Thoughts on John Bunyan’s Chart

You remember John Bunyan—author of Pilgrim’s Progress and other works. Well, I’m sitting here looking at a full-page, 11x14 inch (my version of it) chart drawn by Bunyan entitled “A MAP SHEWING THE ORDER & CAUSES OF SALVATION & DAMNATION.” It’s a fascinating piece of work.

The title appears in scrollwork festooned with streamers at the top of the page. Centered directly beneath is a triangle representing the Godhead. From that point, the chart divides into two sides, separated by a long center column labeled “The Passage Into and Out of the World.” At the top of this column (“Beginning”) is a circle with Adam above, then Abel on the left side and Cain on the right. At the bottom of the column (“The End”) is another large circle divided between the glory of paradise on the left and the flames of hell on the right.

The left side of the chart is devoted to the covenant of grace. This covenant rests upon election and leads to effectual calling, the operation of the Holy Spirit, the conviction of sin, and many other steps. Each step is detailed in its own circle on the chart, and the circles are connected (rather like a flow chart) with a white “line of grace.” Banners contain biblical proof texts, and at the bottom of the chart the elect soul is welcomed into glory by an angel who declares,

Come, weary saint,
Come into light;
Thou didst not faint:
Walk thou in white.

Correspondingly, the right side of the chart depicts the covenant of works, which rests upon reprobation (defined by Bunyan as being “left out of God’s election”). Steps in the execution of this covenant (also detailed in circles) are connected by a black “line of justice.” On this side of the chart is the law, which produces legal conviction of sin. Such conviction leads to false security and eventual impenitency. In the end, hell (depicted as a dragon) opens its mouth to receive the reprobate sinner, announcing,

Come, sinner, come,
Thou art my right;
I am thy home,
Grace thou didst slight.

Taken as a whole, Bunyan’s chart makes an admirable theological statement that ties together several complex themes. Covenant theology is obviously part of the picture, literally as well as figuratively. Calvinism plays a significant role, as does the Reformed theory of sanctification. Whether one agrees with Bunyan’s emphases or not, his “map” must be recognized as an imaginative visual tool for the communication of a complicated theology.

One ought to appreciate the explanatory power and coherence even of those theologies with which one disagrees. Systems such as covenant theology and Calvinism have a beauty and symmetry that is often missed due to their complexity. A chart such as Bunyan’s provides a ready means of grasping the contours of the system and the relationships between the various parts. It exposes the coherence of the system. While it includes detail, its chief virtue is that it provides a ready, visual representation of the main ideas.

Bunyan was not the last Reformed theologian to make use of such charts. Indeed, new charts are still being drawn. For example, on the website “A Puritan’s Mind,” C. Matthew McMahon offers more than a dozen charts that help the viewer visualize the core categories and historical development of his theology. Among his charts is one that overviews covenant theology and another that depicts McMahon’s understanding of the ordo salutis.

Thanks to Google, one can locate a variety of theological charts on the internet. More than a few of these are Reformed in nature. One is even labeled the “Amillennial Eschatology Chart.”

That one is particularly relevant, but perhaps not for the reasons one might think. Since the 1930s, Reformed theologians have set themselves rather decidedly against a particular system of understanding the Bible and especially the prophetic passages. That system is called “Dispensational Premillennialism.” They have voiced many complaints about dispensationalists, some more justifiable than others. One of the least justifiable complaints, however, is one that gets repeated pretty regularly. It is that dispensationalists use charts to explain their system.

The charge is true, of course. Dispensationalists do use charts to explain their system. I grew up in a church in which the pastor had a huge dispensational chart—probably four feet high and perhaps twenty or twenty-five feet long. It was painted on canvas and could be hung up like a curtain. Every few years he would string it across the front of the church auditorium. He would take weeks to teach through the entire chart.

As a child, that chart fascinated me. I loved to look at the pictures: the huge serpent that stretched across the top, the tree of life in the Garden of Eden, the painting of the church building in the circle that represented the present age. The order of the chart was logical. It made sense even to my childish mind. It provided a coherent way of understanding God’s dealings with the world.

(Incidentally, that chart is now in my possession, and I still enjoy looking at it now and then. I would actually like to find more like it. These charts, produced during the first half of the 20th Century, are not merely theological statements but a form of religious folk-art. I would like to see them preserved, if possible.)

In short, that chart did for dispensationalism pretty much the same thing that Bunyan’s chart did for covenant theology. Both charts rather neatly summarize their respective doctrinal systems. Those systems, while historically related (both are branches of Reformed theology), are probably incompatible. Naturally, adherents of each will raise objections against the other.

One of those objections should never be that teachers of one system employ charts to communicate their views.

Sweet Death
Christina Rossetti (1830-1894)

The sweetest blossoms die.
And so it was that, going day by day
Unto the church to praise and pray,
And crossing the green churchyard thoughtfully,
I saw how on the graves the flowers
Shed their fresh leaves in showers,
And how their perfume rose up to the sky
Before it passed away.

The youngest blossoms die.
They die and fall and nourish the rich earth
From which they lately had their birth;
Sweet life, but sweeter death that passeth by
And is as though it had not been:—
All colors turn to green;
The bright hues vanish and the odors fly,
The grass hath lasting worth.

And youth and beauty die.
So be it, O my God, Thou God of truth:
Better than beauty and than youth
Are Saints and Angels, a glad company;
And Thou, O Lord, our Rest and Ease,
Art better far than these.
Why should we shrink from our full harvest? why
Prefer to glean with Ruth?