"The Interpreter answered, This fire is the work of Grace that is wrought in the heart; he that casts Water upon it, to extinguish and put it out, is the Devil."
— Bunyan, John (bap. 1628, d. 1688)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for Nath. Ponder
Date
1678
Metaphor
"The Interpreter answered, This fire is the work of Grace that is wrought in the heart; he that casts Water upon it, to extinguish and put it out, is the Devil."
Metaphor in Context
The Interpreter answered, This fire is the work of Grace that is wrought in the heart; he that casts Water upon it, to extinguish and put it out, is the Devil: but in that thou seest the fire notwithstanding burn higher and hotter, thou shalt also see the reason of that: So he had him about to the back side of the Wall, where he saw a Man with a Vessel of Oyl in his hand, of the which he did also continually cast, but secretly, into the fire. Then said Christian, What means this? The Interpreter answered, This is Christ, who continually with the Oyl ofhis Grace, maintains the work already begun in the heart; By the means of which, notwithstanding what the Devil can do, the souls of his People' prove gracious* still. And in that thou sawest, that the Man stood behind the Wall to maintain the fire; this is to teach thee, that it is hard for the tempted to see how this work of Grace is maintained in the soul.
(pp. 25-26)
(pp. 25-26)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
See The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come Delivered Under the Similitude of a Dream, Wherein Is Discovered the Manner of His Setting out, His Dangerous Journey, and Safe Arrival at the Desired Countrey. (London: Printed for Nath. Ponder, 1678). <Link to EEBO-TCP>
Reading The Pilgrims's Progress, ed. Cynthia Wall (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2009).
Reading The Pilgrims's Progress, ed. Cynthia Wall (New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 2009).
Date of Entry
09/02/2014
