The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come; Delivered under the Similitude of a Dream is a
1678 Christian allegory written by
John Bunyan. It is regarded as one of the most significant works of religious
English literature, has been translated into more than 200 languages, and has never been out of print. Bunyan began his work while in the
Bedfordshire county
prison for violations of the
Conventicle Act, which prohibited the holding of religious services outside the auspices of the established
Church of England. Early Bunyan scholars like
John Brown believed
The Pilgrim's Progress was begun in Bunyan's second, shorter imprisonment for six months in 1675, but more recent scholars like Roger Sharrock believe that it was begun during Bunyan's initial, more lengthy imprisonment from 1660 to 1672 right after he had written his spiritual autobiography,
Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners.