Published the year after his Pilgrim's Progress , in 1679, Bunyan's Treatise on the Fear of God takes a widely misunderstood and neglected theme, wipes off the grime of confusion, and lets it sparkle. And sparkle really is the word: where most assume that the fear of God must be the gloomy theological equivalent of eating up your greens, Bunyan shows what a delightful and helpful subject it is.