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The Holy War (1682)

By the early 1680s John Bunyan had achieved respect and popularity for his public preaching. As an author he attempted to build on the great success of The Pilgrim’s Progress, first with The Life and Death of Mr. Badman (1680) and then with The Holy War, which was published in 1682. Bunyan’s most ambitious and elaborate work of fiction took the form of an allegorical battle epic depicting the Christian scheme of salvation, the struggle of the human soul towards salvation, and contemporary and future events. This chapter discusses The Holy War in the context of the religious and literary works available to Bunyan, and as an impressive example of Bunyan’s skill in the creation of individuated literary characters.