Next to The Bible, The Pilgrim's Progress has probably been more widely read than any other book in the English language-and rightfully so. It is considered by most critics as the greatest allegory in any language. And to think that it was written by a jailed tinker who received very little formal education.
This is the enthralling account of a Christian's epic journey. With a burden on his back, Christian reads a book that tells him that the city in which he and his family dwell will be set ablaze. Christian flees from the City of Destruction and journeys through the Slough of Despond, the Interpreter's House, the House Beautiful, the Valley of Humiliation, the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Vanity Fair, Doubting Castle, and the Delectable Mountains. He finally reaches the Celestial City.
John Bunyan (1628-88), was the son of a tinker, a craft in which he also trained. In 1644 he was drafted into the army; the following year he returned home to Elstow near Bedford, and in 1649 married. About this time Bunyan began to have religious experiences which he subsequently described in Grace Abounding. In 1643 he joined a Christian fellowship organized by a converted royalist major, and about 1655 was asked to address his brethren. This event led to his preaching in villages around Bedford, and subsequently into discussions with the followers of George Fox, inspiring Bunyan to write his first book, Some Gospel Truths Opened, in 1656.
