The Religious Background

Abstract

John Bunyan’s life story is usually associated with Puritanism, a term frequently misunderstood. Puritanism can hardly be categorised as a rigid system of ideas with a clearly-defined historical origin. It has no founder, and no specific date marks its beginning. It might more accurately be called a way of life or a characteristic spirit of certain Christian believers. Without question, The Pilgrim’s Progress is one of the chief avenues by which this Puritan spirit entered the mainstream of English tradition.