The Pilgrim’s Progress

As the group continues on their way, they’re warned of robbers ahead, though they see no sign of trouble. By this time, Christiana and her children have grown tired, so they stop at an inn run by a disciple named Gaius. After the pilgrims are given rooms, they sit down to supper, and Gaius is delighted to meet Christian’s family. He has been acquainted with the Christian family for a long time—their ancestry can be traced back to Antioch, he says. He names some of them, including the martyrs Stephen, Paul, Peter, Ignatius, and Polycarp.

Gaius thinks that Christiana’s sons appear likely to carry on in their father’s footsteps, so he advises Christiana to search for good wives for the boys, so that Christian’s offspring will spread throughout the world. In fact, he suggests that Matthew and Mercy get married, so they do.

Gaius talks further about women. He says that although women brought death and the curse into the world, they also brought life and health. He claims that the reason that women in the Old Testament desired children so much was that they all hoped they might become the mother of the Savior. When the Savior did come, women were the first to rejoice in him, and they ministered to him much more faithfully than men did. They were even the first to spread the news of Christ’s resurrection. All these things demonstrate, Gaius concludes, that women are favored by God and share with men in God’s grace.

As they sit down to supper, Matthew observes that just seeing the prepared table increases his appetite. Gaius says it should be this way with all Christian teaching—all “Preaching […] and Ordinances here” are just setting the table for the feast that Christians will one day enjoy with God.

When supper is served, they have a shoulder (with which David lifted up his heart to God) and a breast (which David once leaned on his harp). They also drink wine (“Juice of the true Vine”) and eat apples (Gaius explains that sin, not apples, was at fault when humanity fell) and nuts. Gaius likens the nuts to “hard texts” that must be cracked open. The company is so pleasant that the pilgrims decide to stay here for a month, allowing time for Matthew and Mercy to get married.

That first night, the older members of the company stay up talking. At one point, Gaius and Honest discuss the relationship between grace and the conquering of sin. Gaius explains that until the soul is overcome by grace, it has no desire to fight sin. He then tells an illustrative story in which an old, naturally decayed man and a young, sin-corrupted man go on pilgrimage. Which one displayed more grace? Honest says the young man would, because grace shines brighter when it overcomes greater oppositions, and older pilgrims sometimes become presumptuous. They also discuss a passage from the Book of Isaiah, about Christ’s unlikely origins and lack of outward beauty.