{ Salvation }

Now I saw in my dream, that the highway up which Christian was
to go, was fenced on either side with a wall, and that wall was
called Salvation. Up this way, therefore, did burdened Christian
run, but not without great difficulty, because of the load on
his back.

He ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending, and upon
that place stood a cross, and a little below, in the bottom, a
sepulchre. So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up
with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and
fell from off his back¹, and began to tumble, and so continued to
do, till it came to the mouth of the sepulchre, where it fell
in, and I saw it no more². [¹This symbolizes the fact that at
the moment of salvation a Christian is released from the burden
of sin in their lives through the death of Jesus Christ on the
cross.
²This shows that God sees Christian as having already been 
"sanctified in Christ" (1 Corinthians 1:2); as Believers, we have
been forgiven of all our sin, and God will not bring it up again
(See Hebrews 8:12; 10:17; cf. Jeremiah 31:34).]

Then was Christian glad and lightsome, and said, with a merry
heart, 'He hath given me rest by his sorrow, and life by his
death.' Then he stood still awhile to look and wonder; for it
was very surprising to him, that the sight of the cross should
thus ease him of his burden. He looked therefore, and looked
again, even till the springs that were in his head sent the
waters down his cheeks. Now, as he stood looking and weeping,
behold three Shining Ones came to him and saluted him with, 
"Peace be unto thee." So the first said to him, "Thy sins be
forgiven thee"; the second stripped him of his rags, and
clothed him with change of raiment; the third also set a mark
on his forehead, and gave him a roll with a seal upon it,
which he bade him look on as he ran, and that he should give
it in at the Celestial Gate. So they went their way.



      Who's this? the Pilgrim. How! 'tis very true,
      Old things are past away, all's become new.
      Strange! he's another man, upon my word,
      They be fine feathers that make a fine bird.



Then Christian gave three leaps for joy, and went on singing:

      Thus far I did come laden with my sin;
      Nor could aught ease the grief that I was in
      Till I came hither: What a place is this!
      Must here be the beginning of my bliss?
      Must here the burden fall from off my back?
      Must here the strings that bound it to me crack?
      Blest cross! blest sepulchre! blest rather be
      The Man that there was put to shame for me!




I saw then in my dream, that he went on thus, even until he
came at a bottom, where he saw, a little out of the way, three
men fast asleep, with fetters upon their heels. The name of the
one was Simple, another Sloth, and the third Presumption.

Christian then seeing them lie in this case went to them, if
peradventure he might awake them, and cried, "You are like them
that sleep on the top of a mast, for the Dead Sea is under you
—— a gulf that hath no bottom¹. Awake, therefore, and come away;
be willing also, and I will help you off with your irons." He
also told them, "If he that goeth about like a roaring lion
comes by, you will certainly become a prey to his teeth." With
that they looked upon him, and began to reply in this sort:
Simple said, 'I see no danger;' Sloth said, 'Yet a little more
sleep;' and Presumption said, 'Every fat must stand upon its
own bottom; what is the answer else that I should give thee?'
And so they lay down to sleep again, and Christian went on his
way. [¹The "Dead Sea" here symbolizes the perilous death of all
lost souls like those who fall into the deep from the top of a
ship's mast.]

Yet was he troubled to think that men in that danger should so
little esteem the kindness of him that so freely offered to help
them, both by awakening of them, counselling of them, and
proffering to help them off with their irons¹. And as he was
troubled thereabout, he espied two men come tumbling over the
wall on the left hand of the narrow way; and they made up apace
to him. The name of the one was Formalist, and the name of the
other Hypocrisy. So, as I said, they drew up unto him, who thus
entered with them into discourse. [¹This describes the sadness of
all Believers, especially those recently saved, when someone they
have tried to help rejects the Good News of Salvation in Christ.]

CHR. Gentlemen, whence came you, and whither go you?

Form. and Hyp. We were born in the land of Vain-Glory, and are
going for praise to Mount Zion.

CHR. Why came you not in at the gate which standeth at the
beginning of the way? Know you not that it is written, that he
that cometh not in by the door, but climbeth up some other way,
the same is a thief and a robber?

Form. and Hyp. They said, That to go to the gate for entrance
was, by all their countrymen, counted too far about; and that,
therefore, their usual way was to make a short cut of it, and to
climb over the wall, as they had done.

CHR. But will it not be counted a trespass against the Lord of
the city whither we are bound, thus to violate His revealed
will?

Form. and Hyp. They told him, that, as for that, he needed not
to trouble his head thereabout; for what they did they had
custom for; and could produce, if need were, testimony that
would witness it for more than a thousand years.

CHR. But, said Christian, will your practice stand a trial at
law?

Form. and Hyp. They told him, That custom, it being of so long
a standing as above a thousand years, would, doubtless, now be
admitted as a thing legal by any impartial judge; and besides,
said they, if we get into the way, what's matter which way we
get in? if we are in, we are in; thou art but in the way, who,
as we perceive, came in at the gate; and we are also in the way,
that came tumbling over the wall; wherein, now, is thy condition
better than ours?

CHR. I walk by the rule of my Master: you walk by the rude
working of your fancies. You are counted thieves already, by the
Lord of the Way; therefore, I doubt you will not be found true
men at the end of the way. You come in by yourselves, without
His direction; and shall go out by yourselves, without His
mercy.

To this they made him but little answer; only they bid him look
to himself. Then I saw that they went on every man in his way
without much conference one with another, save that these two
men told Christian, that as to laws and ordinances, they doubted
not but they should as conscientiously do them as he; therefore,
said they, we see not wherein thou differest from us but by the
coat that is on thy back, which was, as we trow, given thee by
some of thy neighbours, to hide the shame of thy nakedness.

CHR. By laws and ordinances you will not be saved, since you
came not in by the door. And as for this coat that is on my
back, it was given me by the Lord of the place whither I go; and
that, as you say, to cover my nakedness with. And I take it as a
token of His kindness to me; for I had nothing but rags before.
And besides, thus I comfort myself as I go: Surely, think I,
when I come to the gate of the city, the Lord thereof will know
me for good since I have this coat on my back —— a coat that He
gave me freely in the day that He stripped me of my rags. I
have, moreover, a mark in my forehead, of which, perhaps, you
have taken no notice, which one of my Lord's most intimate
associates fixed there in the day that my burden fell off my
shoulders. I will tell you, moreover, that I had then given me
a roll, sealed, to comfort me by reading as I go on the way; I
was also bid to give it in at the Celestial Gate, in token of my
certain going in after it; all which things, I doubt, you want,
and want them because you came not in at the gate.

To these things they gave him no answer; only they looked upon
each other, and laughed. Then, I saw that they went on all, save
that Christian kept before, who had no more talk but with
himself, and that sometimes sighingly, and sometimes
comfortably; also he would be often reading in the roll that one
of the Shining Ones gave him, by which he was refreshed.

---

{ The Hill Difficulty }

I beheld, then, that they all went on till they came to the foot
of the Hill Difficulty; at the bottom of which was a spring.
There were also in the same place two other ways besides that
which came straight from the gate; one turned to the left hand,
and the other to the right, at the bottom of the hill; but the
narrow way lay right up the hill, and the name of the going up
the side of the hill is called Difficulty. Christian now went to
the spring, and drank thereof, to refresh himself, and then
began to go up the hill, saying:

      The hill, though high, I covet to ascend,
      The difficulty will not me offend;
      For I perceive the way to life lies here.
      Come, pluck up heart, let's neither faint nor fear;
      Better, though difficult, the right way to go,
      Than wrong, though easy, where the end is woe.

The other two also came to the foot of the hill; but when they
saw that the hill was steep and high, and that there were two
other ways to go, and supposing also that these two ways might
meet again, with that up which Christian went, on the other side
of the hill, therefore they were resolved to go in those ways.

Now the name of one of these ways was Danger, and the name of 
the other Destruction. So the one took the way which is called
Danger, which led him into a great wood, and the other took
directly up the way to Destruction, which led him into a wide
field, full of dark mountains, where he stumbled and fell, and
rose no more.



      Shall they who wrong begin yet rightly end?
      Shall they at all have safety for their friend?
      No, no; in headstrong manner they set out,
      And headlong will they fall at last, no doubt.



I looked, then, after Christian, to see him go up the hill,
where I perceived he fell from running to going, and from going
to clambering upon his hands and his knees, because of the
steepness of the place. Now, about the midway to the top of the
hill was a pleasant arbour, made by the Lord of the hill for the
refreshing of weary travellers; thither, therefore, Christian
got, where also he sat down to rest him. Then he pulled his roll
out of his bosom, and read therein to his comfort; he also now
began afresh to take a review of the coat or garment that was
given him as he stood by the cross. Thus pleasing himself awhile,
he at last fell into a slumber, and thence into a fast sleep,
which detained him in that place until it was almost night; and
in his sleep, his roll fell out of his hand. Now, as he was
sleeping, there came one to him, and awaked him, saying, "Go to
the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways and be wise." And with
that Christian started up, and sped him on his way, and went
apace, till he came to the top of the hill.



Now, when he was got up to the top of the hill, there came two
men running to meet him amain; the name of the one was Timorous,
and of the other, Mistrust; to whom Christian said, "Sirs,
what's the matter? You run the wrong way." Timorous answered,
that they were going to the City of Zion, and had got up that
difficult place; but, said he, "the further we go, the more
danger we meet with; wherefore we turned, and are going back
again."

"Yes," said Mistrust, "for just before us lie a couple of lions
in the way, whether sleeping or waking we know not, and we
could not think, if we came within reach, but they would
presently pull us in pieces."

CHR. Then said Christian, You make me afraid, but whither shall
I fly to be safe? If I go back to mine own country, that is
prepared for fire and brimstone, and I shall certainly perish
there. If I can get to the Celestial City, I am sure to be in
safety there. I must venture. To go back is nothing but death;
to go forward is fear of death, and life-everlasting beyond it.
I will yet go forward.

So Mistrust and Timorous ran down the hill, and Christian went
on his way. But, thinking again of what he had heard from the
men, he felt in his bosom for his roll, that he might read
therein, and be comforted; but he felt, and found it not. Then
was Christian in great distress, and knew not what to do; for
he wanted that which used to relieve him, and that which should
have been his pass into the Celestial City. Here, therefore, he
began to be much perplexed, and knew not what to do. At last he
bethought himself that he had slept in the arbour that is on
the side of the hill; and, falling down upon his knees, he
asked God's forgiveness for that his foolish act, and then went
back to look for his roll. But all the way he went back, who
can sufficiently set forth the sorrow of Christian's heart?
Sometimes he sighed, sometimes he wept, and oftentimes he chid
himself for being so foolish to fall asleep in that place,
which was erected only for a little refreshment for his
weariness. Thus, therefore, he went back, carefully looking on
this side and on that, all the way as he went, if happily he
might find his roll, that had been his comfort so many times in
his journey. He went thus, till he came again within sight of
the arbour where he sat and slept; but that sight renewed his
sorrow the more, by bringing again, even afresh, his evil of
sleeping into his mind. Thus, therefore, he now went on
bewailing his sinful sleep, saying, "O wretched man that I am
that I should sleep in the day-time! that I should sleep in the
midst of difficulty! that I should so indulge the flesh, as to
use that rest for ease to my flesh, which the Lord of the hill
hath erected only for the relief of the spirits of pilgrims!"

"How many steps have I took in vain! Thus it happened to
Israel, for their sin; they were sent back again by the way of
the Red Sea; and I am made to tread those steps with sorrow,
which I might have trod with delight, had it not been for this
sinful sleep. How far might I have been on my way by this time!
I am made to tread those steps thrice over, which I needed not
to have trod but once; yea, now also I am like to be benighted,
for the day is almost spent. O, that I had not slept!"

Now, by this time he was come to the arbour again, where for a
while he sat down and wept; but at last, as Christian would have
it, looking sorrowfully down under the settle, there he espied
his roll; the which he, with trembling and haste, catched up,
and put it into his bosom. But who can tell how joyful this man
was when he had gotten his roll again! For this roll was the
assurance of his life and acceptance at the desired haven.
Therefore he laid it up in his bosom, gave thanks to God for
directing his eye to the place where it lay, and with joy and
tears betook himself again to his journey. But oh, how nimbly
now did he go up the rest of the hill! Yet, before he got up,
the sun went down upon Christian; and this made him again recall
the vanity of his sleeping to his remembrance; and thus he again
began to condole with himself: "O thou sinful sleep; how, for
thy sake, am I like to be benighted in my journey! I must walk
without the sun; darkness must cover the path of my feet; and I
must hear the noise of the doleful creatures, because of my
sinful sleep." Now also he remembered the story that Mistrust
and Timorous told him of; how they were frighted with the sight
of the lions. Then said Christian to himself again, "These
beasts range in the night for their prey; and if they should
meet with me in the dark, how should I shift them? How should I
escape being by them torn in pieces?" Thus he went on his way.
But while he was thus bewailing his unhappy miscarriage, he lift
up his eyes, and behold there was a very stately palace before
him, the name of which was Beautiful; and it stood just by the
highway side.

---

{ Another Trial of Christian's Faith — the Lions }

      Difficulty is behind, Fear is before,
      Though he's got on the hill, the lions roar;
      A Christian man is never long at ease,
      When one fright's gone, another doth him seize.




So I saw in my dream that he made haste and went forward, that
if possible he might get lodging there. Now, before he had gone
far, he entered into a very narrow passage, which was about a
furlong off the porter's lodge; and looking very narrowly before
him as he went, he espied two lions in the way. Now, thought he,
I see the dangers that Mistrust and Timorous were driven back
by. (The lions were chained, but he saw not the chains.) Then he
was afraid, and thought also himself to go back after them, for
he thought nothing but death was before him. But the porter at
the lodge, whose name is Watchful, perceiving that Christian
made a halt as if he would go back, cried unto him, saying, "Is
thy strength so small? Fear not the lions, for they are chained,
and are placed there for trial of faith where it is, and for
discovery of those that had none. Keep in the midst of the path,
and no hurt shall come unto thee."

Then I saw that he went on, trembling for fear of the lions, but
taking good heed to the directions of the porter; he heard them
roar, but they did him no harm. Then he clapped his hands, and
went on till he came and stood before the gate where the porter
was. Then said Christian to the porter, "Sir, what house is
this? And may I lodge here to-night?"

The porter answered, "This house was built by the Lord of the
hill, and He built it for the relief and security of pilgrims."
The porter also asked whence he was, and whither he was going.

CHR. I am come from the City of Destruction, and am going to
Mount Zion; but because the sun is now set, I desire, if I may,
to lodge here to-night.

POR. What is your name?

CHR. My name is now Christian, but my name at the first was
Graceless; I came of the race of Japheth, whom God will
persuade to dwell in the tents of Shem.

POR. But how doth it happen that you come so late? The sun is
set.

CHR. I had been here sooner, but that, wretched man that I am!
I slept in the arbour that stands on the hillside; nay, I had,
notwithstanding that, been here much sooner, but that, in my
sleep, I lost my evidence, and came without it to the brow of
the hill; and then feeling for it, and finding it not, I was
forced with sorrow of heart, to go back to the place where I
slept my sleep, where I found it, and now I am come.

Back to the Table of Contents