Pilgrim's Regress: An Allegorical Apology for Christianity, Reason, and Romanticism - Softcover

Lewis, C. S.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802872174 ISBN 13: 9780802872173

Publisher: William B Eerdmans Publishing Co, 2014

Synopsis

The first book written by C. S. Lewis after his conversion to Christianity, The Pilgrim's Regress is, in a sense, a record of Lewis's own search for meaning and spiritual satisfaction, a search that eventually led him to Christianity.

Here is the story of the pilgrim John and his odyssey to an enchanting island that creates in him an intense longing -- a mysterious, sweet desire. John's pursuit of this desire takes him through adventures with such people as Mr. Enlightenment, Mr. Mammon, Mother Kirk, and Mr. Sensible and through such cities as Thrill and Eschropolis -- and through the Valley of Humiliation.

Though the dragons and giants here are different from those in Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Lewis's allegory performs the same function of enabling the author to say with fantasy and simplicity what would otherwise have demanded a full-length philosophy of religion. In Lewis's skillful hands this fable becomes as effective a Christian apologia as Bunyan's.

About this title

Review:

Anglican & Episcopal History
"By far the most developed and helpful edition ever assembled. . . . Will surely be viewed as the authoritative edition for many years to come."

-- Chicago Tribune
"An excellent book. In its sharp imagery, its clever inferences, its suspense, its characterization, and its occasional grotesque humor, it stands favorable comparison with its great model by John Bunyan."

-- New York Times
"The allegorical characters are not just abstractions. They are, in every instance, people objectively real and subjectively true to the inner meaning. The language throughout is plain, straightforward and leanly significant. To many it will seem like a fresh wind blowing across arid wastes."

From the Back Cover:

Though the dragons and giants of this fable are different from those of Bunyan, C.S. Lewis uses allegory in the same compelling way.

His pilgrim steers a course past the City of Claptrap and between the tableland of the High Anglicans and the far-off marsh of the Theosophists.

“I have myself been deluded by every one of these false answers in turn, and have contemplated each of them earnestly enough to discover the cheat.”
C.S. LEWIS, from the introduction

Written within a year of his conversion, 'The Pilgrim's Regress' is self-consciously autobiographical, tightly structured, learned, thorough, and perhaps more belligerent than any other Christian work Lewis was to write. He says with brevity what would otherwise have demanded a full-length philosophy of religion.

About this edition

• Publisher: William B Eerdmans Publishing Co
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0802872174
• ISBN 13: 9780802872173
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 243