In John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, he likens the Christian life to a journey. Christian had fled from the City of Destruction and started on the road that leads to the Celestial City, having been pulled in at the Narrow Gate.
But the first place he is directed to visit as he begins his dangerous path is Interpreter’s House. ‘I was told,’ says Christian when he arrives there, ‘that if I called here you would show me excellent things, such as would be a help to me on my journey.’
So, what we have here is John Bunyan, as a faithful Puritan pastor, setting before us things he feels are essential for a new convert to know at the start of the Christian life. In other words, Interpreter’s House is what we might call a Puritan ‘follow-up course’ for new Christians.
The re-emergence of heavy shepherds
What would you think if you received a letter from your church leaders that read like this? ‘Are church members …