful questions his actions, Talkative has no more desire to walk with our two pilgrims. Are you Talkative or Faithful? 
   
   
7. Evangelist—ever the truth-teller—warns our two pilgrims that one of them will meet his end at Vanity Fair. The two don’t shrink back. Interestingly enough, we’re given a view of Christian’s mind and see that he privately hopes to receive the privilege of being able to come sooner to the Celestial City. Do we face trials with this kind of confidence and longing for the world to come? Christians should never seek death, but we shouldn’t fear it when it comes, either.
   
   
8. Vanity Fair is a scary place. Every country has its own booth, and I’m tempted to believe that America would have a huge booth at the fair today. We’re a culture that entertains ourselves to death. How much time do we spend on vain pleasures that we could better spend on cultivating a relationship with the Lord and pursuing things of real value? I’m not being preachy; this is me, too. 
   
   
9. Vanity Fair’s vendors aren’t opinion neutral. They don’t just want Christian and Faithful to shop there; they want them to affirm the fair. One of the pilgrims’ chief offenses is that they care nothing for the goods. For a Christian to care nothing for the goods of the world is to state openly that they have no value. That is an offense to those who value them more than anything…and scary.
   
   
10. What is Christian’s response when Faithful dies? He keeps walking. We don’t get to stop. There will be pain. There will be loss. But until we’re at the end of our journey to the City, we must keep walking. Don’t sit down. Don’t go to sleep. Don’t take a break. Just keep walking until the chariot comes to pick you up.

Passover would have been an expected event for Jesus’ disciples, but the events following this Passover would be anything but. Even though Jesus had told them two days before that He was to be delivered up and crucified, the gravity of the situation had not set in yet.

Worse than a cold arrest, worse than a kidnapping, Jesus was to be delivered up in the most backhanded way possible: betrayal at the hands of one His friends. Shocked by Jesus’ claim that the betrayer would come from Jesus’ chosen confidants, each disciple took a turn asking Jesus if he would be the turncoat.

I encourage you to pick up a copy of the book and read chapter four before reading the rest of this. The goal here is not to explain the chapter in its entirety; it’s making some observations from my reading and facilitate a discussion amongst ourselves that hopefully results in some learning and Christian growth. Be sure to avail yourselves of the comment section at the bottom of the page to weigh in with your own thoughts so we can talk about them.

1. There are lots of interesting tidbits in Christian’s conversation with Apollyon. The first being Apollyon’s deduction that Christian is one of his subjects. He’s wrong, but only because of timing. Before leaving the City of Destruction, Christian (then Graceless) WAS one of Apollyon’s subjects. What does that say about those who have not come to know the saving grace of Jesus Christ? Whose subjects are they?

2. Apollyon is also loathe to lose one of his subjects, but he doesn’t immediately begin a physical assault. He tries to persuade his former servant to turn back by promising him “what our country will afford.” Why should Satan spend the energy to destroy you when he can entertain you and allow you to destroy yourself?

3. Christian’s defense is that he doesn’t have the right to come back; he’s already let himself to another. I’ve always had this question for those who believe you can lose your salvation: how can you give away something that doesn’t belong to you, namely yourself? If Jesus owns you, you don’t have the right to give yourself to someone else.

4. After his failure at offering Christian pleasure, Apollyon attacks him with fear. Christian can only withstand this because he knows that even if harm befalls him, it would be a glory to him. Christian is under no delusions that his path will be easy. Are we?
5. Apollyon hasn’t been present in the story so far…at least, not as far as we could see. When the time comes to accuse Christian though, he shows that he’s been watching the whole time. Do you think Satan isn’t aware of your life? Fortunately for Christian, the Prince whom he serves is “merciful and ready to forgive.” Do you have the advocate against Satan’s accusations that Christian does?

6. The next men that Christian meet are nameless. They don’t have a part in this story other than turning back and telling Christian why they did. In eternity, those who choose not to walk the way of Christ will end up just like these men: nameless, with the only remembrance of them being they were those who shrunk back.

7. In one of the most amazing lines in the entire book, Bunyan writes: “I took notice that now poor Christian was so confounded that he did not know his own voice; and thus I perceived it: just when he was come over against the mouth of the burning pit, one of the wicked ones got behind him, and stepped up softly to him, and suggested many wicked words to him, which he verily thought had proceeded from his own mind.” Have you ever considered that not every thought in your head originates with you? Have you ever considered that not every doubt comes from your own soul? Satan is the accuser. Sometimes he accuses you to God. Sometimes he accuses you to yourself.

8. How about Pope and Pagan? You don’t have to work very hard to figure out who these two are. I would challenge Bunyan on his assertion they’ve been defanged, though. Pope still holds sway today, and Pagan is making a comeback.

9. Hindsight is 2020. Christian could have a clearer vision of the dangers he had been in when he looked behind himself in the morning's light. Have you ever stopped to look back at your life and contemplate what kind of person you might have become if not for God restraining you? You may think he didn’t restrain you. He did. You could always fall deeper.

10. It took Christian traveling all night before he could hear—not see—someone who walked the road with him. Christians, you are not alone on the road. Even if it feels that way. Also, it feels that way a lot more often if you deprive yourself of the blessing that is membership in a local church.

What are your observations in chapter four?

I encourage you to pick up a copy of the book and read chapter three before reading the rest of this. The goal here is not to explain the chapter in its entirety; it’s making some observations from my reading and facilitate a discussion amongst ourselves that hopefully results in some learning and Christian growth. Be sure to avail yourselves of the comment section at the bottom of the page to weigh in with your own thoughts so we can talk about them.

1. The first three observations will concern the three men in irons: Simple, Sloth, and Presumption. First, Simple is just a softer way of saying stupid. Simple was stupid because he didn’t see the danger he was in despite the clear warning of Christian. We shouldn’t throw the words “fool” and “stupid” around lightly. We probably shouldn’t ever call someone these words with any seriousness. But Scripture does because God can, without fail, diagnose real stupidity and foolishness. To receive a warning of clear and present danger and still not perceive it? That qualifies.

2. Now Sloth. Sloth is almost worse. Simple could sleep because he didn’t see the danger. Sloth could see the danger but was content to sleep until it got close enough to threaten him. What he didn’t understand was that the danger was already threatening to him. Hell is kind of like an object in the side mirror of your car. It’s always closer than it appears. There’s no time to sleep.

3. Presumption is almost as stupid as Simple, but for a different reason. Simple couldn’t see the danger. Sloth could see it but slept more. Presumption could see it and didn’t think he needed to wait. Christian had offered him help, but Presumption wanted none. “Every tub must stand on its own bottom.” He thought he could face hell on his own, and like many of his ilk before him quoted something other than Scripture to support his cause.

4. Formalist and Hypocrisy are two peas in a pod: They both want to show a veneer of “walking the right way,” but neither of them care about getting in through the gate. Christian warns them that the Lord of the Highway has deemed anyone who doesn’t enter through the gate a thief and a robber, but they don’t care. They think it doesn’t matter how you get in as long as you walk the same way. They also are going to Mt. Zion…but for praise. Pretty high opinion of themselves, if you ask me. Like everyone else who tries to walk the road without coming through the gate, they don’t make it far.

5. Formalist and Hypocrisy fail at the Hill of Difficulty. Have you noticed that the Hill of Difficulty is on the way? Formalist and Hypocrisy fall and fail because they try to avoid it. Christian must climb it. The Lord of the Way could have removed it, but as you saw, He built stops on it. He didn’t. Anyone who tells you it’s all easy as soon as you come to Jesus hasn’t walked the road long…or at all.

6. Timorous and Mistrust were going the right way, but got scared and quit. Have you noticed that none of these that turn around share Christian’s mark, clothing, or roll? You can’t lose what you don’t have, or leave behind what you never knew.

7. I’d be lying if I said I completely get where Bunyan was going with Christian losing his roll. He does mention Israel having to go back by way of the Red Sea again. This looks to me like Christian abandoned his “walk;” he didn’t leave the way, but he didn’t go forward either. He just slept in the midst of difficulty. Thus he was forced to go in circles until he was paying attention again. I know for a fact that’s happened to me. You?

8. “Fear not the lions, for they are chained.” Doubt you that God would test the faith of those who walk His road? He’s done it with all of us, and He’ll do it again. What’s the point of putting chained lions on either side of the way? For us to learn to keep walking even when all we see is danger.

9. Have you noticed that the first part of Christian’s conversation with Charity is all about whether or not he had sufficiently warned his family and tried to reach them? Only when he has explained himself does Charity pronounce that he “has freed his soul of their blood.” Scary artistic license? I think not. Ezekiel 33:7-9.

10. Let’s circle back around to Discretion: She’s the first lady Christian meets at the rest stop. The Bible never tells us to merely accept another’s claim of salvation and fellowship at first meeting. They evaluate his actions, his words, and his walk. They are careful about whether or not they fully welcome him. Therefore our church doesn’t announce membership until after we have evaluated the prospect’s testimony.

What about you? Do you have any observations from chapter 3?

Good afternoon everyone, and welcome to the second meeting* of the Stapleton Baptist Book Club. We’re reading Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan.

I encourage you to pick up a copy of the book and read chapter two before reading the rest of this. The goal here is not to explain the chapter in its entirety; it’s making some observations from my reading and facilitate a discussion amongst ourselves that hopefully results in some learning and Christian growth. Be sure to avail yourselves of the comment section at the bottom of the page to weigh in with your own thoughts so we can talk about them.

“But," said Christian, "are there no turnings nor windings by which a stranger may lose his way?" Goodwill: "Yes, there are many ways butt down upon this, and they are crooked and wide; but thus thou mayest distinguish the right from the wrong, the right only being straight and narrow.”

1. Most of my observations in chapter two will be from conversations rather than events, and I’d like to focus on less obvious stuff. First, the conversation between Goodwill and Christian has several notable points, but this one caught my eye. Christian wanted to know if there was any way for him to stray from the path he ought to be walking. Goodwell tells him yes, but every wrong path is easily discernable. He would have to ignore the obvious right way to go down a wrong way. If you ever have to go into twisted, convoluted, novel explanations of Scripture to explain why God is ok with the way you’re living your life, you’ve probably stopped walking on the straight and narrow path.

Then I saw in my dream, that Christian asked him further if he could not help him off with his burden that was upon his back. For as yet he had not got rid thereof, nor could he by any means get it off without help. He told him, "As to thy burden, be content to bear it until thou comest to the place of deliverance; for there it will fall from thy back of itself.”

2. John Bunyan struck gold here. To come to Jesus is what God wants us to do. It’s His work on the cross that makes the burden fall off of our backs. We can neither loose its bonds nor cast it off ourselves. Come to Him in faith and the burden will fall off on its own…independent of your works.

“The man whose picture this is, is one of a thousand. He can say, in the words of the apostle Paul, "Though ye have ten thousand teachers in Christ, yet have you not many fathers; for in Christ Jesus I have been your father through the Gospel.”

3. His name is never mentioned, but this is Evangelist. Read the rest of the paragraph. Look at the way Bunyan describes him. Is this the way we typically think of evangelists? Especially since Interpreter tells Christian that Evangelist is the man God Himself chose to guide his way. This man is worthy of great honor, but all he’s received is disobedience by Christian and mockery by Worldly Wiseman.

4. This parabolic moment with the sand is wonderful. It’s a picture of our heart when exposed to two things: first the law, and second the gospel. The law shows up and points out the wrongs in us, but by doing that it just stirs them up. It has no power to clean them out. The gospel stills the sand and cleans it up. Not instantly…some sweeping is still involved. Sanctification takes time. But a heart changed by the gospel will in fact show progression in righteousness. NOTE: This isn’t about salvation. It’s about sanctification. The Gospel saves instantly upon belief, but sanctification takes a lifetime.

5. I’m struck by Passion and Patience right now. Passion wants everything now. Patience is content to have his best at the last. Reading this book right now amid this coronavirus pandemic, the church must be patient. We so badly want to be together again, and there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s a good thing. But rather than make us rash and impatient, this should make us patiently long even more for the day that we get to be together forever inseparably and trust Jesus in the meantime. If we rush this out of passion to get back to the normalcy we’re used to having in the world but we do so at the cost of harming our neighbor…which child are we?

6. How funny is the image of Jesus throwing oil into the Christian’s heart-fire from a location Satan can’t see? This is also relevant in these times. Our church could do one of two things: let this virus break us down and defeat us, or spur us on to greater faithfulness. I honestly believe it’s having the second effect. Folks are longing to be back together. They’re being faithful in Bible study in their homes, using things like video and audio. Keeping in touch with email and Facebook, with phone calls. Satan can try to use this to break the church, but he’s oblivious to how Jesus is using it to strengthen us.

7. Christian doesn’t need an explanation of the next parable. He gets it because he’s living it…and he will continue to live it until he arrives at the Celestial City. As soon as a man, woman, boy, or girl sets out on the journey on which they bid this world goodbye and claim another as home, those of this world will rise up to deny them passage. It’s kind of like a crab pot. Have you ever seen a crab pot? They’re horrible at catching crabs. But crabs are great at catching crabs. The only reason crabs can’t climb out of the pot after falling in is the other crabs won’t let them. They reach up and drag the escapee back down. Those of this world don’t want to leave, and they don’t want anyone else to leave either. You’ve got to prepare for a spiritual fight if you want a home in the Celestial City.

8. The man in the cage of despair is a frightening parable. John Bunyan was basically a Calvinist. His doctrine was slightly more nuanced than your basic 5-pointer, but I think we can reach some common ground with this parable. I want to point out a few things before two short final observations. First, have you noticed that Interpreter never answers for the man in the cage? Any time Christian asks him to explain the man in the cage, he tells Christian to ask the man himself. The man is the one in despair. He says he cannot repent. He says he cannot come to God for salvation. Be careful that you don’t misinterpret this. He’s not saying he wants to repent but God rejects his repentance. He’s not saying he wants to be saved but Jesus will not save him. He’s saying that his heart cannot do these things anymore because he worked so hard to push Jesus away that Jesus finally did what the man wanted: left him alone with himself. Calvinist or not, Scripture is clear: "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day.”  (John 6:44). Jesus drew this man and he crucified Christ again to himself, rejected him, pushed him away, and now could not even find it in himself to want to repent, even though he knows what awaits the unrepentant. This is a strong caution: when God calls you, listen. Don’t put it off expecting that you’ll hear the call again and again and again. You never know when you may reach the day when God answers your prayer, “Just leave me alone.”

9. What was the last encouraging sight Interpreter showed Christian? A man who ever kept the day of judgment before his eyes. Worthwhile advice. It’s good to be like this man. Think about what’s to come rather than forget it’s coming and live only for the present day.

10. Interpreter is a preacher! Look at where he’s stationed. At the beginning of the journey. He Interprets so that Christian knows how to walk. When you come to church (or watch your video, as the current situation dictates), it’s not the end of your journey; it’s a starting point for how you ought to walk throughout the week and throughout life. Don’t think of your trip to Interpreter as a job well done…think of it this way:

“Well, keep all things so in thy mind, that they may be as a goad in thy sides, to prick thee forward in the way thou must go.”

What about you? What observations do you have?