How The Pilgrim's Progress drew on Hebrews
A documented line of influence: John Bunyan demonstrably engaged Paul’s work. The commentary below is Gröblé’s, verbatim from each work’s page.
The source
Hebrews
Paul · c. 65
BibleThe influenced
The Pilgrim's Progress
John Bunyan · 1678
EnlightenmentRelevance
8/10
On The Pilgrim's Progress’s page
- The entire journey is a single verse expanded — Hebrews' 'strangers and pilgrims' seeking a lasting city
- Bunyan's epigraph is Hebrews 13:14, his Palace Beautiful quotes Hebrews 11's roll-call of faith outright, and marginal citations thread the letter through every page
- Read it first and Christian's pilgrimage reads as a deliberate dramatization of one chapter of the New Testament
On Hebrews’s page
- One image from this letter became the most famous allegory in English — 'strangers and pilgrims on the earth,' seeking 'a city which hath foundations'
- Bunyan took that line literally: his Christian and Faithful call themselves pilgrims and strangers bound for the heavenly Jerusalem
- The whole pilgrimage conceit is built here, and Bunyan even hangs Hebrews 13:14's 'city to come' over the door as his epigraph