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Born near Bedford, the
son of a brazier. He learned to read and write at the village school and was apprenticed
to his father's trade. He was drafted into the Parliamentary army between 1644 and 1646
and married the year after. His first wife owned two Puritan religious works that had a
profound effect on him. In 1653 he joined a Nonconformist church and his first writings
are criticism of the Quakers. His first wife died, leaving four children and he became an
itinerant preacher. He married again, probably during 1659. In 1660 he was arrested for
preaching without a bishop's license. He was imprisoned for a total of twelve years in
Bedford goal. In prison he studied the bible constantly and wrote pamphlets and nine
books, including the first part of The Pilgrim's Progress - an allegorical tale
which was a major influence on generations of writers. He eventually became Pastor of
Bedford and in his later years was able to preach without persecution. He died in London.
His writings were very popular despite their complexity.
I would quote John Bunyan as an instance of what I
mean. Read anything of his, and you will see that it is almost like the reading the Bible itself. He had read it till his very soul was saturated with Scripture; and, though his writings are
charmingly full of poetry, yet he cannot give us his Pilgrim's Progress—that sweetest of all prose poems—without continually making us feel and say, "Why, this man is a living Bible!"
Prick him anywhere—his blood is Bibline, the very essence of the
Bible flows from him. He cannot speak without quoting a text,
for his very soul is. —Charles Spurgeon