A Humble Tinker and the Grace of God

12 March 2010

November 30

Scripture: Hebrews 2:9-18

In the midst of the struggle between the friends of Christianity and infidelity, John Bunyan was born November 30, 1628. His year of birth was honored with a signal victory gained over lawless violence by the passing of the English Bill of Rights. The sum of the act was that "no man shall be taxed without the consent of Parliament, nor be arrested imprisoned, or executed but by due course of law." Every attempt was made by the court to recover arbitrary power. To attain this power, the court perpetrated cruelties, which rendered it still more odious. Laymen and clergymen, renowned for learning and piety for opposing the view of the court, had their ears cut off, noses slit, faces branded with red hot irons. They were also publicly whipped on the naked body, every lash bringing away the flesh. They were then imprisoned with such cruelties that when released, they could neither hear, see, nor walk These cruelties were followed by a desolating civil war which overwhelmed the country with demoralization and debauchery.¹

The village of Bistow, one mile from Bedford, was the place of Bunyan’s birth into a family of tinkers which Bunyan himself described as "being of that rank that is meanest and most despised of all the families in the land."² His father, in an age when very few of the poor were taught to read and write, was able to put John in school, when he learned both but soon forgot both almost utterly.

Having a warm, light, and frolicsome heart, Bunyan was drawn into sins, principally lying, swearing, and profaning the Sabbath. He experienced the agonies of conviction of sin over a long period of time to the extent of dreaming frightful dreams, hearing warning voices, and reading his doom in letters of fire. He had several close brushes with death. On one occasion he fell into the Bedford River and, yet again later into a creek of the sea, nearly drowning. He also had an encounter with a poisonous snake and fell into a deep pit. He came through all these experiences unscathed. Bunyan also served in the army and fought in the battle of Leicester. He was spared any serious injury though he tragically took on the wicked habits of his peers.

Bunyan married a very poor, but pious, woman. She encouraged him with two books in her possession, The Plain Man’s Pathway to Heaven and The Practice of Piety, and through this he regained his ability to read. Her affectionate tenderness became a blessing to him, his rugged heart was softened, and he felt alarm for the salvation of his soul.

Another woman of entirely different character, whom he described as "a loose and ungodly wretch," heard his oaths and protested to him "that he swore and cursed at that most fearful rate, that she trembled to hear him," and that he would spoil the rest of the youth of the town. That experience, linked with his overhearing conversations of three poor, godly women about the new birth, alarmed him about his perilous state and brought a great struggle of mind and soul. Those dear women introduced him to their Baptist pastor, John Gifford. Under Gifford's instruction, Bunyan was driven to his Bible and experienced the quickening power of the Holy Spirit. Space does not permit relating all the struggles Bunyan endured, but when one reads his biography, it is clear that his classic volume The Pilgrim’s Progress was drawn from his biblical insights and personal experiences.--EWT

[1]George Offar, Memoir of John Bunyan, Introduction to The Pilgrim’s Progress (London: Routledge, Warne and Routledge), 1861, p. ii.

[2]John Bunyan, The Life of John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress (New York: J. B. Hurst Co., n.d.), p. 3.