The Pilgrims Progress is a famous story of man's progress through life in search of salvation and remains one of the most entertaining allegories of faith ever written. Set against realistic backdrops of town and country, the powerful drama of the pilgrim's trials and temptations follows him in his harrowing journey to the Celestial City. An enormously influential 17th-century classic, universally known for its simplicity, vigor, and beauty of language. Pilgrim's Progress is read with the greatest pleasure.- George Whitefield (1714-1770) I find this book so full of matter, that I can seldom go through more than a page or half a page at a time. - John Newton (1725-1807) Next to the Bible, the book that I value most is Pilgrim's Progress. I believe I have read it through at least a hundred times... Prick him anywhere, and you will find that his blood is "bibline," the very essence of the Bible flows from him. - Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892) That tenderest and most theological of books is pulsating with life in every word. - J. Gresham Machen (1881-1937) Often disguised as something that would help him, evil accompanies Christian on his journey to the Celestial City. As you walk with him, you'll begin to identify today's many religious pitfalls. These are presented by men such as Pliable, who turns back at the Slough of Despond; and Ignorance, who believes he's a true follower of Christ when he's really only trusting in himself. Each character represented in this allegory is intentionally and profoundly accurate in its depiction of what we see all around us, and unfortunately, what we too often see in ourselves. But while Christian is injured and nearly killed, he eventually prevails to the end. So can you.

"The reading of all good books is like conversation with the finest (people) of the past centuries." - Descartes eading The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan can be a bit challenging even for the best of readers. Not so with this new, easy-to-read version that translates the original archaic language into simple conversational English allowing readers of all ages to easily navigate the most popular Christian allegory of all time. The story chronicles the epic adventure of a man named Christian who leaves his home in the City of Destruction and begins a life-long quest to the Celestial City. Set against the backdrop of a hazardous journey, this powerful drama unfolds as Christian's adventures lead him into fascinating lands and encounters with interesting people who either help or hinder his progress along a narrow way. With a gallery of memorable characters and visits to colorful places, Bunyan's allegorical narrative describes one man's extraordinary adventure on his journey to faith. Without losing any faithfulness to the original text, now you can read Bunyan's timeless classic and reimagine this famous quest that has challenged and encouraged believers for centuries. The book includes the original Bible references and a Bible study guide is available separately for individual and small group use. "A room without books is like a body without a soul." - ... A 19th century classics literature edition.

From the editor-in-chief and managing editor of the Babylon Bee! A millenial seeker travels through a twenty-first century take on The Pilgrims's Progress with allegorical versions of all our modern vices tempting him along the way—as well as a few timeless personified virtues that just might see him through. Biting satire and uncommon wisdom from the creators of the internet's most influential comedy site, and an author of national bestsellerThe Babylon Bee Guide to Wokeness! Ryan Fleming is a young agnostic reeling from his brother’s death. Though he is deeply angry with God, he makes good on a promise he made to his brother in the final moments of his life: to visit a church at least once. But shortly after his arrival, the slick megachurch’s shoddily installed video projector falls on his head—sending Ryan through a wormhole into another world. After a narrow escape from the City of Destruction, where the comfortably numb townspeople are oblivious to the fire and brimstone falling like bombs in their midst and destroying their homes, Ryan finds himself on a quest: To make it back to his own universe, he must partner with a woman named Faith to awaken a long-sleeping King—the World-Maker who can make all things new. Replete with characters ripped straight from the twenty-first century American church—including Radical, Mr. Satan, the Smiling Preacher, and others—this sometimes-humorous, always-insightful trek parallels Christian’s fictional journey in Pilgrim’s Progress. Prepare to laugh, cry, cringe, feel convicted, and ultimately be changed by the time the story ends. The Postmodern Pilgrim’s Progress is brought to you by Kyle Mann and Joel Berry, the two comedic minds behind The Babylon Bee—which, with 250,000 newsletter subscribers and more than fifteen million page views per month, is the most popular satirical news site on the planet.

Original Classic Text Illustrated with Line Drawings

John Bunyan was born in 1628, seventeen years after the Authorized Version of the Bible was approved by King James and published (in 1611). Even though the intensity of the persecution of genuine believers was diminishing (in the sense that capital punishment was not as likely), religious freedom remained limited. At the time, clergy were well educated, and there were virtually no legal opportunities for an unlicensed, poor, unsophisticated, nonconformist preacher like Bunyan. Bunyan, a tinker by trade, insisted on preaching not only to closed groups (such as the Congregational Church at Bedford) but also in public (and to great effect); this led to ongoing confrontation with secular and ecclesiastical authorities, which resulted in Bunyan being imprisoned on at least three occasions, for a total of over twelve years behind bars, before eventually being pardoned and licensed to teach. Not only was the cold, dark prison a hazard to his health and a trial to his faith, it also imposed severe hardship on his wife and four children (one of whom was blind). Yet it was while in prison (between 1660 and 1672 and again for six months in 1675) that Bunyan had his famous dream(s) and subsequently wrote The Pilgrim´s Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come in two parts in addition to many other writings. It has been said that John Bunyan had a very simple personal library consisting only of his Bible and a four-volume edition of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. His inspiration did not come from advanced theological training but from the Scriptures in the light of a very close personal relationship with the Lord. In this volume, note the extensive and virtually unprecedented use of Scripture. This special edition of The Pilgrim´s Progress was born out of my frustrating quest to find an accurate Spanish translation of this work for use in our Latin America ministry. Then, I began to search for an appropriate English edition to serve as the basis for a Spanish translation. Once again, I was stymied. All of the editions I have collected (some plain and some fancy), which have been published over the past one hundred years or so, have also been so edited or abridged that it soon became clear to me that the original intent of the author had been (at least, in certain places) significantly altered. I have not been able to find an edition of The Pilgrim’s Progress published in the past hundred or so years that has not in some way degraded, twisted, manipulated, or even deleted serious portions of the text that did not happen to line up with the modern doctrinal views of the editors (and different editors, in their varying editions, tended to distort entirely separate sections according to their conflicting theological views). Even between my 1832 and 1893 editions significant manipulation occurred, particularly with the author’s notes (early editions have them in the margin; nineteenth century editions and on have them converted into footnotes). By 1893, many notes were missing, or others that were not written by the author had been added. Also, many of the original Scripture references had been deleted or replaced with other references that detracted from rather than strengthened the original argument. Therefore, as our base text, we used a simple, no-frills pocket edition published by R.W. Pomeroy in Philadelphia (1832) in which the original spelling has been somewhat reformed but the Scripture references and footnotes (formerly margin notes) are much more intact. So, what has our editing accomplished? The original style of Bunyan reads half like a screenplay and half like normal dialogue with narration mixed in. Also, things such as capitalization, punctuation, and so on seem to blend according to Bunyan’s own style. We have turned the screenplay parts into normal dialogue and bent or even disregarded some of the modern rules of English so as to preserve the original style and meaning. We have also divided the book into chapters with subheadings to provide added comfort to the reader. We have gone through and solved some puzzles with the Old English, particularly with the slang used in certain parts of England prior to 1660 that, unlike the King James Bible (or even Shakespeare), contained words that are no longer relevant in any dictionary and that were combined in such a manner as to be exceedingly obscure. In other places, I left some “gems” intact because I thought they were so priceless that I could not bring myself to mess with them (also thinking that the reader could probably eventually figure them out). There were, however, places where I simply could not find an exact modern equivalent. Here are two examples or the original and edited versions: 1. As Cristiana and Mercy come up the hill Difficulty, the thirsty pilgrims come to a spring of water that has been deliberately muddied by the feet of some that do not desire for pilgrims to be able to quench their thirst. Original: Thereat Mercy said, “And why so envious, trow?” Updated: At this, Mercy said, “This is unimaginable; why so spiteful?” 2. While Christiana and friends are at the house of Mr. Mnason in Vanity Fair, here is part of the conversation: Original: Then said Mr. Dare-not-lie; “It is true, they neither have the pilgrim’s weed, nor the pilgrim’s courage; they go not uprightly, but all awry with their feet; one shoe goeth inward, another outward; and their hosen out behind; here a rag, and there a rent, to the disparagement of their Lord.” Updated Then Mr. Dare-not-lie said, “It is true. They have neither the pilgrim’s bearing, nor the pilgrim’s courage; they do not go uprightly, but all awry with their feet; one shoe goes inward, another outward; and their trousers are out behind: here a tatter and there a tear, to the disparagement of their Lord. The Pilgrim’s Progress is one of the most read books (after the King James Bible) in the history of the English language. I want my children and grandchildren to be able to read and understand this book according to the fullness of the original intent of the author as part of our accurate, historical Christian heritage that shall continue to bear good fruit into the future. Russell M. Stendal June 11, 2020

"The Pilgrim's Progress" has inspired readers for over three centuries and is a classic of the heroic Puritan tradition and a founding text in the development of the English novel. This Oxford World's Classics edition features illustrations that appeared with the book in Bunyan's lifetime.