John Bunyan: Pilgrim’s Progress

About the Author

The English writer and preacher John Bunyan was born in Harrowden in Bedfordshire on November 30, 1628, to an extremely poor family. He received only a minimal education and followed his father into trade as a brazier before he went on to serve in the Parliamentary army during the English Civil War. It was his marriage after the end of military service that changed Bunyan’s life. His wife brought as her only dowry two religious texts. Reading those books focused Bunyan’s thoughts increasingly on his own spiritual condition and eventually led to what he recognized as a conversion in 1653. A handful of other books, particularly the Bible, the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, and John Foxe’s account of the Christian martyrs through history, Actes and Monuments (more commonly known as The Book of Martyrs), played an important role in Bunyan’s self-education. In 1655 he was baptized and received into the Baptist Church.

Bunyan’s faith took a public role in religious matters when he began to dispute with local Quakers in 1656; this led to increasing involvement in ministry and finally a call to serve a local Independent congregation as pastor. Under the Commonwealth it was possible for self-proclaimed preachers to lead congregations. With the Restoration of both Charles II and the Anglican Church, however, the government began to move against unlicensed preachers. Bunyan refused to conform to the Church of England and was jailed in 1660. His first period of imprisonment lasted (with occasional interruptions) for twelve years. The confinement was lax, giving him opportunities to write. It was probably during this period that Bunyan began to plan Pilgrim’s Progress, though he did not begin the writing process until later—certainly he was busy enough turning out his autobiography (Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners) and other books, pamphlets, sermons, and poetry.

Upon release, Bunyan immediately renewed his career as a pastor, serving a congregation until he was arrested and jailed again in 1675. It was during the following brief stint in prison that he wrote the first part of Pilgrim’s Progress, although the work was not published for three more years. In 1684 he published the second half of the work. Bunyan’s second jail term lasted only six months, and his increasing reputation and popularity protected him from further trouble. He was even offered royal patronage by James II, but Bunyan’s religious convictions caused him to refuse the post. He continued writing and preaching until his death on August 31, 1688.