Formalist and Hypocrisy Taking a Short Cut

Andy Naselli has posted an illustrated excerpt from Pilgrim’s Progress.

[Christian] saw two men come tumbling over the wall on the left side and onto the path. They immediately came toward Christian. The name of the one was Formalist, and the name of the other was Hypocrisy. Soon they were walking with Christian on the path. Christian immediately began to engage them in conversation.

Christian asked, “Gentlemen, where did you come from, and where are you going?”

Formality and Hypocrisy replied, “We were born in the land of Vain-Glory and are going to Mount Zion where we expect we will receive both praise and honor.”

“Why didn’t you enter by the gate that stands at the beginning of the way? Don’t you know that it is written that ‘he who does not come in by the door but climbs up some other way is a thief and a robber’?”

Formalist and Hypocrisy answered that to go to the gate in order to enter into the way was considered by them and all their countrymen to be too inconvenient and roundabout, especially since they could shorten the journey by simply climbing over the wall, as they had done.

Read the post (and see the illustrations) here.