Books: The Pilgrim\'s Progress

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CHR. Did you meet with no other assault as you came?

{175} FAITH. When I came to the foot of the hill called Difficulty,
I met with a very aged man, who asked me what I was, and whither
bound. I told him that I am a pilgrim, going to the Celestial
City. Then said the old man, Thou lookest like an honest fellow;
wilt thou be content to dwell with me for the wages that I shall
give thee? Then I asked him his name, and where he dwelt. He
said his name was Adam the First, and that he dwelt in the town
of Deceit. [Eph. 4:22] I asked him then what was his work, and
what the wages he would give. He told me that his work was many
delights; and his wages that I should be his heir at last. I further
asked him what house he kept, and what other servants he had. So
he told me that his house was maintained with all the dainties in
the world; and that his servants were those of his own begetting.
Then I asked if he had any children. He said that he had but three
daughters: The Lust of the Flesh, The Lust of the Eyes, and The
Pride of Life, and that I should marry them all if I would. [1
John 2:16] Then I asked how long time he would have me live with
him? And he told me, As long as he lived himself.

CHR. Well, and what conclusion came the old man and you to at last?

FAITH. Why, at first, I found myself somewhat inclinable to go
with the man, for I thought he spake very fair; but looking in his
forehead, as I talked with him, I saw there written, "Put off the
old man with his deeds."

CHR. And how then?

{176} FAITH. Then it came burning hot into my mind, whatever he
said, and however he flattered, when he got me home to his house,
he would sell me for a slave. So I bid him forbear to talk, for
I would not come near the door of his house. Then he reviled me,
and told me that he would send such a one after me, that should
make my way bitter to my soul. So I turned to go away from him;
but just as I turned myself to go thence, I felt him take hold of
my flesh, and give me such a deadly twitch back, that I thought he
had pulled part of me after himself. This made me cry, "O wretched
man!" [Rom. 7:24] So I went on my way up the hill.

Now when I had got about half-way up, I looked behind, and saw one
coming after me, swift as the wind; so he overtook me just about
the place where the settle stands.

CHR. Just there, said Christian, did I sit down to rest me; but
being overcome with sleep, I there lost this roll out of my bosom.

{177} FAITH. But, good brother, hear me out. So soon as the man
overtook me, he was but a word and a blow, for down he knocked
me, and laid me for dead. But when I was a little come to myself
again, I asked him wherefore he served me so. He said, because of
my secret inclining to Adam the First; and with that he struck me
another deadly blow on the breast, and beat me down backward; so
I lay at his foot as dead as before. So, when I came to myself
again, I cried him mercy; but he said, I know not how to show mercy;
and with that he knocked me down again. He had doubtless made an
end of me, but that one came by, and bid him forbear.

CHR. Who was that that bid him forbear?

FAITH. I did not know him at first, but as he went by, I perceived
the holes in his hands and in his side; then I concluded that he
was our Lord. So I went up the hill.

{178} CHR. That man that overtook you was Moses. He spareth none,
neither knoweth he how to show mercy to those that transgress his
law.

FAITH. I know it very well; it was not the first time that he has
met with me. It was he that came to me when I dwelt securely at
home, and that told me he would burn my house over my head if I
stayed there.

CHR. But did you not see the house that stood there on the top of
the hill, on the side of which Moses met you?

FAITH. Yes, and the lions too, before I came at it: but for the
lions, I think they were asleep, for it was about noon; and because
I had so much of the day before me, I passed by the porter, and
came down the hill.

CHR. He told me, indeed, that he saw you go by, but I wish you
had called at the house, for they would have showed you so many
rarities, that you would scarce have forgot them to the day of
your death. But pray tell me, Did you meet nobody in the Valley
of Humility?

{179} FAITH. Yes, I met with one Discontent, who would willingly
have persuaded me to go back again with him; his reason was, for
that the valley was altogether without honour. He told me, moreover,
that there to go was the way to disobey all my friends, as Pride,
Arrogancy, Self-conceit, Worldly-glory, with others, who he knew,
as he said, would be very much offended, if I made such a fool of
myself as to wade through this valley.

CHR. Well, and how did you answer him?

{180} Faithful's answer to Discontent

FAITH. I told him, that although all these that he named might claim
kindred of me, and that rightly, for indeed they were my relations
according to the flesh; yet since I became a pilgrim, they have
disowned me, as I also have rejected them; and therefore they were
to me now no more than if they had never been of my lineage.

I told him, moreover, that as to this valley, he had quite misrepresented
the thing; for before honour is humility, and a haughty spirit
before a fall. Therefore, said I, I had rather go through this
valley to the honour that was so accounted by the wisest, than
choose that which he esteemed most worthy our affections.

CHR. Met you with nothing else in that valley?

{181} FAITH. Yes, I met with Shame; but of all the men that I met
with in my pilgrimage, he, I think, bears the wrong name. The
others would be said nay, after a little argumentation, and somewhat
else; but this bold-faced Shame would never have done.

CHR. Why, what did he say to you?

FAITH. What! why, he objected against religion itself; he said it
was a pitiful, low, sneaking business for a man to mind religion;
he said that a tender conscience was an unmanly thing; and that
for a man to watch over his words and ways, so as to tie up himself
from that hectoring liberty that the brave spirits of the times
accustom themselves unto, would make him the ridicule of the times.
He objected also, that but few of the mighty, rich, or wise, were
ever of my opinion [1 Cor. 1:26; 3:18; Phil. 3:7,8]; nor any of
them neither [John 7:48], before they were persuaded to be fools,
and to be of a voluntary fondness, to venture the loss of all, for
nobody knows what. He, moreover, objected the base and low estate
and condition of those that were chiefly the pilgrims of the times
in which they lived: also their ignorance and want of understanding
in all natural science. Yea, he did hold me to it at that rate
also, about a great many more things than here I relate; as, that
it was a shame to sit whining and mourning under a sermon, and
a shame to come sighing and groaning home: that it was a shame to
ask my neighbour forgiveness for petty faults, or to make restitution
where I have taken from any. He said, also, that religion made
a man grow strange to the great, because of a few vices, which
he called by finer names; and made him own and respect the base,
because of the same religious fraternity. And is not this, said
he, a shame?

{182} CHR. And what did you say to him?

FAITH. Say! I could not tell what to say at the first. Yea, he
put me so to it, that my blood came up in my face; even this Shame
fetched it up, and had almost beat me quite off. But at last I
began to consider, that "that which is highly esteemed among men,
is had in abomination with God." [Luke 16:15] And I thought again,
this Shame tells me what men are; but it tells me nothing what God
or the Word of God is. And I thought, moreover, that at the day
of doom, we shall not be doomed to death or life according to the
hectoring spirits of the world, but according to the wisdom and
law of the Highest. Therefore, thought I, what God says is best,
indeed is best, though all the men in the world are against it.
Seeing, then, that God prefers his religion; seeing God prefers a
tender conscience; seeing they that make themselves fools for the
kingdom of heaven are wisest; and that the poor man that loveth
Christ is richer than the greatest man in the world that hates
him; Shame, depart, thou art an enemy to my salvation! Shall I
entertain thee against my sovereign Lord? How then shall I look
him in the face at his coming? Should I now be ashamed of his
ways and servants, how can I expect the blessing? [Mark 8:38] But,
indeed, this Shame was a bold villain; I could scarce shake him
out of my company; yea, he would be haunting of me, and continually
whispering me in the ear, with some one or other of the infirmities
that attend religion; but at last I told him it was but in vain to
attempt further in this business; for those things that he disdained,
in those did I see most glory; and so at last I got past this
importunate one. And when I had shaken him off, then I began to
sing --

The trials that those men do meet withal, T
hat are obedient to the heavenly call,
Are manifold, and suited to the flesh,
And come, and come, and come again afresh;
That now, or sometime else, we by them may
Be taken, overcome, and cast away.
Oh, let the pilgrims, let the pilgrims, then
Be vigilant, and quit themselves like men.

{183} CHR. I am glad, my brother, that thou didst withstand this
villain so bravely; for of all, as thou sayest, I think he has the
wrong name; for he is so bold as to follow us in the streets, and
to attempt to put us to shame before all men: that is, to make us
ashamed of that which is good; but if he was not himself audacious,
he would never attempt to do as he does. But let us still resist
him; for notwithstanding all his bravadoes, he promoteth the fool
and none else. "The wise shall inherit glory, said Solomon, but
shame shall be the promotion of fools." [Prov. 3:35]

FAITH. I think we must cry to Him for help against Shame, who would
have us to be valiant for the truth upon the earth.

CHR. You say true; but did you meet nobody else in that valley?

FAITH. No, not I; for I had sunshine all the rest of the way through
that, and also through the Valley of the Shadow of Death.

{184} CHR. It was well for you. I am sure it fared far otherwise
with me; I had for a long season, as soon almost as I entered into
that valley, a dreadful combat with that foul fiend Apollyon; yea,
I thought verily he would have killed me, especially when he got
me down and crushed me under him, as if he would have crushed me
to pieces; for as he threw me, my sword flew out of my hand; nay,
he told me he was sure of me: but I cried to God, and he heard
me, and delivered me out of all my troubles. Then I entered into
the Valley of the Shadow of Death, and had no light for almost half
the way through it. I thought I should have been killed there,
over and over; but at last day broke, and the sun rose, and I went
through that which was behind with far more ease and quiet.

{185} Moreover, I saw in my dream, that as they went on, Faithful,
as he chanced to look on one side, saw a man whose name is Talkative,
walking at a distance beside them; for in this place there was room
enough for them all to walk. He was a tall man, and something more
comely at a distance than at hand. To this man Faithful addressed
himself in this manner:

FAITH. Friend, whither away? Are you going to the heavenly country?

TALK. I am going to the same place.

FAITH. That is well; then I hope we may have your good company.

TALK. With a very good will will I be your companion.

{186} FAITH. Come on, then, and let us go together, and let us
spend our time in discoursing of things that are profitable.

Talkative's dislike of bad discourse

TALK. To talk of things that are good, to me is very acceptable,
with you or with any other; and I am glad that I have met with those
that incline to so good a work; for, to speak the truth, there are
but few that care thus to spend their time, (as they are in their
travels), but choose much rather to be speaking of things to no
profit; and this hath been a trouble for me.

FAITH. That is indeed a thing to be lamented; for what things so
worthy of the use of the tongue and mouth of men on earth as are
the things of the God of heaven?

TALK. I like you wonderful well, for your sayings are full of
conviction; and I will add, what thing is so pleasant, and what
so profitable, as to talk of the things of God? What things so
pleasant (that is, if a man hath any delight in things that are
wonderful)? For instance, if a man doth delight to talk of the
history or the mystery of things; or if a man doth love to talk of
miracles, wonders, or signs, where shall he find things recorded
so delightful, and so sweetly penned, as in the Holy Scripture?

{187} FAITH. That is true; but to be profited by such things in
our talk should be that which we design.

Talkative's fine discourse

TALK. That is it that I said; for to talk of such things is most
profitable; for by so doing, a man may get knowledge of many things;
as of the vanity of earthly things, and the benefit of things above.
Thus, in general, but more particularly by this, a man may learn
the necessity of the new birth, the insufficiency of our works,
the need of Christ's righteousness, &c. Besides, by this a man
may learn, by talk, what it is to repent, to believe, to pray,
to suffer, or the like; by this also a man may learn what are the
great promises and consolations of the gospel, to his own comfort.
Further, by this a man may learn to refute false opinions, to
vindicate the truth, and also to instruct the ignorant.

FAITH. All this is true, and glad am I to hear these things from
you.

TALK. Alas! the want of this is the cause why so few understand
the need of faith, and the necessity of a work of grace in their
soul, in order to eternal life; but ignorantly live in the works
of the law, by which a man can by no means obtain the kingdom of
heaven.

{188} FAITH. But, by your leave, heavenly knowledge of these is the
gift of God; no man attaineth to them by human industry, or only
by the talk of them.

TALK. All this I know very well; for a man can receive nothing,
except it be given him from Heaven; all is of grace, not of works.
I could give you a hundred scriptures for the confirmation of this.

FAITH. Well, then, said Faithful, what is that one thing that we
shall at this time found our discourse upon?

TALK. What you will. I will talk of things heavenly, or things
earthly; things moral, or things evangelical; things sacred, or
things profane; things past, or things to come; things foreign, or
things at home; things more essential, or things circumstantial;
provided that all be done to our profit.

{189} FAITH. Now did Faithful begin to wonder; and stepping to
Christian, (for he walked all this while by himself), he said to
him, (but softly), What a brave companion have we got! Surely this
man will make a very excellent pilgrim.

CHR. At this Christian modestly smiled, and said, This man, with
whom you are so taken, will beguile, with that tongue of his, twenty
of them that know him not.

FAITH. Do you know him, then?

{190} CHR. Know him! Yes, better than he knows himself.

FAITH. Pray, what is he?

CHR. His name is Talkative; he dwelleth in our town. I wonder that
you should be a stranger to him, only I consider that our town is
large.

FAITH. Whose son is he? And whereabout does he dwell?

CHR. He is the son of one Say-well; he dwelt in Prating Row; and is
known of all that are acquainted with him, by the name of Talkative
in Prating Row; and notwithstanding his fine tongue, he is but a
sorry fellow.

{191} FAITH. Well, he seems to be a very pretty man.

CHR. That is, to them who have not thorough acquaintance with him;
for he is best abroad; near home, he is ugly enough. Your saying
that he is a pretty man, brings to my mind what I have observed in
the work of the painter, whose pictures show best at a distance,
but, very near, more unpleasing.

{192} FAITH. But I am ready to think you do but jest, because you
smiled.

CHR. God forbid that I should jest (although I smiled) in this
matter, or that I should accuse any falsely! I will give you
a further discovery of him. This man is for any company, and for
any talk; as he talketh now with you, so will he talk when he is on
the ale-bench; and the more drink he hath in his crown, the more
of these things he hath in his mouth; religion hath no place in his
heart, or house, or conversation; all he hath lieth in his tongue,
and his religion is, to make a noise therewith.

{193} FAITH. Say you so! then am I in this man greatly deceived.

CHR. Deceived! you may be sure of it; remember the proverb, "They
say and do not." [Matt. 23:3] But the kingdom of God is not in
word, but in Power. [1 Cor 4:20] He talketh of prayer, of repentance,
of faith, and of the new birth; but he knows but only to talk of
them. I have been in his family, and have observed him both at
home and abroad; and I know what I say of him is the truth. His
house is as empty of religion as the white of an egg is of savour.
There is there neither prayer nor sign of repentance for sin; yea,
the brute in his kind serves God far better than he. He is the
very stain, reproach, and shame of religion, to all that know him;
it can hardly have a good word in all that end of the town where
he dwells, through him. [Rom. 2:24,25] Thus say the common people
that know him, A saint abroad, and a devil at home. His poor
family finds it so; he is such a churl, such a railer at and so
unreasonable with his servants, that they neither know how to do
for or speak to him. Men that have any dealings with him say it is
better to deal with a Turk than with him; for fairer dealing they
shall have at their hands. This Talkative (if it be possible) will
go beyond them, defraud, beguile, and overreach them. Besides, he
brings up his sons to follow his steps; and if he findeth in any of
them a foolish timorousness, (for so he calls the first appearance
of a tender conscience,) he calls them fools and blockheads, and by
no means will employ them in much, or speak to their commendations
before others. For my part, I am of opinion, that he has, by his
wicked life, caused many to stumble and fall; and will be, if God
prevent not, the ruin of many more.

{194} FAITH. Well, my brother, I am bound to believe you; not only
because you say you know him, but also because, like a Christian,
you make your reports of men. For I cannot think that you speak
these things of ill-will, but because it is even so as you say.

CHR. Had I known him no more than you, I might perhaps have thought
of him, as, at the first, you did; yea, had he received this report
at their hands only that are enemies to religion, I should have
thought it had been a slander, -- a lot that often falls from bad
men's mouths upon good men's names and professions; but all these
things, yea, and a great many more as bad, of my own knowledge,
I can prove him guilty of. Besides, good men are ashamed of him;
they can neither call him brother, nor friend; the very naming of
him among them makes them blush, if they know him.

{195} FAITH. Well, I see that saying and doing are two things, and
hereafter I shall better observe this distinction.

CHR. They are two things, indeed, and are as diverse as are the
soul and the body; for as the body without the soul is but a dead
carcass, so saying, if it be alone, is but a dead carcass also.
The soul of religion is the practical part: "Pure religion
and undefiled, before God and the Father, is this, To visit the
fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself
unspotted from the world." [James 1:27; see vv. 22-26] This
Talkative is not aware of; he thinks that hearing and saying will
make a good Christian, and thus he deceiveth his own soul. Hearing
is but as the sowing of the seed; talking is not sufficient to
prove that fruit is indeed in the heart and life; and let us assure
ourselves, that at the day of doom men shall be judged according
to their fruits. [Matt. 13, 25] It will not be said then, Did you
believe? but, Were you doers, or talkers only? and accordingly
shall they be judged. The end of the world is compared to our
harvest; and you know men at harvest regard nothing but fruit.
Not that anything can be accepted that is not of faith, but I speak
this to show you how insignificant the profession of Talkative will
be at that day.

{196} FAITH. This brings to my mind that of Moses, by which he
describeth the beast that is clean. [Lev. 11:3-7; Deut. 14:6-8]
He is such a one that parteth the hoof and cheweth the cud; not
that parteth the hoof only, or that cheweth the cud only. The
hare cheweth the cud, but yet is unclean, because he parteth not
the hoof. And this truly resembleth Talkative; he cheweth the cud,
he seeketh knowledge, he cheweth upon the word; but he divideth
not the hoof, he parteth not with the way of sinners; but, as the
hare, he retaineth the foot of a dog or bear, and therefore he is
unclean.

CHR. You have spoken, for aught I know, the true gospel sense
of those texts. And I will add another thing: Paul calleth some
men, yea, and those great talkers, too, sounding brass and tinkling
cymbals; that is, as he expounds them in another place, things
without life, giving sound. [1 Cor. 13:1-3; 14:7] Things without
life, that is, without the true faith and grace of the gospel;
and consequently, things that shall never be placed in the kingdom
of heaven among those that are the children of life; though their
sound, by their talk, be as if it were the tongue or voice of an
angel.

FAITH. Well, I was not so fond of his company at first, but I am
as sick of it now. What shall we do to be rid of him?

CHR. Take my advice, and do as I bid you, and you shall find that
he will soon be sick of your company too, except God shall touch
his heart, and turn it.

FAITH. What would you have me to do?

CHR. Why, go to him, and enter into some serious discourse about
the power of religion; and ask him plainly (when he has approved
of it, for that he will) whether this thing be set up in his heart,
house, or conversation.

{197} FAITH. Then Faithful stepped forward again, and said to
Talkative, Come, what cheer? How is it now?

TALK. Thank you, well. I thought we should have had a great deal
of talk by this time.

{198} FAITH. Well, if you will, we will fall to it now; and since
you left it with me to state the question, let it be this: How doth
the saving grace of God discover itself when it is in the heart of
man?

Talkative's false discovery of a work of grace

TALK. I perceive, then, that our talk must be about the power of
things. Well, it is a very good question, and I shall be willing
to answer you. And take my answer in brief, thus: First, Where
the grace of God is in the heart, it causeth there a great outcry
against sin. Secondly -- --

FAITH. Nay, hold, let us consider of one at once. I think you
should rather say, It shows itself by inclining the soul to abhor
its sin.

TALK. Why, what difference is there between crying out against,
and abhorring of sin?

{199} FAITH. Oh, a great deal. A man may cry out against sin of
policy, but he cannot abhor it, but by virtue of a godly antipathy
against it. I have heard many cry out against sin in the pulpit,
who yet can abide it well enough in the heart, house, and conversation.
Joseph's mistress cried out with a loud voice, as if she had been
very holy; but she would willingly, notwithstanding that, have
committed uncleanness with him. Some cry out against sin even as
the mother cries out against her child in her lap, when she calleth
it slut and naughty girl, and then falls to hugging and kissing
it.

TALK. You lie at the catch, I perceive.

{200} FAITH. No, not I; I am only for setting things right. But
what is the second thing whereby you would prove a discovery of a
work of grace in the heart?

TALK. Great knowledge of gospel mysteries.

FAITH. This sign should have been first; but first or last, it is
also false; for knowledge, great knowledge, may be obtained in the
mysteries of the gospel, and yet no work of grace in the soul. [1
Cor. 13] Yea, if a man have all knowledge, he may yet be nothing,
and so consequently be no child of God. When Christ said, "Do you
know all these things?" and the disciples had answered, Yes; he
addeth, "Blessed are ye if ye do them." He doth not lay the blessing
in the knowing of them, but in the doing of them. For there is
a knowledge that is not attended with doing: He that knoweth his
masters will, and doeth it not. A man may know like an angel, and
yet be no Christian, therefore your sign of it is not true. Indeed,
to know is a thing that pleaseth talkers and boasters, but to do is
that which pleaseth God. Not that the heart can be good without
knowledge; for without that, the heart is naught. There is,
therefore, knowledge and knowledge. Knowledge that resteth in the
bare speculation of things; and knowledge that is accompanied with
the grace of faith and love; which puts a man upon doing even the
will of God from the heart: the first of these will serve the
talker; but without the other the true Christian is not content.
"Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall
observe it with my whole heart." [Ps. 119:34]

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