Brief
Biography
John Bunyan was born in Bedfordshire, England in 1628. Like
Andrew Fuller, Bunyan came from the working class and understood poverty early
in life. His early life included a good deal of degradation as well as a stint
in the army. Even after he had married, Bunyan was what we would call today a
wayward Christian. He later realized he was no Christian at all. The story is
oft told of how Bunyan heard a sermon one Sunday morning against the evils of
Sunday sports. That afternoon, while playing "cats", Bunyan heard a voice in
his heart which said, "Wilt thou leave thy sins and go to Heaven, or have thy
sins and go to hell?" Those words would not leave him over the next few months.
In one of God’s divine encounters, John Bunyan began to turn from religion
in form to Christ in fact. One day Bunyan tried to join in on a conversation
about religion with several poor women he heard talking as he walked down the
street. He thought himself to be quite knowledgeable about such things so he
attempted to reason along with these godly women. Instead, Bunyan had no idea
what they were speaking of. He wrote: "Their talk ... was about a new birth,
the work of God on their hearts, 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."
Later those same women introduced Bunyan to their pastor, John Gifford. While
not Baptist, Gifford and the church he pastored were definitely congregational
and definitely not "high church." The church was comprised of both
Congregational and Baptist believers. It was under Gifford’s preaching and
teaching that Bunyan at last came to Christ. Bunyan's, Grace Abounding
is his own spiritual biography. In it he tells how the verse, "He hath made
peace by the blood of His cross" (Colossians 1:20), finally broke through to
his heart and he was truly saved. Several years (1656) after coming to Christ,
Bunyan began to preach at the same church which Gifford had pastored. He was
above all a preacher who would proclaim God's Word anywhere and everywhere: "He
himself ... went out to preach the Word in the open air on village greens, in
barns, in private houses, and sometimes even in parish churches. Bedfordshire
and neighbouring shires are full of traditions of his preaching, and several
Congregational and Baptist churches claimed to have been founded through his
preaching." It was not long before Bunyan’s willingness and drive to
preach the gospel everywhere got him into trouble.
By 1660, Anglican
royalists had stepped up their attacks on non-conformist preachers (Baptists,
Congregationalists, and Puritans in general). It became illegal to preach in
non-sanctioned places. So on Nov 12, 1660, John Bunyan was arrested for
preaching in a field near a farmhouse. Upon his arrest, Bunyan was informed
that if he would apologize to the magistrates and refrain from preaching, he
would be released. Bunyan replied that such a promise was not possible and thus
began a twelve year imprisonment. His refusal to cease preaching reminds one of
Peter and John's reply to the Jewish leaders when they were instructed to
refrain from preaching: Acts 4:18-20 - "Then they called them in again and
commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and
John replied, 'Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey
you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and
heard.'"
During those 12 years of imprisonment, Bunyan wrote Grace
Abounding, Confessions of Faith, and A Defense of the Doctrine of
Justification by Faith. Ernest Bacon speculates that it was in the last
part of his imprisonment that Bunyan began to formulate his greatest work,
Pilgrim's Progress. Finally, King Charles II released most religious
prisoners including John Bunyan. Bunyan emerged a leader among non-conformist
and the pastor of the church at Bedford. He wouldn't have long to spend with
his wife and seven children, however. On Feb 1675, Charles II changed his mind
and Bunyan along with others was arrested again. This time more legally minded
friends accomplished the release of Bunyan after a short time. On leaving
prison this second time, Bunyan released for publication part one of The
Pilgrims Progress in 1678.
What may seem like a question for church
historians and no one else is whether Bunyan was really a Baptist at all. The
answer is important to modern Christians as you will see. There can be no doubt
that Bunyan had little use for denominational titles. He once said: "As for
those titles of Anabaptists, Independents, Presbyterians, or the like, I
conclude that they come neither from Jerusalem nor from Antioch, but rather
from hell and Babylon, for they naturally tend to division." In fact, it would
probably be safer to call Bunyan a baptist rather than a Baptist. He was
baptized as a believing adult and often taught that baptism should be
administered only to those who had heard and embraced the gospel. At the same
time, Bunyan did not believe that either baptism or the Lord's Supper should
divide true Christians. "Instead of accenting the differences … he
emphasized the fundamentals of the faith which all true believers shared. He
defended the gospel as the basis of Christian unity … When he involved
himself in controversy, he did so because he saw a challenge to the gospel
itself." Bunyan was a baptist in the sense that he held to what became the
foundational tenets of Baptists. He was committed to God's Word first and
foremost; he held to a congregational form of church government; and he
strongly emphasized justification by faith alone. Bunyan certainly was in
sympathy with the Particular Baptists in his firm grip on the Doctrines of
Grace.
We could learn much from John Bunyan. He was far more interested in
God's glory and man's salvation than he was in restrictive denominational tags.
By the time of Bunyan’s death in 1688, eleven editions of The
Pilgrim’s Progress had been published with over 100,000 copies in print.
He left a legacy of many other great books and poems. None of these, however,
are his greatest legacy to us. Bunyan’s greatest gift to the church was
his demonstration that the Doctrines of Grace are not static or cold. The
gospel is not predestination - it is Christ! Grace is how God brings us to
Christ. Above all Bunyan loved Christ. He preached Christ and exalted Christ.
"There was first and foremost in John Bunyan a deep personal love for his
Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ ... Bunyan's books are full of Christ - His
welcome, His unshakable truth, his advocacy for sinners ... His preaching and
writing were Christ-centred, and it was this that carried men's hearts captive
to Christ. If our present day preachers and theologians had the same emphasis a
very different spirit would prevail in both the Church and the State."
Useful
Links
http://acacia.pair.com/Acacia.John.Bunyan/
The Bunyan On-Line Library
http://www.johnbunyan.org/ works on-line,
by JohnBunyanOrg
http://homepages.which.net/~gk.sherman/eaaaaabw.htm
Life and links.
http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/bailey/bunyan.htm
the John Bunyan Page