John Bunyan is a famous 17th century English writer. Also known as a Baptist preacher. He is especially revered by the Anglican community. His most famous work is the novel Pilgrim's Journey to Heavenly Land, which is one of the most significant works of English religious literature.
Writer Biography
John Bunyan was born in 1628. He was born in the town of Harrowden in a family of workers. The future writer received education only a few years, and then began to help his father in the sale of tin products.
When he was 16 years old, John Bunyan's mother and two sisters died, and his father found a third wife. Apparently, because of his mother, he decided to leave his father's house, and went to the army. When the Civil War broke out, he served in a garrison in Newport.
Vera Bunyan
After the victory of supporters of parliament, John Bunyan returned to trade. Soon met his future wife. In 1649, he married young Mary. Her dowry was not rich, but very significant in the biography of John Bunyan. These are two books - The Practice of Piety by Lewis Bailey and The Way to the Paradise of a Common Man by Arthur Dent. They had a serious impact on him, incline to a devout lifestyle.
Later, in his biography, he admitted that he led a dissolute life in his youth, but then decided to change. Talking about sins, he mentions dances and blasphemy.
Becoming an ever more pious person, Bunyan comes to physical and mental distress due to the sins he committed in his youth. He himself was a Baptist, categorically disagreeing with the teachings of the Quakers, whom he sharply criticized in his writings.
Imprisonment
Having become an active opponent of the Quakers, Bunyan gained popularity, which angered many of his associates. For example, he was accused of being a Jesuit, a sorcerer and a robber. When he was 30 years old, he was arrested for preaching without a license. But this did not stop him, soon after being released, he continued to preach until November 1660, when he was imprisoned in a district prison.
The persecution of the writer intensifies when the restoration of the monarchy by Charles II. The country is returning to Anglicanism; prayer houses are being closed everywhere. For continuing sermons, he was first imprisoned for 3 months, and then this term was increased to 12.
At the very beginning of 1661 he was sent to prison for the categorical unwillingness to attend the then obligatory services in the Anglican churches, as well as for preaching at clandestine meetings.
"Pilgrim's Journey"
It is in conclusion that Bunyan begins to write his most famous work - “The Pilgrim's Journey”. Some researchers translate this name as "Way of the Pilgrim."
The Pilgrim's Journey by John Bunyan was first published in 1678. Six years later, the second part comes out. It is believed that this is one of the most famous allegories, for Protestants it was the second book after the Bible. Bunyan remained a prolific author, continuing to be a well-known preacher, remaining a religious Puritan.
One of the main features of this book by John Bunyan was that the author’s imagination painted heroes and events that seemed to be familiar to the reader, it seemed to him that he already experienced, remembers and knows all this. In addition, the novel has a lot of witty humor, English idioms, the story is very eloquent. And the images that the writer John Banyan uses are taken from his surroundings. For example, the Evangelist is John Gifford, the Quagmire of Despair is a swampy place near his home, in the Otradnye Gory - an allusion to the Chiltern Hills on the outskirts of Bedfordshire.
Plot of the novel
The novel is divided into two parts. In the first, the main character - a resident of the City of Destruction realizes that he will die if he stays at home and is forced to hit the road. In the second part of the novel, an invitation to heaven is received by his family - his wife and children.
Among the characters, it is necessary to distinguish the Christian (the main character), the Evangelist (the person who shows him the way), the Stubborn and the accommodating (the inhabitants of the City of Destruction), the Worldly sage (he shows the false path to the Christian), the Interpreter (the abbot of the pilgrims) and many others.
Writer's work
Biography, the work of John Bunyan attracted a large number of researchers of English literature. After all, besides, he was a very prolific author. In total, he wrote about 60 works.
His second most popular book was Spiritual Warfare, which was a success similar to Pilgrim's Journey. Researchers also highlight his novels "Christian and her children", "Christ - the perfect Savior."
Exemption
Bunyan was released briefly in 1666. He spent just a few weeks outside the prison cell, and then was again arrested for illegally preaching.
In prison, he continues to preach and begins to weave shoelaces in order to somehow support his family. His property is very scarce. These are several books, a flute that he makes from the legs of a chair, and a tin violin. Moreover, he has an almost unlimited amount of paper and feathers. The desire to write and play music became the basis of his Puritan faith.
Only in 1672, when Charles II issued the Declaration of Tolerance, Bunyan was finally released. Almost immediately, he became the pastor of St. Paul's Church. And after a few years he received the first license in his life to preach under the new law. Bunyan even builds a house of worship, forming a dissident community from his parishioners who have remained faithful. The number of flocks reaches four thousand people in Bedford alone. In total, he founds about 30 religious communities, receiving from his parishioners an unofficial national title "Bishop Banyan."
But for a long time he was not able to stay at large. In 1675, he was again imprisoned because of his sermons, because Charles II repealed the religious tolerance law. This time, the Quakers are seeking his release, who submit to the king a sheet with the names of the prisoners whom they demand to have mercy. As a result, after six months he is released, and since he becomes incredibly popular, they no longer arrest him.
In 1688, Banyan went to Reading to resolve a quarrel between his son and father. On the road, he gets a cold. He develops a fever. On August 31, he dies in the house of his friend John Strudwick, who was a candle and grocery merchant. The preacher and famous English religious writer are buried in London at the Banhill Fields cemetery.
Many Puritans then indicate in their wills that they wish to be buried as close as possible to the grave of Bunyan. In 1682, a recumbent statue was installed over the grave. Along with the hero of our article, many English dissidents - Daniel Defoe, George Fox and many others - rest today.