The Postmodern Pilgrim's Progress cover art

The Postmodern Pilgrim's Progress

An Allegorical Tale

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The Postmodern Pilgrim's Progress

By: Joel Berry, Kyle Mann
Narrated by: Michael Axtell
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About this listen

From the editor-in-chief and managing editor of the Babylon Bee! A millennial seeker travels through a twenty-first century take on The Pilgrims’s Progress with allegorical versions of all our modern vices tempting him along the way—as well as a few timeless personified virtues that just might see him through. Biting satire and uncommon wisdom from the creators of the internet’s most influential comedy site, and an author of national bestseller The Babylon Bee Guide to Wokeness!

Ryan Fleming is a young agnostic reeling from his brother’s death. Though he is deeply angry with God, he makes good on a promise he made to his brother in the final moments of his life: to visit a church at least once. But shortly after his arrival, the slick megachurch’s shoddily installed video projector falls on his head—sending Ryan through a wormhole into another world.

After a narrow escape from the City of Destruction, where the comfortably numb townspeople are oblivious to the fire and brimstone falling like bombs in their midst and destroying their homes, Ryan finds himself on a quest: To make it back to his own universe, he must partner with a woman named Faith to awaken a long-sleeping King—the World-Maker who can make all things new.

Replete with characters ripped straight from the twenty-first century American church—including Radical, Mr. Satan, the Smiling Preacher, and others—this sometimes-humorous, always-insightful trek parallels Christian’s fictional journey in Pilgrim’s Progress. Prepare to laugh, cry, cringe, feel convicted, and ultimately be changed by the time the story ends.

The Postmodern Pilgrim’s Progress is brought to you by Kyle Mann and Joel Berry, the two comedic minds behind The Babylon Bee—which, with 250,000 newsletter subscribers and more than fifteen million page views per month, is the most popular satirical news site on the planet.

©2022 Kyle Mann and Joel Berry (P)2022 Blackstone Publishing
Christian Fiction Classics & Allegories Fiction Satire Comedy Inspiring Witty

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Thank you for this

This audiobook was performed very well. It was not a straightforward script to work with and the reader did an excellent job. A second reader for female voice would have made it come alive more.

The story itself
I'm so glad someone has made a contemporary reworking of Pilgrim's Progress. This is not something that just anybody can do, and I think Kyle was especially well suited for it. Bunyan was a deeply religious nonconformist puritan and political renegade, not unlike Kyle. I am really glad Kyle did this project and I think much that is good and hamfisted about this book comes from him.
I'm not sure I know anything about Joel, but I'm glad Kyle didn't write this alone as this is a very challenging book to modernise and requires a broad view. I'm sure Joel made it much more enjoyable.

The original Pilgrim's Progress suffers from the flaws of the puritan ethos, it is dour, obtuse, pedantic and smug. I like that, it reminds me of me. But it's not the most engaging style. This reworking carries over this problem but massively dilutes it with humour, brevity, a Jar-Jar-esque narrator, and theological mellowing. I was only just getting annoyed at Ryan's endless failures when I was pleasantly surprised. I think while the framing device seemed a bit cheesy, making so much more use of it than the original served this diluting function too. I didn't really like these intrusions on their own, but I enjoyed the story overall much more because of them.

I don't think it's fair to judge this book as systematic theology, but if it must be done I think it should be judged kindly. I don't think this book is a theological danger to anyone. I don't think it teaches any harmful pictures of God or enables spiritual abuse. I think the authors have tried very hard to be biblical and relevant, and succeeded within their theological and political context. Is it possible to have a Pilgrim's Progress without an undercurrent of puritanism? (I don't use the term puritan pejoratively here, but in the sense of the Anglo-American reforming evangelical tradition)

I heartily recommend this book, it could be better but the fact that it exists as it is makes me really happy. I liked the ending too by the way.

I really enjoyed listening to it, thank you.

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Loved it

A great book for all Christians. I will be making it required reading/listening for our young leaders at church.

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