Article #395-2 | Gutenberg Articles

Excerpt

Excerpt from The Holy War, Made by King Shaddai Upon Diabolus, for the Regaining of the Metropolis of the World; Or, The Losing and Taking Again of the Town of Mansoul, by John Bunyan

PREFACE.

IN the year 1682 there was published by Dorman Newman, ‘at the King’s
Arms in the Poultry,’_ and Benjamin Alsop_, ‘at the Angel and Bible in
the Poultry,’_ a volume entitled_ ‘The Holy War, made by Shaddai upon
Diabolus for the regaining of the Metropolis of the World; or the Losing
and Taking again of the Town of Mansoul.’_ It was the work of John
Bunyan_, who, sixteen years before, had published the story of his
own spiritual struggle under the title of ‘Grace abounding to the Chief
of Sinners’;_ and_, but four years before, had produced ‘The
Pilgrim’s Progress’ (Part I). Bunyan had speedily followed the issue
of the ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ with the ‘Life and Death of Mr.
Badman,’_ picture of English life and character as he had seen it_,
grimly faithful to fact. In ‘The Holy War’_ Bunyan returned to
allegory_. As a piece of literature the book is in no way inferior to
the ‘Pilgrim’s Progress.’_ If Bunyan had written nothing else_, ‘The
Holy War’ would have sufficed to establish his claim to a place amongst
the masters of English prose. As an appeal to the conscience it is not
a whit less effective than the ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’; but in the power
of seizing and retaining the reader’s attention it is scarcely so
successful. Nevertheless Macaulay held that ‘if there had been no
“Pilgrim’s Progress” “The Holy War” would have been the first of
religious allegories.’

In working out the details of ‘The Holy War’ Bunyan seems to have
kept in mind his own experience. The fortifications of the city, the
movements of the opposing forces, the changes in the municipal offices
of Mansoul were reproductions of scenes and events that had but recently
gone on under Bunyan’s eyes. He adapted them with extraordinary
success to the presentation both of the doctrines of grace and of the
temptations which attend the Christian life. The characters and the
incidents are, in effect, the characters and incidents of every age.
It is this which gives to the story of Mansoul its undying freshness,
and suits it to the needs of men in all climes. ‘The Holy War’ has
been translated into many languages, including some of those with the
scantiest of literature. Indeed, as this edition is being prepared
for the press, assistance is being rendered by the Religious Tract
Society in the printing of ‘The Holy War’ in Kongo.

Explanation

**Detailed Explanation of the Preface to The Holy War by John Bunyan**

This preface introduces The Holy War (1682), an allegorical work by John Bunyan, the same author of The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678). Unlike Pilgrim’s Progress, which follows an individual’s spiritual journey, The Holy War depicts a cosmic battle for the human soul—represented as the city of Mansoul—between God (Shaddai) and Satan (Diabolus). The preface provides historical context, literary significance, and thematic insights into the work.

1. Context of the Work

Publication & Authorial Background:
- Published in 1682, four years after The Pilgrim’s Progress and sixteen years after Bunyan’s spiritual autobiography, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners.
- Bunyan was a Puritan preacher imprisoned for his nonconformist beliefs, and his works reflect deep theological and personal struggles.
- The preface notes that The Holy War was printed by Dorman Newman and Benjamin Alsop, London booksellers known for religious texts.
Allegorical Tradition:
- Like Pilgrim’s Progress, The Holy War is an allegory—a narrative where characters and events symbolize deeper spiritual truths.
- The preface suggests that Bunyan drew from his own experiences (e.g., his imprisonment, spiritual conflicts) to shape the story of Mansoul’s fall and redemption.

2. Themes in The Holy War

The preface hints at key themes that the full text explores:

Spiritual Warfare:
- The title itself (The Holy War) frames the human soul as a battleground between divine and diabolical forces.
- Shaddai (Almighty God) wages war against Diabolus (the Devil) for control of Mansoul (the human soul), symbolizing the struggle between grace and sin.
The Fall and Redemption of Man:
- The subtitle (the Losing and Taking Again of the Town of Mansoul) suggests a narrative of loss (sin) and restoration (salvation).
- This mirrors Bunyan’s own spiritual journey (as seen in Grace Abounding) and the Christian doctrine of original sin and redemption.
The Christian Life as a Battle:
- The preface notes that Bunyan adapts real-world events (e.g., military sieges, political shifts) into spiritual allegory, showing how temptation, repentance, and divine intervention play out in the believer’s life.
Universal Relevance:
- The preface claims the story is "the characters and incidents of every age", meaning its themes apply to all people, regardless of time or culture.
- This universality is why the book has been translated into many languages, including Kongo (as mentioned in the preface).

3. Literary Devices & Style

The preface highlights Bunyan’s mastery of allegory and prose, comparing The Holy War favorably to Pilgrim’s Progress:

Allegory as a Teaching Tool:
- Every element in Mansoul (its gates, leaders, battles) represents spiritual realities (e.g., the gates of the senses, the will’s surrender to sin or grace).
- Example: The fortifications of Mansoul likely symbolize human defenses against temptation, while Diabolus’ deception mirrors Satan’s tactics in Scripture.
Vivid Imagery & Dramatic Structure:
- The preface suggests Bunyan’s military and political metaphors (e.g., sieges, municipal offices) make the spiritual conflict concrete and engaging.
- Unlike Pilgrim’s Progress, which is a journey, The Holy War is a battle narrative, giving it a different but equally powerful dramatic tension.
Moral & Theological Depth:
- The preface calls it "an appeal to the conscience", meaning Bunyan doesn’t just tell a story—he challenges the reader to examine their own spiritual state.
- The doctrines of grace (God’s unmerited favor) and human depravity are central, reflecting Puritan theology.

4. Significance & Reception

The preface provides critical perspective on the work’s place in literature:

Comparison to Pilgrim’s Progress:
- While Pilgrim’s Progress is more famous, the preface (quoting Macaulay) argues that The Holy War would be "the first of religious allegories" if Pilgrim’s Progress didn’t exist.
- It is "in no way inferior" in prose quality but may be less accessible because its battle allegory is more complex than a pilgrimage.
Cultural & Religious Impact:
- The fact that it was translated into Kongo (as noted in the preface) shows its missionary and educational use in spreading Christian doctrine.
- The preface emphasizes its timelessness—it speaks to "men in all climes", reinforcing its didactic (teaching) purpose.

5. Key Takeaways from the Preface Itself

The preface is not just an introduction—it frames how we should read the text:

Allegory as a Mirror of Reality:
- Bunyan’s personal and historical experiences (e.g., his imprisonment, the political turmoil of 17th-century England) are reworked into spiritual symbols.
- Example: The "municipal offices of Mansoul" likely represent human faculties (reason, will, conscience) being corrupted or redeemed.
A Battle, Not Just a Journey:
- Unlike Pilgrim’s Progress, which is a linear quest, The Holy War is cyclical—Mansoul is lost, then retaken, reflecting the ongoing struggle of sanctification in the Christian life.
Theological Precision:
- The preface implies that Bunyan’s allegory is doctrinally rich, teaching Calvinist/Puritan views on sin, grace, and predestination through narrative.
Why It Endures:
- The preface explains its lasting appeal: "undying freshness" comes from its universal themes—every person faces internal conflicts between good and evil.

6. Connection to Broader Literary & Religious Tradition

Biblical Influences:
- The war for Mansoul echoes Ephesians 6:12 ("For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against... the spiritual forces of evil").
- The fall and redemption of a city parallels Jerusalem’s destruction and restoration in Scripture.
Medieval & Renaissance Allegory:
- Bunyan follows traditions like Dante’s Divine Comedy and Spenser’s Faerie Queene, but with a more direct, Protestant focus.
Puritan Spiritual Writing:
- Like Pilgrim’s Progress, The Holy War serves as a manual for the Christian life, using storytelling to reinforce doctrine.

Conclusion: Why This Preface Matters

The preface to The Holy War does more than introduce the book—it positions it as a masterpiece of allegory, rooted in personal and theological struggle, yet universally applicable. It tells us that Bunyan’s work is:

A spiritual battlefield (not just a journey).
A reflection of real-life temptations and grace.
A timeless story because it deals with the human condition.

While Pilgrim’s Progress may be more widely read, The Holy War offers a deeper, more combative vision of the Christian life—one where salvation is a war, not just a path. The preface ensures we read it not just as a story, but as a call to examine our own "Mansoul."

Questions

Question 1

The preface’s assertion that The Holy War would have been “the first of religious allegories” if not for The Pilgrim’s Progress primarily serves to:

A. Undermine the cultural dominance of The Pilgrim’s Progress by implying its success was contingent on timing rather than merit.
B. Highlight the intrinsic literary and theological parity between the two works while acknowledging the role of reception history in canon formation.
C. Suggest that The Holy War is a superior work of allegory due to its more complex military metaphors and doctrinal precision.
D. Criticise Macaulay’s literary criticism as overly speculative and detached from the actual qualities of Bunyan’s prose.
E. Imply that The Pilgrim’s Progress was a fluke of popular taste, whereas The Holy War represents Bunyan’s mature artistic vision.

Question 2

The preface’s description of Bunyan adapting “his own experience” into the allegory of Mansoul most strongly implies that the work functions as:

A. A veiled political critique of the Restoration-era persecution of Nonconformists, using spiritual conflict as a cipher for temporal power struggles.
B. A therapeutic exercise in which Bunyan externalises his personal traumas to achieve catharsis, rendering the text more psychological than theological.
C. A didactic tool wherein autobiographical elements are subsumed into universal spiritual paradigms, prioritising instruction over confession.
D. An exercise in Puritan typology, where historical events are recast as divine archetypes to reinforce predestinarian doctrine.
E. A synthesis of personal and collective experience, where the particularities of Bunyan’s life illuminate the archetypal struggles of the Christian soul.

Question 3

The claim that The Holy War has been translated into languages “including some of those with the scantiest of literature” is most effectively leveraged in the preface to:

A. Demonstrate the work’s capacity to transcend cultural and linguistic barriers, thereby validating its claim to universal spiritual relevance.
B. Critique the colonial enterprise of missionary translation, which imposes Western religious narratives onto non-Western cultures.
C. Highlight the Religious Tract Society’s role in global evangelism, framing Bunyan’s text as a tool of Protestant expansion.
D. Suggest that the allegory’s simplicity makes it uniquely accessible to “primitive” or pre-literate societies.
E. Imply that the work’s doctrinal clarity compensates for the poverty of its literary style in comparison to The Pilgrim’s Progress.

Question 4

The preface’s observation that The Holy War is “scarcely so successful” as The Pilgrim’s Progress in “seizing and retaining the reader’s attention” is most plausibly attributed to:

A. The inherent difficulty of sustaining narrative tension in a static, siege-based allegory compared to the dynamic, journey-driven structure of The Pilgrim’s Progress.
B. Bunyan’s over-reliance on abstruse Calvinist theology, which alienates readers unfamiliar with predestinarian debates.
C. The preface writer’s implicit bias toward linear quest narratives as inherently more engaging than cyclical conflict-resolution arcs.
D. The historical context of 1682, when political instability may have distracted readers from allegorical works lacking immediate relevance.
E. A failure of marketing by Dorman Newman and Benjamin Alsop, who lacked the distribution networks to compete with Pilgrim’s Progress’s publishers.

Question 5

The preface’s characterisation of The Holy War as a work where “the characters and the incidents are, in effect, the characters and incidents of every age” is primarily intended to:

A. Assert the text’s participation in a timeless allegorical tradition, wherein specific historical details serve as vessels for eternal spiritual truths.
B. Argue for the superiority of allegory over realism, as the former captures essential human conflicts while the latter is bound by temporal contingencies.
C. Justify the work’s continued relevance in an era of secularisation, by framing it as a psychological rather than theological document.
D. Distinguish Bunyan’s method from that of Spenser or Dante, whose allegories were tied to medieval cosmologies now obsolete.
E. Suggest that the work’s universality derives from its avoidance of doctrinal specificity, thereby appealing to a broad ecumenical audience.

Solutions and Explanations

1) Correct answer: B

Why B is most correct: The preface’s comparison is not a value judgment on The Pilgrim’s Progress but an observation about canon formation and reception history. By quoting Macaulay’s counterfactual, the preface acknowledges that The Holy War is literarily and theologically equal to Pilgrim’s Progress but was overshadowed by the latter’s prior success. This option captures the nuance of parity (“intrinsic literary and theological parity”) while recognising the role of historical contingency (“reception history in canon formation”), which the preface explicitly engages with.