The crucial question is in which world do we end up when life ceases. What can one do or can one do anything at all concerning our destiny because that inner voice steering our thoughts & actions, the people we crossed paths with that influenced our directions in life vary from person to person? None more aptly depicted indeed than in John Bunyan's timeless and very entertaining book which is also a stark cautionary tale for all, believers and non-believers alike. The impact on believers by Bunyan's profound puritan Calvinism theology expounded in this tale will no doubt differ from reader to reader depending on his age, the depth of a person’s biblical knowledge, and his theological leanings. Framed like an adventure journey, the allegory of the difficulties and triumphs of our pilgrim reflect also our lifelong race to the end of the road that is full of potholes and land mines. On the journey, the pilgrim would meet a series of key people, the evangelist being the first and the most critical, who steered the pilgrim onto the path of the straight and narrow. Not by random chance or by the pilgrim’s own superior strength and virtues, but only and only by God’s Grace did our pilgrim Christian make it to the pearly gates. The pilgrim encountered many colourful characters along the way, some good others bad. It was the many dialogues and much discourse between the characters that presented the salient biblical themes in the Old & NewTestaments. Themes regarding God’s favouritism for Jacob over Esau even though Jacob was dishonest and cunning; what real God-fearing attitudes entailed, and the precious salvation by the saving grace of God obtained through the limited atonement of Jesus Christ's ultimate blood sacrifice, the one and only pearly gate to the promise land. Admittance is limited because many would never make it because the Evangelist chose some like Christian to reveal to him the Way while ignoring others like Ignorance despite Ignorance’s strong desire to reach the Celestial city. Was Christian morally superior to Ignorance, or was Jacob more righteous than Esau? Not relevant because it is God’s unconditional grace that decides whom He shall favour. Can the clay make demands on the potter?
So popular is John Bunyan’s book that there are already >1000 editions and >200 translations into other languages since it was published 4 centuries ago. In Alan Vermilye’s edition, he has modernized the language to spare most modern readers the agony, who may not appreciate the archaic English language. However, Vermilye’s edition is outstanding because he added many biblical annotations relevant to the text to expose us to God’s words (which is never often enough). Checking up on the bible verses was the best part of reading the book. Vermilye’s edition also prepares readers for an accompanying bible study book, which is very substantial in covering the many themes in the Pilgrim's progress, vis-à-vis the Bible. Some themes are quite contentious theologically dare I say. John Bunyan was an absolute genius to present the Gospel through this adventure tale. It also brought feelings of déjà vu because it loosely paralleled with Divine Comedy, where author Dante took a guided tour through hell, purgatory and Heaven. While Bunyan used characters in his dreams, Dante saw historical characters that ended in hell, purgatory and the saints who made it to heaven.
I was quite curious about the book in the pilgrim’s hand at the beginning of the story. There were only two English versions of the bible when John Bunyan was born in 1628. The Tyndale Bible and the King James Version. Today there are so many. I love the ESV and NASB best.

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The Pilgrim's Progress: A Readable Modern-Day Version of John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress (Revised and easy-to-read) (The Pilgrim's Progress Series)