Pilgrim’s Progress Discussion, March 6

I hope at this point in your reading you’ve made it with Christian to Calvary and up Hill Difficulty (if not, no worries – still plenty of time, but spoilers lay ahead)! I love the moment when the burden rolls away down the hill into the sepluchre!

I am interested to hear your thoughts/reactions to Christian losing his scroll after having fallen asleep in the arbour on his way up Hill Difficulty. His loss adds to the difficulty and is a source of great misery until it is recovered (and even then, he mourns his foolishness to allowed him to sleep). I’m a bit torn. On the one hand, I’m sympathetic to Christian. He’s had his heaven burden lifted, but still finds the journey arduous and exhausting. Sitting down to rest seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do. Even sleeping a bit seems normal. However, Christian did encounter three sleeping men – Sloth, Presumption and Simple, and warned them of the dangers of not being watchful, for “if he that goeth about like a roaring lion, comes by, you will certainly become a prey to his teeth.”

What do you think? What’s Bunyan trying to do here?