Description
2005 hardback edition in superb condition. The Banner of Truth Trust is an international Evangelical and Reformed Christian publishing house and charitable trust, established in London in 1957 (and headquartered in Edinburgh) to promote Reformed, Puritan, and Calvinistic theology. Known for distributing Christian books and literature, they also publish a monthly magazine, hold conferences worldwide, and manage a book fund to support pastors globally. The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come is a 1678 Christian allegory written by the English nonconformist preacher John Bunyan. It is commonly regarded as one of the most significant works of Protestant devotional literature and of wider early modern English literature. It has been translated into more than 200 languages and has never been out of print. It appeared in Dutch in 1681, in German in 1703 and in Swedish in 1727. The first North American edition was issued in 1681. It has also been cited as the first novel written in English. According to literary editor Robert McCrum, “there’s no book in English, apart from the Bible, to equal Bunyan’s masterpiece for the range of its readership, or its influence on writers as diverse as William Hogarth, C. S. Lewis, Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Charles Dickens, Louisa May Alcott, George Bernard Shaw, William Thackeray, Charlotte Brontë, Mark Twain, John Steinbeck and Enid Blyton.” The lyrics of the hymn “To be a Pilgrim” are based on the novel. Yes, John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678) is a work of fiction, specifically a celebrated Christian allegory. Written while Bunyan was imprisoned for his nonconformist preaching, it tells the fictional story of a character named “Christian” journeying from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, representing the spiritual life.