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Acacia John Bunyan - Online Library
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A Timeline Chronicling the Life of John Bunyan
By Judith Bronte
Date |
Age |
Event |
|
Birth |
Born in the parish of Elstow, in Bedfordshire, to Thomas Bunyan and Margaret Bentley (Thomas's first wife, Anne Pinney, had died the year before without any surviving children). |
|
16 |
Enlists in the Parliamentary army, joining with the Newport Pagnell garrison, at the regulation age of sixteen. |
|
17 |
Newport Pagnell garrison moves to Leicester. Most probably, it was here that Bunyan's comrade was shot. "When I was a soldier, I, with others, were drawn out to go to such a place to besiege it; but when I was just ready to go, one of the company desired to go in my room; to which, when I had consented, he took my place; and coming to the siege, as he stood sentinel, he was shot into the head with a musket bullet, and died." - John Bunyan, from "Grace Abounding" |
|
17 |
After seventeen years of marriage, Margaret Bentley, John's mother, dies. Her death is followed within a month by John's sister Margaret. Two months after his wife's death, Thomas Bunyan, John's father, marries his third wife. |
|
18 |
Order given that the Newport Pagnell garrison is to be disbanded, and the soldiers "employed for the service of Ireland". |
|
19 |
Irish officer Lieutenant Colonel Charles O'Hara musters troops at Newport, of which Bunyan is a member. |
|
19 |
Returns home. |
|
20 |
Marries first wife, who was an orphan. "I changed my condition into a married state, and my mercy was to light upon a wife whose father was counted godly. This woman and I, though we came together as poor as poor might be, not having so much household stuff as a dish or spoon betwixt us both, yet this she had for her part, The Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven, and The Practice of Piety, which her father had left her when he died." - John Bunyan, from "Grace Abounding" |
|
22 |
Mary, his much loved blind daughter and eldest child, is baptized. |
|
25 |
Joins St. John's church in Bedford, where he meets Mr. Gifford, the pastor. |
|
25 |
John falls out of a boat into the Bedford river, escaping drowning. "I fell out of a boat into Bedford river, but mercy yet preserved me alive." - John Bunyan, from "Grace Abounding" |
|
26 |
Mary's younger sister, Elizabeth, is baptized. |
|
27 |
Moves to Bedford and becomes a deacon of St. John's church. First wife dies soon after move, leaving John with four motherless children. Mr. Gifford dies in September of the same year. |
|
28 |
Publishes first work entitled "Some Gospel Truths Opened". |
|
29 |
Publishes second work entitled "Vindication of Gospel Truths". |
|
29 |
Formally recognized as a preacher. |
|
30 |
Indictment is laid against John at the Assizes for "preaching at Eaton Socon". The charge was most likely dropped. |
|
30 |
Publishes third work entitled "A Few Sighs From Hell". |
|
31 |
Marries his second wife, Elizabeth. |
|
31 |
Publishes "The Doctrine of the Law and Grace Unfolded". This is the last book he writes before being placed in prison. |
|
32 |
On November 12th, John is scheduled to preach at the hamlet of Lower Samsell. Upon his arrival, he is informed that a warrant has been issued for his arrest. After a lengthy interview with Mr. Francis Wingate, and another with Wingate's brother-in-law, William Foster, (who unsuccessfully tries to persuade Bunyan into a concession), John was placed in Bedford prison. He was charged with "devilishly and perniciously abstaining from coming to Church to hear Divine Service, and for being a common upholder of several unlawful meetings and conventicles, to the great disturbance and distraction of the good subjects of this kingdom, contrary to the laws of our sovereign lord and king." |
|
32 |
Within approximately eight days of John's arrest, his wife gives birth, only for the infant to die soon after. "I am but mother-in-law to them, having not been married to him yet full two years. [Elizabeth, John's second wife, spoke this in 1661.] Indeed, I was with child when my husband was first apprehended; but being young, and unaccustomed to such things, said she, I being smayed at the news, fell into labour, and so continued for eight days, and then was delivered, but my child died." - John Bunyan's wife, from "A Relation of My Imprisonment" |
|
33 |
"Whereupon I continued in prison till the next assizes, which are called MIDSUMMER ASSIZES, being then kept in AUGUST, 1661." - John Bunyan, from "A Relation of My Imprisonment" John's wife goes before the judges, to ask that her husband's case be considered. She is denied. |
|
34 |
The Assizes of 1662. John endeavors to have his name entered in the calendar of offenders, so his case would come before the judges. However, the Clerk of the Peace alters John's entry, thus making it possible for Bunyan to remain in prison for the next four years. |
|
34 |
Writes "I Will Pray With the Spirit and With the Understanding Also, or a Discourse Touching Prayer". |
|
35 |
Publishes "A Discourse Touching Prayer". |
|
35 |
Writes "Christian Behavior". |
|
36 |
Publishes "One Thing Is Needful" on single sheets to be sold by his wife and children, to aid them financially. |
|
37 |
Writes "The Holy City", and "The Resurrection of the Dead and Eternal Judgment" from Bedford prison. |
|
37 |
Writes a poem entitled "Prison Meditations" in response to a letter he received, exhorting him to hold his head above the flood. |
|
38 |
Publishes "Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners". A brief period of freedom follows re-incarceration "He was let out again, 1666, being the year of the burning of London, and, a little after his release, they took him again at a meeting, and put him in the same jail, where he lay six years more." - Charles Doe, A friend and biographer of John Bunyan. |
|
43 |
Released from Bedford prison, after twelve years of imprisonment. His formal pardon is dated September 13, 1672, but he received a royal license to preach five months earlier. |
|
46 |
Publishes "Christian Behavior" as a pocket volume. |
|
47 |
Writes "The Pilgrim's Progress" during six months of incarceration. After being released the same year, he resumes his pastorate in Bedford. |
|
48 |
Publishes "The Strait Gate". |
|
50 |
Publishes "The Pilgrim's Progress". |
|
50 (age approximate) |
Second edition of "The Pilgrim's Progress" is published in the autumn. |
|
51 |
Publishes "A Treatise of the Fear of God". |
|
52 |
Publishes "The Life and Death of Mr. Badman". |
|
53 |
Publishes "Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ". |
|
54 |
Publishes "The Holy War". |
|
54 |
Publishes the eighth edition of "The Pilgrim's Progress", and makes last improvements. |
|
54 |
Publishes "The Greatness of the Soul". |
|
54 |
Publishes "The Barren Fig Tree". |
|
56 |
Publishes ninth edition of "The Pilgrim's Progress". |
|
56 |
Publishes the second part of "The Pilgrim's Progress". |
|
56 |
Publishes "Seasonable Counsel". |
|
57 |
Publishes tenth edition of "The Pilgrim's Progress". |
|
57 |
In danger of returning to prison. |
|
60 |
Publishes "The Water of Life". |
|
60 |
Publishes "The Jerusalem Sinner Saved" in a pocket volume of eight sheets. |
|
60 |
Preaches his last sermon from John 1:13. |
|
60 |
Travels through drenching rain on behalf of a young man, whose father was angry with him. After succeeding his mission, he returns to his lodging on Snow Hill. After enduring ten days of violent fever, he dies and is buried in Bunhill Fields. |
|
- |
"The Barren Fig Tree" is reprinted a few months after John's decease. |
|
- |
"The Jerusalem Sinner Saved" is reprinted. |
|
- |
Charles Doe publishes "An Exposition on the First Ten Chapters of Genesis, and Part of the Eleventh", an unfinished commentary on the Bible, found among John Bunyan's papers after his death, in his own handwriting. |
|
- |
Elizabeth Bunyan, John's second wife, dies. |
|
- |
"Of Antichrist and His Ruin", "Christ a Complete Saviour", "A Discourse of the House of the Forest of Lebanon", and "The Saints' Knowledge of Christ's Love", are published. |
|
- |
Charles Doe publishes "The Heavenly Footman". |
|
- |
"A Book For Boys and Girls" is first published. |