Christian now enters a second valley, the Valley of the Shadow of Death, which actually presents more danger to him than the previous encounter with Apollyon. As Christian enters the valley, two men come back warning him of grave dangers ahead, dangers they are not willing to face. They describe the valley as dark, with a continual howling and yelling coming from the pit, as of people under unutterable misery. Satyrs, hobgoblins, and dragons are about. Clouds of confusion hang over the valley, and death spreads its wings over it. It is a completely dreadful place. They are abandoning their pilgrimage, just as Fearful and Mistrust abandoned theirs due to the lions. Christian ponders what he is getting himself into, but decides that the danger of turning back is greater and proceeds, sword drawn.
Christian proceeds down the path, which becomes very narrow in the valley. On his right is a ditch, into which the blind lead the blind; on his left is a quagmire, into which, if one falls, there is no bottom for one's foot to stand on. Christian walks on in the dark, unsure of his footing. To make matters worse, the Mouth of Hell is in the pit, and flames and sparks come out of it in such abundance that Christian is forced to put up his Sword and resort to prayer, "Oh, Lord, save me!"
Soon Christian hears the voices of fiends approaching him. He again ponders turning back but resolves to go forward. When the voices are almost upon him, he says, "I will go in the strength of the Lord God." The voices back off and come no farther. Christian is confused in the valley, and Wicked Ones (evil spirits) approach Christian from behind, whispering blasphemies in his ear. Christian's state of confusion is such that he cannot tell the difference between his own thoughts and the whisperings of the spirits. He continues in this condition for a considerable time, and then hears a voice ahead saying, "Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me." Then he is glad for he realizes that there are others in the valley who also fear God as well as himself, also that God was with them even in that dark and dismal condition, and also that he hoped to be able to catch up with them and have fellowship with them.
Soon Day breaks, and Christian is able to turn around and see what he has just passed through. He sees the Ditch and Quagmire on the sides of the path he has just traversed. He also sees the Dragons, Hobgoblins, and Satyrs of the pit. He is much affected by his deliverance from these dangers, but there is more to come. The sun rising at this time is a mercy to Christian, for the path becomes "full of snares, traps, and nets up here" and "pits, pitfalls, deep holes, and ledges down there." In this light, Christian finally comes to the end of the valley.
At the end of the valley, Christian sees laying there the blood, bones, ashes, and mangled bodies of Pilgrims who had gone this way earlier. A short distance away, he sees a cave where two giants lived in days past. Their names were Pope and Pagan, and it is by their power and tyranny that those Pilgrims had been put to death. Pagan has been dead a long time, but Pope is now a senile old man who is no threat. Christian passes by and is not harmed.
Thoughts on this chapter
This valley represents a long period of trial, much deeper than a single fear as the lions represented earlier. I think it may represent a struggle with issues of unbelief, hanging on to sins we don't want to confess or repent from, or dealing with long-lasting trials and tribulations, such as that (but probably not as serious as) experienced by Job.
I don't like Bunyan's description of Pope; I think his portrayal of Pope as a senile old man is just rank anti-Catholicism. I guess Bunyan's Separatism was different enough from the Catholic church that they considered it a heresy, but I don't believe that myself. I agree with Mark Byron's analysis. Fundamentalists, Evangelicals, main-line Protestants, Orthodox, and Catholics may have different doctrines, but I basically believe that anyone who can recite the Apostle's Creed without crossing their fingers (that's a quote for which I cannot find the source-sorry, I think I saw it at blogs4God) has a basic understanding Christian doctrine. If one says they know the Lord, and they believe He died for their sins, and rose from the dead, it's not my place to doubt them. [UPDATE: I suppose if one said they loved the Lord, but then didn't have any kind of works to show for it, I'd have cause to doubt them, but one has to be real careful when going there]
I disagree with Bunyan's description of Pagan, too. Pagan is not dead, he is just as alive and well as ever. Maybe there was a time between say about 500-1900 when Paganism was not a popularly-practiced religion, but from the twentieth century to now, it has resurfaced and is becoming more popular. Wicca and goddess worship are now accepted in liberal congregations such as the Unitarian Universalist Association, and some of the more liberal main-line Protestant denominations.
I'm going to blog tomorrow in order to catch up. Tomorrow, Two Pilgrims Meet!
Posted by joelfuhrmann at March 18, 2003 09:56 PM