Chapter 1: What is the significance of Doubting Castle in The Pilgrim's Progress?
You think you've seen it all in Pilgrim's Progress, and you've been in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, which was a pretty dark place, and you've been in Vanity Fair, which was a dark place, and now you're coming to perhaps an even darker place, the dungeon of the Castle of Giant Despair. They're locked in a dungeon without food and without water and without light.
Christians can find themselves captured by giant despair in the basement of Doubting Castle. It's a dark place, and perhaps you have been there, or someone you know. Hi, I'm Nathan W. Bingham, and you're listening to Renewing Your Mind. This week, we've been exploring John Bunyan's classic, The Pilgrim's Progress. Taking you on this tour has been Ligonier Teaching Fellow, Derek Thomas.
And if you're just joining us, this allegory follows a man named Christian and his journey to the Celestial City. If you'd like to own your own copy of Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress and Derek Thomas' guided tour through it, we'll send you the book and the DVD when you give a donation at renewingyourmind.org in support of this daily outreach.
Well, on this leg of the journey, Christian does find himself in Doubting Castle. But thankfully, there is a way out. And that's a truth we all need to remember. Here's Dr. Thomas.
Last time we saw the valiant faithful's martyrdom. And then that beautiful description that Bunyan gives of a chariot and horses reminiscent, of course, of Elijah. and that he's taken up to the nearest gate to the celestial city and the sort of vindication of God to this faithful servant called Faithful.
And then that little song that was sung in his memory, "'Well, Faithful, thou hast faithfully professed.'" unto thy Lord with whom thou shalt be blessed.
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Chapter 2: How do Christian and Hopeful end up in the dungeon?
When faithless ones with all their vain delight are crying out under their hellish plight, sing, faithful, sing, and let thy name survive. For though they killed thee, thou art yet alive. And then the next line, you know, that's a terrible bond of friendship that's been broken. Faithful has just emerged in the story. Now he's been taken out of the story.
The next line in Pilgrim's Progress says, Now I saw in my dream that Christian went not forth alone, for there was one whose name was Hopeful. being so made by the beholding of Christian and faithful in their words and behavior, in their sufferings at the fair, who joined himself unto him, and entering into a brotherly covenant, told him that he would be his companion."
What a beautiful thing here. Faithful is gone, but this man, hopeful, has seen the death of faithfulness. Blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church, Tertullian said. And out of martyrdom, the church has emerged. We see that story in Eastern Europe. We see that story in Korea. We see that story in China. We see that story in parts of Africa in the 20th century. and now emerges Hopeful.
Hopeful will be with Christian right to the end of the story. Some of you remember how Christian has a little bit of trouble crossing the river that eventually leads to the celestial city, and it is Hopeful who actually almost carries him across that river at the end of the story.
Chapter 3: What themes of despair and hope are explored in this episode?
So Hopeful is yet another friend and the importance of friendship, I think, in Bunyan's understanding of what the Christian life should be like. Now, hopeful then has been converted through the valiant testimony of faithful, in particular, in vanity. Now, the two of them walk together and come across Mr. Bayenz, who is from the town of Fair Speech.
He doesn't tell them his name, but he does relate to them some of his kindred, including a Mr. Facing Both Ways, the parson, a Mr. Two Tongues and his wife, My Lady Feining's daughter, That's, I think, Bunyan cocking a snook a little at the aristocracy. Bunyan was decidedly blue-collar, I think, and his politics.
Some of Bunyan's great interpreters in the 20th century have been of communist persuasion in political history for entirely different reasons, you understand. But in the bourgeoisie versus the proletariat politics, Bunyan was definitely of the proletariat variety rather than the bourgeoisie.
So communist historians in the 20th century have sort of been drawn to Bunyan and have made him out to be something that I don't think he was.
Bynes tells Christian, now unhopeful, tells them eventually that this is not his real name, but a name given to him by someone who did not like him, and he wants to go with Christian, unhopeful, but cannot leave his old principles since they are harmless and profitable.
And as they look back, Christian and hopeful see that three others have joined by ends, Mr. Hold the World, Mr. Money Love, and Mr. Save All. Bunyan had a thing about preachers who preached that everybody would be saved in whatever way they thought. So universalists were alive and well, of course, in the 17th century. And here's one called Mr. Save All.
Now, it all sounds like a conversation about health and wealth as you overhear the conversation between buy-ins and Mr. Money Love and Save All and Hold the World. And eventually, they drift out of the story. Hopeful and Christian now pass through a narrow plain called Ease with this little hill called Luker. Luca was a 16th, 17th century word for money.
Hence, the King James talks about filthy Luca, meaning the love of money. And there's a place now in this story called Luca with a silver mine in it. A man called Demas calls out and, hopeful, is tempted to go back and have a look. But Christian senses the danger and stops him because Demas in the New Testament is the man who, having loved this present world, forsook Paul.
On the highway, Christian and hopeful come across a statue of a woman with the inscription, Remember Lot's Wife. There's a discussion about the dangers of covetousness. Next they come to a river where the two stop and take a drink. On either side are meadows and pasture and leaves that are good for medicine. There's a recognition here of passages like Psalm 23 and Ezekiel 47 and Revelation 22.
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Chapter 4: How does Bunyan relate to the experience of depression?
And on the left is a meadow called Bypath Meadow. And there is a parallel path on either side of the fence. And because Christian and Hopeful are discouraged, they step over the fence and they join this path. Hopeful is somewhat suspicious, but Christian prevails. The path, of course, leads them into trouble.
They meet a man called vain confidence who says he is on his way to the celestial city, but that evening they hear him fall into a deep pit. A storm gathers. There's thunder. There's lightning. They are nearly drowned by the rising rainwater. Christian asks for hopeful's forgiveness for having taken him thus out of the way. They come across a shelter. They fall into a deep sleep.
What they don't know, of course, is that they have strayed into the grounds of doubting castle and giant despair who occupies the castle with his wife.
diffidence and giant despair discovers them asleep in this shelter and they take them captive they're locked in a dungeon of the castle without food and without water and without light now bunyan is describing events i think in his own life here from grace abounding days of darkness darkness of the soul
But inexperienced, days of great depression, days when the light of God's countenance seemed to have been altogether taken from him. Perhaps in the background here are words from Psalm 88. If you're not familiar with Psalm 88, don't make the mistake of saying it's your favorite psalm. There is no light in Psalm 88. It ends with the words, darkness is my only friend.
That's a dark place to be, where darkness is your only friend. It's one of those psalms that you're glad that it's there. It's like knowing that if the aeroplane at 30,000 feet is going to descend into the ocean, that your seat can be used as a flotation device. I'm not sure how reassuring that is when you're heading to that sea at 500 or 600 miles an hour.
It's probably you're going home to be with Jesus' time. Well, Psalm 88, darkness is my only friend. And this is a very, very dark place. You think you've seen it all in Pilgrim's Progress. And you've been in the Valley of the Shadow of Death, which was a pretty dark place. And you've been in Vanity Fair, which was a dark place.
And now you're coming to perhaps an even darker place, the dungeon of the Castle of Giant Despair. Now we're told by Bunyan that they're in this dungeon from Wednesday morning until Saturday night.
And perhaps what he is alluding to is the last days of Jesus from the moment of his betrayal from Gethsemane and through his trial into the Friday and his death and his burial and Saturday and Saturday night. And he's, of course, raised on the Sunday. And perhaps there's an illusion here that this darkness is a darkness that our Savior has known and redeemed.
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Chapter 5: What role does the character Hopeful play in Christian's journey?
But there's a stampede to get out to the building. This is before all the sort of civil codes that we now have for fire escapes and so on. Several people are killed. I think up to about a dozen people are killed in the stampede to get out to the building. Spurgeon is absolutely and totally shaken by it. He's out of commission. He doesn't preach for months afterwards.
He is urged to go to the south of France to this house that somebody loans him to recuperate. He is in the depths of depression because of this incident that he experiences. Well, on the Saturday night, about midnight, Christian and hopeful begin to pray.
And I thought I would read part of the story to you of the way in which this tale is now told, as Bunyan himself tells it in Pilgrim's Progress. Towards evening, The giant goes down into the dungeon again to see if the prisoners had taken his counsel to end their lives. But when he came there, he found them alive and truly alive was all.
For now, what for want of bread and water and by reason of the wounds they received when he beat them, they could do little but breathe. But I say he found them alive, at which he fell into a grievous rage and told them that seeing they hadn't obeyed his counsel, it should be worse with them than if they had never been born.
At this they trembled greatly, and I think that Christian fell into a swooned. But coming a little to himself again, they renewed their discourse about the giant's counsel and whether yet they had best take it or no. Now Christian again seemed to be for doing it, but Hopeful made his second reply and so on. He describes now these ten reasons why he shouldn't take his life.
On the Saturday night about midnight, they began to pray and continued in prayer till almost break of day. Now, a little before it was day, good Christian, as one half amazed, break out in his passionate speech. What a fool, Korthy, am I, thus to lie in a stinking dungeon when I may as well walk at liberty.
I have a key in my bosom called promise that will, I am persuaded, open any lock in Doubting Castle. Then said Hopeful, that's good news, good brother. Pluck it out of thy bosom and try. Then Christian pulled it out of his bosom and began to try at the dungeon door, whose bolt, as he turned the key, gave back and the door flew open with ease. And Christian and Hopeful both came out.
Then he went to the outward door that leads into the castle yard, and with his key opened that door also. after he went to the iron gate, for that must be opened too. But that lock went damnable hard, yet the key did open it.
Then they thrust open the gate to make their escape with speed, but that gate, as it opened, made such a cracking that it waked giant despair, who, hastily rising to pursue the prisoners, felt in his limbs to fail, for his fits took him again, so that he could by no means go after them. Then they went on and came to the king's highway, and so were safe, because they were out of his jurisdiction.
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