John Bunyan (1628-1688) started out as an itinerant worker and a soldier. When he began to have religious experiences, he joined a Christian fellowship and soon began preaching. His discussions with the followers of George Fox inspired his first book, Some Gospel Truths Opened, published in 1656. In 1660, he was arrested while preaching. During twelve years of imprisonment in the county jail, he wrote several works, including Profitable Meditations, Praying in the Spirit, The Holy City, and Grace Abounding. He was released after the Declaration of Indulgence of 1672, under which he became a licensed preacher and pastor of the church to which he belonged; but in 1673 the Declaration was canceled, and Bunyan was sent back to prison for six months. During this time he wrote his most famous work, the epic Christian allegory The Pilgrim's Progress. His defined religious outlook is balanced in his writing by an almost modern realism and psychological insight.
