John Bunyan: life, works, and literary legacy

John Bunyan

The Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan

One of the most controversial issues in Christian teaching during the era in which John Bunyan wrote The Pilgrim's Progress was the question, originally posed by Martin Luther, if Christian salvation could be achieved through good deeds or through faith alone. According to the initial appearance of the structure of the book to the eye of a unenlightened modern reader, it might seem as if good works or deeds were all that were required on the part of the pilgrim, Christian, at the center of the narrative. After all, the act of pilgrimage is a physical action of a good deed, of movement in the world from a secular place to a sacred place. Christian does travel a long and hard journey to fully apprehend the true nature of the Christian faith. However, the ultimate (Protestant) truth that Christian learns at the end of The Pilgrim's Progress is that that salvation is achieved by faith in Christ alone.

The reason that Bunyan's tale makes it initially appear that salvation is the result of work rather than of faith is that the book takes the form of a narrative arc, rather than a listing or teachings of morals one must believe in. Because the book contains a plot or story, its structure almost invariably involves at least the appearance of external struggle. However, Christian struggles not with the difficulty of doing good works, but with emblematic representations of the spiritual crisis within himself. The struggle appears to be an outer struggle, but really it is an inner struggle, as the book really takes place in the main character's head, in the form of a dream. Only when Christian realizes the importance of faith does he become saved and is able to enter the Celestial City. However, the entrance into the Celestial City is not based upon Christian's ability to open up the city's gate through a physical action, rather it comes from a psychological or inner truth that Christian is now capable of understanding. The challenges Christian has most difficulty in resisting throughout the book are those which involve misunderstandings of the truth of faith, rather than more obvious temptations such as money or sensual pleasures, which he does not appear to be as drawn to as some of the other characters in the work.

Christian is not a perfect character, in that he succumbs to some temptations and resists others. The most valuable parts of this book, for a modern reader, come in Christian's eventual success in resisting temptations like the "Slough of Despond." It is easy to think of evil or temptation to be personified in the form of worldly goods, or of physical, sensual evils. However, the inner and emotional qualities of despair, the utter loss of hope or faith in the face of the seemingly insurmountable difficulties and evils of the world are difficult to resist for both the pilgrim and the reader today. Sometimes modern society seems to emphasize rather than to de-emphasize the dark side of the world. One is encouraged, almost as a point of spiritual intelligence, to look at things with a satirical or dismissive attitude. Optimism is seen as naive and being blind to 'the truth.' However, as The Pilgrim's Progress makes it clear, evil and dark deeds are hardly a new and modern phenomenon. Human life has been difficult for many centuries, not simply during our own time. It is only in attempting to rise above viewing such difficulties with despair that true understanding and faith is achieved. If one does not appreciate the good of the world in one's heart and falls into despair, one commits just as great a sin as getting lost in the hustle and bustle of the transparent glories of "Vanity Fair."