JOHN BUNYAN, the writer of the Pilgrim’s Progress, was born at Elstow, a small village a mile south of Bedford, in 1628. His parents were poor, but sent him to school till he could read and write. As a lad he fell among bad companions with whom he would lie and swear; but his conscience often moved him, and he was frightened in his sleep with terrible dreams, and in his waking hours he had anticipations of future judgment.
Yet he did not altogether forget God; he noted how his life was preserved. At one time he fell into a creek of the sea and hardly escaped drowning. Another time he fell out of a boat into the river at Bedford. At another time, being drawn as a soldier to go to the siege of Leicester, one of the company desired to go in his place, who, as he stood sentinel, was shot in the head with a musket-bullet and killed.
John Bunyan married early the daughter of a man who was counted godly; the woman and he, when they came together, had not so much as a dish or spoon betwixt them, but she had two books, left her by her father when he died: “The Plain Man’s Pathway to Heaven,” and “The Practice of Piety.” He read these books and attended church, and his wife would often tell him what a godly man her father was, and how he would reprove vice, both in his own house and among his neighbors, and how strictly he lived both in word and deed.
John Bunyan was not yet rightly sensible of the evil of sin, or of the value of Christ. One Sunday the clergyman preached on the evil of breaking the Sabbath by worldly labor or sport, and pressed the matter so closely that John Bunyan believed that the clergyman made that sermon on purpose to show him his evil doing. He, however, after his dinner, shook the sermon out of his mind and returned to his sport; and (to use his own words) “the same day as I was in the midst of a game at cat, and having struck it one blow from the hole, just as I was about to strike it the second time, a voice did suddenly dart from heaven into my soul, which said, ‘Wilt thou leave thy sins and go to heaven, or have thy sins and go to hell?’ At this I was put to an exceeding maze; wherefore, leaving my cat on the ground, and looking up to heaven; saw, as with the eyes of my understanding, Jesus Christ looking down upon me very hotly displeased with me, and severely threatening me with some grievous punishment for my ungodly practices. I felt that I had been a grievous sinner, but I thought that it was now too late for me to look after heaven; as if Christ would not forgive me nor pardon my transgressions. Therefore I resolved to go on in sin, and I returned desperately to my sport again. The good Lord, whose mercy is unsearchable, forgave me my transgressions!
“One day I was standing at a neighbor’s shop window cursing and playing the madman; there sat within the woman of the house, who, though she was a very ungodly wretch, protested that she trembled to hear me, and that I, by thus doing, was able to spoil all the youth in the town, if they came into my company. At this reproof I was silenced. 1 wished with all my heart that I might be a little child again, that my father might learn me to speak without this wicked way of swearing.
And from this time forward I left my swearing; and whereas before I knew not how to speak, unless I put an oath before and another behind, to make my words have authority now I could, without an oath, speak better and with more pleasantest than ever I could before.
“Quickly after this I fell in company with a poor man that made profession of religion, who did talk pleasantly of the Scriptures; wherefore, falling into some love and liking to what he said, I betook me to my Bible, and began to take great pleasure in reading, but especially with the historical part thereof.
“I fell to some outward reformation, and did set the commandments before me for my way to heaven: our neighbors did marvel much to see such a great alteration in my life and manners; but yet I knew not Christ, nor grace, nor faith, nor hope. I was proud of my godliness. I did all to be well spoken of by men; and thus I continued for a twelvemonth or more.
“Before this I had taken much delight in ringing, but now I thought such practice was vain, yet my mind hankered; wherefore I would go to the steeple-house and look on, though I durst not ring. But I began to think, How if one of the bells should fall? Then I chose to stand under a main beam that lay athwart the steeple, thinking here I might stand sure; but then I thought again, should the bell fall with a swing, it might first hit the wall, and then rebounding, kill me. This made me stand in the steeple door; but then it came into my mind, How if the steeple itself should fall? And this thought, as I looked on, did so shake my mind that I durst not stand at the steeple door any longer, but was forced to flee.
“Another thing was my dancing. I was full a year before I could quite leave that; but all this while, when I did anything that I thought was good, I had great peace with my conscience. But, poor wretch as I was, I was ignorant of Jesus Christ, and going about to establish my own righteousness.
“But upon a day the good providence of God called me to Bedford to work in my calling, and in one of the streets I came where there were three or four poor women sitting at a door in the sun, talking about the things of God. Their talk was about a new birth, the work of God on their hearts, as also how they were convinced of their miserable state by nature; they talked how God had visited their souls with His love in the Lord Jesus, and with what words and promises they had been refreshed, comforted, and supported against the temptations of the devil. They also discoursed of their own wretchedness of heart, of their unbelief, and did slight and abhor their own righteousness as filthy, and insufficient to do them any good. There was such appearance of grace in all they said, they were to me as if they had found a new world. My own heart began to shake and mistrust my condition as naught; for I saw that in all my thoughts about religion and salvation the new birth did never enter into my mind, neither knew I the comfort of the word and promise, nor the treachery of my own wicked heart. As for secret thoughts, I took no notice of them; neither did I understand what Satan’s temptations were, nor how they were to be resisted.
“I left the women, and went about my employment, but their discourse went with me; I was greatly affected with their words. So I often made it my business to be going again and again into the company of these poor people. My mind was now so turned, so fixed on eternity, that neither pleasures, nor profits, nor persuasions, nor threats could loose it; and it would then have been as difficult for me to have taken my mind from heaven to earth, as I have found it often since to get it from earth to heaven.
“I began to look into the Bible with new eyes, and especially the epistles of St. Paul were sweet and pleasant to me, and I was still crying out to God that I might know the truth and the way to heaven.
“As I went on and read, I lighted on that passage, To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another, the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith (1 Cor. 12:99To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; (1 Corinthians 12:9)); on me it did then fasten that I wanted the understanding and wisdom that other Christians had. I questioned whether I had any faith or no. One day as I was between Elstow and Bedford the temptation was hot upon me to try if I had faith, by doing some miracle; which miracle at this time was this: I must say to the puddles that were in the horse-pads, ‘Be dry,’ and to the dry places, ‘Be you puddles.’ But just as I was going to speak, this thought came into my mind, ‘Go under yonder hedge and pray first that God would make you able.’ But when I had concluded to pray, this thought came hot upon me, that if I prayed, and tried to do it, and yet did nothing, then surely I had no faith, but was lost. Nay, thought I, I will not try yet. Thus I was tossed betwixt the devil and my own ignorance.
“About this time the state and happiness of these poor people at Bedford was thus, in a kind of vision, presented to me. I saw as if they were on the sunny side of some high mountain, while I was shivering in the cold, afflicted with frost, snow, and dark clouds. Methought also betwixt me and them I saw a wall that did compass about this mountain, and through this wall my soul did greatly desire to pass. About this wall I thought myself to go again and again, still prying as I went, to see if I could find some passage, but none could I find for some time. At the last I saw as it were a narrow gap, through which I attempted to pass, but the passage being very strait I made many offers, but all in vain. At last with great striving I at first did get in my head, and after that, by a side-ling striving, my shoulders and my whole body. Then was I exceeding glad, and went and sat down in the midst of them, and so was comforted with the light and heat of their sun.
“Neither as yet could I attain to any comfortable persuasion that I had faith in Christ. But one day after I had been for many weeks oppressed, that sentence fell with weight upon my spirit, Look at the generations of old, and see; did ever any trust in God and were confounded?
“At which I was greatly enlightened and encouraged in my soul. I went to my Bible, to see if I could find that saying. I looked, but I found it not. Then I did ask first this good man, and then another, if they knew where it was, but they knew no such place. Thus I continued above a year, but at the last, casting my eye upon the Apocrypha books, I found it in Ecclesiasticus into. This at the first did somewhat daunt me; but because at this time I had got more experience of the love and kindness of God, it troubled me the less, especially when I considered that though it was not in those texts that we call holy and canonical, yet forasmuch as this sentence was the sum and substance of many of the promises, it was wry duty to take the comfort of it; and I bless God for that word — that word doth still ofttimes shine before my face.
“After this, another doubt came upon me. How if the day of grace be passed? To aggravate my trouble the tempter presented to my mind these good people of Bedford, and suggested, That these, being converted already, were all that God would save in those parts; and that I came too late, for these had got the blessing before I came. But when I had been long vexed with this fear, those words broke in upon my mind, Compel them to come in, that my house may be filled... and yet there is room (Luke 14:22, 2322And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. 23And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. (Luke 14:22‑23)). These words were sweet words to me, for I thought that the Lord Jesus, knowing that the time should come that I should be afflicted with fear that there was no place left for me in His bosom, did leave this word upon record that I might find help thereby against this temptation.
“After this I found by reading the word that those that must be glorified with Christ in another world must be called by Him here; now again I was at a very great stand, fearing I was not called. Oh I how I now loved those words that spake of a Christian’s calling! as when the Lord said, ‘Follow me.’ Oh! thought I, that He would say so to me, how gladly would I run after Him!
“I cannot express with what longings I cried to Christ to call me. I saw such glory in a converted state that I could not be contented without a share therein. Had I had a whole world, it had all gone ten thousand times over for this, that my soul might have been in a converted state.
“At last, after much time spent, and many groans to God, that word came in upon me, ‘I will cleanse their blood that I have not cleansed, for the Lord dwelleth in Zion.’ (Joel 3:2 1)
“At times, however,. I found my heart to shut itself up against the Lord; I found unbelief to set as it were the shoulder to the door, and that too even when I have cried, with many a bitter sigh, Good Lord, break it open; Lord, break these gates of brass, and cut these bars of iron asunder. (Psa. 107:1616For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder. (Psalm 107:16).)
“But all this while, as to the act of sinning, I never was more tender than now; I durst not take a pin or a stick, though but so big as A straw. Oh! how gingerly did I then go, in all I did or said! I found myself as on a miry bog, that shook if I did but stir.
“Yet God never much charged the guilt of my sins of ignorance upon me; only He showed me I was lost if I had not Christ, because I had been a sinner. I saw that I wanted a perfect righteousness to present me without fault before God; and this righteousness was nowhere to be found but in the person of Jesus Christ.
“But my original and inward pollution, that, that was my plague and affliction... When comforting time was come, I heard one preach a sermon on these words in the Song (4:1), ‘Behold, thou art fair, my love; behold, thou art fair.’ He said If it he so, that the saved soul is Christ’s love when under temptation and destruction, then poor tempted soul, when thou art assaulted and afflicted with temptations, and the hiding of God’s face, yet think on these two words, ‘My Love, still.’
“So as I was going home, these words came again into my thoughts: they began to kindle in my spirit, ‘Thou art my love, thou art my dove,’ twenty times together; and still as they ran in my mind they waxed stronger and warmer, and began to make me look up. Being as yet between hope and fear, I still replied in my heart, ‘But it is true, but it is true,’ Acts 12:99And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision. (Acts 12:9). Then I began to give place to the word; which with power did over and over make this joyful sound within my soul: ‘Thou art my love, thou art my love, and nothing shall separate thee from my love.’ And with that my heart was filled full of comfort and hope, and now I could believe that my sins should be forgiven me: yea, I was now so taken with the love and mercy of God, that I remember I could not tell how to contain till I got home: I thought I could have spoken of His love and told of His mercy to me, even to the very crows that sat upon the ploughed lands before me.”
Bunyan had, after this, many grievous temptations, but he found support in Romans 8:3838For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, (Romans 8:38); 2 Cor. 5:2121For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. (2 Corinthians 5:21); John 14:1919Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also. (John 14:19); Colossians 1:2020And, having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven. (Colossians 1:20); Hebrews 2:14, 1314Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil; (Hebrews 2:14)
13And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me. (Hebrews 2:13). Bunyan also was greatly helped, by God’s grace, under the teaching of Mr. Gifford, a Baptist at Bedford. Before Bunyan had got out of his temptations, he did greatly long to see some ancient godly man’s experience; for he thought that those who had writ in his own days, had writ only that which others felt, and “God, in whose hands are all our days and ways, did cast into my bands one day a book of Martin Luther: it was his Comment on the Galatians. It was so old it was ready to fall piece from piece, if I did but turn it over. When I had but a little way perused, I found my condition in his experience so largely and profoundly handled, as if his book had been written out of my heart. I prefer this book of Martin Luther on the Galatians (excepting the Holy Bible) before all the books that ever I have seen, as most fit for a wounded conscience.”
Bunyan was immersed about 1655: the traditional place of his immersion is in a small stream near Bedford Bridge. After he had been about five or six years awakened, and helped to see both the want and worth of Jesus Christ his Lord, some of his friends desired him to speak a word of exhortation at some of their meetings. His hearers were affected and comforted. He was thus led on to speak at some of the country meetings, and at last, being desired by the Baptist worshippers at Bedford, he was, after prayer with fasting, particularly called to the ordinary preaching of the word at Bedford, and he was diligent in going round the neighboring villages, so as by some, in a jeering way, to be called Bishop Bunyan; he resting his conscience on the desires of the people to hear him, and on 1 Cor. 16:15, 1615I beseech you, brethren, (ye know the house of Stephanas, that it is the firstfruits of Achaia, and that they have addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints,) 16That ye submit yourselves unto such, and to every one that helpeth with us, and laboreth. (1 Corinthians 16:15‑16).
He had been a preacher about five years when he was arrested (Nov. 12, 1660) at a meeting in the country, and subsequently tried as an upholder of Conventicles. He was sentenced to perpetual banishment because he refused to Conform to the Church, and he was confined in Bedford Gaol more than twelve years. His petition for release is recorded on the Minutes of the Privy Council, May 8, 1672, but it took several months before the deed of pardon was pleaded at the assizes. He says, “I never had in all my life so great an inlet into the word of God as now.” He found special comfort in John 14:1-3; 16:331Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. 2In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:1‑3)
33These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33); Colossians 3:3, 43For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory. (Colossians 3:3‑4); Hebrews 12:22, 2422But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, (Hebrews 12:22)
24And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:24); and 1 Peter 1:88Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: (1 Peter 1:8).
“But, notwithstanding these helps, I found myself a man encompassed with infirmities. The parting with my wife and poor children hath often been to me in this place as the pulling the flesh from my bones; and that not only because I am somewhat too fond of these great mercies, but also because I often brought to mind the many hardships, miseries, and wants that my poor family was like to meet with; especially my poor blind child, who lay nearer to my heart than all I had beside.” Jeremiah 49:11,11Leave thy fatherless children, I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me. (Jeremiah 49:11) and 15:11. In prison he made many hundred gross of long tagged laces. His library there was the Bible and Fox’s Book of Martyrs.
The Bishop of Lincoln, Dr. Thomas Barlow (consecrated 1675, died 1691), and other churchmen, moved by Bunyan’s sufferings and patience, so stood his friends as to procure his enlargement.
Bunyan was very unwilling in his preaching to meddle with things that were controverted. He contended with earnestness for the word of faith, and the remission of sins by the death and sufferings of Jesus. He borrowed not his doctrine from libraries, he depended on the sayings of no man. He preached what he found in the Scriptures of truth, among the true sayings of God. He could not be satisfied unless some fruits did appear in his work. It pleased him nothing to see men drink in opinions, if they seemed ignorant of Jesus Christ, and of the worth of their own salvation. “Sound conviction for sin, especially for unbelief, and a heart set on fire to be saved by Christ, with strong breathings after a truly sanctified soul— that it was that delighted me; those were the souls I counted blessed.”
Bunyan’s license to preach, as a congregational person, being of that persuasion, in the house of Josias Roughed, Bedford, or in any other place, room, or house, licensed by his Majesty’s memory and, dated May 15, 1672, was shown to the Mayor of Bedford, Oct. 6, 1672. His last sermon was on John 1:13,13Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:13) July 1688.
Bunyan was desirous that adult baptism should not be considered a necessary requisite to admission into church fellowship — very little on the subject of adult baptism is to be found in his writings. His popularity was great; when he preached in London about 1,200 attended a morning lecture on a week day in the winter, at seven o’clock, and on the Lord’s day about 3,000, so that he was almost pulled over people to get into the pulpit. He took great care to visit the sick, and he spent part of his time, in reconciling differences, his last undertaking being a labor of love; for it so falling out that a young gentleman, a neighbor, had displeased his father, who threatened to disinherit him, he persuaded Bunyan to attempt to reconcile them. Bunyan rode to Reading, in Berkshire, to see the father, and succeeded in the wished-for reconciliation; but returning to London, being overtaken with excessive rains, and extremely wet, he fell sick of a violent fever at the house of a friend, Mr. Strudwick (or Straddock), a grocer, at the Star, on Snow-hill, in the parish of St. Sepulcher, London, where, after ten days’ illness, he died, August 12; or, according to another account, August 31, 1688, and was buried in Bunhill Fields.
He appeared in countenance to be of a stern and rough temper, but in his conversation mild and affable; not given to much discourse in company unless some urgent occasion required it. He was free from boasting. He abhorred lying and swearing. He was righteous and charitable. He had a sharp quick eye, was an excellent discerner of persons, of good judgment and quick wit. He was tall of stature, strong boned, though not corpulent, somewhat of a ruddy face, with sparkling eyes; wearing his hair on his upper lip, after the old British fashion; his hair reddish, and, in his latter days, sprinkled with gray; his nose well set, but not declining or bending, his mouth moderate large, his forehead something high, his dress plain.
God blessed him with four children: Mary, blind, died early; Thomas, Joseph, and Sarah. His second wife, Elizabeth, died 7692.