The Pilgrim's Progress - Likewise Book Reviews

"Awesome allegorical book."

" In an allegory, all the characters, places, and other items are symbols. Pilgrim’s Progress is the most remarkable allegory ever written because it applies to humans of every culture, age, and condition. This great work symbolizes the life of not only a Christian as he navigates the temptations and triumphs that come with following Christ but also the spiritual journey of unbelievers, from atheists to hypocritical Christians. The main character in this book is Christian, who, by reading the Bible, realizes he needs salvation from his sins, which symbolizes a burden on his back. Christian leaves his family in the City of Destruction and begins his journey to the Celestial City. He encounters various people and crosses into several circumstances that distract him from his destination and discourage him to walk to Zion City. Every character represent one of the two categories of people in this world: those who will spend eternity with Christ and those who will spend eternity separated from God in hell. John Bunyan’s goal is to make the reader aware that life is not simply a time to eat, drink, and be merry, but progress towards one of two places. Pilgrim’s Progress is replete with situations that every reader can identify with. Its plot is an message that reveals the gospel of Christ and what it takes to be a Christian living in a sin-filled world."

"We read this as a family read-aloud. I had tried reading it many times & struggled. I did get through it once from listening to an audiobook but still didn't get it. For some reason, this time, listening to my husband read it to me helped it make much more sense this time to the point that I really liked it."

"<strong>Imminently Readable </strong><br/><br/>I believe Alan Vermilye does exactly what he set out to do with this modern day version of the pilgrims progress. <br/>It stays entirely true to the original but really picks it up and makes it readily accessible to anyone wanting to read the Christian classic today. And this is a laudable accomplishment, because the pilgrims progress is a true masterpiece of Christian and literary prose, it is a magnificent work which truly deserve to be read by every believer and most unbelievers as well. Yet, we must be honest, that reading the original, even with slight tweaks and edits, can be very cumbersome, it often times feels very wooden and it’s archaic prose betrays it’s old age. However, people continue to read it and continue to be blessed by it, this book is a book that has stood the test of time, it has prove invaluable to many a Christian, and I believe it will continue to do so for many many many years to come, but, simply because it has stood the test of time in terms of its value, that does not necessarily mean that it has aged well in terms of its prose and style. <br/>What I think Vermilye has done, is made sure that a significant portion of younger Christians, young families, children, and new converts will not miss out on the beauty and spiritual significance of the pilgrims progress for the mere reason that they were put off my Bunyan’s older prose and thus set it aside. <br/>Here they have an accessible edition that communicates everything of the orignal in a way that sounds fitting to the modern ear. <br/>I look forward to reading this version multiple times to my children as they grow up, and do not worry in the slightest if they never “graduate” so to speak, to reading Bunyan’s original, since I believe they are not losing anything substantial in reading this modern version."

"A beautifully illustrated display of the Christian walk. The best use of personification I’ve ever seen in a book! "