The Pilgrim's Progress: From This World to That Which is to Come

Bunyan, a tinker by trade, insisted on preaching not only to closed groups (such as the Congregational Church at Bedford) but also in public (and to great effect); this led to ongoing confrontation with secular and ecclesiastical authorities, which resulted in Bunyan being imprisoned on at least three occasions, for a total of over twelve years behind bars, before eventually being pardoned and licensed to teach. Not only was the cold, dark prison a hazard to his health and a trial to his faith, it also imposed severe hardship on his wife and four children (one of whom was blind).

Yet it was while in prison (between 1660 and 1672 and again for six months in 1675) that Bunyan had his famous dream(s) and subsequently wrote The Pilgrim´s Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come in two parts in addition to many other writings. It has been said that John Bunyan had a very simple personal library consisting only of his Bible and a four-volume edition of Foxe’s Book of Martyrs. His inspiration did not come from advanced theological training but from the Scriptures in the light of a very close personal relationship with the Lord. In this volume, note the extensive and virtually unprecedented use of Scripture.

This special edition of The Pilgrim´s Progress was born out of my frustrating quest to find an accurate Spanish translation of this work for use in our Latin America ministry. Then, I began to search for an appropriate English edition to serve as the basis for a Spanish translation. Once again, I was stymied. All of the editions I have collected (some plain and some fancy), which have been published over the past one hundred years or so, have also been so edited or abridged that it soon became clear to me that the original intent of the author had been (at least, in certain places) significantly altered.

I have not been able to find an edition of The Pilgrim’s Progress published in the past hundred or so years that has not in some way degraded, twisted, manipulated, or even deleted serious portions of the text that did not happen to line up with the modern doctrinal views of the editors (and different editors, in their varying editions, tended to distort entirely separate sections according to their conflicting theological views).

Even between my 1832 and 1893 editions significant manipulation occurred, particularly with the author’s notes (early editions have them in the margin; nineteenth century editions and on have them converted into footnotes). By 1893, many notes were missing, or others that were not written by the author had been added. Also, many of the original Scripture references had been deleted or replaced with other references that detracted from rather than strengthened the original argument.

Therefore, as our base text, we used a simple, no-frills pocket edition published by R.W. Pomeroy in Philadelphia (1832) in which the original spelling has been somewhat reformed but the Scripture references and footnotes (formerly margin notes) are much more intact.

So, what has our editing accomplished?

The original style of Bunyan reads half like a screenplay and half like normal dialogue with narration mixed in. Also, things such as capitalization, punctuation, and so on seem to blend according to Bunyan’s own style. We have turned the screenplay parts into normal dialogue and bent or even disregarded some of the modern rules of English so as to preserve the original style and meaning. We have also divided the book into chapters with subheadings to provide added comfort to the reader.

We have gone through and solved some puzzles with the Old English, particularly with the slang used in certain parts of England prior to 1660 that, unlike the King James Bible (or even Shakespeare), contained words that are no longer relevant in any dictionary and that were combined in such a manner as to be exceedingly obscure. In other places, I left some “gems” intact because I thought they were so priceless that I could not bring myself to mess with them (also thinking that the reader could probably eventually figure them out). There were, however, places where I simply could not find an exact modern equivalent.

Here are two examples or the original and edited versions:

1. As Cristiana and Mercy come up the hill Difficulty, the thirsty pilgrims come to a spring of water that has been deliberately muddied by the feet of some that do not desire for pilgrims to be able to quench their thirst.

Original:

Thereat Mercy said, “And why so envious, trow?”

Updated:

At this, Mercy said, “This is unimaginable; why so spiteful?”

2. While Christiana and friends are at the house of Mr. Mnason in Vanity Fair, here is part of the conversation:

Original:

Then said Mr. Dare-not-lie; “It is true, they neither have the pilgrim’s weed, nor the pilgrim’s courage; they go not uprightly, but all awry with their feet; one shoe goeth inward, another outward; and their hosen out behind; here a rag, and there a rent, to the disparagement of their Lord.”

Updated

Then Mr. Dare-not-lie said, “It is true. They have neither the pilgrim’s bearing, nor the pilgrim’s courage; they do not go uprightly, but all awry with their feet; one shoe goes inward, another outward; and their trousers are out behind: here a tatter and there a tear, to the disparagement of their Lord.

The Pilgrim’s Progress is one of the most read books (after the King James Bible) in the history of the English language. I want my children and grandchildren to be able to read and understand this book according to the fullness of the original intent of the author as part of our accurate, historical Christian heritage that shall continue to bear good fruit into the future.

Russell M. Stendal

June 11, 2020