Symbolism In The Pilgrim's Allegory
Each situation that Christian and other characters faced can be categorized as stories about righteousness, religion, and morality. Christian and the people around him exhibited forms of these terms that indicate whether they have …show more content…
Law functions in two ways in The Pilgrim’s Progress. Divine law is the God-given moral code, and standard for perfect obedience to Him. It is the divine revelation of our fallen condition. Divine law is to be pursued, but it cannot be achieved. Because no one can change his or her behavior to achieve perfection, law is responsible for alerting us to our fallen condition, but we cannot secure any sort of salvation through it. Once it has completed its function of showing us our sin nature, if we place any faith in law, we stray into condemnation. Man-made law is an imperfect reflection of divine law. If used outside of its purpose to govern general human behavior, it quickly becomes vain, offering a false sense of security and robbing people of hope at the same time. This is why, throughout The Pilgrim’s Progress, divine law functions through obstacles and detours, and man-made law manifests as