There will likely never be another book in the league of John Bunyan’s immortal Pilgrim’s Progress. With more copies published in more languages than any other book in history except the Bible itself, it would be impossible to measure its influence. And yet it has been speculated that ours may be the generation that sees this book all but disappear – a consideration that surely hurts any Christian who has read it!
Leland Ryken, for many years professor of English at Wheaton College, would like to reverse the trend, and his helpful guide, Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress just may help! As part of Crossway’s Christian Guides to the Classics Ryken provides a brief introduction to Bunyan and his classic book, a brief discussion of the times, identification of Bunyan’s allegorical characters, various observations on the story, summary expositions of each major scene, and discussion questions for group or personal study. We are happy for any work that promotes the reading of Bunyan’s classic, and this little guide will be particularly helpful to that end. We hope it will encourage not only the individual reading of this second-greatest of all books but also its use in Sunday Schools, youth groups, and other small groups.
Fred Zaspel