Pilgrim’s Progress & Liberace


My mom read Pilgrim’s Progress (in updated language) to us as kids. I liked it. It captivated me. Some of John Bunyan’s Christian devotional classic has also brought me spiritual comfort in recent times, as well.

But, each time I read it, I can’t help but thinking Mr Bunyan is beating me out of my senses with such heavy-handed allegory. Like the Liberace of Christian standards, Bunyan’s book says, “Helllllllooooooooooooo! I’m AN ALLEGORYYYYYYYY! I’m TELLING YOU SOMETHING!””

Do you feel this way about Pilgrim’s Progress?
If you haven’t, read it, or listen to it here for free, and tell me what you like or don’t like about it.

And brighten your day by enjoying this fun 1980s Liberace Video
(You can tell he’s making fun of himself, and you have to love that sense of humor.)
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Spark My Muse

Lisa Colón DeLay writes often on matters of the attending to the inner life, creating a beloved community, spiritual formation, and consciousness. She is also a designer, teacher, speaker, and host of the weekly broadcast Spark My Muse since 2015. Lisa is Latina (born in Puerto Rico) and holds an MA in Spiritual Formation and is the author of "The Wild Land Within" (Broadleaf Books) and other books.

3 thoughts on “Pilgrim’s Progress & Liberace”

  1. Lisa – I read that same version (probably) to my kids when they were little! I can still remember my son dressed up in his plastic “Armor of God” outfit playing Christian to my Apollyon. He used to slay me in the mornings before I headed off to work. Bunyan certainly does not write with a light touch nor does he tease us with uncertainty, but he is closer to the medieval than to the modern mindset and they rather liked that sort of thing.

  2. PS – Now that you mention it, Bunyan’s allegorical technique is almost like those political cartoons where each character has a little tag labeling him as “Big Business” or “European Union.”

  3. Yes. Agreed. Bunyan’s style is from another time. Now, we’re told to “show not tell”. It’s not just poor writing on his part. It’s more of a teaching tool than anything. Modern novels came very much later. I like your cartoon analogy. Most of those cartoons do seem to say of the creator, “I’m not funny enough to just do great joke, but I sure can take a stab at satire….but I’ll have to help you along.” The FAR SIDE, they are not. Wow, that reminds me. I miss Gary Larson.

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