(November 1628–August 31, 1688), was an English author who wrote the classic work, The Pilgrim’s Progress, 1678. Born in Bedford, England, he was a poor, unskilled tinker by trade. In 1657, he became a Baptist minister and was imprisoned over 12 years, 1660–72, 1675, for preaching without a license. It was during this time that he did much of his writing, while supporting his family by making shoelaces. The Pilgrim’s Progress, 1678, which is an allegory of a Christian’s journey to the Celestial City, has been translated into over 100 languages and, after the Bible, has held the position as the world’s best-seller for hundreds of years, It, along with the Bible and Fox’s Book of Martyrs, was found in nearly every home in colonial New England.
In the “Shepherd Boy’s Song,” The Pilgrim’s Progress, 1678, pt. II, John Bunyan wrote:
My sword I give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me, to be a witness for me, that I have fought His battles who now will be my rewarder.285