It seems this book is so popular and has such an important place because it
serves an important purpose for Protestants.  It provides them with all the
excuses they need to persevere in works when their doctrine tells them there
is no merit in works.  

It is a road map for self-contradiction.

It was written in 1678, and later, and gained popularity for the next 200 years,
at which time it became the favorite reading selection of a young boy named
Charles Haddon Spurgeon.  He contemplated this book throughout his youth
and adolescence, and then after his "conversion" at age 17, he discovered
that he was able to preach "the word" to eager listeners.

His early study of this book, The Pilgrim's Progress, had led the young
Spurgeon to read the Bible, but he did not really start to delve into it until he
had heard the sermons of other preachers, who used the Bible in particular
parts a lot.  So Spurgeon became a much appreciated preacher without ever
having had any formal education in being a preacher.  He was a natural, let's
just say.  And he had become this way because of his lifelong study and
contemplation of The Pilgrim's Progress.

Curiously, the book's author was likewise unschooled in his youth, so they say.

C. H. Spurgeon is widely acclaimed to be "far and away the most influential
Christian leader of the 19th century;  the Prince of Preachers."  He often gave
sermons to crowds of 10,000 people, in days before electronic amplification.
He became pastor of London's Metropolitan Tabernacle (which has no
tabernacle! Like the Mormon Tabernacle - no tabernacle!) when it was first
built, having been employed as the congregation's pastor since age 20.  He
died at age 57 of gout and a medical disorder.  His funeral was attended by
tens of thousands of people, which brought that quarter of London to a
standstill for its duration.  That was in 1892.  

Curiously, both Pope Pius IX and Leo XIII were much more influential
Christian leaders during the 19th century, but those who claim the supremacy
of Spurgeon do so with the implicit denial of the Popes having been "Christian."

He fought against Darwinism in is time, albeit weakly.  And at the end of his
life he became very depressed that it seemed so many of the Christians
who had been believers were gradually slipping away because of the new
appeal and prosperity that came with the so-called theory of evolution. After
all, Origin of Species was the most instantly successful book in all history,
selling more copies the first day of its publication than ever before.  All
supplies were depleted before the sun had gone down on day #1.  It was
an "overnight success," and it broke all records.  But even today, after that,
The Pilgrim's Progress continues to be an overall better seller.

All of his sermons were written down by a very able secretary, and he went
over them personally making any corrections or improvements, before they
went into archive.  After his death in 1892, his sermons continued to be
published in new installments until the year 1917, when they finally came to
the end of them.  It had taken 25 years to render them all after he had died.  
There are over 3,600 available today, on websites, or in print.  They have
been continuously in print from the beginning, and show no end in sight, as
they continue to be very popular among Protestants.  You can listen to a wide
selection of his sermons on iPhone app., which means you can hear a
different sermon every day and it will take you 10 years to hear them all.

You can see the seed of his style and appeal by reading The Pilgrim's Progress.

The sermons of C.H. Spurgeon are rife with objective heresy.  But you would
be hard pressed to find any Novus Ordo priest who is able to identify and
denounce their errors.  That is, even if he can identify them, he will invariably
be incapable of providing a clear reason why one should not believe them.  He
can't do that because it is not 'Ecuмenical' to do so, and it would not 'respect his
freedom of religion' to do so.  And therefore, even if he does know what is
wrong with these sermons, he will not be able to explain it to you convincingly.

A pagan philosopher named Gorgias said some 2,400 years ago, that there are
only 3 kinds of heresy.  This heresy that Novus Ordo priests are subject to is
of the third type.  The three are:  1)  There is no truth.  Well, Novus Ordo priests
might be close to that heresy but it's not their principal error.  2)  Even if there
were truth, it cannot be known.  Well, they don't really think that either, for they
would say that you can know what error is and truth.  Theirs is the third one: 3)  
Even if truth can be known, it cannot be communicated.  That's where they are
at.  They recognize that truth exists, and that it can be known, but they are
unable to communicate it.  

Now, they might be willing to SAY that it can be communicated, but that is
insufficient, because when it comes down to it, when the "rubber meets the
road," they are not able to do so.  


It is important for us to understand where this is and where it is going, because
the SSPX is right now getting started going down this road.  

The Protestants have been doing this for well-nigh 500 years, so their track
record is well-established.  The Novus Ordo false theology has been doing it
for 50 years, so their track record is well-established.  Now the SSPX is just
getting started, and I would go so far as to say that they have been already
doing it for several years, perhaps 5 or 10, because the priests who have been
coming out during this time are already affected.  And now, there are the new
professors who are among this new crop who are taking the place of the old
professors who were still trying to teach the old way, the Tradition of the
Church.