Fairy Tale Spotlight: The Pilgrim's Progress

I just finished reading a Christian book written in the 1600s called The Pilgrim's Progress and I really enjoyed it. I also watched the two 70's movies based on the book, and... I thought they were crap. But I am not here to talk about how people have no idea how to make Christian movies... how they never really have... and probably never will. Really, they just suck at it. Just read the Bible or something. You won't be getting anything out of any of those films.

Sorry, had to get that out of my system. Anyways, The Pilgrim's Progress is a book written by one John Bunyan. Apparently this man was being persecuted at the time and had to write the book (at least the first part) while in jail. Oddly, he was not being persecuted because he was a Christian. It was because he wasn't Christian in the way the government wanted him to be. Go figure.

The Pilgrim's Progress is what is known as an allegory. This particular one is quite direct in that the names of all of the characters describe the type of person that they are. A man might be called Talkative, not because he rambles on too much, but likely because he speaks with nothing worthwhile to say. A man named Hopeful would be... Well, that one might be a bit self-explanatory. You get the point.

The thing that really just was a constant surprise to me about this book was that I have met with so many of the problems presented to the story's main protagonist, Christian. Many of the problems came from people who just made up their own ideals as to what Christianity is. It wasn't always direct atheism or an attempt to destroy my faith. Most people are a bit more subtle in how they try and dissuade me.

Here is an example that always made me grin. Before Christian was called Christian, he was known as Pilgrim. He had to carry a heavy pack upon his back because he did not understand how one might be freed of the weight of his sins. He was told to go to a particular place which would put him on the right path, but a man named Mr. Worldly-Wise-Man told him that would be unnecessary.

Apparently there was a town just up a hill called Morality where a man named Mr. Legality lived. This Legality knew a way to remove the pack without the help of... what would later be revealed to be... Christ. Interestingly, and quite sadly, Mr. Legality might have actually succeeded if Christian had not soon realized the folly of the advice. This was my favorite part of the book.

The morality of this world often displays itself as a set of rules backed up by legal contracts. They seem to be there for your benefit, but they are really just there to keep you in line while other people get things done. Meanwhile, you just end up sitting in one spot growing fat until you could not move if you even wanted to. Christian almost headed in that very direction.

Let me be clear: There is nothing truly spiritually liberating found on this planet. All things of real importance are found through the spirit. You cannot legislate morality. Those were standards set by God. They cannot be changed or interpreted. The only way to discover the truth is to be free to do so. The message from this part of the book was that you are not to bind yourself to things of Earth. We were meant to look towards the spirit of God, for there we find the true way.

The Pilgrim's Progress is a long book (but not at all hard to understand and read) and I do not have enough time in one blog to cover all the things I liked about it. But it is very good and does not go easy on any topic. Remember that it was written by a man who just wanted the freedom to preach the word in the way that he had discovered himself. And I suppose he went through a similar journey in his life that we all do in many respects. The point is... if you are going to be a Christian, you need to actually be a Christian. Not in name only. Actually walk the walk. That's what this book is trying to say, and I agree with that.

Thank you for reading my blog. Did you enjoy it? You can comment below, or you can email me at tkwadeauthor@gmail.com. You can also visit my website at www.tkwade.com. Check out my books! Thanks!