The Pilgrim's Progress: A Readable Modern-Day Version of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (The Pilgrim's Progress Series Book 1)

by John Bunyan

there are four reasons for backsliding. “First, even though the consciences of such people have been temporarily awakened spiritually, their minds are not yet changed. Therefore, when the power of guilt wears off so does their desire to pursue holiness, and then they return to their former sinful ways. We see this illustrated in a sick dog that vomits what he has eaten. He does not vomit because he has a free mind, if it can be said that a dog has a free mind, but rather because his stomach is upset. But once he is no longer sick and his stomach feels better, the desire for what he has vomited returns, and he licks it all up. And so that which is written is true: ‘The dog returns to his own vomit.’210 “This is like the person who initially is enthusiastic for Heaven but only because their fear and shame were strong and they sensed the torments of Hell. But as their fear and shame diminish, so does their desire to pursue holiness. Then, over time, when their fear and shame are gone, and their desires for Heaven and happiness die, they return to their former sinful way of life. “The second reason for backsliding is that people have unreasonable fears that overwhelm, as when they begin to fear man more than God, as is written, ‘For the fear of man will prove to be a snare.’211 So even though they appear to be enthusiastic for Heaven so long as the flames of Hell are real to them, when that terror has passed, they begin to have second thoughts. They begin to think that it’s wi...