The Pilgrim’s Progress (EP)

‘As I walked through the wilderness of this world, I came upon a certain place, and I laid down in that place to sleep. And as I slept, I dreamed a dream.’ One of the most widely read books of all time, John Bunyan’s timeless classic has inspired readers for centuries. Considered to be one of the most important books in the history of English Literature, Bunyan’s heroic Puritan tale has been in print since he first penned it while in Bedford jail for preaching the gospel in 1678. This version, skilfully updated so that it is accessible for the twenty-first century reader, follows the story of Christian, whose pilgrimage takes him through the Slough of Despond, Vanity Fair and the Delectable Mountains before he finally reaches the Celestial City. “Next to the Bible, the book that I value most is John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. I believe I have read it through at least a hundred times! It is a volume of which I never seem to tire; and the secret of its freshness is that it is so largely compiled from the Scriptures. It is really Biblical teaching put into the form of a simple yet very striking allegory.” C.H. Spurgeon

Publisher: Evangelical Press
Type: Paperback
ISBN: 9781783972142

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John Bunyan was born in Elstow, near Bedford, in 1628, and followed his father into the tinker’s trade. He married a God-fearing woman (whose name is unknown) in 1648. Bunyan was convicted of his sin when he read The Plain Man’s Pathway to Heaven (Arthur Dent) and The Practice of Piety (Lewis Bayly). He made attempts to reform his life but realised that he was lost and without Christ. Bunyan came into contact with a group of women whose ‘joyous conversation about the new birth and Christ deeply impressed him’. They introduced him to their pastor in Bedford, John Gifford, who was instrumental in leading Bunyan to repentance and faith. By 1655 Bunyan was himself preaching to various congregations in Bedford, and hundreds came to hear him. John Owen said of him that he would gladly exchange all his learning for Bunyan’s power of touching men’s hearts. In 1660 Bunyan was arrested for preaching without official permission from King Charles II; he was to spend the next 12½ years in Bedford County Gaol. Although a time of much suffering, Bunyan’s years in prison were productive, for he wrote extensively, with only the Bible and Foxe’s Book of Martyrs beside him, publishing such titles as Christian Behaviour, The Holy City and A Defence of the Doctrine of Justification. Of particular significance for his life-story was Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, which chronicled his life up to the time of his imprisonment. After some fruitful years of ministry, in March of 1675 Bunyan was again imprisoned for preaching publicly without a license. It was during this imprisonment that he began the first part of his most famous book, The Pilgrim’s Progress, which was to sell more than 100,000 copies in its first ten years in print. Released in 1677, Bunyan spent the last ten years of his life ministering to his congregation and writing, including Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ (1678), The Life and Death of Mr Badman (1680), The Holy War (1682), and the second part of The Pilgrim’s Progress (1685). He published ten more books in the last three years of his life, amongst them The Jerusalem Sinner Saved and The Acceptable Sacrifice.

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