Pilgrim's Progress: Chapter One

Pastor's Note: Since it's in the public domain, Pilgrim's Progress is available for free from Project Gutenberg (http://ow.ly/dOe250z0sx7) or can be purchased on Amazon Kindle (http://ow.ly/Y7vW50z0syK) (free for Prime members, $2.99 for everyone else).

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

Here’s a fun fact: The title of the book isn’t actually “Pilgrim’s Progress.” It’s actually:
“The Pilgrim’s Progress from this world to that which is to come: delivered under the similitude of a dream, wherein is discovered the manner of his setting out, his dangerous journey, and safe arrival at the desired country.”

We’ll just stick with “Pilgrim’s Progress.”

I encourage you to pick up a copy of the book and read chapter one 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.

Without further rambling, here are my ten observations from the first chapter of “Pilgrim’s Progress” by John Bunyan:

1. We won’t have any trouble telling who’s who in this book. It’s an allegory, which Bunyan made clear by the book’s obnoxiously long title. Bunyan named the Christian…Christian. He named the evangelist…Evangelist. You get the idea. These may seem a bit on the nose, but the clear descriptions of characters in their names will be helpful later on.

"So I saw in my dream that the man began to run. Now, he had not run far from his own door, when his wife and children perceiving it, began to cry after him to return; but the man put his fingers in his ears, and ran on, crying, "Life! life! eternal life!" So he looked not behind him, but fled towards the middle of the plain.”

2. Don’t forget: this is an allegory. John Bunyan isn’t advocating abandoning your family if they don’t want to become Christians along with you. Scripture itself forbids said abandonment if the unbelieving spouse will live with you (1 Corinthians 7:12-13). This is an allegory, and we need to interpret it that way. Christian is not willing to sacrifice himself to eternal judgment for temporary approval…even the approval of his own family. If they will not believe with him, then he will believe without them.

3. Obstinate is exactly what his name says he is. Read the way he speaks to Christian; he asks questions but doesn’t want answers. He explicitly says, “Be ruled by me…go back, go back, and be wise.” Everyone who disagrees with him, including his friend Pliable, is a fool. Obstinate people have one definition of wisdom: their wisdom. Don’t be obstinate.

4. Don’t be Pliable either. Pliable doesn’t speak at all until the end of their first conversation, and when he speaks he seems to be on Christian’s side! Why in the world is he here in the first place? Think of who brought him: Obstinate. Pliable always takes the path of least resistance. It was easier to go with Obstinate than to tell him no. Now it’s easier to go with Christian (he thinks) because Christian offers safety and a better result. But if he so quickly turned his back on Obstinate…what do you think will happen next? 

5. Enter the Slough of Despond. As soon as Pliable finds rough travels under his feet, he abandons Christian to the journey alone. Jesus spoke about Pliable long before John Bunyan wrote about him (Matthew 13:20-21). This is the last we hear about him…except that he goes home and gets mocked as a coward until they all turn on Christian together.

6. The Slough of Despond is a scary, real place. It’s the depressing, bottomless mire that anyone can sink down into if they realize their sin but don’t come to the cross. Every Christian has to go through it at the beginning…we feel like garbage when the guilt of our sin sits on us and we realize it’s been there the whole time. But this slough is the beginning of a journey; it doesn’t have to be the end. The Lawgiver Himself has put steps through the Slough, even if they’re hard to see. Just keep walking toward the cross. DON’T STOP IN THE SLOUGH.

7. The Worldly Wiseman is only “wise” because he “knows” there is another way to Christian to be rid of his burden…an easier way. All he needs to do is leave the path Evangelist put him on and go see a man named Legality in a town named Morality. He can settle down, have good neighbors, not worry about the riffraff…sounds great right? But notice where this wise man tells him to go: off the path. The point of the path is to come to the Celestial City at the end…not stop along the way. Morality and Legality don’t get you to the end of the path. They’re deceptive, comfortable, little spots off the side that kill you just as easily as the Slough.

8. Evanglist drops a bomb on Christian: Legality has never rid a single man of his burden. More than that, it was sin itself to think he could.

9. Get out your search engine and see just how much of this conversation between Christian and Evangelist is direct quotes from Scripture. Do we trust its power like Evangelist does? Are we as affected by it as Christian is?

“That man that met thee is one Worldly Wiseman; and rightly is he so called; partly because he seeks only for the things of this world (therefore he always goes to the town of Morality to church), and partly because he loveth that way best, for it saveth him from the Cross;”

10. To seek to be saved from the cross is a scary thing…yet people do it every Sunday. Go to church, do my good deeds, put a little money in the plate, don’t cuss…Morality and Legality. But never once have they rid a single man of his sin burden. But oh, look at the malevolence of this man. He doesn’t go to the cross himself and he keeps others from going as well.

What do you think? What did you see in chapter one worth discussing? Let us know in the comments below!