Book Review: Pilgrim’s Progress

(The edition I read can be found here on Amazon.)

To be sure, John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress had a profound impact on me. In an action-packed volume of what seems to be Lord of the Rings meets Puritanism, the protagonist named Christian strives to reach the Celestial City on a journey of epic proportions. On the way, he meets various characters, some who seek to help him, and many who want to kill him. If you’re looking for some solid Christian teaching with a bit of sword fighting and giants involved, then this book is for you.

I was initially hesitant about reading the book. Having read a few chapters of John Owen’s The Mortification of Sin, I was not looking forward to deciphering seventeenth-century English and its ancient jargon again. Yet, as I dug into Bunyan’s work, I was pleasantly surprised by its readability. The vocabulary is simple enough, and the chapters are short, with clear subheadings in my edition marking the theme of each section. Prosimetrum is also employed, with a sprinkle of poetry in each chapter to compliment the prose. Sure, I had to occasionally look up words such as ‘Apollyon’ and ‘Beulah’, but much of the book can be easily understood without a problem.

My second fear was that the book would be rigidly instructive as an allegory and the plot would be dreadfully boring as a result. This also turned out to be a false assumption. The story line flows logically, with no absurdities arising so that a teaching can be shoehorned into the plot. Except for a few long, but not tedious, sections of dialogue, the action flows naturally and a sense of realism is maintained despite the work being a form of allegorical fantasy. Theology and narrative sit happily interpolated and cooperate with each other. I anticipate this is largely caused by the fact that the plot is based on the Christian life. Every detail inserted refers to the reality  experienced by Bunyan and Christians today, and so the content feels deeply relevant despite the age of the book.

Of course, the most rewarding part of the book is its theological content. There was scarcely a moment when I could not empathise with Christian, or his companions Faithful and Hopeful, as they struggle and sometimes fail miserably in their journey to the Celestial City. Weakness, doubt, guilt and persecution all come to haunt the characters and every Christian who seeks to follow Christ. But Bunyan, and the Bible he quotes, reminds us that Christ’s grace is sufficient in every trial. ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ (2 Cor. 12:9) *Spoilers* In the end, the protagonists succeed in arriving to their destination, and the sufferings they had endured, compared to the rewards they enjoy forever, seem so minuscule that they are no longer significant.

The Pilgrim’s Progress reminds its readers that the Christian life is most certainly difficult, fraught with trials, pain and failure. But if we trust in the providence and grace of God, even in times of darkness, we can be sure that the Almighty will deliver.

Highly recommended, 5/5