https://open.spotify.com/episode/40wWIMlsOcPt21KskeueTm?si=04BxaQ7PTr-g4P2PtZqSGA Last week, we began our journey reading through the second part of the Pilgrim's Progress. There we met Christiana, Christian's wife, as she wrestled with the guilt of having mocked Christian's desire to become a pilgrim. After some visions in the night and a visit from Secret, Christiana resolved to set forth for the …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6wwxABqLDlMaXmCHnXaHYd?si=Kl5rerI-TpCBcX45J09BtQ As we begin reading Part II, we are greeted again by Bunyan who transmits this story to us as the sharing of his dream, and from the very first paragraph, we discover the subject of this tale: Christian's wife and children that he left behind in the City of Destruction. Yet unlike the First …
Continue reading Christiana, the City of Destruction, & Mrs. Timorous
https://open.spotify.com/episode/1Ro1bNYkrANomWHVEChlvy?si=0sXEOQ8XRiqcX6aDGaX93A Having only been blown off course of our initial projected reading schedule by two weeks, we come now to the conclusion of the first part of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. Here Christian and Hopeful conclude their pilgrimage and finally arrive at their eternal home in the Celestial City. Of course, while this is …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2Je4cKwFlFYbV3FGaVMYQA?si=2xdhvIMoRL-tHm1TOQYhTQ As we last noted, the content of the ninth stage of Christian's journey was too large for me to adequately capture in one week. Thus, we previously discussed the first half of the stage, particularly Little-faith, Flatterer, and Atheist. Moving on the second half, we shall discuss the Enchanted Ground, Hopeful's testimony, and Ignorance. …
Continue reading The Enchanted Ground, Hopeful’s Conversion, & Ignorance
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5dKoCQegPu8s6nCZYGdBRC?si=f_Zph7wtQMu7hvJx3Sf2xw The previous stage took Christian and Hopeful into both the heights and depths of life, which very often do occur back-to-back as Bunyan has described. Now, as has been the pattern since the Valley of Humiliation, Bunyan follows a stage of much action with a stage of much conversation. In the ninth stage, which …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/04b9hAWp3jGSl9reMbnmHp?si=JVC6lXT2T2uC-S2xkXBbOA After shunning the corrupting company of By-ends and avoiding the pit at Lucre Hill, the pilgrims Christian and Hopeful concluded the previous stage of their journey with the sight and warning of Lot's wife. Now in this eighth stage, the pilgrims meet three settings: the River of Life, Doubting Castle, and the Delectable Mountains. …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5s5TmX3W0ZSRkX6bT2QotP?si=X6WWXRbBT0iGiIX7_7SAWw There will be no post on The Pilgrim's Progress this week. The 8th Stage lies still before us with its classic description of Christian and Hopeful being caught in the grip of Giant Despair. Given the ever-growing depression and anxiety rates today, our society as a whole seems to be similarly locked in Doubting …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4NyJ4mmmzM5WE8NxL7CtWD?si=Vh5Bkq0KTLu3VzOfleNy3w After witnessing the death of his fellow companion, Faithful, under a faux trial at Vanity Fair, our last reading ended with Christian escaping from his cell and setting back on his journey, singing in honor of his victorious brother. Along this stage of Christian's pilgrimage, he is joined by a new companion named Hopeful, …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ZOFtj5jaSGiHiVdhrLwvR?si=wvh5MzboRXei5jA4532qKQ After Talkative's departure, Christian and Faithful continue on to the next stage of their journey. In this week's reading, the two pilgrims meet with Evangelist who prepares them for the suffering and even death that awaits them in the town called Vanity. Once in Vanity Fair, the pilgrims are mocked, arrested, tried, and Faithful …
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6QbgtnwrrhtwbBzWi6srMH?si=LBMBykfGR3-2F1AaSjd4ZA Having passed through the Valleys of Humiliation and the Shadow of Death, Christian's journey marches onward. On this leg of his travels, we have two distinct parts. First, Christian begins to walk with Faithful and hears of his pilgrimage thus far. Second, Faithful has a dialogue with another traveler named Talkative. Faithful’s Testimony In …
B. C. Newton 