"he Tempter came in with his delusion, That there was no way for me to know I had faith, but by trying to work some Miracle; urging those Scriptures that seem to look that way, for the enforcing and strengthening his Temptation. Nay, one day as I was betwixt Elstow and Bedford, the temptation was hot upon me, to try if I had Faith, by doing of some Miracle: which Miracle at that time was this, I must say to the Puddles that were in the horse-pads, Be dry; and to the dry places, Be you the Puddles. ...but just as I was about to speak, this thought came into my mind, But go under yonder Hedge and pray first, that God would make you able. But when I had concluded to pray, this came hot upon me, That if I prayed, and came again and tried to do it, and yet did nothing notwithstanding, then be sure I had no Faith, but was a Cast-away and lost. Nay, thought I, if it be so, I will never try... Thus I was tossed betwixt the Devil and my own Ignorance, and so perplexed... that I could not tell what to do."

John Bunyan Literature See all quotes by John Bunyan →

React to this quote

More by John Bunyan

“Writings of Bunyan at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library”

“Now as they were going along and talking, they espied a Boy feeding his Father’s Sheep. The Boy was in very mean Cloaths, but of a very fresh and well-favoured Countenance, and as he sate by himself he sung. Hark, said Mr Greatheart, to what the Shepherd’s boy saith. So they hearkened, and he said—”

“When a man's cause is good, it will sufficiently plead for itself, yea, and for its master too.”

“Acacia John Bunyan Online Library”

“It beareth the name of Vanity Fair, because the town where 't is kept is lighter than vanity.”

“They came to the Delectable Mountains.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Moreover, it is thought that there is something absurd about the earnestness of our pursuits. We take ourselves very seriously, but when we step back, we wonder what it is all about. The step back nee…"

— David Benatar

Philosophy1966

#Human Nature

"The President is merely the most important among a large number of public servants. He should be supported or opposed exactly to the degree which is warranted by his good conduct or bad conduct, his e…"

— Theodore Roosevelt

Politics1858–1919

#truth

"I'm an anti-Platonist, so I wouldn't say that stock was a stock of ideas or certainly not an ideal form, because I don't believe there is something out there, except out there. There's something in he…"

— Carl Andre

Art1935–2024

#faith

"Mill, in speaking of Hume's celebrated principle, "that nothing is credible which is contradictory to experience, or at variance with the laws of nature," calls it a very plain and harmless propositio…"

— Charles Babbage

Mathematics1791–1871

#philosophy