But some of the greatest literature in the English language has also contributed to the loss of biblical realism. The great works of writers such as Milton and Bunyan have had the effect of wholly allegorizing the battle between good and evil as well as the Christian’s struggle to follow the Lord. This is true to such an extent that generations of readers have emerged with a head full of images, but no idea of what to do in their own individual “pilgrim’s progress” or “paradise regained.” Worse still, the impression is conveyed that this progress will somehow automatically take place through
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