When John Bunyan writes about professors in The Pilgrim's Progress he isn't writing about people like me who teach and research in a university. After all, the universities of his day in England would not have admitted anyone who dissented from worship as prescribed by the Church of England (not repealed until 1850's). Rather, for Bunyan, a professor is someone who professes faith in Jesus Christ. This outward profession is to be matched by the 'heartwork' of the Spirit in conforming that person increasingly to the image of Christ. The journey of The Pilgrim's Progress sees encounters with those whose very names indicate that they are false professors. Bunyan is encouraging his fellow dissenting readers to seek out godly company and beware conformity to patterns of living that would distort their witness to the work of Christ in them (1 Corinthians 15:33)
