Young4vr

John Bunyan: Author of “The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come”

A couple of years ago, a friend recommended to me one of the most profound books I have ever read: John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come. I was immediately and singularly struck by the true commentary from this piece of fiction on the human condition as a Christian wandering through this life in search of the Celestial City. It spoke truly to the struggles of our journey like no book I had read before or since. I immediately became a fan and have purchased many copies of the book and the audio CDs as gifts for friends. Next to the scriptures and James Talmage’s Jesus the Christ, I hold its teachings as dear as any book I have ever read.

John Bunyan was born in England in 1628. The son of a tinker, he had only 2-4 years of formal education. He married a poor but pious woman. Bunyan was baptized into the Baptist church in 1653 thanks to the only items in his wife’s dowry — two books on Christianity — and shortly thereafter became a deacon in the church. This was a dangerous time in which to be a believer in Christ who did not agree with Rome and/or the King. Bunyan was thrice imprisoned (once for over twelve years) for his refusal to cease preaching the good word of God publicly. Bunyan is thought to have written The Pilgrim’s Progress while in prison.

The book is an allegory of a traveler named, appropriately enough, Christian. Christian begins his journey as an unsure believer, leaving behind his family (whom he begs to join him on his Journey, but to no avail) and home in the City of Destruction (earth) in search of the Celestial City (heaven). The book follows Christian as he struggles while traveling under the weight of all his worldly sorrows (sins) on his back, and as he attempts to find and stay on the straight and narrow King’s Highway.

Christian is joined by a host of characters whom we might recognize from their recurring roles in our own journey along this same path. He is met by Evangelist, a man who shows Christian the correct path to the Celestial City and shows Christian a book (the Bible) to help along the way. Other characters who seek alternatively to assist or dissuade Christian in his journey include Obstinate, Pliable, Help, Mr. Wordly Wiseman, Goodwill, Beelzebub, The Interpreter, Shining Ones, Formalist, Hypocrisy, Mistrust, Watchful, Discretion, Apollyon, Piety, Prudence, Faithful, Wanton, Adam the First, Moses, Lust of the Flesh, Lust of the Eyes, Pride of Life, Talkative, Envy, Superstition, Hopeful, Despair, Knowledge, Experience, Ignorance, The Flatterer, and Athiest.

It is easy to for me to see why The Pilgrim’s Progress was, during the 1800s, the second best-selling book in Europe – the first being the Holy Bible. I recommend it to any Christian who is himself in search of the Celestial City. It may change the way you see the landscape around you and help you to stay on the King’s straight and narrow.