{"id":2721,"date":"2020-04-29T10:14:44","date_gmt":"2020-04-29T08:14:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/?p=2721"},"modified":"2020-04-29T10:14:46","modified_gmt":"2020-04-29T08:14:46","slug":"three-reasons-the-holy-war-surpasses-the-pilgrims-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/?p=2721","title":{"rendered":"Three Reasons The Holy War Surpasses The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Were a short list composed of the greatest works ever\nwritten by man outside the Bible, certainly <em>The\nPilgrim\u2019s Progress<\/em> by the uneducated Baptist John Bunyan should be on that\nlist. His mind dripped Scripture and Christian\u2019s journey to the Celestial City\nhas helped a great many people in the narrow way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet Bunyan\u2019s <em>The Holy\nWar <\/em>is superior. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Summary<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The holy war is the conquering of the beautiful town of\nMansoul first by the wicked giant Diabolos and secondly by the golden prince\nEmanuel. The story follows six turns of the plot. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">1. Diabolos conquers the town of Mansoul. <br>\n2. Emmanuel takes it back. <br>\n3. The town falls back into sin. <br>\n4. Diabolos takes it again. <br>\n5. Emmanuel takes it back. <br>\n6. Diabolos tries twice more and fails. <br>\n<br>\n<strong>Covering the Whole\nBible<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you do not know the Bible, the story will surprise you at\nevery turn, and if you know the Scripture it may surprise you even more so. How\ncan it surprise a Bible-reader? Bunyan secures verses from at least 54 books of\nthe Bible turning them to his purpose of telling the story of redemption. Even\nafter reading it three times, I am constantly amazed at how many doctrines and\nverses the author calls into service. The image of God is found in Mansoul\u2019s\nHeart Castle. The Trinity is reflected by King Shaddai, His Son Prince Emanuel,\nand the Lord High Secretary who fully knows the minds of the King and His Son.\nThe Covenant of Redemption is found in several places as well as total\ndepravity, the glory of grace, a definition of effectual calling, the glory of\nthe resurrected body, and nearly every other doctrine in Scripture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The story is practically a systematic theology wrapped in a\nmemorable story with fascinating characters. This is the first reason that <em>The Holy War<\/em> surpasses <em>The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Intensity<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Secondly, the Bible\u2019s basic plot is terribly intense, and no\nother earthly metaphor captures that earnest, grim, desperate, hopeful tone as\nwell as war. Jesus compares the Christian life to farming (Matt. 13:3-9),\nbuilding (Luke 14:28-30), and taking a journey (Matt. 7:13-14). Paul agrees\nwith these and even adds marriage (Eph. 5:22-32). But more commonly found in\nScripture is the picture of a war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Luke 14:31 Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle\u2026 <\/li><li>1 Tim. 1:18 Fight the good fight\u2026 (Also 2 Cor. 10:4; 1 Tim. 6:12; 2 Tim. 4:7)<\/li><li>2 Tim. 2:3 Suffer hardship with <em>me,<\/em> as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Most of the books of Joshua and Judges are accounts of war,\nand these were given to us as our examples. Imprecatory psalms such as 55, 58,\n69, 109, and 137 are written to produce in the Christian a warlike mood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But even more so than these explicit references to war or\nfighting are the main plot lines of Scripture. Satan is a lion on the prowl\nhunting for our souls. His thousands or millions of demons are our desperate\nenemies. They are diabolical fiends with implacable hatred and immense power.\nThe end of all those who oppose Jesus Christ is a lake of fire and brimstone\nfor all eternity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In <em>The Holy War<\/em>\nBunyan writes about soldiers being \u201cbrained\u201d and taking great wounds. He has\ntownspeople lying dead in the streets. Men fight with bandages if by any means\nthey might save their families. Nearly all of these intense lines are taken\nfrom different verses in the prophets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The sobriety of this story calls up manliness that\napproaches the reality, and that effect on the reader is more palpable here\nthan in Christian\u2019s dangerous journey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>The Lord Jesus Christ<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Thirdly, Prince Emanuel is the main character of the Bible\nand the main character of <em>The Holy War<\/em>.\nIt is not surprising to hear that someone might weep while reading for a new\nkindling of love to Jesus Christ in this story. He is called the Golden Prince.\nHis cross work is mentioned. His offices are the goal of the narrative. When He\narrives to defeat Diabolos your heartbeat quickens. His speech that closes the\nbook is like the grand finale of fire works. Bunyan\u2019s presentation of the Lord\nJesus matches for beauty <em>The Letters of\nSamuel Rutherford<\/em> or <em>The Poems of\nIsaac Watts<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Perhaps there is an author who can paint our Savior\u2019s Face\nwith more lively colors, but if there is, I haven\u2019t seen the portrait. And to\nthe point of this review, <em>The Holy War <\/em>is\nmore fitting to this pleasing task than <em>The\nPilgrim\u2019s Progress<\/em>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Conclusion <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><em>The Holy War <\/em>is a systematic theology covering nearly every doctrine of the Bible. <\/li><li>It captures the intensity of New Testament salvation. <\/li><li>Our dear Lord Jesus is magnified delightfully. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In these three ways, this book surpasses the other better\nknown allegory and maybe all other books written merely by men. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Quotes<br>\n<\/strong>&#8220;For here lay the excellent wisdom of him that builded Mansoul, that\nthe walls could never be broken down, nor hurt, by the most mighty adverse\npotentate, unless the towns-men gave consent thereto.&#8221; 9 compare with page\n96, &#8220;But after three or four notable charges by the Prince, and his noble\ncaptains, Eargate was broken open, and the bars and bolts wherewith it was used\nto be fast shut up against the Prince, was broken into a thousand pieces.&#8221;\n<br>\n<br>\nCaptain Conviction says to the town: &#8220;Consider if it be not amazing grace\nthat Shaddai should so humble himself as he doth. &#8230; Has he that need of you,\nthat we are sure you have of him?&#8221; 51 <br>\n<br>\n&#8220;Mr. Carnal Security did after all this mercy bestowed on this\ncorporation, bring the town of Mansoul into great and grievous slavery and\nbondage.&#8221; 163<br>\n<br>\nMr. Godly fear said, &#8220;Though several of their petitions should be answered\nwith nought but silence or rebuke: For it is the way of the wise Shaddai to\nmake men wait and to exercise patience and it should be the way of them in\nwant, to be willing to stay his leisure.&#8221; 174<br>\n<br>\n&#8220;Then they took courage, and sent again, and again, and again, and again;\nfor there was not now one day, nor an hour that went over Mansoul&#8217;s head,\nwherein a man might not have met upon the road one or other riding post,\nsounding the horn from Mansoul to the Court of the King Shaddai.&#8221; 174<br>\n<br>\nPrince Emanuel: &#8220;Nothing can hurt thee but sin; nothing can grieve me but\nsin; nothing can make thee base before thy foes but sin: Take heed of sin, my\nMansoul.&#8221; 264<br>\n<br>\n&#8220;And dost thou know why I at first, and do still suffer Diabolonians to\ndwell in thy walls, O Mansoul? It is to keep thee wakening, to try thy love, to\nmake thee watchful, and to cause thee yet to prize my noble captains, their\nsoldiers, and my mercy.&#8221; 265<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Were a short list composed of the greatest works ever written by man outside the Bible, certainly The Pilgrim\u2019s Progress by the uneducated Baptist John Bunyan should be on that list. His mind dripped Scripture and Christian\u2019s journey to the &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/?p=2721\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[206,25,79,480],"class_list":["post-2721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-reviews","tag-book-reviews-2","tag-bunyan","tag-systematic-theology","tag-the-holy-war"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3QrZa-HT","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2721"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2722,"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2721\/revisions\/2722"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sonofcarey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}