A Timeline Chronicling the Life of John Bunyan
By Judith Bronte

Date	Age	Event
November 1628	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).
November 30, 1644	16	Enlists in the Parliamentary army, joining with the Newport Pagnell garrison, at the regulation age of sixteen.
1645	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"
Margaret Bentley died June 1645 (date approximate)	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.
August 1646	18	Order given that the Newport Pagnell garrison is to be disbanded, and the soldiers "employed for the service of Ireland".
January 17, 1647	19	Irish officer Lieutenant Colonel Charles O'Hara musters troops at Newport, of which Bunyan is a member.
1647	19	Returns home.
1648	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"
July 20, 1650	22	Mary, his much loved blind daughter and eldest child, is baptized.
1653	25	Joins St. John's church in Bedford, where he meets Mr. Gifford, the pastor.
1653 (date approximate)	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"
April 14, 1654	26	Mary's younger sister, Elizabeth, is born.
1655	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.
1656	28	Publishes first work entitled "Some Gospel Truths Opened".
1657 (year approximate)	29	Publishes second work entitled "Vindication of Gospel Truths".
1657	29	Formally recognized as a preacher.
1658	30	Indictment is laid against John at the Assizes for "preaching at Eaton Socon". The charge was most likely dropped.
1658	30	Publishes third work entitled "A Few Sighs From Hell".
1659	31	Marries his second wife, Elizabeth.
1659	31	Publishes "The Doctrine of the Law and Grace Unfolded". This is the last book he writes before being placed in prison.
November 12, 1660	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."
November 20, 1660 (date approximate)	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"
August 1661	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.
1662	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.
1662	34	Writes "I Will Pray With the Spirit and With the Understanding Also, or a Discourse Touching Prayer".
1663	35	Publishes "A Discourse Touching Prayer".
1663	35	Writes "Christian Behavior".
1664 (date approximate)	36	Publishes "One Thing Is Needful" on single sheets to be sold by his wife and children, to aid them financially.
1665	37	Writes "The Holy City", and "The Resurrection of the Dead and Eternal Judgment" from Bedford prison.
1665	37	Writes a poem entitled "Prison Meditations" in response to a letter he received, exhorting him to hold his head above the flood.
1666	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.
1671	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.
1674	46	Publishes "Christian Behavior" as a pocket volume.
1675	47	Writes "The Pilgrim's Progress" during six months of incarceration. After being released the same year, he resumes his pastorate in Bedford.
1676	48	Publishes "The Strait Gate".
February 1678	50	Publishes "The Pilgrim's Progress".
1678	50 (age approximate)	Second edition of "The Pilgrim's Progress" is published in the autumn.
1679	51	Publishes "A Treatise of the Fear of God".
1680	52	Publishes "The Life and Death of Mr. Badman".
1681	53	Publishes "Come and Welcome to Jesus Christ".
1682	54	Publishes "The Holy War".
1682	54	Publishes the eighth edition of "The Pilgrim's Progress", and makes last improvements.
1682	54	Publishes "The Greatness of the Soul".
1682	54	Publishes "The Barren Fig Tree".
1684	56	Publishes ninth edition of "The Pilgrim's Progress".
1684	56	Publishes the second part of "The Pilgrim's Progress".
1684	56	Publishes "Seasonable Counsel".
1685	57	Publishes tenth edition of "The Pilgrim's Progress".
1685	57	In danger of returning to prison.
1688	60	Publishes "The Water of Life".
1688	60	Publishes "The Jerusalem Sinner Saved" in a pocket volume of eight sheets.
August 19, 1688	60	Preaches his last sermon from John 1:13.
Dies on August 31, 1688	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.
1688	-	"The Barren Fig Tree" is reprinted a few months after John's decease.
1691	-	"The Jerusalem Sinner Saved" is reprinted.
1691	-	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.
1692	-	Elizabeth Bunyan, John's second wife, dies.
1692	-	"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.
1698	-	Charles Doe publishes "The Heavenly Footman".
1701	-	"A Book For Boys and Girls" is first published.

Also see "A Memoir On John Bunyan".


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The Hard But Right Way - A Pilgrim's Journey (Music CD)
(Endorsed by Acacia John Bunyan)