The Pilgrim's Progress II: Christiana at the House of the Interpreter

Christiana comes to the Interpreter's House

When Christian came to the House of the Interpreter in the First Part of The Pilgrim's Progress, he was shown many memorable sights that prepared him for the journey ahead.

Now Christiana, Mercy, and the children arrive at that same house. Before they continue toward the Celestial City, they too must learn those truths that every pilgrim needs for the road.

Bunyan wastes no time in bringing them inside.

Then they went in, and the good man bade them welcome, and asked whence they came, and whither they were going. So they told him.

The welcome is warm and unhurried. The pilgrims have entered a place of instruction, but also of hospitality. Here they will not merely hear words; they will see living pictures of the Christian life that they will remember long after they leave.

Yet before Bunyan begins showing us those remarkable scenes, he pauses over the master of the house himself. The Interpreter is no ordinary figure in the story. Bunyan does not stop to explain him; instead, he allows his readers to contemplate his character.

He writes:

This Man is one of a thousand; he can beget children, travail in birth with children, and nurse them himself when they are born. And whereas others can only wish well to, and pray for, such as they desire to see converted, he can do more. He can beget them to God, if they be willing.

Those are extraordinary words. Bunyan does not hurry past them, and neither should we. Before a single lesson is given, he draws our attention to the Interpreter himself. The pilgrims are in safe hands.

The Interpreter is not introduced as a philosopher or scholar, but as one whose whole concern is the spiritual welfare of those entrusted to him. Bunyan's emphasis falls not on learning for its own sake but on the work of bringing pilgrims safely toward the Celestial City.

Only after lingering over this portrait does Bunyan invite us farther into the house.

The first thing Christiana sees is a remarkable picture hanging upon the wall.

Bunyan describes it carefully:

He had eyes lifted up to Heaven, the best of books in his hand, the law of truth was written upon his lips, the world was behind his back. It stood as if it pleaded with men, and a crown of gold did hang over its head.

Bunyan knows that every detail matters.

• The man's eyes are lifted toward Heaven.

• The best of books is in his hand.

• The law of truth is written upon his lips.

• The world lies behind his back.

• He pleads with men.

• Above him hangs a crown of gold.

Nothing in the portrait is accidental.

Christiana looks, and so do we.

The Interpreter does not rush her on to the next room. Bunyan wants his readers to stand before the picture and consider it. Great truths are often learned by lingering.

When Christian first entered this house in the First Part, he too was shown this portrait. Now Christiana stands before it with Mercy and the children. Bunyan reminds us that although pilgrims may differ in age, experience, and circumstance, the truths that prepare them for the journey remain the same.

The Christian life does not begin with confidence in ourselves.

It begins by learning to see rightly.

Throughout the House of the Interpreter, Bunyan teaches not by abstract argument but by memorable images. Fire that cannot be quenched. Dust that cannot be swept away. A cage. A dream. A spider. A robin. A garden. Each picture remains fixed in the memory long after the page has been turned.

That is one reason The Pilgrim's Progress has endured for more than three centuries. Bunyan was not content merely to tell his readers what to believe. He wanted them to see it.

Perhaps we should linger as Christiana lingered.

The portrait is not merely part of her story.

It asks something of every reader.

• Are our eyes lifted toward Heaven?

• Is the Book in our hands?

• Has the world been left behind?

• Do our lips speak the truth?

• Are we pleading with men?

These are questions Bunyan leaves with us before we have even entered the first room of instruction.

The journey to the Celestial City is not measured only by miles traveled. It is measured by hearts instructed, minds renewed, and eyes fixed upon things above.

Christiana has only just arrived.

The lessons are about to begin.

And Bunyan invites every one of us to enter the House

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Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the houseof the interpreter, both in Bunyan and here on earht. Help me, teach me, guide me to become such an interpreter for those who come to my house. I ask Your wisdom and grace and m ost of all, for Your love, that I may learn to love others as You have loved the quite unlovable me. Fpr your Name's sake, I pray. Amen.

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Far from the world, O Lord, I flee,

From strife and tu­mult far;

From scenes where Sa­tan wag­es still

His most suc­cess­ful war.

The calm re­treat, the si­lent shade,

With pray­er and praise agree;

And seem by Thy sweet boun­ty made

For those who fol­low Thee.

There, if Thy Spir­it touch the soul,

And grace her mean abode,

O with what peace, and joy, and love,

She com­munes with her God!

There, like the night­in­gale, she pours

Her so­li­tary lays;

Nor asks a wit­ness of her song,

Nor thirsts for hu­man praise.

Author and guard­ian of my life,

Sweet source of light di­vine,

And, all har­mo­ni­ous names in one,

My Sav­ior—Thou art mine!

What thanks I owe Thee, and what love,

A bound­less, end­less store,

Shall ec­ho through the realms ab­ove

When time shall be no more!

-- Wm. Cowper, 1765