I have a few versions of this on my shelves from the nicely bound hard back to paper backs I can hand out (you know "loan").

This is (as I'm sure most already know) an allegorical journey depicting the struggles of living the Christian life. John Bunyan was a Baptist imprisoned when it was against the law to be a be Baptist. He was imprisoned for (aprox.) twelve years for refusing to convert to Anglicanism (Church of England)...this sort of thing by the way is the reason for the first amendment, More...

A Response to Paul Bryant's Review:

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...


Mr. Honest

Then it came to pass a while after, that there was a post in the town that inquired for Mr. Honest Paul Bryant.

So he came to the house where he was, and delivered to his hand these lines: “Thou art commanded to be ready against this day seven-night, to present thyself before thy Lord at his Father’s house.

“And for a token that my message is true, all the daughters of music, even the mothers of invention, shall More...

The Pilgrim's Progress is a wonderful work written by a 17th-century Puritan, John Bunyan, from his cell prison in a trying time of persecution. Rich in Biblical theology, it is the best-known allegory of the Christian's life. It tells the story of a pilgrim named Christian as he walked a journey from the City of Destruction (where he lived before his conversion) to the Celestial City (an allegory of heaven), sharing with us the many challenges, obstacles, comfort, and encouragement Christian en More...

Fascinating allegory about man’s search for salvation. The fact that this was first published in 1678 by John Bunyan (1628-1688) and its message still rings true up to now makes this an appropriate read for those who believe in life after death. The only problem is that if you hate classics, then you will find this a struggle to read. Methinks however, that if you like novels with pilgrimage as theme (Paolo Coelho’s Pilgrimage is a good example) or those even crusade adventures like Lord of the More...

So you know when you hear that Citizen Kane is the best movie ever because of how revolutionary it was during its time period, and then you watch it and you realize that the key phrase is "during its time period"? Well, reading Pilgrim's Progress is likely to leave many with the same feeling. No doubt one of the greatest modern religious texts in terms of what it provided for early Puritans (an easy and concrete representation of their theology and daily living practices), it leaves a little to More...

I just read this for the second time. It is really an amazing story. Through various characters that the pilgrim, Christian, and later his wife, Christiana, meet in their journies, we are introduced to various aspects of our own character and how those traits can help or hinder us in life's journey. The journey/story can get tedious at times, and while the story doesn't have the drama or excitement of a C.S. Lewis book, I find that John Bunyan's understanding of the scriptures in the 17th centur More...

I read this book during my second deployment to Iraq as well and it took me quite a while to finish it. I had seen this book referenced often and I wanted to read it on my own. The overall consensus is that it is a very compelling book and will pull at your soul's emotional strings with its simplicity and candor. But also there were three major hurdles to finishing this book--for me, at least:

It was first published in 1678 so it is not an easy read. The diction is alien to me, but also one does More...

simply amazing. There is a reason why many literary critics consider this the best Christian book/read next to the Bible. This book although not a difficult read compared to other literary classics will definitely challenge you with its many allegories and metaphors of the Christian life. For anyone who thinks the Christian life is a soft cushy way needs to read this book.

This isn't easy for me to do, but I admit it. I give up. I can't make myself slog through this anymore.

I picked this up as part of my ongoing project to read classics I've somehow missed out on in the first 31 years of my life. Also, an old friend listed it as one of her 20 Most Memorable Books on facebook, so I was expecting to be moved. Or instructed. Or touched. Maybe that was part of the problem. But I've had it out from the library for 6 weeks, renewed it once already, the due date is loomi More...

I wish I had received all the nuggets this book has to offer in my first reading, but I'm positive I didn't. However, I am firmly committed to reading it again, because the nuggets I did get were a blessing: even on the most basic level, imagining the Christian walk as a physical journey with actual hills and valleys and byways from the narrow road is helpful (and biblical!). I imagine that once I have delved deeper, I'll be giving this book five stars--I just struggled to follow along some of t More...

I had previously read a version of The Pilgrim's Progress written for children that had revealed an unexpectedly adventurous tale that seemed no less vivid for being a fairly simplistic allegory, thinly veiled, and with such leading character names as "Faithful", "Hopeful", "Christian" and then "Mr. Talkative", "Mr. Scapegoat", and "Mr Turn-back." Upon finally reading the original, I was surprised to find that the basic plot served as a means of tying together the objects of a number of extended More...

John Bunyan, an English writer of the Protestant tradition, has long been associated with his masterpiece “A Pilgrims Progress.” Technically speaking, Bunyan was a reformed Baptist, not a Puritan; however, his work has become analogous with the movement of Puritans to the New World after suffering persecution at the hands of the Anglican Church. Bunyan enjoyed the privileges of the Puritan Commonwealth, such as free speech and worship. During this time, he had written several of his treatises on More...

Though this book might be more appropriately filed under “Classics”, I’m placing it on the “Theology” shelf, for reasons I will outline below. A staple of Christian literature for hundreds of years, Bunyan’s tale has been read and referenced by children and ministers alike. Grounded as it is in the theology of the Reformation (theology which, running counter to the teachings of the Church of England, landed the author in prison), the book certainly contains a wealth of solid doctrinal teaching. More...

This is the 17th-century allegorical tale of Christian, a humble pilgrim, on his journey from the town of Destruction to the Coelestial City, where God resides. In its day, this classic sold more copies than any other book except the Bible. It was particularly popular among the settlers of the colonies in New England, who commonly referred to themselves as "pilgrims."

Bunyan's book was meant to be a defense of his religious beliefs, and was written for the most part while he was in prison for ref More...

"Put by the curtains, look within my veil, / Turn up my metaphors, and do not fail, / There, if thou seekest them, such things to find, / As will be helpful to an honest mind." So advises Bunyan in the conclusion to his allegory. After looking within the veil of these metaphors, his book has proved helpful to me in two main ways.

The first is that it has helped to awaken in my soul the grand and dramatic reality that reality is grand and dramatic. We are on a pilgrimage each of us or else we are More...

Okay, the above book made me so curious that I did read "The Pilgrim's Progress." While it takes awhile to get into that 17th century language, the effort is worthwhile. Since I think the basic story is pretty familiar (a pilgrim, Christian, traveling life's path and encountering various obstacles before finally reaching Heaven), I'll just list some impressions.

When asked by Mr. Goodwill (one of many aptly-named folks Christian encounters on his journey) why no one joined him, he answers "becaus More...

Originally published on my blog here in February 2004.

The recent BBC poll to find the best loved English novel, the Big Read, chose The Lord of the Rings, a winner which is almost inevitable in this kind of listing nowadays. But if the poll could have been run a hundred and fifty years ago or more, then The Pilgrim's Progress would have been the runaway winner (so long as we ignore the fact that it is not really a novel). If a family owned one book, it was the Bible; if two, the second would alm More...

The book Pilgrims progress was a very difficult book for me to read and understand. The book begins with a man who is convicted and realizes that there is more to life than the ordinary. He is told that there is a city named celestial city that will fill him spiritually. He set on a journey from the city of destruction to the celestial city. In the beginning of his journey his family tries to tell him to stay but his conviction is too strong for him to let all that was to come go to waste.
He b More...

If you are or thinking about even attempting to read the pilgrims progress, unabridged, then i must warn you this is a challenge book. the old wording is an encryption within itself. If you don't pay close attention and read through the lines you wont understand the meanings woven throughout this book at all. As for the quality of the story line, its fantastic, a bit dreary at first, but if you've already got a spiritual curiosity with a more than fiery passion, and love for a slight medieval th More...

Astounding, wise book. It's simplicity is like a placid sea over a deep abyss, there is richness here to grasp again and again. I had an illustrated version I read (and loved) as a kid and was it was rewarding to find the original material so satisfying.

Let me just G.K. Chesterton on The Pilgrim's Progress:

"The Pilgrim's Progress certainly exhibits all the marks of such a revival of primitive power and mystery . . . Nowhere, perhaps except in Homer, is there such a perfect description conveyed More...

Okay, considering it was written in 1678, it's not bad. After all, there's a handful of giant slayings and battles against monsters. But all in all, this allegory is too long, too repetitive, and not nearly as clever as it thinks it is. (I can just imagine John Bunyan sharpening his quill and chuckling to himself over his own metaphors.)

The biggest problem is its complete and total lack of irony. People with good names are good; people with bad names are bad. People who are Christian and who fol More...

The Pilgrim's Progress, or Christianity for Dummies by John Bunyan.

So... John Bunyan was a crazy and apparently exceedingly stupid man who wrote one of the most popular books ever in the Western literary tradition. I write of this book, obviously. The book's popularity and even its status as a Historically Important Classic is a harsh reminder of how immensely stupid and crazy humans, generally, are and always were. Because this book's status is such a harsh reminder of that fact, it's basically More...

In the dawn of the day Reader began his quest for the Great Denoument with a glad heart, his countenance suffused by the Joy of Literature Yet Unread and unburthened by Mercantile Drear. He knew he should soon pass threw Goodreads City which was said to be very Malevolent yet still he feared not and sang out hymns and epithalamions addressed to the Archangels Proust, Joyce and Bolano which should look over him as he ventured. Eftsoons, he met with Mr Worldly Wise, who thrust at him pretty volume More...

Reading this is like climbing a mountain: you always know you want to do it someday, but it's a lot of work to do so. The view from the summit is worth it, however.

Okay, one book, two parts. The first is the most well known: Christian's journey from the city of Destruction to the Heavenly City, and the second less so. Christiania's journey following him, gathering lost pilgrims along the way. I can't really call it a story, because while the story is there, it's relatively basic: the meat of the More...

Pilgrims Progress is an allegory. It's divided into two parts; the first is about a man named Christian, the second about his wife and children and their pilgrimage.
I would say that, in a nut shell, the first part is about conversion-what it is and what it entails. The second part is more a discourse of different types of "pilgrims" and how they fare on the path to conversion.
I really liked this book. I thought the analogies were poignant and intriguing. My version (Barnes and Noble classics) More...

I heard this book being read aloud in installments via a local radio station, and I was surprised at how fresh and "alive" it was in spite of its antiquated language. Written as an allegory, you will recognize many of the characters --Pliable, Worldly Wise Man, Legality, Evangelist, etc.--as people you've met on your own life journey. The main character, Christian, departs from his native City of Destruction and journeys on toward the light of the Celestial City. He begins his journey carrying a More...

After half dozen attempts I have finally been able to read and complete this classic that is so loved by so many people thanks to some wisdom received about choosing an edition in modern english rather than a reprint in the language that it was originally written.

Like many reviews here I found the poetic allegories easy to understand but frustratingly difficult and off putting to read. I would call it a test for the reader for the journey especially at the beginning. That said once I got going w More...

The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan was once the most widely read and translated book in the English language apart from the Bible. Protestant missionaries translated it first thing after the Bible. In the days of westward expansion in the United States, early settlers often owned only two books: the Bible and The Pilgrim’s Progress. While these days it mostly appears only on lists of top Christian books to read, I grew up with a copy in my Children’s Illustrated Classic series. Moreover, whil More...

Gary Schmidt brings us an accessible modern paraphrase of John Bunyan’s classic in Pilgrim’s Progress: A Retelling. This version includes more plot and character detail than Dangerous Journey, and the modern text is good in its own right, especially if you plan to move on later to the original novel. (Bunyan’s original language is rather difficult to read, and knowing the plot ahead of time can defuse the intimidation of unfamiliar words.)

Schmidt’s storytelling is augmented by Moser’s vibrant pa More...

A Christian allegory for man's journey to heaven, The Pilgrim's Progress follows Christian on his journey from the City of Destruction to Mount Zion and the Celestial City. Along the way he encounters many who will mislead him or do him harm as well as many terrors, such as the Valley of the Shadow of Death. He also meets friends along the way, chief of whom are Faithful and Hopeful.

Though I do not share the religious beliefs of the author, this was an interesting tale. Much of it is filled wit More...