The King’s Highway

Since it was first published in 1678, John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress has encouraged believers and pointed them to the Scriptures. C.H. Spurgeon said of this work:

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.

The book tells the story of man who is clothed in rags who begins reading a Book, the Word of God, and is awakened to the realities of sin and judgment. As his distress and conviction grows, it is represented by a great burden that weighs heavy on his back. He realizes the fearful consequences of sin and knows that he, his family and his city will be condemned unless “some way of escape can be found, whereby we may be delivered.”

Bunyan wrote his allegory during the time he spent in the Bedford jail, referred to in his day as “the den.” After the Restoration in 1660, Bunyan was arrested for preaching the gospel in a non-conformist church and spent most of the next twelve years in prison. During this imprisonment Bunyan wrote an autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, which told how God had graciously brought him from death unto life. He then began to shape his experiences of coming to faith in Christ and suffering for the gospel into an allegory which he entitled The Pilgrim’s Progress.

We invite you to read through the book with us one week at a time. Many riches and insights are contained in Bunyan’s work. These posts will seek to draw out a small portion and hopefully encourage you to search after more.

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