In the 1600s, John Bunyan was a well-known English Christian preacher. He was also a well-known Christian writer at the time. He wrote more than 60 religious books, most of which were about his sermons and his experiences as a Christian who struggled with the problems he faced. He wasn’t always very religious. He was born into a poor family of tinkers, and as a young man, he was known to be a bad person. But he soon realized that he had “sinned” and decided to work to save his soul. He was a nonconformist Christian, which was not supported by the government when Charles II was king. Under his law, Bunyan wasn’t allowed to preach without a license, but he saw that as going against God’s will and kept preaching anyway. Because of this, he was put in jail more than once. In the end, Bunyan’s Christian faith was noticed, and the Lord Mayor of London asked him to be his Chaplain. The Church of England and the Anglican Church of Australia still honor him.
Early years and childhood
Thomas and Margaret Bunyan brought John into the world in the small village of Elstow, Bedford, Bedfordshire. His ancestors are said to have lived in Bedfordshire as early as the 1200s. His family struggled with poverty when he was growing up, so he didn’t go to school very much. His father was a tinker from Elstow who couldn’t read or write. He didn’t have much of a choice but to do what his father did and work as a tinker on the road.
When Bunyan was 16, both his mother and his only sister, Margaret, died. After this, his dad married Anne Pinney, and Charles, his step-brother, was born. Because his feelings were so bad, he left home and joined the Parliamentary army. He served in Newport Pagnell until 1647. After the Civil War was over, he went back to his old job of fixing things at home.
In his writings, Bunyan says that when he was young, he lived alone and did bad things because of it. He didn’t do anything wrong while he was living at home, but it is known that he and his fellow soldiers used to go to brothels when he was in the Parliamentary army.
He has said that some of the many things he did that were against God were not being religious, dancing, and ringing bells. He used to swear a lot, which made him well-known among his people. Over time, this made him think that he had done a sin that could not be fixed.
In his youth, when he realized how many sins he had committed, Bunyan started hearing voices that told him to “sell Christ” and asked him if he wanted to repent and go to heaven or keep his sins and go to hell. From that point on, he went on a spiritual journey, believing in the Bible and what it said about damnation and salvation.
John Bunyan’s Career
In his later years, Bunyan was drawn to Christianity, but he didn’t know where to start and his mind was in a mess. So that he could get started, he went on a four-year spiritual journey and discussion with a few poor women from his parish. The group was a sect from Bedford’s St. John’s Church that didn’t follow the rules. Because of this, the church chose him to join.
John Gifford, the pastor of St. John Church, died in 1655, and Bunyan was asked to start preaching. In 1656, he wrote his first book, “Some Gospel Truths Opened,” which was criticized because it “attacked the follies of the time, exposed and condemned heresies without mercy.” In 1657, he wrote “Vindication of Some Gospel Truths Opened,” which was his second book.
The story of Lazarus and the rich man was told in his third book, “A Few Sighs from Hell, or the Groans of a Damned Soul,” which came out in 1658. This book had a lot going for it. He was charged with preaching at Eaton Socon without a license in the same year, but he did not go to prison for that.
In 1660, Bunyan was arrested from Lower Samsell in Westoning, Bedfordshire, because he was privately preaching to a group of people without a legal license. When Charles II of England restored the monarchy, he made it illegal for people to go to any church other than the Anglican parish church. So, Bunyan could no longer preach however he wanted to from that point on.
In 1661, he was tried in Bedford at the Chapel of Herne. Justice Wingate was his lawyer, and even though Bunyan broke the Religion Act of 1592, he did not want to put Bunyan in jail. But in court, he made a strong statement and said, “If you let me go today, I’ll preach tomorrow.” This made the magistrates have no choice but to put him behind bars.
During this time in prison, Bunyan began writing “The Pilgrim’s Progress,” which is a symbolic novella.
In 1666, he was let out of jail, but a few weeks later he was arrested again for preaching. He was sent to Bedford’s County jail, where he spent six years in jail. During this time, Bunyan preached to the other people in the jail. In 1672, he was set free.
After he got out of jail in Bedford County in 1672, Bunyan became the pastor of St. John’s Church. Soon after, Charles II signed the Declaration of Religious Indulgence, which made it legal for people to preach on their own. Bunyan started a group of people who didn’t follow the rules and a church in a barn on Mill Street in Bedford.
In 1675, when Charles II’s Declaration of Religious Indulgence was taken away, the rules changed. Bunyan was put in jail for preaching freely again. He was sent back to the same prison. Later, the Religious Society of Friends, also known as Quakers, suggested that Bunyan and their own people be set free. Bunyan was released from jail six months after he was arrested, and he was never arrested again in his life.
Sir John Shorter, who was Lord Mayor of London at the time, chose Bunyan to be his Chaplain in 1688. This was when his fame spread outside of Bedfordshire, and people began to call him “Bishop Bunyan” out of love and respect. During this time, he had a lot of power over people, and everyone wanted his help. This made him a very busy man.
Works of note
People know that “The Pilgrim’s Progress” is one of his epic works. This book has two parts that he wrote. Between 1678 and 1684, it was printed in London. The book was originally called “The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come.” This book is thought to be the most well-known symbolic writing ever, and since it was first published, it has been translated many times.
Bunyan also wrote “The Life and Death of Mr. Badman” and “The Holy War,” which are both very important books. He also wrote a book called “Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners,” which was about his inner life and his faith.
People call it his spiritual autobiography. His goal in writing these books was to share what he had learned from his own spiritual journey and to help other people who were going through the same things he was.
His Personal Life
In 1650, he married a young woman who was an orphan. His wife’s name isn’t written down, but it is known that she only brought two religious books from her father’s house: Arthur Dent’s “Plain Man’s Pathway to Heaven” and Lewis Bayly’s “Practice of Piety.” A lot of his spiritual journey was shaped by these books. His first daughter was born the same year. She was born blind and had the name, Mary.
When Bunyan’s first wife died in 1658, he was left with their four children. At age 30, he remarried a woman named Elizabeth. Sarah and Joseph were their two children. When Bunyan was arrested in 1660, it was Elizabeth who tried again to get him out of jail.
In 1688, he was named Chaplain to the Lord Mayor of London and was having a big impact on English society. On his way back to London from Reading, where he had helped settle a fight between a father and son, he caught a cold and died of a high fever at the home of his friend John Strudwick on Snow Hill in Holborn, London, on August 31, 1688. He was buried in the London area of Bunhill fields.
Estimated Net worth
Unknown.
Trivia
The statue of Bunyan was built in 1862 at his grave in London’s Bunhill Fields. Other famous nonconformists, like George Fox, William Blake, Daniel Defoe, etc., are also buried there.
Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm put up a statue of Bunyan made of bronze in Bedford. The statue is shown telling a group of invisible followers about the Bible.