The Pilgrim's Progress from this world to that which is to come

About the book

Christian leaves the City of Destruction after becoming convinced that his familiar life cannot offer safety. Guided and misdirected by successive encounters, he travels through places whose names disclose the spiritual conditions they embody. The Slough of Despond, Vanity Fair, and Doubting Castle turn inward dangers into obstacles that can be entered, resisted, or escaped. Companions give the journey a social dimension, while conversations test whether a profession of faith is matched by understanding and conduct. Bunyan presents the narrative as a dream, combining scriptural argument with the urgency of an adventure. This edition contains Part One, Christian's pilgrimage, rather than the later journey of Christiana. Its enduring narrative force comes from making doubt, temptation, perseverance, and hope matters of movement through a vividly imagined world.

• Faith and perseverance
• Temptation
• Spiritual journey

Why read it

For an allegory that gives inward spiritual struggle the memorable shapes and dangers of a traveller's road.

Christian allegory · Part One only · English text