The Pilgrim’s Progress: Part I — Christian’s Journey Begins

An Orientation for the Road Ahead

After completing Brideshead Revisited, we now turn to a very different kind of book—older, simpler, and wonderfully direct.

We begin The Pilgrim's Progress, written by John Bunyan, one of the most widely read Christian books in the English language.

The work is divided into two great parts:

• Part I — the journey of a man named Christian

• Part II — the later journey of his wife, children, and companions

Tomorrow—and for the weeks ahead—we begin with the man himself.

A Different Kind of Story

This is not a novel in the modern sense.

There are no hidden meanings, no subtle irony, no shifting timelines. Bunyan writes plainly. He wants to be understood.

And yet, what he gives us is unforgettable.

A man with a burden on his back. A book in his hand. A city behind him that is marked for destruction.

And a road ahead.

The Man Called Christian

Christian is not introduced as strong or heroic.

He is troubled.

He reads, and as he reads, he trembles. The Book tells him that judgment is coming. His world is not as secure as it seemed. Something is wrong—deeply wrong—and he cannot ignore it.

The burden on his back grows heavier.

He tries to speak to others, but they do not understand. Some laugh. Some dismiss him. Even his own household cannot see what he now sees so clearly.

At last, he does what every true pilgrim must do.

He leaves.

The First Step Is the Hardest

Christian does not yet know the full road.

He does not understand all that lies ahead.

But he knows enough.

He must flee from the City of Destruction.

That first step—turning away, stepping out, beginning the journey—is one of the great moments in all of Christian literature.

It is not dramatic in appearance. There is no crowd, no ceremony.

Only a man running, crying out:

“Life! Life! Eternal life!”

Why This Still Speaks to Us

What Bunyan describes is not bound to the 17th century.

Every believer knows something of this awakening:

• The moment when Scripture becomes personal

• The weight of sin felt, not just understood

• The realization that one cannot stay as he is

  
  

Christian’s journey begins not with strength, but with conviction.

And that is still how it begins.

The Road Before Us

In the weeks ahead, we will follow Christian step by step:

• Through the Slough of Despond, where discouragement threatens to swallow him

• To the Wicket Gate, the narrow entrance to life

• Into the House of the Interpreter, where truth becomes clear

• And onward, until at last his burden falls away at the Cross

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Bunyan does not hurry.

Neither will we.

A Word About Part II

Later, we will return to this road with others—Christian’s wife, Christiana, and their children.

Their journey will show us something equally important:

That the Christian life is not only solitary, but shared.Not only a struggle, but a companionship.

Closing Word

The Pilgrim’s Progress endures because it tells the truth in plain words.

There is a road. There is a burden. There is a way of escape.

And there is a City at the end.

Tomorrow, we begin to walk.

Closing Prayer

Lord, open our eyes as You opened Christian’s.

Give us grace to see our need, courage to take the first step, and faith to follow where You lead.

Through Jesus Christ our Lord.Amen.

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John Bunyan

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Verse 1

He who would valiant be

'Gainst all disaster

Let him in constancy

Follow the Master

There's no discouragement

Shall make him once relent

His first avowed intent

To be a pilgrim.

Verse 2

Who so beset him round

With dismal stories,

Do but themselves confound --

His strength the more is.

No foes shall stay his might,

Though he with giants fight:

He will make good his right

To be a pilgrim.

Verse 3

Since, Lord, Thou doest defend

Us with Thy Spirit,

We know we at the end

Shall life inherit.

Then fancies flee away!

I'll fear not what men say,

I'll labor night and day

To be a pilgrim.