Beginning in May and continuing through early December, 2014, our Wednesday evening study, led by Elder Mike Myers, was based on Part I of John Bunyan’s classic The Pilgrim’s Progress. Part II is planned for early in 2015. The link above is to a free version of the book in older English. In the study there is also frequent reference to a modernized version, available here. Chapter numbers are a reference to the modernized version.
There is also reference to the video, which is the series The Pilgrim’s Progress: A Guided Tour available from Ligonier Ministries. For the church family, Mike Myers has a copy he will be happy to loan you. That video series also has a STUDY GUIDE.
For the benefit of any who missed some or all of these studies, the handouts and instructor’s notes (with answers to the questions in the handouts) are attached in PDF format to this page. If your browser supports it, you may be able to click on the link to the PDF file and read it online. Alternatively, you may download them and read them offline.
Our introduction was in the form of a PowerPoint presentation, which is available as a PDF file: The Pilgrim’s Progress presentation.
The terminology used in Bunyan’s day being a bit unfamiliar to modern folk, we have several Glossaries. The first can be found at Glossary – Chapter 1-5. There is also a very helpful Map of our story.
The next session covered the travels from the City of Destruction to the Slough of Despond. The handout for that session is found here City of Destruction to the Slough of Despond HANDOUT and the notes are at City of Destruction to the Slough of Despond.
From there we proceeded from the Slough of Despond to the Wicket Gate HANDOUT (and the notes are found here Slough of Despond to the Wicket Gate).
Our next stop was at The Interpreter’s House HANDOUT ( with notes The Interpreter’s House). We also had a second session exploring the riches of The Interpreter’s House HANDOUT and Notes: The Interpreter’s House.
We also enjoyed a WORD SEARCH based on some of the names and terms in the book.
We reached The Place of Deliverance by mid-July, where Christian was finally relieved of his burden. We also studied the Cross and Sepulcher (HANDOUT) (Cross and Sepulcher notes).
The next installment of our Glossary is here.
We encountered two individuals, Formalist and Hypocrisy (HANDOUT) discovering their similarities and differences (Formalist and Hypocrisy notes).
Our Glossary has been supplemented.
Timorous and Mistrust (HANDOUT) provided a lively discussion about assurance, and related matters (Timorous and Mistrust notes). Passing them, Christian finds himself at the Beautiful Palace (HANDOUT) where he is questioned and allowed to enter (Beautiful Palace notes).
Soon after, Christian Meets Apollyon (HANDOUT), and engages him (Christian Meets Apollyon notes), then must proceed to The Valley of the Shadow of Death (HANDOUT) with all of its concerns (The Valley of the Shadow of Death notes). We have added to the Glossary.
Next we considered three chapters (from the modern version, Chapter 10-11-12 HANDOUT) where we see Christian meet Faithful, the two Pilgrims meet Talkative, and the Pilgrims suffer at Vanity Fair (Chapter 10-11-12 notes). This was followed by the culmination of the activities in Vanity Fair, with The Martyrdom of Faithful (HANDOUT) and the lessons Christian learned (The Martyrdom of Faithful notes). We have also added to the Glossary.
The Pilgrims next learned of The Pilgrims and the Deceitfulness of Riches (HANDOUT), meeting Giant Despair (The Pilgrims and the Deceitfulness of Riches notes). From there they were taken by The Giant Despair to Doubting Castle (HANDOUT) where they had a narrow escape (The Giant Despair and Doubting Castle notes).
We have one more update to the Glossary.
From this harrowing experience, The Pilgrims Reach the Delightful Mountains where they learn of things to come. As they proceed on the path, they meet Ignorance, Little-Faith and Turn-Away (HANDOUT) where each adds to the discussion (Notes).
The Pilgrims Meet the Flatterer (HANDOUT) along the path, who misdirects them (Notes). This episode leads to The Chastening of the Pilgrims (HANDOUT) and some important lessons (The Chastening of the Pilgrims notes).
We next hear of Hopeful’s conversion and the Pilgrims have a conversation with Ignorance Hopeful and Ignorance (HANDOUT) (Hopeful and Ignorance notes).
At last The Pilgrims Enter Celestial City (HANDOUT). This, too, is not without its important messages (The Pilgrims Enter Celestial City notes).
We conclude Part I with a Summary (HANDOUT) and overview (Summary notes).