How The Pilgrim's Progress drew on 2 Timothy

A documented line of influence: John Bunyan demonstrably engaged Paul’s work. The commentary below is Gröblé’s, verbatim from each work’s page.

Paul · c. 64

John Bunyan · 1678

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On The Pilgrim's Progress’s page

Mr. Valiant-for-Truth's dying words — "My Marks and Scars I carry with me... that I have fought his Battles" — are Paul's farewell from 2 Timothy turned into a deathbed scene
Bunyan also captions the Interpreter's ideal preacher with the same verse, "I have fought a good fight... I have kept the faith"
Read Paul's letter first and you hear the original behind every soldier-of-faith note Bunyan strikes

Paul's farewell — "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith" — became Bunyan's template for a Christian's triumphant death
In The Pilgrim's Progress, the Interpreter's portrait of the ideal preacher is captioned with this very verse, and Mr. Valiant-for-Truth's deathbed speech enacts it line by line
The model of life-as-soldiering, ending in a kept faith, passes straight from this letter into Bunyan's allegory