Book Review
The
Pilgrim's Progress
John Bunyan
Background:
John Bunyan was born in 1628 in the village of Elstow, near Bedford,
England. His father was a travelling tinker, a humble occupation. Nevertheless,
John was sent to school and taught to read and write. He was an idle boy,
and for lying, and blaspheming, had few equals of his own age.
As he grew older he was drawn during the Civil War as a soldier to go
to the siege of Leicester. In 1647 Bunyan married an orphan who was a praying
Christian. She led her husband to the Lord. Bunyan began to preach, but
he was arrested and sent to prison for twelve years (one-fifth of his life)
for preaching without receiving permission from the established church.
All he had to do to go free was to promise to give up his ministry.
During his time in prison he wrote this book.
Pilgrim's Progress has bee read more often than any other book other
than the Bible. The reading of it can only be a pleasant experience, but
a life changing one as well. On his release from prison Bunyan lived a
very useful life as minister of Bunyan Meeting in Bedford. He died in 1688.
The Pilgrim's Progress is an allegory combined with prose fiction of
compelling and dramatic proportions. This is a story of the struggle
of the soul for salvation. He is able to capture the totality of
the Christian experience according to Scripture. It is so packed
with information that it becomes very hard to select even a few quotes
that might give the impact of the book. The book has two parts, the
first deals with Christian as he struggles with his decision to leave his
unbelieving family and friends to follow Jesus and his journey to the Celestial
City. Part II deals with his wife, Christiana, and children and their
decision to follow after Christian to the Celestial City. The journy
for both is full of encounters, perils, trials, and interesting people
and places. The story has immediate application in everyday life.
The best way to summarize might be just to give the names of the people
they encounter. Christian begins by meeting Evangelist. He
is convinced to proceed on to a distant gate on the far side of a field
towards a tiny shining light. He is pursued by Obstinate and Pliable.
Obstinate does not follow, but Pliable decides to go on the journey at
least until they run into trouble in the Slough of Despond where they both
fall in. Pliable gets out an goes home to the City of Destruction.
Christian fights his way to the other side and is meets Help who helps
to get him out. Christian then meets up with Worldly Wiseman who
tries to sidetrack him by way of Mt. Legality. The book continues
as he meets up with such interesting characters as: Goodwill, Interpreter,
Hopeless, Loveworld, Fomality and Hypocrisy, Timorous and Mistrust, Porter,
Piety, Sloth, Presumption, Prudence and Charity, Apollyon and many more.
He goes to such places as: The Cross, Restful Arbor, House Beautiful,
Delectable Mountains, Valey of Humility, Valley of the Shadow of Death,
Vanity Fair and many more.
By the time one is finished reading both parts, through Christiana's
journey, you have been through the entire scriptural spectrum of trials
in reaching the Celestial City. Both parts of the book are
also available in separate VHS video tapes: Pilgrim's
Progress and Christiana