John Bunyan, 1628 – 1688 author of the world’s most famous Christian allegory, Pilgrim’s Progress, was a Baptist born in England in 1628. Although he had little education, Bunyan knew the Bible thoroughly and was pre-occupied with its moral issues. He was baptised in the River Great Ouse and joined a Baptist congregation in 1653. In 1658, he was arrested for preaching without a license and imprisoned for 12 years. He put his prison life to good use, starting Pilgrim’s Progress during that time and completing it during a second jail term in the 1670’s.

Some claim that Pilgrim’s Progress, an allegory of an everyman named Christian on a life journey from the City of Destruction to the Celestial City, is the most read book in the English language. It has been translated into more languages (200+) than any book except the Bible and has never been out of print. Bunyan wrote 60 other tracts and essays before he died in 1688 but none achieved the same popularity. The concrete simplicity of Bunyan’s story and allegorical images has not only influenced four centuries of Christian devotional works, its themes and images are easily recognizable in authors as diverse as Charlotte Bronte to Kurt Vonnegut. Musicals, films, an opera, and even video games have been based on Bunyan’s greatest work.