What Is Pilgrim's Progress?

Cloisters: For meditation and for a Pilgrim's Progress

"Pilgrim's Progess" is the most successful allegory ever written, according to the New Schaff-Herzog Encylopedia of Religions. The writer, John Bunyan (1628-1688), published it in two parts, in 1678 and 1684.

Journey

Bunyan tells how Christian travels from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, burdened with the knowledge of his sin. He visits the Slough of Despond, Vanity Fair, the Doubting Castle, and the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Part one is his journey and part two the journey of his wife, Christiana.

Full name

The full name of Bunyan's work is: "The Pilgrim's Progress From This World to That Which is to Come."

Bedford Jail

Bunyan began "Pilgrim's Progress" in 1676, while in the Bedford County jail, England, for six months. He served two terms altogether, the first from 1660 to 1672, for preaching without a license.

Influence

According to Yale University English professor, Alexander Witherspoon, "'The Pilgrim's Progess' is without doubt, the most influential religious book ever written in the English language."

Multimedia

Twentieth-century English composer Vaughan Williams wrote an opera about the book. The story inspired feature-length films, cartoons and video games. The book is never out of print and available in recorded book form, as an online text, in .PDF form or as a free MP3 download.

References

• The Pilgrim's Progress; Online versions
• John Bunyan Biography
• John Bunyan, The Pilgrim's Progress, Alexander Witherspoon, 1957

Resources

• New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religion p304