Literature 210

Puritanism is defined by dictionary.com as "any of the more extreme English Protestants, most of whom were Calvinists, who wished to purify the Church of England of most of its ceremony and other aspects that they deemed to be Catholic " (dictionary.com). There are much more developed definitions with more history that tell us interesting things, such as the term "puritan" was a term of contempt used by those who hated the movement and all it stood for. Puritanism began in the 1530s, when King Henry VIII denied papal authority (because he wanted a divorce) and transformed the Church of Rome into a state Church of England. That church retained much of the liturgy and ceremony of Roman Catholicism and was considered too unchanged. Hence, the group of men who decided to "purge" the church of all things Catholic and become "pure."

It is difficult to read this work and be a Christian because it was harsh. Of course, the realization is that the work is Allegorical fiction, so there has to be some rationalizing the context within which it's written. Reading about the history of Puritanism helps a great deal with this, because the reader is given the vision into what life was like for Puritan's, or many zealously Protestant people, at that time. It can be likened to today's Jehovah's Witnesses, who as group who believe that God selects very few people for salvation, and think it's arrogant to celebrate earthly holidays, like birthdays. Also, learning the history of John Bunyan is helpful; knowing he was a preacher who was constantly in trouble for preaching without a license helps the reader to understand how passionate he was regarding his faith.

Christian, the hero, is so worried about how he can be saved, how to persuade God to show him divine providence, that he leaves his family and home. No human responsibilities or contacts can qualify in any way his responsibility for his own soul, and most human beings he meets along the way are temptations to stray...