Summary Banyan D
John Banyan (Benyang, Benyang, Bunyan, English John Bunyan; November 28, 1628, Elstow – August 31, 1688, London) is an English writer, a Protestant preacher.
John Bunyan, who was called “Shakespeare among preachers,” was born in Elstow (a small village in the center of England), in Bedford, where he spent most of his life. Formal education Bunyan was small. At the age of sixteen he enlisted in the army of the Parliament and held active military service during the Civil War in England.
In 1647, 19 years of age, he married a young woman who persuaded him to visit the church regularly. There he listened to the Gospel, and after a deep and prolonged spiritual struggle, he completely subordinated himself to the Lord, after which he was baptized and became a member of Bedford’s Baptist Church. Soon he began to preach in the church and surrounding villages. People recognized Bunyan as a leader, as well as the ability to interpret the Scriptures. Continuing
In 1660, he was arrested and imprisoned for conducting secret, unauthorized religious assemblies. When he was offered freedom in exchange for a promise never to preach again, he disagreed and remained in prison. During the imprisonment, he studied, wrote and supported money in his family, making and selling shoelaces for shoes. It was in prison that he wrote his immortal creation “The Pilgrim’s Journey”.
In 1672, he was released, and he immediately returned to his previous activities. During the next 16 years of his life, he was active as a pastor, writer, adviser, leader, and also the high priest of many churches and young ministers.
Banyan was a champion of religious freedom and freedom of conscience in spiritual matters. Somebody knows about him: “The grace of God increased on him, and the abundant spiritual anointing was on him, but this greatest saint was in his own eyes the most sinful of all sinners and the poorest of all saints.” He died in 1688 – after traveling 40 miles to London in the pouring rain to preach there. He was always poor, but thanks to his example, service, and, in particular, his pen, he left to his descendants a priceless heritage.