Pilgrim's Progress

Before I read Pilgrim's Progress I did not understand why it is so loved. I had imagined, that for the most part, it was merely a conjectured parable, one based more on emotion and experiences than on scripture. I had suspected that it was not an allegory that could be ranked very comparable with the Christian Life. I was totally wrong! While it is true that every analogy breaks down at some point, the thought that Bunyan put into the allegory of Pilgrim's Progress, makes it line-up SHOCKINGLY well with Scripture.(It also helped that Bunyan didn't just draw thoughts from his mind, but was constantly using scripture as a basis for his analogies!)

There are two parts to Pilgrim's Progress, the first which deals with Christian's journey to Heaven, and the second which deals with Christiana, Christian's wife, and her journey to Heaven along with her children.

In the first part Christian, convicted of sin, and shown the way to go, sets off alone to live the life of a Christian. As he was one of the first from his country to take up the Pilgrimage, he meets few other true Pilgrims on the way, for most of those he meets are either obvious enemies, or hypocrites. Each person has a name, normally describing who they are. (Though there are some whose names are found in scripture, such as Moses and Adam-the-first.) When ever Christian meets another person, the reader is shown how their name indeed describes, both their character and whether or not they are fellow pilgrims. The reader is normally shown this through a conversation between Christian, and the other character. The conversations Christian has with Talkative and Ignorance, were favorites for me. Also throughout the Pilgrimage many trials and dangerous places are met with, places were previous pilgrims had been persecuted and killed and places where the trials separated the wheat and the chaff. One of the most intriguing place was Mount Sinai where Christian seeks relief from his sin. Lastly, on the journey are met places of refreshment and rest where the servants of the True King offer lodging and advice to the Pilgrims. Such was the Delectable Mountains, a place of Peace where Christian met with Shepherd of the King, who gave him many warnings and encouragement.

And that's just the first half!!! The Second half while similar in many ways, as to the places that the Pilgrims come to, and how characters are introduced, but it is also much different. Instead of a lonely pilgrimage like the one of Christian, the group of Pilgrims grows exponentially through the Story which started with only Christiana, Mercy, and Christiana's 4 children. Such was a glorious picture of the growth of the church through history. Also many of trials Christian had gone through now, are safer because of his testimony. While in part one, more evil was met than was good, in part two more good is met with than evil, and much of the evil that is met with is defeated.(Those pilgrims slew 4 giants through their pilgrimage.)Part two also shows many believer all at different stages of their sanctification. Some like good Mr. Fearing see so clearly the grievances of their sin, they are inclined to doubt the grace of God, yet He gives them power to trust him.

In Conclusion Pilgrim's Progress is more than a cute bedtime story, it is a VERY theologically sound book, that shows hypocrites for what they are, the sin of believers for what it is, and the Grace of God for what it is! It deals with the issues of doubt, assurance, lust, and trust. In this short book review I do not feel I can adequately praise it!