Pilgrim's Progress

by John Bunyan

“Very well,” Hopeful said. “In my judgment, I see four reasons for it: “Though the consciences of such men are awakened, yet their minds are not changed. Therefore, when the power of guilt diminishes, the very thing that provoked them to be religious ceases to have any effect. For this reason, they naturally turn to their former course again. We see the same reaction with a dog that is sick and vomits up what he has eaten. So long as his sickness prevails, he vomits and throws up everything in his stomach. Not that he does this of a free mind (if we may say a dog has a mind), but rather because of his troubling stomach. “However, when his sickness passes and his stomach feels better, he turns around and licks up all his vomit and so what is written is true: A dog returns to its own vomit (2 Peter 2:22). Now, I say a person may be enthusiastic about heaven, but only because they sense and fear the torments of hell. But as their sense and fear of damnation chills and cools, in the same way their desires for heaven and salvation cool also. So then it comes to pass that when their guilt and fear are gone, their desires for heaven and happiness die, and they return to their former course in life again. “Another reason is this. They have mindless fears that overwhelm them. I’m talking about fears they have of men, now. ‘For the fear of man brings a snare.’ (The fear of man brings a snare, but he who trusts in the Lord will be exalted. – Prov. 29:25) So then, though they seem to ...

Reasons for backsliding