The Pilgrim's Progress

1.Christian's crisis begins with reading "the book" — the Bible — and finding there a "great burden" on his back. His family thinks he has lost his mind and tries to cure him with sleep. Have you ever felt the weight of spiritual conviction that those around you could not understand or take seriously? What was that experience like?

1.The first picture Christian sees is a man with "eyes lifted up to heaven, the best of books in his hand, the law of truth written upon his lips, the world behind his back" — and a crown of gold over his head. The Interpreter says this is "the only man whom the Lord of the place...hath authorised to be thy guide in all difficult places." Who is this figure, and why does Bunyan place this portrait first? What does it suggest about the authority that should guide a pilgrim's journey?

1."Just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back... till it came to the mouth of the sepulchre, where it fell in, and I saw it no more." Christian "stood still awhile to look and wonder" and then wept — and three Shining Ones came: one declared his sins forgiven, one stripped his rags and clothed him, one marked his forehead and gave him a sealed roll. Why does the sight of the cross — specifically — accomplish what the gate, the Interpreter's house, and the whole road so far could not?

1.Christian has no armor for his back, so he resolves to stand and face Apollyon rather than run. Apollyon is monstrous — clothed in scales, dragon's wings, bear's feet, a lion's mouth — and he opens by claiming Christian as his subject: "All that country is mine, and I am the prince and god of it." How does Apollyon's opening gambit ("you belong to me") compare with the kinds of accusations the enemy lodges against believers today? What is the truth that answers this claim?

1.Christian races to catch Faithful, overtakes him, stumbles and falls — and Faithful has to help him up. "Then I saw in my dream they went very lovingly on together." What does this small episode say about competition, humility, and the nature of Christian fellowship? Has a fellow pilgrim ever literally had to help you back to your feet?

1.Faithful is initially captivated by Talkative, whispering to Christian: "What a brave companion have we got! Surely this man will make a very excellent pilgrim." Christian's response is immediate: "This man, with whom you are so taken, will beguile, with that tongue of his, twenty of them that know him not." What is it about religious eloquence that is so attractive — and so potentially dangerous? Have you ever been deceived by someone whose speech was impressive but whose life was hollow?

1.Bunyan traces Vanity Fair to the very beginning: Beelzebub, Apollyon, and Legion set it up because "the way to the city lay through this town" — and they contrived to tempt every pilgrim who passed through. Christ himself passed through the fair "on a fair day" and was offered all the kingdoms of the world, but "left the town, without laying out so much as one farthing upon these vanities." What does it mean for your life that the road to the Celestial City necessarily passes through Vanity Fair? Is there any route around it?

1.By-ends is a masterpiece of satirical portraiture: his kinsmen are Lord Turn-about, Lord Time-server, Lord Fair-speech, Mr. Smooth-man, Mr. Facing-both-ways, and the parson Mr. Two-tongues. His philosophy: "We are always most zealous when religion goes in his silver slippers; we love much to walk with him in the street, if the sun shines, and the people applaud him." Christian's test: "You must own religion in his rags, as well as when in his silver slippers; and stand by him, too, when bound in irons, as well as when he walketh the streets with applause." Does By-ends remind you of anyone — including yourself? What does "silver-slipper religion" look like in your context?

1.On the Delectable Mountains, the shepherds — Knowledge, Experience, Watchful, and Sincere — show Christian and Hopeful four sights: the Hill Error (those who fell for heresy about the resurrection, still lying unburied), the Hill Caution (the blind men stumbling among the tombs — former pilgrims blinded by Giant Despair), the by-way to hell (used by those who had "a show of pilgrimage"), and finally, through a perspective glass from the Hill Clear, a distant glimpse of the Celestial Gate. What do these four sights together say about the final stages of the Christian life? Why does Bunyan pair a glimpse of glory with such grave warnings?

1."Betwixt them and the gate was a river, but there was no bridge to go over: the river was very deep." The two shining companions tell them plainly: "You must go through, or you cannot come at the gate." Only Enoch and Elijah have been permitted to avoid it. Why does Bunyan insist on the river — on death — as the necessary passage? What does it rob us of to pretend death is not real or that it can be bypassed?

1.Which single episode, character, or image from The Pilgrim's Progress has stayed with you most powerfully throughout this study? What made it so arresting? Can you articulate what it revealed to you about God, about yourself, or about the nature of the Christian life?