The Holy War

This article is about the novel by John Bunyan. For other uses, see Holy war.
The Holy War
Author John Bunyan
Country England
Language English
Genre Novel
Publication date
1682
Media type Print
Pages 191

The Holy War Made by King Shaddai Upon Diabolus, to Regain the Metropolis of the World, Or, The Losing and Taking Again of the Town of Mansoul is a 1682 novel by John Bunyan. This novel, written in the form of an allegory, tells the story of the town "Mansoul" (Man's soul). Though this town is perfect and bears the image of Shaddai (Almighty), it is deceived to rebel and throw off his gracious rule, replacing it instead with the rule of Diabolus. Though Mansoul has rejected the Kingship of Shaddai, he sends his son Emmanuel to reclaim it.

Allegory

The Spiritual Warfare (c1623), a print by Martin Droeshout depicting the devil's army besieging a walled city held by a "Christian Soldier bold" guarded by figures representing the Christian virtues. It has been suggested that this print may have influenced Bunyan to write The Holy War.[1][2]

In the city there were three esteemed men, who, by admitting Diabolus to the city, lost their previous authority. The eyes of "Understanding", the mayor, are hidden from the light. "Conscience", the recorder, has become a madman, at times sinning, and at other times condemning the sin of the city. But worst of all is "Lord Willbewill," whose desire has been completely changed from serving his true Lord, to serving Diabolus. With the fall of these three, for Mansoul to turn back to Shaddai of their own will, is impossible. Salvation can come only by the victory of Emmanuel.

The entire story is a masterpiece of Christian literature, describing vividly the process of the fall, conversion, fellowship with Emmanuel, and many more intricate doctrines.

Characters

The main characters are in order of importance are:

Locations

Some of the main places are listed below.

References

  1. Jones, Malcolm, "The English Print", in Hattaway, Michael, A Companion to English Renaissance Literature and Culture, John Wiley & Sons, 2008, p.360.
  2. Zinck, Arlette, "Dating The Spiritual Warfare Broadsheet", The Recorder: Newsletter of the International John Bunyan Society, 2007, pp.3-4.

External links

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