John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress is one of the most renowned Christian books to read, but it is not in does not conform to Christian rules, according to the Bible, thus revealing a logical error. With careful analysis of the Pilgrim's Path and the New and Old Testaments, one can see that there are many contradictory factors. Excluding the sequel, where Christian's wife and children survive the apocalypse and join him in heaven, we can extrapolate that if they had not been saved, Christian's sin would have led him to love the deity who condemned his children and his wife to live in constant torture. The Christian's wife, children and friends are seen as hindrances, hindrances to God, yet in the Bible itself states: "But if anyone does not provide for his own household, especially for his own home, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. (1 Timothy 5:8). The actions of Christians here contradict the wishes of the Bible, abandoning family, friends and loved ones for individual salvation is abandoning responsibility. Noble states that Bunyan's description of conversion is flawed: "The Pilgrim's Journey is sometimes a guide to the path to God only in the sense that it is a collection of pitfalls to be avoided by prudent pilgrims." » (Noble 73). This addresses the fact that John Bunyan's version of conversion may not necessarily be what a modern church would like to see happen. Pilgrim's Progress is supposed to be about a great journey in the name of salvation, but through analysis of the texts we can see that it cannot be applicable to a modern perspective of true Christian beliefs and equality. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Christian may have lost his burden at the cross near the end of the prose, but that doesn't forgive the sins he committed against his family and friends. His greed for his salvation and his own life exceeded that of all other possible believers. Instead of trying to convert more people to believe him, he ignored God's will in order to save his own life and go to heaven. “Not everyone carries a burden, but all are sinners. It is only by reading the book that one becomes aware of one's sinfulness and it becomes a burden” (James 45). If the Church believes that one is not truly enlightened as a Christian, why has the Christian not fully attempted to educate his peers, and why is he admitted to heaven? Although his Obstinate and Bendable friends were easily persuaded not to come, Christian did not spread the word of God and did not save his neighbors, or even his wife and children. There are many obstacles in the journey and Christian has been warned, which begs the question: Did Christian not believe that his family or neighbors would pass this judgment, regardless of how he was perceived? “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). Christian passes judgment on his family and peers when he does not fully attempt to take them with him on this journey of salvation. The Christian's enlightenment depends solely on his strong and righteous character, but Christianity should never be solely about individual salvation. It's about larger issues of community and love, and giving people an opportunity to be saved and have hope in something greater. The purpose of The Pilgrim's Progress was to show that the burden we carry can be resolved by giving yourself to God andproving your devotion. Yet if he doesn't know about the apocalypse, how could any of his beloved friends and family members be able to join him in the process? Christian may have spoken emotionally about his wife and children at home, but his mind was unchanged and he felt no remorse for his decisions. Modern Christianity is about social consciousness, which is about making people around you understand God's opportunity. “Social responsibility is becoming an aspect not only of Christian mission, but also of Christian conversion. It is impossible to be truly converted to God without thus being converted to one's neighbor” (Stott 87), Stott proves that devotion to the Lord is not an individual mission, but a mission of communal enlightenment. Christian's enlightenment proves very different from that of the others as James analyzes Hopeful's conversion through his sin, to the realization of his wrongdoing. Hopeful cannot resist the torture his sins once led him into. after meeting Fidèle, he is determined to see Jesus despite his fear of being turned away. After hearing his plea several times, Christ relents and allows Hopeful to be pardoned by God (James 50). sins by torture, why is Christian exempt? It is clear that he has sinned; otherwise, what would there be to fear from Armageddon? He didn't have to suffer the same way Hopeful did to be saved by God? Although there are many different types of conversion or salvation, and this is only an allegorical representation of a book in fiction, the popularity of this book within the Christian community shows that it is there to motivate, to be the goal or the ideal. doesn't really change as a character. He is introduced to the reader as a frightened man who sought Christianity to free himself from fears of an apocalypse. He remains scared. He loses his burden through fear, perhaps distorting his true understanding of self-giving to God. Most of Christian's changes are due to a change in authorship. Whether it's his arrest or his lifestyle, it's understandable that Bunyan lets his views influence everything, including his works. Diamond's take on the matter truly illuminates the argument: "Bunyan's shift from spiritual autobiography to allegorical fiction represents the shift from introspection to character detection demanded by Congregationalist ecclesiology." The resulting change of object—from self to other—puts strain on the logic and intelligibility of his two-dimensional characters" (Diamond 9), criticizing Bunyan's indecisive tendency to sacrifice the quality of his characters in order to to preserve its autobiographical integrity. . In Christian's attempt to reach heaven, we can see that in reality he did not do it himself. The help of numerous secondary characters allows him to achieve his objectives; The evangelist gives him the message, helps him out of the swamp of despair, discretion nourishes him, he even has guardians who help him achieve salvation. This shows that God's children are trying to help Christian and help him on his journey, but Christian remains unchanged and still unfazed about how he left everyone behind. The desired impact these characters would have, aside from creating a more interesting storyline, is that you should have people to help you when your faith begins to be questioned or if you are struggling with your faith. This stands in contrast to the Christian's early decision to leave everyone he loved to fend for themselves during Armageddon. The most interesting characters are actually the characterssecondary, because Christian only witnesses the consequences of his sins, he does not really experience the suffering itself. The main factor in Christian's awakening was fear, and he remains fearful throughout the works. He is afraid of dying if he does not give in to salvation. This is a constant state for Christian, he is made to be a character who is not easily swayed by his beliefs, even if his belief in his family drifted away quite quickly. God perceives him as worthy. Christian wants to be a simple man, a courageous and devoted man. His burden can be seen as anything, but we are aware of the fact that he has actually sinned enough to believe he would go to hell for his actions during Armageddon. Christian is using his fear to guide his decisions, and his interest in religion would not have been discovered so quickly without this discovery, which suggests that without fear of death, this Christian may not have started at all. in this journey. This would not be permitted in a modern church, no one is expected to convert to Christianity for fear of a threat to their livelihood. There are many articles on feminist interpretations of The Pilgrim's Progress. The role of a woman in Bunyan's time was to be submissive, she was to be seen as less intellectual and less important than a man, and obedient to her husband. Throughout Pilgrim's Progress, women are constantly seen as therapeutic, less religious than men, and distracting. Early on, we are introduced to Christian's wife, who rejects the idea of ​​simply putting her family in danger and wisely abandoning their home. Yet, through this action, she presents herself as a fraud, or as not as religiously devoted as her husband. This leaves the reader with the impression that the woman was not intelligent enough to believe in God and travel with her husband, that she was disobeying him, which in Bunyan's time was a sin. If you get married, you must obey your husband's wishes. Later in the novel, Christian visits the Magnificent Palace; where the four radiant women feed and wash Christian and ask him questions about his life in an attempt to hear him, to engage with him. They provide him with armor and send him on to his next task. These women did not perform any duty that a man was capable of doing at that time, they did not fight alongside him, did not save him from something treacherous, all that they were apparently capable of do was cook and clean for him. This was the era in which John Bunyan lived, but changes in Christianity adapted to ensure that women's rights were included in religious issues. The women who appear in Bunyan's writings are interesting characters, although riddled with stereotypes: "The burden on the Christian's back at the beginning of the Pilgrim's Journey is the product of centuries of unequal society" (Tinker 377). , this quote explains that Bunyan's views, whether political or personal, were expressed through the character of a Christian; because the journey he goes through is intended to be an autobiographical approach to Bunyan's conversion. These perceptions of women do not match those of the modern Church. Some criticize Bunyan for wanting an ideology that would silence women's voices and leave them submissive. It is difficult to dispute N.H. Keeble's assessment that Bunyan "welcomes women on pilgrimage...as persons in need of particularly attentive ministerial care and guidance" (453 Johnson). The pilgrim's journey is the story of a man, not a woman. finding his way to God according to the wishes of the.