The Pilgrim’s Progress, John Bunyan [most popular novels .txt] 📗

comely and sober countenances.735

Christ. We shall see what they will do. So when they were up and ready, they came down, and they asked one another of their rest, and if it were comfortable, or not.

Mercy. Very good, said Mercy; it was one of the best night’s lodging that ever I had in my life.

Then said Prudence and Piety, If you will be persuaded to stay here awhile, you shall have what the house will afford.

Char. Aye, and that with a very good will, said Charity. So they consented and stayed there about a month, or above, and became very profitable one to another. And because Prudence would see how Christiana had brought up her children, she asked leave of her to catechise them. So she gave her free consent.736 Then she began at the youngest, whose name was James.

Prudence. And she said, Come, James, canst thou tell me who made thee?

James. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.

Prud. Good boy. And canst thou tell me who saves thee?

James. God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.

Prud. Good boy still. But how doth God the Father save thee?

James. By his grace.

Prud. How doth God the Son save thee?

James. By His righteousness, death, and blood, and life.

Prud. And how doth God the Holy Ghost save thee?

James. By His illumination, by His renovation, and by His preservation.737

Then said Prudence to Christiana, You are to be commended for thus bringing up your children. I suppose I need not ask the rest these questions, since the youngest of them can answer them so well. I will therefore now apply myself to the next youngest.

Prud. Then she said, Come, Joseph (for his name was Joseph), will you let me catechise you?

Joseph. With all my heart.

Prud. What is man?

Joseph. A reasonable creature, so made by God, as my brother said.

Prud. What is supposed by this word “saved”?

Joseph. That man, by sin, has brought himself into a state of captivity and misery.

Prud. What is supposed by his being saved by the Trinity?

Joseph. That sin is so great and mighty a tyrant, that none can pull us out of its clutches, but God; and that God is so good and loving to man, as to pull him indeed out of this miserable state.

Prud. What is God’s design in saving, of poor men?

Joseph. The glorifying of His name, of His grace, and justice, etc., and the everlasting happiness of His creature.

Prud. Who are they that must be saved?

Joseph. Those that accept of His salvation.738

Prud. Good boy, Joseph; thy mother has taught thee well, and thou hast hearkened to what she hath said unto thee. Then said Prudence to Samuel, who was the eldest but one,

Prud. Come, Samuel, are you willing that I should catechise you also?

Samuel. Yes, forsooth, if you please.

Prud. What is Heaven?

Sam. A place and state most blessed, because God dwelleth there.

Prud. What is hell?

Sam. A place and state most woeful, because it is the dwelling-place of sin, the devil, and death.

Prud. Why wouldest thou go to Heaven?

Sam. That I may see God, and serve Him without weariness; that I may see Christ, and love Him everlastingly; that I may have that fullness of the Holy Spirit in me that I can by no means here enjoy.

Prud. A very good boy also, and one that has learned well. Then she addressed herself to the eldest, whose name was Matthew; and she said to him, Come, Matthew, shall I also catechise you?

Matthew. With a very good will.

Prud. I ask, then, if there were ever anything that had a being antecedent to, or before God?

Matt. No; for God is eternal; nor is there anything excepting Himself, that had a being until the beginning of the first day. “For in six days the Lord made Heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is.”

Prud. What do you think of the Bible?

Matt. It is the holy Word of God.

Prud. Is there nothing written therein but what you understand?

Matt. Yes. A great deal.

Prud. What do you do when you meet with such places therein that you do not understand?

Matt. I think God is wiser than I. I pray also that He will please to let me know all therein that He knows will be for my good.739

Prud. How believe you, as touching the resurrection of the dead?

Matt. I believe they shall rise, the same that was buried; the same in nature, though not in corruption. And I believe this upon a double account: First, because God has promised it secondly, because He is able to perform it.740

Then said Prudence to the boys, You must still hearken to your mother, for she can learn you more. You must also diligently give ear to what good talk you shall hear from others; for, for your sakes do they speak good things. Observe, also, and that with carefulness, what the heavens and the earth do teach you; but especially be much in the meditation of that Book that was the cause of your father’s becoming a pilgrim. I, for my part, my children, will teach you what I can while you are here, and shall be glad if you will ask me questions that tend to godly edifying. Now, by that these Pilgrims had been at this place a week, Mercy had a visitor that pretended some goodwill unto her, and his name was Mr. Brisk, a man of some breeding, and that pretended to religion; but a man that stuck very close to the world. So he came once or twice, or more, to Mercy, and offered love unto her. Now Mercy was of a fair countenance, and therefore the more alluring. Her mind also was, to