Ignorance is a young man whom Christian and Hopeful meet after they descend from the Delectable Mountains. Unlike the other Christian and Hopeful, Ignorance has no scroll with which to gain entrance to the Celestial City, meaning he has bypassed the Wicket-gate. He claims that he lives a good, religious life and is confident that this is enough to get him into the Celestial City. He also has many thoughts about God, which encourages Ignorance to believe that he will be accepted into Heaven. When Christian explains the Bible’s teaching that all human beings have wicked hearts, Ignorance does not accept this. He parts ways with Christian and Hopeful at this point and is later seen trying to enter Heaven without a certificate. He is accordingly cast into Hell.
Ignorance Quotes in The Pilgrim’s Progress
The The Pilgrim’s Progress quotes below are all either spoken by Ignorance or refer to Ignorance. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 1: Ignorance, Little-faith, and Flatterer
Quotes
I know my Lord’s will, and I have been a good liver; I pay every man his own; I Pray, Fast, pay Tithes, and give Alms […] Gentlemen, ye be utter strangers to me, I know you not; be content to follow the Religion of your Country, and I will follow the Religion of mine. I hope all will be well. And as for the Gate that you talk of, all the world knows that that is a great way off of our Country.
Related Symbols:
Wicket-gate, Roll / Certificate / Scroll
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Ignorance Character Timeline in The Pilgrim’s Progress
The timeline below shows where the character Ignorance appears in The Pilgrim’s Progress. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 1: Ignorance, Little-faith, and Flatterer
...Christian and Hopeful enter a country called Conceit. Here they meet a young man named Ignorance who’s on his way to the Celestial City. Since Ignorance has no scroll to hand...
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Christian and Hopeful see that Ignorance is “wise in his own conceit” and decide to walk along without him for now,...
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Part 1: The Enchanted Ground
After finishing his story, Hopeful glances back and sees Ignorance following behind them. Ignorance says that he prefers to walk alone. Christian engages him in...
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...the Bible’s teaching that nobody is righteous, and that the heart naturally produces evil thoughts. Ignorance says he cannot believe that his own heart is that bad. Christian says that the...
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Ignorance denies Christian’s argument—if it were true, he says, then people could live as they chose....
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Part 1: Fear and Backsliding
Christian and Hopeful continue discussing Ignorance, speculating that many people persist in a similar condition of ignorance regarding their souls. Such...
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Part 1: Beulah, the River of Death, and the Celestial City
Meanwhile, Ignorance crosses the River with little difficulty, thanks to a ferryman named Vain-hope. However, no angels...
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