Joseph Smith is such a false prophet, a false apostle, which has led millions of well-meaning people to spiritual destruction. As Christian travels along the way the most dangerous deceivers, in my opinion, are Religion and Riches. Religion will not get you to heaven. Only a Relationship with Jesus Christ will get you there. Yet there are people who start with a personal relationship with Jesus chits, but fall into Religion, thinking that rules and rituals will see them safely to heaven.
Riches is the other of the most powerful deceptions.
One of the most vivid and real scenes in the book is the Pilgrims visit to Vanity Fair. Vanity Fair is incarnated in modern America in the shopping mall. These are just a few of the dangers. There are many, many vivid characters. This summer I read a biography of Bunyan, and he said that he patterned each of the characters, good and bad, after a real person he knew.