Since its publication, The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan has become one of the bestselling books ever published. These pieces look at the surprising history of the book, its themes, and its author.
Every Pilgrim's Story by John Bunyan
The most popular book of the Christian world, next to the Bible itself saw publication on this day, February 18, 1678. It is a story of fantastic creatures and deadly dangers. In his many adventures, the hero battles with a raging dragon, flounders in a bog from which he is unable to extricate himself, and is chained in a castle, hostage to despair.
The story is Pilgrim's Progress, authored by John Bunyan while he lay in prison for preaching without a license and for other offenses against the established church. Since its publication, it has never been out of print. The book made him famous in his own day and has been a help to Christians for centuries since.
The hero is a pilgrim, a man named Christian, whom we first meet searching for truth and for relief from a terrible load he carries on his back. This load is sin. At the foot of the cross the load tumbles off. Freed, Christian hastens by a path narrow and hard toward an eternal city which is pointed out to him. Along the way he meets a great variety of vividly pictured individuals, some who help and some who hinder him.
And of course, there are giants and dragons: an almost medieval panoply of fearsome or winsome dangers. There is Doubting Castle, the Valley of Shadow and Vanity Fair, all of which the pilgrim must pass.
Rich in allegory, many phrases from the book have come into common use. The narrative itself is larded with biblical quotaations. In the margins John Bunyan cited his scripture references.
Not only English-speaking Christians but also those from the rest of the world have benefited from the tale. Often it is the first book missionaries translate when they complete the Bible in a native language. It has been turned into African, European and Asian tongues.
Surprisingly, the Chinese Communist government also printed the book and 200,000 copies sold out in three days.
Bunyan's pilgrim and all those others who reach the celestial city steadfastly hold one belief: that salvation is of Christ alone. As Hopeful says, "I believed that ...without the righteousness of this Christ all the world could not save me; and therefore thought I to myself, If I leave off [praying to know Christ], I die, and can but die at the Throne of Grace. And withal, this came into my mind, If it tarry, wait for it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry. So I continued praying until the Father showed me his Son."
This remains the Christian gospel. Pilgrim made it safely to the Celestial City by heeding and believing that message.
Bibliography:
- Bunyan, John. Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. Various editions. [Bunyan's spiritual autobiography.]
- ------------- Pilgrim's Progress. Various edition).
- "Bunyan, John." Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals. Downers Grove, Illinois: IntervarsityPress, 2003.
- "Bunyan, John" and "Pilgrim's Progress, the." The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. Edited by F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone. Oxford, 1997.
- "John Bunyan." Christian History #11.
Last updated May, 2007.
("Every Pilgrim's Story, by John Bunyan" by Dan Graves, MSL published on Christianity.com on April 28, 2010)
What Do We Know about the Author of Pilgrim's Progress?
John Bunyan was born in Elstow, Bedfordshire, England on this day, November 28, 1628. His home was a small thatched cottage, and his father was a tinker, who spent his days pushing a cart along the roads, stopping at homes to fix metal pots and pans.
Young John received a grammar-school education, but like most sons of his day, he learned his father's trade. During the English Civil War he served as a soldier-- probably on the Puritan side. At nineteen he married, and his Christian wife led him to try to reform his life. But John found himself constantly slipping back into old habits. Though he lived well enough to impress his neighbors, he described himself as a "painted hypocrite."
In 1651, John began attending an independent meeting at Bedford and was moved by the pastor's intense biblical preaching. He began to pore over the Scriptures, until the conflict within him ended in the assurance of God's grace in his life. Salvation had come to John Bunyan.
He joined the Bedford congregation and began to preach there, amazing people at the abilities of a "mere" tinker. Though King Charles II had at first promised freedom of religion, increasingly the Anglican church became England's only accepted church. Dissent was not encouraged, and in 1661 the authorities sent John to Bedford jail for his preaching. His times in prison were hard on his family and his blind daughter. He remained there until 1672, when Charles issued the Declaration of Indulgence, extending leniency to non-Anglicans.
Upon his release, the Independent meeting house called him as their pastor. He received a license to preach and became known as Bishop Bunyan-- perhaps becoming the organizing genius of Independents in the area, But the toleration was not to last.
In 1675 Bunyan again found himself in prison, and began his greatest work: The Pilgrim's Progress. This allegory of salvation and the Christian walk has given us such colorful phrases as "Vanity Fair," "the Slough of Despond," "House Beautiful," "Muckraking," and, "Hanging is too good for him." Drawing only on his own experience and the Bible, this largely unlettered preacher created a captivating piece of literature that appeals to those who travel - or would travel - on the spiritual pilgrimage from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City.
Perhaps because so many readers experienced the same sort of pilgrimage in their lives, The Pilgrim's Progress, became the world's best-selling devotional book. Bunyan describes the most intimate states of the Christian soul. His realization of the depth of God's grace in his own life gave Bunyan an ability to speak to many people, even generations, of their own spiritual state. Bunyan's other works, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, The Life and Death of Mr. Badman, and The Holy War, never achieved the popularity of The Pilgrim's Progress. This one humbly written work touched thousands of live sand became a classic.
Bibliography:
- Adapted from Christian History Institute's book Dates With Destiny by Curtis, Lang and Petersen. Revell, 1991.
- Hendrickson, Ford. Martyrs and Witnesses. Detroit: Protestant Missionary Pub Co., ca. 1917. Source of the image.
- Petersen, William J. C. S. Lewis Had a Wife; Catherine Marshall Had a Husband. Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House, 1986.
Last updated July, 2007.
("Bestselling Author, John Bunyan" by Curtis, Lang, Peterson published on Christianity.com on April 28, 2010)
Tiyo Soga Translated Pilgrim's Progress into Xhosa
You have heard complaints about the low skills of some teachers in US classrooms, who flunk basic exams. Tiyo Soga's skills were far lower than that when he began to teach other South African children. This led to an early humiliation.
Years before, a Scottish missionary named James Stewart had founded a mission station called Lovedale, which was dedicated to teaching Africans practical skills. Lovedale offered a competitive exam. Whichever "Kafir"* proved best qualified was admitted free of charge. Tiyo's teacher, the Rev. Chalmers decided to enter the young man into the competition.
Given a simple subtraction problem, Tiyo stared in dismay at the figures on the chalkboard. The examiner felt sympathy for the young man. "Take away the lower line from the upper," he suggested. Tiyo brightened. This he understood! He wetted his thumb and erased the bottom line! He was sent back to Tyumi to explain his failure.
William Chalmers was a wise man who saw below the surface. Convinced that Tiyo was above average in moral and spiritual qualities, he spoke to the head of Lovedale, and convinced him to admit Tiyo despite his dismal performance.
Tiyo vindicated Chalmers' trust. By hard, steady application, he rose to second place in each of his classes--except arithmetic. He was able to recite half of the Shorter Catechism in English, proofs and all, without a single mistake. In due time, he studied in Scotland where his spiritual life and academics were far above expectation.
Back in Africa, Tiyo labored to the point of breaking his health: teaching, preaching, raising money for church building. He spent days on the trail, walking from kraal to kraal with the gospel, and confronting godless chiefs. As it happened, his family were prone to tuberculosis. Under the strain of work and poor living conditions, he contracted the deadly disease. Despite failing health, he took on new tasks for the sake of the souls of Africans. For love of his people, he even left a station he had built at great cost to himself, to move further inland among them.
Throughout this time, he worked on a translation of Pilgrim's Progress into Xhosa, adapting the story to fit his people's daily experiences. He believed that the book, with its vivid imagery, would do more to win souls than any other he could prepare. On this day, November 21, 1866, he completed it. Pilgrim's Progress had the impact he hoped, and remains a treasure of the South African church.
Tiyo also aided in revision of the "Kafir" Bible. At his death from tuberculosis in 1871, four gospels were complete. He was only forty-two, having spent his life recklessly for Christ. He proved that early failure can spur final success.
*This was the word commonly used at that time; however, Kafir is from an Arabic word meaning "infidel" and is offensive to South Africans.
Bibliography:
- Cousins, Henry Thomas. From Kafir Kraal to Pulpit: the story of Tiyo Soga. London: S.W. Partridge, 1899. Source of the image.
- Williams, Donovan. Umfundisi: a biography of Tiyo Soga, 1829-1871. Lovedale: Lovedale Press, 1978.
Last updated April, 2007.
("Tiyo Soga Translated Pilgrim's Progress into Xhosa" by Dan Graves, MSL, first published on Christianity.com on April 28, 2010)
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