The Pilgrim's Progress

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marry them all if I would.111Then I asked how long time he would have me live with him? And he told me, As long as he lived himself.

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

FAITHFUL. 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.”

CHRISTIAN. And how then?

FAITHFUL. 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!”.112 So I went on my way up the hill.

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

CHRISTIAN. 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

FAITHFUL. 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

111 1 John 2:16
112 Rom. 7:24  

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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 knocked me down again. He had doubtless made an end of me, but that One came by, and bid him forbear.

CHRISTIAN. Who was that that bid him forbear.

FAITHFUL. 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.

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

FAITHFUL. 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.

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

FAITHFUL. 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.

CHRISTIAN. 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?

FAITHFUL. 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 hon-  

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our. 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.

CHRISTIAN. Well, and how did you answer him?

FAITHFUL. 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 ac-counted by the wisest, than choose that which he esteemed most worthy our affections.

CHRISTIAN. Met you with nothing else in that valley?

FAITHFUL. 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.

CHRISTIAN. Why, what did he say to you?

FAITHFUL. What! why, he objected against religion it-self; 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  

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opinion;113 nor any of them neither,114 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?

CHRISTIAN. And what did you say to him?

FAITHFUL. 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”.115 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

113 1 Cor. 1:26; 3:18; Phil. 3:7, 8
114 John 7:48
115 Luke 16:15  

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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?116 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,
That 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.
O let the pilgrims, let the pilgrims, then,
Be vigilant, and quit themselves like men.

CHRISTIAN. I am glad, my brother, that thou didst with-stand 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 were not himself audacious, he would never attempt to do

116 Mark 8:38  

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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”.117

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

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

FAITHFUL. 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.

CHRISTIAN. 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.

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 besides 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

117 Prov. 3:35  

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han at hand. To this man Faithful addressed himself in this manner.

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

TALKATIVE. I am going to the same place.

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

TALKATIVE. With a very good will, will I be your companion.

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

TALKATIVE. 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 to me.

FAITHFUL. 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?

TALKATIVE. I like you wonderful well, for your sayings are full of conviction; and I will add, what thing is so pleas-ant, 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?

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

TALKATIVE. That is it that I said; for to talk of such things  

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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, etc. 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.121

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

TALKATIVE. 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.

FAITHFUL. 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.

TALKATIVE. 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.

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

TALKATIVE. 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.

FAITHFUL. Now did Faithful begin to wonder; and step-  

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ping 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.

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

FAITHFUL. Do you know him, then?CHRISTIAN. Know him! Yes, better than he knows him-self.

FAITHFUL. Pray, what is he?

CHRISTIAN. 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.

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

CHRISTIAN. He is the son of one Say-well; he dwelt in Prating Row; and he 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.

FAITHFUL. Well, he seems to be a very pretty man.

CHRISTIAN. 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.

FAITHFUL. But I am ready to think you do but jest, be-cause you smiled.

CHRISTIAN. 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  

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conversation; all he hath, lieth in his tongue, and his religion is to make a noise therewith.

FAITHFUL. Say you so! then am I in this man greatly deceived.

CHRISTIAN. Deceived! you may be sure of it; remember the proverb, “They say, and do not”.118 But the “kingdom of God is not in word, but in power”.119 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.120Thus 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 over-reach 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

118 Matt. 23:3
119 1 Cor. 4:20
120 Rom. 2:24, 25  

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his wicked life, caused many to stumble and fall; and will be, if God prevent not, the ruin of many more.

FAITHFUL. 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.

CHRISTIAN. 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.

FAITHFUL. Well, I see that saying and doing are two things, and hereafter I shall better observe this distinction.

CHRISTIAN. 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”.121 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

121 James 1:27; see vv. 22–26  

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judged according to their fruits.122 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.

FAITHFUL. This brings to my mind that of Moses, by which he describeth the beast that is clean.123 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 be 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.

CHRISTIAN. 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 ex-pounds them in another place, “things without life, giving sound”.124Things 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.

FAITHFUL. 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?

122 Matt. 13:25
123 Lev. 11; Deut. 14
12 41 Cor. 13:1–3; 14:7  

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CHRISTIAN. 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.

FAITHFUL. What would you have me to do?

CHRISTIAN. 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?

FAITHFUL. Then Faithful stepped forward again, and said to Talkative, Come, what cheer? How is it now?

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

FAITHFUL. 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. 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 work of God is in the heart, it causeth there a great outcry against sin. Secondly—

FAITHFUL. 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.

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

FAITHFUL. O! 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  

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with him.125 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.

TALKATIVE. You lie at the catch, I perceive.

FAITHFUL. 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?

TALKATIVE. Great knowledge of Gospel mysteries.

FAITHFUL. 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.126 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 master’s 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

125 Gen. 39:15
126 1 Cor. 13  

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me understanding, and I shall keep Thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart”.127

TALKATIVE. You lie at the catch again; this is not for edification.

FAITHFUL. Well, if you please, propound another sign how this work of grace discovereth itself where it is.

TALKATIVE. Not I, for I see we shall not agree.

FAITHFUL. Well, if you will not, will you give me leave to do it?

TALKATIVE. You may use your liberty.

FAITHFUL. A work of grace in the soul discovereth itself, either to him that hath it, or to standers by.

To him that hath it thus: It gives him conviction of sin, especially of the defilement of his nature and the sin of un-belief (for the sake of which he is sure to be damned, if he findeth not mercy at God’s hand, by faith in Jesus Christ.128This sight and sense of things worketh in him sorrow and shame for sin; he findeth, moreover, revealed in Him the Saviour of the world, and the absolute necessity of closing with Him for life, at the which he findeth hungerings and thirstings after Him; to which hungerings, etc., the promise is made.129 Now, according to the strength or weakness of his faith in his Saviour, so is his joy and peace, so is his love to holiness, so are his desires to know Him more, and also to serve Him in this world. But though I say it discovereth itself thus unto him, yet it is but seldom that he is able to conclude that this is a work of grace; because his corruptions now, and his abused reason, make his mind to misjudge in this matter; therefore, in him that hath this work, there is

127 Psa. 119:34
128 John 16:8; Rom. 7:24; John 16:9; Mark 16:16
129 Psa. 38:18; Jer. 31:19; Gal. 2:16; Acts 4:12; Matt. 5:6; Rev. 21:26