IDEOLOGY OF PURITANISM IN JOHN BUNYAN’S“THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS”

School of Foreign Languages,Nanyang Institute of Technology,Nanyang,China Email:sunli_lizhi@163.com

[Abstract]John Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress is the most famous religious allegory in English literature,and is known as an important Christian classic after the Bible.It records the journey of Christian overcoming difficulties and obstacles,resisting secular temptations,defeating the coercion of the devil,and triumphantly entering the kingdom of heaven.This paper analyzes Puritanist ideology from four aspects based on the pilgrims’journey to heaven,namely justification by faith,individual independence,realism and biblical supremacy.This allegory not only describes the road of sacred faith from this life to eternity,but also implies the days that people experience in the secular world.The author preaches to people that they may be blinded by ignorance and despair on the road of life,but they will eventually reach the Celestial City with their persistent Christian faith.

[Keywords]The Pilgrim’s Progress; puritanism; justification by faith; individual independence; realism; biblical supremacy

INTRODUCTION

In order to get rid of the control of the Pope,King Henry VIII of England promulgated the“Supreme Act”through Parliament to kick off the religious reform.The“Supreme Act”stipulates that the king and his successors are the only supreme leaders of the English Church in the world,have the power to supervise and are responsible for supervising church affairs and correcting malpractices.Therefore,the law established the status of“reign supreme”in Britain.From then on,“the king became a symbol of sovereignty,and became the sole authority and subject of both the monk and the lay.The dual political system in the Middle Ages was eventually transformed into a unified political system of royal power.”(Liu,2006,p.142).After Elizabeth I ascended the British throne,she promulgated a series of decrees(1558-1563)called“Elizabeth’s Decision”,which established the status of Anglicanism as the national religion.Elizabeth’s decision“actually established a kind of church which is Protestant in doctrine and traditional in organization.It is not subordinate to a pope,but subordinate to the queen as a kind of rule through the Council.”(Cai,1997,pp.100-101).

The British religious reformation had a multifaceted influence on British culture,and gradually penetrated into philosophy,art,literature,and had a profound impact on British literature in the 17th century.Puritanism was born in the process of the British religious reform.Puritans advocated simplifying religious ceremonies,opposed extravagance and waste,and advocated the realization of capital accumulation through diligence and thrift.Their ideology reflected the life outlook and values of the British bourgeoisie in the 17th century.John Bunyan is a major Puritan writer in Great Britain,who created a unique allegory“The Pilgrim’s Progress”.This prose narrates the various situations encountered by the heavenly passers and vividly describes the spiritual processes such as confession,conversion,believing in the Lord,and salvation in allegories.It reveals the corruption of the political situation,the bad social ethos and the dissatisfaction of the people,and reflects the beautiful vision of the British people at the bottom of the 17th century for an ideal and happy society,such as“There you shall not see again such things as you saw when you were in the lower region upon earth;to wit,sorrow,sickness,affliction,and death.”(Bunyan,n.d.,p.98).

JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH

Reformed Christians believe that God predestined some people to be saved and others were predestined to eternal damnation.This choice by God to save some is held to be unconditional and not based on any characteristic or action on the part of the person chosen.Thus,Puritans believed that it was necessary to be in a covenant relationship with God in order to be redeemed from one’s sinful condition,that God had chosen to reveal salvation through preaching,and that the Holy Spirit was the energizing instrument of salvation.Calvinist theology and polity proved to be major influences in the formation of Puritan teachings.In its place the Puritans emphasized preaching that drew on images from Bible and from everyday experience.The moral and religious earnestness that was characteristic of Puritans was combined with the doctrine of predestination inherited from Calvinism to produce a“covenant theology,”a sense of themselves as the person chosen by God to live godly lives both as individuals and as a community.

Calvinism believes that God’s decision is“secret,”and everyone can only see a glimmer of life through God’s call to you.In this way,every believer is intertwined with two beliefs:One is to firmly believe that he is in the“elect”.The other is to worry about becoming a“discard”outside of the gift of God.This ambivalence tortures them and inspires them,making them believe that only a person is conscientious to increase the honor of heaven,fully obeys God’s law,work hard,and has unswerving faith,can he become the“chosen person”of God.The Puritans did not stop exploring the pain of human souls for a moment.“On the one hand,they believed that the soul can be saved,and on the other hand,they saw the complete degeneration of human nature,so they continued to struggle in a dilemma until they died.This kind of inner pursuit is like a twisted clockwork,which constantly releases its power and promotes the Puritans and the entire society to make great achievements in both material and spiritual aspects.”(Degler,1991,p.16).

Every true Puritan is a moral warrior.For the sake of faith,they fight against themselves and others at the same time,aiming to achieve a moral realm that surpasses the heights that sinful people can expect to achieve.In the two parts of“The Pilgrims Progress”,Bunyan describes a Christian’journey to the Celestial City.At the beginning of the first part,the author describes inner suffering and sleeplessness of a man called Christian:“as he read,he wept and trembled;and not being able longer to contain,he brake out with a lamentable cry,saying,‘What shall I do?’”,“instead of sleeping,he spent it in sighs and tears”,“he was reading in his book,and greatly distressed in his mind…‘What shall I do to be saved?’”(Bunyan,n.d.,p.10).Upon knowing about his home city will be destroyed someday in a big fire,the Christian begins his journey to self-salvation.Christian escapes from the City of Destruction,meets with the perils and temptations of the Slough of Despond,Vanity Fair,Doubting Castle,the Valley of Humiliation,and the Valley Fair,Doubting Castle,the Valley of Humiliation,and the Valley of the Shadow of Death.Finally,Christian gets a call from God relying on his firm belief in God,accomplishing his journey and arriving at the Delectable Mountains and the Celestial City.In the second part,a female Christian called Christiana and her four children begin their journey to the Celestial City.Christiana learns about striving deeds of her husband’s through Mr.Honest’s words“the name of your husband rings all over these parts of the world:his faith,his courage,his enduring,and his sincerity under all,had made his name famous.”(Bunyan,n.d.,p.154).

INDIVIDUAL INDEPENDENCE

The British Puritans advocates asceticism.In England at the beginning of the 17th century,the religious enthusiasm of the Anglicans is quite low.English puritans find that many bishops and pastors are indulging in extravagant lives,corrupt and merciless.The church has cumbersome rituals and sacraments and the redundant hierarchical system,which makes individuals feel more alienated from God,and even have nothing to do with God.(Huang,2013,p.66).Therefore,British Puritans opposed the idea of“Divine Right of Kings”.They believe that as God’s chosen people,everyone is equal in front of God or“everyone is a priest,everyone has a call from God.”(Calvin,2007,pp.478-488).Puritans claim that each individual can communicate directly with God,and oppose the tyranny,corruption,trivial formalities and formalism of the Priest group.In the first part,the protagonist Christian have overcome difficulties and obstacles,experienced spiritual warfare,and entered the city of God under the salvation and grace of God.

This Christian’s experience testifies God’s salvation and grace.After experiencing inner sufferings,Christian unswervingly runs towards the lighted door ahead under the guidance of an Evangelist and finally gets the salvation by God’s omnipotence across the kingdom of heaven.In the allegorical prose,the salvation is accomplished through the servants sent by God such as evangelists,trustworthiness,hope,good shepherd,etc.Likewise,God’s salvation falls on Christian’s wife.This female Christian,her companion,and four children followed the same path of heaven.They walk through the narrow door that the Christian has walked through,listen to the interpreter’s preach.They also free themselves from sins before the cross,and experience the temptation and trial of Vanity Fair,receive the persuasion of the good shepherds on the Mountain,and are also taken to the eternal city of heaven in the praise of angels.The journey of female Christians reflects that everyone can get a call before the salvation and grace of God,and everyone has the opportunity to get Lord’s grace.In the second part,a visitor passed a letter from King of Celestial City to Christiana,and the contents of the letter were“the King would have her to do as did Christian her husband; for that was the way to come to his city,and to dwell in his presence with joy for ever.”(Bunyan,n.d.,p.112).From this allegory,we can see that everyone must communicate independently with God and follow the same path if he wants to remove the sins and got the salvation.

REALISM

After the Restoration,the King Charles II punish puritans by adopting some repressive measures to non-Anglicans.“Act of Uniformity”issued in May 1662 requires all priests,teachers of higher-education institutions,and principals of primary and secondary schools to abide by the regulations of English Anglicanism(Fraser,1979,p.220).Before long,the Puritan priests in the Diocese of London face a severe choice:either obey the parliament’s decree and swear to accept the Anglican Church’s“Prayer Book”and its ceremonies,or insist on their religious creed and resign from the Church.In the end approximately one-fifth of the clergy in the country give up their teaching positions for refusing to take an oath and are expelled from the Diocese.These deportees have lost their salaries and cannot preach and teach privately because of close surveillance.They are homeless and helpless.They take their wives and children,wandering everywhere,some go to the countryside to do odd jobs,some go to the cities to learn crafts,and many people wander around in the parish where they used to live and rely on relief.

The allegorical characters in“The Pilgrim’s Progress”reproduce the scenes that Bunyan experienced personally in his era.Its characters impress the reader like real persons.The places that Bunyan paints in words are English scenes,and the conversations which enliven his narratives vividly repeat the language of his time.Bunyan describes,in simple but powerful language,spiritual sufferings of English people at a time of great changes,and their aspiration for“the land that flows with milk and honey”(Bunyan,n.d.,p.97),where“they had no want of corn and wine”(Bunyan,n.d.,p.96).In reality,the Celestial City in“The Pilgrim’s Progress”is the vision of an ideal happy society dreamed by a poor tinker in the 17th century,through a veil of religious mist.Therefore,John Bunyan used metaphors to design various characters in his prose and preach to those who are lost in their religious belief during the religious conflicts.

John Bunyan expresses his emotions such as joy and sorrow and love and hate,hope and fear,ecstasy and despair,and embodies these emotions in certain people he knows well.Among these people,there are loyal friends and hypocritical believers; there are Christians,Faithful and Hopeful,and there are also Obstinate,Mr.Hate-light,Mr.Blindman,Mr.Money-love,Ignorance,Formalist and Hypocrisy,Envy,Superstition,Pickthank.Christians and faithful are described as models of pilgrims.The most realist section of part one in this book is the Vanity Fair.Vanity Fair is full of moral corruption and materialism,where lands,places,countries,honors,titles,kingdoms,lusts,pleasures and lives can be sold or bought,and cheating,roguery,theft,murder,adultery are normal phenomena.When the people in Vanity Fair took Christian and Faithful to the court for a trial,the judge’s name is Lord Hate-good,and the names of jurymen are Mr.Blindman,Mr.No-good,Mr.Malice,Mr.Love-lust,Mr.Live-loose,Mr.Heady,Mr.Highmind,Mr.Enmity,Mr.Liar,Mr.Cruelty,Mr.Hate-light,and Mr.Implacable.Faithful was quickly scourged,buffeted,stoned and stabbed with knives,and finally burned to ashes.Accordingly,in the descriptions of Vanity Fair,Bunyan not only gives us a symbolic picture of London at the time of the Restoration but of the whole bourgeois society.

BIBLICAL SUPREMACY

“The Pilgrim’s Progress”shows the necessity of the Bible in the salvation of man.The protagonist Christian gets to know that he was in danger when the Last Judgment Day came through reading the Bible.Since his soul is burdened with heavy sins,he neither wanted to die nor accept the last Trial.Thus,he awakened,repented,and accepted the advice of the Evangelist,and immediately fled to Christ Jesus.The Bible is also crucial to Christians’journey.For example,after caring for and guiding Christian,Goodwill sends him to the house of Interpreter because Interpreter has some“excellent things”to show Christian.Goodwill tells Christian that in his journey there is a narrow way that was“cast up by the patriarchs,prophets,Christ,and his apostles”and“it is as straight as a rule can get”.(Bunyan,n.d.,p.21).When Christian asks Goodwill whether there are no turning by which a stranger may lose way,Goodwill suggests him to read Matt.7:14(the fourteenth verse of the seventh chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New)and said that“thou mayest distinguish the right from the wrong,the right only being strait and narrow.”(Bunyan,n.d.,p.21).Bunyan clearly shows that in order for a Christian to remain on the narrow path that leads to eternal life,they must be firmly rooted in the Word of God.The reading of and believing in the Bible are crucial for the Christian’s life,just as they are for Christian in this allegory.

Another example of this is found in the substantial amount of time Christian spends in Interpreter’s home.Christian spends more time in Interpreter’s house than he does anywhere else on his journey.In the house of the Interpreter,the Interpreter teaches Christian the most crucial elements of Christianity,including learning who Christ is and what he has done.In the description of Christ,Interpreter teaches Christian that the book Christ holds in the picture is“the best of Books”in his hand and“the law of truth”was written upon its lips.The messages of both the Old and New Testaments are articulated in multiple symbols.Christian learns of salvation and grace,Satan and Christ,sin and temptation,and multiple other doctrinal truths by staying with Interpreter.It is clear that the Bible and the truths of Bible are crucial to Christian’s journey to the Kingdom of Heaven.On the negative side,there are some characters like Ignorance ignore Word of God and deny its usefulness.The salvation Ignorance proposes is refuted by Christian based on his understanding of Bible,such as“Thou believest with a fantastical faith; for this faith is nowhere described in the word.”(Bunyan,n.d.,p.91).Ignorance is indeed ignorant of all matters relating to the faith,salvation,life,and God because he relies on his own righteousness rather than on the righteousness of Christ.

CONCLUSION

“The Pilgrim’s Progress”is a religious allegory based on the doctrine of Christianity.The protagonist has experienced the stages of original sin,repentance,conversion,believing in the Lord,atonement,and salvation.Thus,it tells of spiritual progress of Christian,who overcome the sins of self,the fetters of friends,the temptation of the secular world and the intimidation of the devil,triumphantly enter the eternal kingdom of heaven,through the righteousness and truth of God.As a literature of puritanism,this prose displays the predestination in Calvinism,a belief that God appoints the eternal destiny of some to salvation by grace,while leaving the remainder eternal damnation for all their sins.In the allegory,Christian believe that he was“the elect”of God and he would get eternal salvation and enter the Celestial City as long as he treks on a straight and narrow right road,far away from sin and temptation.In addition,Christian pilgrimage embodies individual independence that Christians are free and can establish close personal relationships with God.This belief can be found in Martin Luther’s religious doctrine“A Christian man is the most free lord of all,and subject to none;a Christian man is the most dutiful servant of all,and subject to every one.”(Luther,1520).

“The Pilgrim’s Progress”is a realistic work,originating from the Bunyan’s political and religious stance.As a puritan,Bunyan regards the Bible and its doctrines as the authority of faith,opposing Anglicanism supported by the King,and believing that people can communicate with God by reading the Bible and have good thoughts of their own ways.Bunyan satirized the British feudal society in the 17th century which is full of incompetence and corruption of the ruling class,and the misfortune of the people at the bottom,through the portrayal of good and evil characters.All in all,John Bunyan’s“The Pilgrim’s Progress”explores how people can complete salvation through hardships and God’s grace and realize eternal life,which has inspired generations of pilgrims.