John Bunyan was born sometime during 1628 and was baptized on November 30 of the same year in Bedfordshire, England. As a child, he attended the local grammar school in Bedford but was eventually pulled out in order to learn his father’s trade. His father was known as a “tinker” who traveled around fixing things here and there. He married in 1649 and had four children. His first wife died in 1658, and he remarried in 1659.
Early in his life in 1648, he fell into a deep spiritual crisis that lasted for many years and nearly caused him to despair. This was largely due to the Calvinist doctrine of predestination of the saved and damned. Having overcome this obstacle, Bunyan began to preach and convert others and help them with their spiritual problems. His preaching, however, got him in trouble and he was therefore arrested in 1660. He was imprisoned off and on for the following twelve years. After his years of imprisonment, Bunyan contracted a fever and died at the age of 59 on August 31, 1688, in London.
While in prison, he decided that he must give an account of his faith. He then wrote his spiritual autobiography: Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. Following this work was an accompanying book: The Pilgrim’s Progress which is a blatant allegory for the Christian’s journey through life. It is believed to have been written during 1667-72. It was not published, however, until 1678.
By far, John Bunyan’s most famous work is The Pilgrim’s Progress. In his essay The Vision of John Bunyan, C.S. Lewis places Bunyan’s work on a par with classics like Lucretius’ famous poem De Rerum Natura and Burton’s Anatomy. Bunyan’s work is somewhat in the same vein as Dante’s Divine Comedy. Dante must undergo a spiritual journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven, whereas Bunyan’s story is mainly about the Christian’s pilgrimage here on earth.
The book’s protagonist is not even subtly named “Christian” who represents the average person. Scholars have suggested that Christian is merely Bunyan placing himself in his own story. Leaving his family behind because they refuse to go on a pilgrimage, Christian must make a journey from his town to the Celestial City. Along the way, he must travel through places such as the “Valley of the Shadow of Death” enduring great temptations, demons, and blasphemies. He encounters the Seven Deadly Sins personified and is tempted by each. Christian must journey to the “Wicket Gate” in order to attain paradise. When he arrives he is saved from Beelzebub’s castle by that gatekeeper who is called “Goodwill” and turns out to be none other than Jesus Christ Himself.
The second half of The Pilgrim’s Progress has to do with the pilgrimage of Christian’s wife Christiana, and their four children. It was written six years after the first section in 1684. Christiana, regretting not having gone with Christian decides to follow suit and go on a pilgrimage. Their guide is “Great-heart” whom scholars have identified as Bunyan’s vision of an ideal Puritan pastor. Whereas the first part of Bunyan’s work dealt largely with the individual’s journey, the second part deals with the spiritual journey of the Christian community.
The Christian writer C.S. Lewis was greatly influenced by Bunyan’s work, particularly The Pilgrim’s Progress. In May of 1933, Lewis published his own allegorical book called The Pilgrim’s Regress. Lewis’s book is essentially an updated version of Bunyan’s classic dealing with more contemporary issues like Communism, Fascism, and hypocrisy.
It is clear that Bunyan used allegorical fiction and fantasy in order to express the journey that everyone in this world must eventually make. In his apology for writing The Pilgrim’s Progress, he explains what his book is about:
This book it chalketh out before thine eyes
The man that seeks the everlasting prize:
It shows you whence he comes, wither he goes,
What he leaves undone, also what he does:
It also shows you how he runs, and runs,
Till he unto the Gate of Glory comes. (Apology for The Pilgrim’s Progress)
He continues to write, saying that not only does his work show the journey of the everyman but also helps the reader to begin his journey and helps guide them along it:
This book will make a traveler of thee,
If by its counsel thou wilt ruled be;
It will direct thee to the Holy Land,
If thou wilt its directions understand:
Yea, it will make the slothful active be,
The blind also delightful things to see. (Apology)
He makes it clear that it will not be easy and there will be many temptations and hardships along the way. There is hope, however, as Bunyan has many people who help Christian along his path offering advice and directing him when necessary. These people, for the Catholic, are the angels and saints given to us by God as companions and guides. Of course, our greatest intercessor is Christ who not only saved Christian from Beelzebub but can do the same for us as well.
Joseph Tuttle
Joseph Tuttle is a Catholic writer and author. His essays, articles, book reviews, and poetry have been published with or are forthcoming with Word on Fire Blog, Aleteia, Catholic World Report, Adoremus Bulletin, The University Bookman, The St. Austin Review, Homiletic and Pastoral Review, New Oxford Review, Voyage Comics Blog, and Missio Dei. He is the author, editor, or contributing author of numerous books including An Hour With Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (Liguori, 2021), Tolkien and Faith: Essays on Christian truth in Middle-Earth (Voyage Comics, 2021), and The Christbearer (Voyage Comics, 2023) He graduated cum laude from Benedictine College with a Bachelor of Arts in Theology. He is currently pursuing a Master of Arts in Catholic Philosophical Studies at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology.