Brief Bio of John Bunyan

John Bunyan was born in Elstow, England, near Bedford, on November 28, 1628. After squandering much of his life away in worldly wantonness, Mr. Bunyan was converted to the Christian faith and soon afterward, became an excellent expositor of the Holy Scriptures. He was imprisoned in November 1660 for the crime of preaching without a license from the state church. He remained incarcerated for twelve years, with only a few, and brief occasions of liberty. Though he may have began writing his famous The Pilgrim’s Progress while in prison, John Bunyan finished the work a few years after his release in 1672. The Pilgrim’s Progress was published in 1678. Mr. Bunyan also wrote many other excellent works such as Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, Some Gospel Truths Opened According to the Scriptures, The Straight Gate, and The Holy War. A contemporary with such men as John Owen, Thomas Goodwin, and Richard Baxter, John Bunyan is recognized as possibly one of the greatest of the Puritan writers. Bunyan died on August 31, 1688, after taking ill from traveling through inclement weather. He was buried at Bunhill Fields.