Discussion Topic
Purpose and Collection of the Certificate in The Pilgrim's Progress
Summary:
The Certificate in The Pilgrim's Progress symbolizes Christian's proof of faith and his right to enter the Celestial City. It is given to him by Evangelist and serves as both a guide and a guarantee of his salvation throughout his journey. The document must be presented at the gates of the Celestial City to gain admittance.
Where is the certificate, needed to enter the celestial city, collected in The Pilgrim's Progress?
The Pilgrim's Progress is a religious allegory, and what Bunyan is saying here is simply that you can't get to heaven (the Celestial City) if you haven't been saved. The certificate is a symbol of the individual believer's salvation, and it identifies an individual believer as having been saved. But, as the character of Ignorance doesn't know God, he cannot be saved, and therefore he is not allowed to enter the hallowed gates of heaven. The character of Ignorance is so confident that he'll be allowed to enter the Celestial City that he doesn't think he needs a certificate to get in. But this shows not just his ignorance, but also his arrogance in assuming that he'll be allowed into heaven without being saved beforehand.
Bunyan was a devout Calvinist and so believed in what's called "double predestination." This means that, before a single human being was ever created,...
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God knew in advance that a small group of people (the elect) would go to heaven and that the vast majority (the damned) would be sent down to the fiery depths of hell. (Indeed, this is precisely what happens to Ignorance.) Salvation is entirely within the grace of God; you're either saved or you're damned, and there's absolutely nothing that an individual believer can do about it. So you can only receive your "certificate" if God gives it to you, and you won't know if you have it until the Day of Judgment. In that sense, all of us are ignorant as to whether or not we've been saved.
In Bunyan's The Pilgrim’s Progress, what is the purpose of the "certificate" required for entry into the Celestial City?
When Ignorance gets to the gates of the Celestial City, he is asked for a "certificate" needed for entry, which he does not have. The King, then, orders that he be bound and cast into hell.
At the very end of the original version of John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, Ignorance approaches the gates of the Celestial City. He assumes that he will easily be admitted, but when he is asked to produce a “certificate,” he is unable to do so:
Then they asked him for his certificate, that they might go in and show it to the King; so he fumbled in his bosom for one, and found none. Then said they, Have you none? But the man answered never a word.
When the King of the city learns that Ignorance has no certificate, he refuses to meet Ignorance but instead commands that he be tossed into hell.
The “certificate” demanded of Ignorance has been interpreted in various ways, including the following:
- As evidence that he is one of the “elect” and is thus worthy of admittance to heaven. In other words, the “certificate” is a symbol of his predestined salvation.
- As evidence that he truly knows God.
- As a symbol of scripture (although this interpretation has been disputed).
- As a symbol of assured salvation, of already being saved.
- As an allusion to the Bible, specifically to Rev. 20:15 and I John 5:10. See also I John 3:24, I John 3:9-10, and 5:1.