John Bunyan and A Pilgram’s Progress
John Bunyan (28, November 1628 to 31, August 1688) was a famous British writer and evangelist. He was born in Bedfordshine of the Bedford in the estern region of England.
He was conscipted into the military revolutionary council and engaged in missionary activity in the home. Bunyan faced legal challenges to fulfill his calling but did not make any concessions to the authorities. As a dissenter who was not ordained in the Church of England, he was unlicensed to preach. And in the year of 1660, the Stuarts restored and imprisoned him twice (one for 12 years and another for six months) with the reason that he preached without permission. He preferred to face and endure the imprisonments at great sacrifice to himself and his family, rather than resign himself to giving up preaching.
Although he has been described both as a Baptist and as a Puritan, he himself preferred to be described simply as a Christian.
He wrote the great work A Pilgram’s Progress in the prison, which told the story of a Christian and his wife looking for the kingdom of heaven.
A Pilgrim’s Progress is a great work of Christian literature. Originally composed in the 17th century, this spiritual allegory has entertained and delighted innumerous readers for over 300 years.
This story is composed of two parts. Part I tells of “Christian” and his journey to “Celestial City”. And Part II tells of the journey of Christian’s wife Christiana and their children to Celestial City. The two parts work together as a unified whole, which describes and depicts the believer’s life and struggles.
Indeed, given the easy style of the book, readers of all ages can understand the spiritual significance of the depictions in the story.
However, A Pilgrim’s Progress does not simply instruct readers with spiritual allegories, but it entertains them as well. Through Bunyan’s creative story telling, and enjoyable and spiritually instructive language, A Pilgrim’s Progress is highly recommended.
The work is known as “the most famous fable in English literature”.
事实上，班扬并没有多少经典文学的积累，他在作品中依靠的是自己对上帝的热爱，对人生的感悟，及文学方面的创造力。