It's an Allegory!

All year I have been trying to explain "allegory" to my Sunday School kids as we read The Pilgrim's Progress together. All year we've been working on "no, you probably won't literally meet Apollyon/get locked in a dungeon/go to Vanity Fair/whatever is happening". So far they seem to get it fairly well and can see the meanings behind the allegory.

And yet they are convinced that Christian and Faithful have to drown in the river because they have to die before they get to the Celestial City.

On Sunday Christian and Faithful will cross the river. My job will be to make the kids see that the river itself represents death, no matter how you actually die, and yes the characters are dead even though they didn't die in the river.

Also, no matter what happened in the movie, Christian and Faithful will not meet Apollyon in the river. I am gaining a deep dislike of that particular version of the story.

Sunday may be a challenge.