'Early Modern Religion and Literature in Old and New England' - The Fifth Triennial Conference of the International John Bunyan Society, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, 15-19 August 2007

• Published in: Bunyan studies no. 13; p. 107
• Main Author: Milne, Kirsty
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Newcastle Upon Tyne Northumbria University, Department of Humanities, Faculty of Arts, Design and Social Sciences 01.01.2008
• Subjects: Bradstreet, Anne (1612-1672); Bunyan, John (1628-1688); Bunyan, John (1628-88); Conferences; Dickens, Charles (1812-1870); Religion
• ISSN: 0954-0970

What seemed to be missing, from this newcomer's perspective, was any consideration of how to rescue Bunyan from his growing marginalisation - certainly in UK classrooms - and how he might be presented to a new generation, including those Muslim students for whom aspects of the traditional canon are experienced as a challenge to their faith. Crawford's portrayal of reading as an urgent and potentially subversive activity provided a thought-provoking link to Bob Owens's examination of Bunyan's relationship with books, and specifically with scripture. Showing that Bunyan's practice of intensive reading was very much in line with the approach recommended by authorities such as Edmund Calamy, Owens went on to give a powerful sense of how his meditations on the Bible (both in the Geneva and Authorised versions) fed into the text of The Pilgrim 's Progress.