The Pilgrim's Progress Theme of Choices

Decisions, decisions. The choices that Christian is faced seem clear: follow what Evangelist and the gospel tell him to do or.... don't.

But as anyone who's ever tried to follow religious teachings in real life knows, right and wrong rarely seem black and white. The choice between good and bad often, in the moment, hardly seems like a choice at all—the line can be super-fine. But The Pilgrim's Progress states that we're constantly making choices about our commitment to Christ's principles. As Evangelist says, you're never "out of the gun-shot of the devil" (P462). And the devil has a gun with a long range.

1. How does Bunyan represent the nature of choice-making in his story? When are people consciously making a choice? When are they unconsciously making a choice?
2. Alongside the importance of responsible, personal choice-making is the importance of obedience. How does the fact that Christian follows the direction of Evangelist and the teachings of the Gospel themselves affect your understanding of the importance of choice in this story?
3. How realistic do you find Bunyan's depiction of the experience of making tough choices?
4. Though this story is definitely about the the importance of making the right choices, it's also laced with the idea of predestination. This is the notion that people are "destined" by God to go to heaven or hell from birth no matter what they choose to do. Where do you see examples of these seemingly opposing ideas in the story? How does Bunyan show these working together in Christian's journey?

In The Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan often uses literal excerpts from scripture when Christian has a big choice to make; this is an attempt to show that the Bible can help one make the right decisions in life. 

 In The Pilgrim's Progress, Bunyan uses opposing choices to dramatize moral lessons. Forks in the road and the depiction of what results from making a choice allow him to use contrasting outcomes to give the moment of decision greater weight.