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Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners [with Biographical Introduction]
John Bunyan (1628-1688) is most famously known for writing "The Pilgrim's Progress", a two-part allegory of the Christian pilgrimage toward salvation. The wildly popular book was written in Bedford during Bunyan's time in prison—he was sentenced to twelve years for holding unlicensed church services. During this time Bunyan also completed an autobiography recounting the story of his own conversion from a life of sin and impiety to one of virtue and spiritual regeneration. "Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners" illustrates the tenets of Puritanism through what Bunyan saw as God's saving grace in his own life. He reflects on a sinful youth, and how it led him towards an impious adulthood. Those who read the novel are comforted by Bunyan's honest admission to feelings of despair and doubt; even today, many people can identify with his struggles, and find inspiration in his faith and religious conviction.
90 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1666
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About the author
John Bunyan
1,616 books1,412 followersJohn Bunyan, a Christian writer and preacher, was born at Harrowden (one mile south-east of Bedford), in the Parish of Elstow, England. He wrote The Pilgrim's Progress, arguably the most famous published Christian allegory. In the Church of England he is remembered with a Lesser Festival on 30 August.
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July 18, 2013
If you pick up and read this book, one of two things will happen. You will get 15 pages in and decide its not for you, or you will carry on reading and find yourself amazed at the journey God brought this poor tinker through. I found myself at first thinking something was clinically wrong with Bunyan (and maybe there was), but the more I read I wondered if there wasn't something wrong with me. Sure, one mans conversion cannot truly be poorer than another's from Heavens perspective. However, to walk the struggle he walked with him left me rebuked for my thoughts of entitlement and made me thankful once again for Christ's saving work in my life.
Ironically, after such a journey, I reckon Bunyan is the last saint in heaven you'd ever have to convince of Gods election. His story, if left up to him, should have concluded in Hell, but for the intervening and saving grace of God; a grace that also sustained him in the fiery furnace of Christian persecution: and even now a grace that sustains and nourishes many other pilgrims, plagued with doubts and suffering.
Ironically, after such a journey, I reckon Bunyan is the last saint in heaven you'd ever have to convince of Gods election. His story, if left up to him, should have concluded in Hell, but for the intervening and saving grace of God; a grace that also sustained him in the fiery furnace of Christian persecution: and even now a grace that sustains and nourishes many other pilgrims, plagued with doubts and suffering.
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November 24, 2007at a time when I didn't think that christians could have a thought life as crazy as mine, this book was a great comfort to me.
john bunyan and charles spurgeon were probably a couple of the greatest preachers of GRACE and comforters of the conscience in this last 500 yeras.
john bunyan and charles spurgeon were probably a couple of the greatest preachers of GRACE and comforters of the conscience in this last 500 yeras.
August 3, 2015
John Bunyan was a non-conformist English pastor who lived from 1628-1688. During his years of ministry, he spent approximately 14 years in prison for preaching without a legal license as required by England at the time. Bunyan’s best known work is certainly The Pilgrim’s Progress, a book that I feel every Christian should read. Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners is Bunyan’s autobiographical account, which he wrote in 1666 while in prison primarily for the benefit of the people under his ministry.
Bunyan first describes his pre-conversion lifestyle and attitude towards the church and Christianity. God used various people and incidents in his life to gradually bring him to true faith and repentance, but not without a long struggle with guilt, doubt, and assurance of salvation.
If you’re familiar with Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, it is interesting to note that many of the incidents that take place in the story reflect Bunyan’s personal life and experiences.
Following his testimony of his conversion, Bunyan gives an account of how he came to be a minister. At first, he would share his thoughts with acquaintances in small groups, then he was encouraged to speak in meetings, which he felt unworthy but willing to do. He came to acknowledge that God had given him a gift for teaching and preaching, so he must not bury it but must use it for the good of God’s people. He remarks,
"I concluded, a little grace, a little love, a little of the true fear of God, is better than all the gifts…Let all men therefore prize a little with the fear of the Lord (gifts indeed are desirable), but yet great grace and small gifts are better than great gifts and no grace."
I found it interesting that what Bunyan was personally going through spiritually often influenced his preaching style and subject matter. He comments, “I preached what I felt, what I smartingly did feel; even that under which my poor soul did groan and tremble to astonishment.” When he was feeling the weight of sin on his conscious and a sense of his own unworthiness, he preached messages on the burden of the law and the seriousness of sin. As he experienced the peace and comfort of Christ within himself, he preached the person, grace and benefits of Christ. Bunyan’s description of being called to the ministry and what he experienced as a preacher provides insight into what many true ministers of God’s Word likely experience, and provide words of encouragement and warning to other pastors, preachers, and teachers of the Word. The humility, pure heart, and godly desires of Bunyan are evident in many ways; consider his concluding remarks for example:
"I find to this day seven abominations in my heart:
• Inclining to unbelief.
• Suddenly to forget the love and mercy that Christ manifests.
• A leaning to the works of the law.
• Wanderings and coldness in prayer.
• To forget to watch for that I pray for.
• Apt to murmur because I have no more, and yet ready to abuse what I have.
• I can do none of those things which God commands me, but my corruptions will thrust in themselves. When I would do good, evil is present with me."
"These things I continually see and feel, and am afflicted and oppressed with, yet the wisdom of God orders them for my good:
• They make me abhor myself.
• They keep me from trusting my heart.
• They convince me of the insufficiency of all inherent righteousness.
• They show me the necessity of flying to Jesus.
• They press me to pray unto God.
• They show me the need I have to watch and be sober.
• They provoke me to pray unto God, through Christ, to help me, and carry me through this world."
Grace Abounding gives us a glimpse into the life of a man whose traveled a long, hard path to true faith in Christ, and into the heart of a man whose primary desire was to please God in every aspect of his life.
Bunyan first describes his pre-conversion lifestyle and attitude towards the church and Christianity. God used various people and incidents in his life to gradually bring him to true faith and repentance, but not without a long struggle with guilt, doubt, and assurance of salvation.
If you’re familiar with Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, it is interesting to note that many of the incidents that take place in the story reflect Bunyan’s personal life and experiences.
Following his testimony of his conversion, Bunyan gives an account of how he came to be a minister. At first, he would share his thoughts with acquaintances in small groups, then he was encouraged to speak in meetings, which he felt unworthy but willing to do. He came to acknowledge that God had given him a gift for teaching and preaching, so he must not bury it but must use it for the good of God’s people. He remarks,
"I concluded, a little grace, a little love, a little of the true fear of God, is better than all the gifts…Let all men therefore prize a little with the fear of the Lord (gifts indeed are desirable), but yet great grace and small gifts are better than great gifts and no grace."
I found it interesting that what Bunyan was personally going through spiritually often influenced his preaching style and subject matter. He comments, “I preached what I felt, what I smartingly did feel; even that under which my poor soul did groan and tremble to astonishment.” When he was feeling the weight of sin on his conscious and a sense of his own unworthiness, he preached messages on the burden of the law and the seriousness of sin. As he experienced the peace and comfort of Christ within himself, he preached the person, grace and benefits of Christ. Bunyan’s description of being called to the ministry and what he experienced as a preacher provides insight into what many true ministers of God’s Word likely experience, and provide words of encouragement and warning to other pastors, preachers, and teachers of the Word. The humility, pure heart, and godly desires of Bunyan are evident in many ways; consider his concluding remarks for example:
"I find to this day seven abominations in my heart:
• Inclining to unbelief.
• Suddenly to forget the love and mercy that Christ manifests.
• A leaning to the works of the law.
• Wanderings and coldness in prayer.
• To forget to watch for that I pray for.
• Apt to murmur because I have no more, and yet ready to abuse what I have.
• I can do none of those things which God commands me, but my corruptions will thrust in themselves. When I would do good, evil is present with me."
"These things I continually see and feel, and am afflicted and oppressed with, yet the wisdom of God orders them for my good:
• They make me abhor myself.
• They keep me from trusting my heart.
• They convince me of the insufficiency of all inherent righteousness.
• They show me the necessity of flying to Jesus.
• They press me to pray unto God.
• They show me the need I have to watch and be sober.
• They provoke me to pray unto God, through Christ, to help me, and carry me through this world."
Grace Abounding gives us a glimpse into the life of a man whose traveled a long, hard path to true faith in Christ, and into the heart of a man whose primary desire was to please God in every aspect of his life.
January 30, 2022
It is always encouraging to read the biographies of men and women who ran the race of the Christian faith and finished well.
Note: I strongly recommend that you read this book at the same time you read The Pilgrim’s Progress and Pictures of the Pilgrim’s Progress by C. H. Spurgeon.
Note: I strongly recommend that you read this book at the same time you read The Pilgrim’s Progress and Pictures of the Pilgrim’s Progress by C. H. Spurgeon.
September 3, 2016
"Bunyan's crisis, as anyone can see to-day, was far more pathological than spiritual. The way he got into trouble and the way he got out of trouble were both irrational. The one need not alarm, and the other can hardly help, any sane person."
This is understated. Duuuuude! You didn't have to do that to yourself. Bunyan makes Luther look like a sane and socially well-adjusted human being. This is morbid introspection on steroids on stilts, and is the most excruciating thing I have read recently, to say the least. His relapses are so frequent that it feels like a cartoon. How could somebody think that and be sane? For instance:
"151. Then again, being loth and unwilling to perish, I began to compare my sin with others to see if I could find that any of those that were saved, had done as I had done. So I considered David’s adultery, and murder, and found them most heinous crimes; and those too committed after light and grace received: but yet by considering that his transgressions were only such as were against the law of Moses, from which the Lord Christ could, with the consent of His word, deliver him: but mine was against the gospel; yea, against the Mediator thereof; I had sold my Saviour."
On the one hand, I'm glad this book exists and that we have evidence of the insanity and the depths of repetitive sin to which a soul in the grip of a misunderstanding will descend. The grip that despair has on our soul is sometimes really that deep and it seems to have attacked rather than merely depressed Bunyan. On the other, I would not want this published in a set with practical Puritan works, because it may make some thing that something along these lines is necessary or even a natural or normal part of getting saved.
Not that Bunyan was born saved. I think he was right to see that he was a poorly educated infidel at first and up to around section 49, he was just trying to "be good" rather than receiving grace. I'm especially amused that he got worried he couldn't get saved because of being an Israelite and how he realized that Muslims have just as good a claim to sincere belief as us. His descriptions of being glibly theological are actually really good and really vivid. The moment he interrupts a bunch of women and gets convicted is an amazing moment of self-discovery that captures so much of life. I suspect we would cheer to see it happen on screen, but I do have one complaint: often there is a sort of pietistic cool-shaming that goes on in the Christian world. Whenever some Christians are just living life or discussing some theological matter, no surer way to end a decent conversation or make people, especially established Christians, feel bad is to turn the topic to "spiritual matters," especially discussions of one's sins. I can think of few situations where such a discussion would be profitable.
This comes to what I think the real flaw of the book is: despite Bunyan's undoubted humility, humility that only comes from being pushed in the dirt and made to live in it for a few years, there is a sort of spiritual pride that this book creates. Many people who have deeply emotional experiences like Bunyan do in fact think that this has earned their salvation. I've been especially guilty of this. We think that because we really meant our prayers, because we really confessed our sins, and because we really trusted in Jesus, we are saved and God is on our side. Charles Williams says somewhere that Protestants tend to not know how to imagine faith simply, slowly, almost comfortable growing. There's something to that and this gets at the heart of the issue.
We do have quite a few people who go through abnormal excitement and there is a sort of normal excitement that accompanies conversion, and we have to compare both of these things from what happened to the disciples and the Jews, which strikes me as tied up with all the differences between early modernity and the birth of spontaneity and the more public ancient world where people overflow in Psalms when they see the Spirit moving. There's a lot in common and there's a lot that's different. I want to read more on this.
Anyway, Bunyan was a good man. A troubled man who doubted himself when he was preaching and would probably have not been a fun pastor, but definitely someone fun to talk to. He was also clearly insufficiently attuned to the concerns of his accusers: "But I was persuaded of this, not to render railing for railing; but to see how many of their carnal professors I could convince of their miserable state by the law, and of the want and worth of Christ". One can see the Evangelist and feel his struggle with understanding what's wrong with gathering people, and doubtless Judge Hate-Good was no caricature. One wishes he had read Richard Hooker.
Bunyan's insanity was such that he devoured Scripture and not only would verses pop into his head saying "take me, take me!" under pressure, he would cite a verse and then if it's meaning was disputed, he could cite the one immediately afterwards. His Biblical allusions and metaphors are almost as powerful here as in the Pilgrim's Progress. I think one of my favorites was when he compared preaching from the pulpit against one of his own sins to Samson taking himself down with the Philistines. In John Bunyan, one finds a kindred spirit.
This is understated. Duuuuude! You didn't have to do that to yourself. Bunyan makes Luther look like a sane and socially well-adjusted human being. This is morbid introspection on steroids on stilts, and is the most excruciating thing I have read recently, to say the least. His relapses are so frequent that it feels like a cartoon. How could somebody think that and be sane? For instance:
"151. Then again, being loth and unwilling to perish, I began to compare my sin with others to see if I could find that any of those that were saved, had done as I had done. So I considered David’s adultery, and murder, and found them most heinous crimes; and those too committed after light and grace received: but yet by considering that his transgressions were only such as were against the law of Moses, from which the Lord Christ could, with the consent of His word, deliver him: but mine was against the gospel; yea, against the Mediator thereof; I had sold my Saviour."
On the one hand, I'm glad this book exists and that we have evidence of the insanity and the depths of repetitive sin to which a soul in the grip of a misunderstanding will descend. The grip that despair has on our soul is sometimes really that deep and it seems to have attacked rather than merely depressed Bunyan. On the other, I would not want this published in a set with practical Puritan works, because it may make some thing that something along these lines is necessary or even a natural or normal part of getting saved.
Not that Bunyan was born saved. I think he was right to see that he was a poorly educated infidel at first and up to around section 49, he was just trying to "be good" rather than receiving grace. I'm especially amused that he got worried he couldn't get saved because of being an Israelite and how he realized that Muslims have just as good a claim to sincere belief as us. His descriptions of being glibly theological are actually really good and really vivid. The moment he interrupts a bunch of women and gets convicted is an amazing moment of self-discovery that captures so much of life. I suspect we would cheer to see it happen on screen, but I do have one complaint: often there is a sort of pietistic cool-shaming that goes on in the Christian world. Whenever some Christians are just living life or discussing some theological matter, no surer way to end a decent conversation or make people, especially established Christians, feel bad is to turn the topic to "spiritual matters," especially discussions of one's sins. I can think of few situations where such a discussion would be profitable.
This comes to what I think the real flaw of the book is: despite Bunyan's undoubted humility, humility that only comes from being pushed in the dirt and made to live in it for a few years, there is a sort of spiritual pride that this book creates. Many people who have deeply emotional experiences like Bunyan do in fact think that this has earned their salvation. I've been especially guilty of this. We think that because we really meant our prayers, because we really confessed our sins, and because we really trusted in Jesus, we are saved and God is on our side. Charles Williams says somewhere that Protestants tend to not know how to imagine faith simply, slowly, almost comfortable growing. There's something to that and this gets at the heart of the issue.
We do have quite a few people who go through abnormal excitement and there is a sort of normal excitement that accompanies conversion, and we have to compare both of these things from what happened to the disciples and the Jews, which strikes me as tied up with all the differences between early modernity and the birth of spontaneity and the more public ancient world where people overflow in Psalms when they see the Spirit moving. There's a lot in common and there's a lot that's different. I want to read more on this.
Anyway, Bunyan was a good man. A troubled man who doubted himself when he was preaching and would probably have not been a fun pastor, but definitely someone fun to talk to. He was also clearly insufficiently attuned to the concerns of his accusers: "But I was persuaded of this, not to render railing for railing; but to see how many of their carnal professors I could convince of their miserable state by the law, and of the want and worth of Christ". One can see the Evangelist and feel his struggle with understanding what's wrong with gathering people, and doubtless Judge Hate-Good was no caricature. One wishes he had read Richard Hooker.
Bunyan's insanity was such that he devoured Scripture and not only would verses pop into his head saying "take me, take me!" under pressure, he would cite a verse and then if it's meaning was disputed, he could cite the one immediately afterwards. His Biblical allusions and metaphors are almost as powerful here as in the Pilgrim's Progress. I think one of my favorites was when he compared preaching from the pulpit against one of his own sins to Samson taking himself down with the Philistines. In John Bunyan, one finds a kindred spirit.
February 7, 2015
Poor Brother John! What self-tortures he put himself through rather than simply believing. I can sympathize, being prone to the same sort of overthinking and navel-gazing, myself, but I confess that I laughed at him a few times. Even he called his thoughts foolish at one point, though I don't know as he ever learned to laugh at them. I listened to this right after I listened to John Piper's biography of William Cowper. Sadly, Cowper never got the better of his doubts, and died in despair. Piper was very enthusiastic about John Newton's pastoral care of Cowper, which was certainly generous and gracious, but the man needed a kindly smack upside the head and never received it. He needed to learn to laugh at himself. If Bunyan had had a Newton, the latter's cheerful reasoning might have brought him out of the slough sooner. (And if Newton had had a Bunyan, he'd have needed to see a podiatrist. But I digress.)
Anyway, although I sympathized with the author's wrestling to understand the nature of salvation, it was pretty tedious at times to listen to his prolonged agonies of doubt, as I am sure it's been tedious for others to listen to mine. Sorry 'bout that, friends!
Always a bonus to have one reader throughout a whole book. Steven Escalera was solid, steady, and unannoying, for which I am grateful.
Anyway, although I sympathized with the author's wrestling to understand the nature of salvation, it was pretty tedious at times to listen to his prolonged agonies of doubt, as I am sure it's been tedious for others to listen to mine. Sorry 'bout that, friends!
Always a bonus to have one reader throughout a whole book. Steven Escalera was solid, steady, and unannoying, for which I am grateful.
March 14, 2010
What a precious book to me. Very relieving and comforting to know that there are people in time past that have gone through similar, if not, the same conflict of the soul as I have encounter in my spiritual life. although it was kind of hard for me to read due to the old English language, i could still understand what was expressed by John Bunyan. looking forward to buying this book in 21st century language so that i can read it better. What a blessing of a book.
March 9, 2025
The way Bunyan describes the comfort he found in Luther’s commentary on Galatians is exactly the comfort my heart felt reading this book - I found a friend in Bunyan as he did in Luther!! 1 Corinthians 10:13 vibes.
“As I was hoping to read of such an experience, the God in whose hands are all our days and ways, showed me a book by Martin Luther one day. It was his commentary on the book of Galatians. The Luther book was so old that it was ready to fall apart if I did but turn it over. I was very pleased, though, that I had come across such an old book. When I had looked through the book only a little bit, I saw that Luther's experience and writing so much resembled my own spiritual situation, that it was as if his book had been written out of my heart.” SAME!!!!
“Christ was a precious Christ to my soul that night. I could hardly lie in my bed due to joy and peace and triumph through Christ.”
“Great sins draw out great grace, and where guilt is most terrible and fierce, there the mercy of God in Christ, when showed to the soul, appears most high and mighty. At or about the time of my deliverance from this temptation, two or three times I had such strange anticipation of the grace of God that I could hardly bear up under it. It was so extraordinarily amazing when I thought that God's grace could reach me that I think if that sense of it had rested upon me longer, it would have made me incapable of functioning.”
“It was glorious to me to see His exaltation and the worth and extensiveness of all His benefits, and I could now see this because I looked away from myself and to Him. All those graces of God that were now new in me were but like the small change that rich men carry in their pockets, when their gold is in their trunks at home! Oh, I saw my gold was in my trunk, at home - in Christ, my Lord and Savior! Now Christ was all: all my wisdom, all my righteousness, all my sanctification, and all my redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30).”
"Your righteousness is in heaven." Also, I thought that with the eyes of my soul I saw Jesus Christ at God's right hand. He was there as my righteousness. No matter where I was or what I was doing, God could never say that I lacked His righteousness, for it was there right before Him. Moreover, I saw that it was not the good state of my heart that made my righteousness better, nor the bad state that made my righteousness worse, for my righteousness was Jesus Christ Himself, the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).”
ON PRAYER -
“When you pray, it is better to let your heart be without words than to let your words be without heart”
“Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.”
“The spirit of prayer is more precious than treasures of gold and silver.”
“Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan.”
ON AFFLICTION-
“The school of the cross is the school of light; it discovers the world's vanity, baseness, and wickedness and lets us see more of God's mind. Out of dark affliction comes a spiritual light. In times of affliction, we commonly meet with the sweetest experiences of the love of God.”
“As I was hoping to read of such an experience, the God in whose hands are all our days and ways, showed me a book by Martin Luther one day. It was his commentary on the book of Galatians. The Luther book was so old that it was ready to fall apart if I did but turn it over. I was very pleased, though, that I had come across such an old book. When I had looked through the book only a little bit, I saw that Luther's experience and writing so much resembled my own spiritual situation, that it was as if his book had been written out of my heart.” SAME!!!!
“Christ was a precious Christ to my soul that night. I could hardly lie in my bed due to joy and peace and triumph through Christ.”
“Great sins draw out great grace, and where guilt is most terrible and fierce, there the mercy of God in Christ, when showed to the soul, appears most high and mighty. At or about the time of my deliverance from this temptation, two or three times I had such strange anticipation of the grace of God that I could hardly bear up under it. It was so extraordinarily amazing when I thought that God's grace could reach me that I think if that sense of it had rested upon me longer, it would have made me incapable of functioning.”
“It was glorious to me to see His exaltation and the worth and extensiveness of all His benefits, and I could now see this because I looked away from myself and to Him. All those graces of God that were now new in me were but like the small change that rich men carry in their pockets, when their gold is in their trunks at home! Oh, I saw my gold was in my trunk, at home - in Christ, my Lord and Savior! Now Christ was all: all my wisdom, all my righteousness, all my sanctification, and all my redemption (1 Corinthians 1:30).”
"Your righteousness is in heaven." Also, I thought that with the eyes of my soul I saw Jesus Christ at God's right hand. He was there as my righteousness. No matter where I was or what I was doing, God could never say that I lacked His righteousness, for it was there right before Him. Moreover, I saw that it was not the good state of my heart that made my righteousness better, nor the bad state that made my righteousness worse, for my righteousness was Jesus Christ Himself, the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8).”
ON PRAYER -
“When you pray, it is better to let your heart be without words than to let your words be without heart”
“Prayer will make a man cease from sin, or sin will entice a man to cease from prayer.”
“The spirit of prayer is more precious than treasures of gold and silver.”
“Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan.”
ON AFFLICTION-
“The school of the cross is the school of light; it discovers the world's vanity, baseness, and wickedness and lets us see more of God's mind. Out of dark affliction comes a spiritual light. In times of affliction, we commonly meet with the sweetest experiences of the love of God.”
January 30, 2012
Good. Also read in August of 1979. Excellent that time. Read again in 2012. Really appreciated it.
December 13, 2022
A passionate testimony to what God has done in and through the life of John Bunyan. His early life was filled with sin and doubts, yet these led him to cling ever-tighter to the Word of God.
His dated writing style was challenging to listen to, but still so encouraging.
His dated writing style was challenging to listen to, but still so encouraging.
January 20, 2021
A great book by my 2nd favorite author.
This is a great book and although different than "Confessions" by Augustine, it does remind me "Confessions" quite a bit.
This is a great book and although different than "Confessions" by Augustine, it does remind me "Confessions" quite a bit.
June 14, 2025
Wow. What a testimony of God’s grace and mercy!! John Bunyans spiritual life was a roller coaster of spiritual ups and downs, that felt so real and personal. I found myself relating to and feeling sympathy to his doubts and just overall thinking.
Insane to think of how God’s redeeming love brought an illiterate, and deprived man who’s life goal was to commit every sin (except the 7th “thou shalt not commit adultery” Exodus 20:14), to a beloved preacher, and bestselling author is astounding and so so encouraging.
Some of my favorite tid-bits from the books:
“…God and my soul were friends by this blood. Yes, I saw that the justice of God and my sinful soul could embrace and kiss each other because of the blood of Jesus.” (On Colossians 1:20)
“He led me into His words. Yes, He opened them to me, made them shine before me, and caused them to dwell with me, speak to me, and comfort me over and over His own being m, the bearing of His Son, and Spirit, and Word, and gospel.”
“If I must die in this way, I wanted to die at the foot of Christ in prayer. So I prayed.”
“So I concluded that a little grace, a little love, a little of the true fear of God is better than all these gifts.”
“…but great grace and small gifts are better than great gifts and no grace.”
“I thought this was the sign of an upright soul - to desire to serve God when all is taken from him, is he a godly man who will serve God for nothing rather than for gain?”
“…I continually see and feel and am afflicted and oppressed with; yet the wisdom of God orders them for my good.”
Now for my absolute favorite,
“Of all tears, they are the best that are made by the blood of Christ; and of all joy, that is the sweetest that is mixed with mourning over Christ. It is an excellent thing to be on our knees, with Christ in our arms, before God. I hope I know some of these things.”
Insane to think of how God’s redeeming love brought an illiterate, and deprived man who’s life goal was to commit every sin (except the 7th “thou shalt not commit adultery” Exodus 20:14), to a beloved preacher, and bestselling author is astounding and so so encouraging.
Some of my favorite tid-bits from the books:
“…God and my soul were friends by this blood. Yes, I saw that the justice of God and my sinful soul could embrace and kiss each other because of the blood of Jesus.” (On Colossians 1:20)
“He led me into His words. Yes, He opened them to me, made them shine before me, and caused them to dwell with me, speak to me, and comfort me over and over His own being m, the bearing of His Son, and Spirit, and Word, and gospel.”
“If I must die in this way, I wanted to die at the foot of Christ in prayer. So I prayed.”
“So I concluded that a little grace, a little love, a little of the true fear of God is better than all these gifts.”
“…but great grace and small gifts are better than great gifts and no grace.”
“I thought this was the sign of an upright soul - to desire to serve God when all is taken from him, is he a godly man who will serve God for nothing rather than for gain?”
“…I continually see and feel and am afflicted and oppressed with; yet the wisdom of God orders them for my good.”
Now for my absolute favorite,
“Of all tears, they are the best that are made by the blood of Christ; and of all joy, that is the sweetest that is mixed with mourning over Christ. It is an excellent thing to be on our knees, with Christ in our arms, before God. I hope I know some of these things.”
October 30, 2025
This is now one of my favorite books! Bunyan gives such an honest, raw account of the struggles of his Christian life and of God’s grace and lovingkindness toward him. It is hard to read at points because of how much anguish and distress Bunyan was in, but I so resonated with and appreciated him putting his experience into words.
This is ultimately a story of God’s sustaining, preserving, and unfailing grace that holds His sheep secure through all seasons, as He lets not one of them be snatched out of His hand. He is faithful even when we are not, strong even when we are weak, and because of who He is, we can have complete and total confidence in our standing before God — because Christ is our righteousness.
This is a beautiful and encouraging read for anyone who struggles with doubt, fear, and assurance of salvation, but particularly for those who have dealt with the challenges of obsessive compulsive disorder in the form of scrupulosity, as it is now thought that this is likely what Bunyan was describing in his chapters on doubt.
Always thankful to read about the saints who have gone before us and to learn from them doctrinally, devotionally, and personally. Praise God for the encouragement of His church across all time and space!
This is ultimately a story of God’s sustaining, preserving, and unfailing grace that holds His sheep secure through all seasons, as He lets not one of them be snatched out of His hand. He is faithful even when we are not, strong even when we are weak, and because of who He is, we can have complete and total confidence in our standing before God — because Christ is our righteousness.
This is a beautiful and encouraging read for anyone who struggles with doubt, fear, and assurance of salvation, but particularly for those who have dealt with the challenges of obsessive compulsive disorder in the form of scrupulosity, as it is now thought that this is likely what Bunyan was describing in his chapters on doubt.
Always thankful to read about the saints who have gone before us and to learn from them doctrinally, devotionally, and personally. Praise God for the encouragement of His church across all time and space!
May 20, 2024
“Of all the temptations that ever I met with in my life, to question the being of God and truth of his gospel is the worst…”
One of the most raw and honest books written by a Christian I have read. I’m not gonna lie, it’s hardly encouraging except for the fact that it’s real. I don’t think I’ve ever resonated so much with the mind of another believer, feeling so completely understood as he discussed the temptations and fears that he faced.
Seriously, I just finished this and I might immediately start it again
One of the most raw and honest books written by a Christian I have read. I’m not gonna lie, it’s hardly encouraging except for the fact that it’s real. I don’t think I’ve ever resonated so much with the mind of another believer, feeling so completely understood as he discussed the temptations and fears that he faced.
Seriously, I just finished this and I might immediately start it again
December 19, 2023
Sooper dooper encouraging/challenging.
June 12, 2024
“A little grace, a little love, a little of the true fear of God is better than all the gifts… great grace and small gifts are better than great gifts and no grace.”
April 25, 2022
Written from prison, Grace Abounding is the roller coaster story of John Bunyan’s conversion. It’s an emotionally heavy read, as Bunyan recounts the many spiritual torments he suffered throughout his Christian walk. Yet, it’s an uplifting read as the grace of God through Christ shines forth on every page; a deeply comforting testimony for any and every struggling Christian.
“I loved you while you were committing this sin. I loved you before, I love you still, and I will love you forever.”
“I loved you while you were committing this sin. I loved you before, I love you still, and I will love you forever.”
June 15, 2018
John Bunyan was a man like all people who struggled in serving the Lord but led a triumph life because he was committed to following Christ. This was an eye opening book to me in many ways and I loved seeing the mind of Bunyan. Are you discouraged in your walk with the Lord...well, books like these remind me that discouragement doesn't mean giving up. Bunyan's life reveals the victory we can have in the Lord, even through the trials! Today his Pilgrim's Progress is one of the most popular Christian books...not because of his greatness, but of God's blessing on Bunyan's faithfulness!
August 3, 2010
The author of Pilgrims Progress invites us into his own heart - his very disturbing struggle of faith - for many years he had symptoms of what we today would call OCD - Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder - thoughts that almost drove him mad. Blasphemous thoughts.
I was surprised reading this account of the violence of his inner turmoil. Yet, how determined he was to reach that state of resting in Gods grace. And he did. How different our individual experience of God.
I was surprised reading this account of the violence of his inner turmoil. Yet, how determined he was to reach that state of resting in Gods grace. And he did. How different our individual experience of God.
September 6, 2019
This is an amazingly sobering book that draws attention to the Grace of God that is ever abounding even in the life on one to whom it seems that he had sinned past all forgiveness! How great is the blood of Jesus! ♥️
October 27, 2019
3 stars. This was interesting and was not at all what I expected. I was not always captured by Bunyan, but his story is weighty and powerful. Review to come.
March 10, 2019
I found this book to be most edifying and inspiring. The life of John Bunyan is one that every Christian should learn about; he lived during a time of great persecution when it was unlawful for dissenting Christians to meet and worship God as they felt compelled to do by the scriptures and their consciences.
This is not an autobiography in the usual sense; we don't learn about his family or youth, but it is rather a spiritual autobiography of his conversion, how he became a preacher, then was arrested and spent 12 years in prison. The last chapter is written by a friend and describes how Bunyan died and what kind of a person he was.
I would encourage all Christians and people interested in history to read this. Although written in 1666, the language is accessible and not difficult at all for the modern reader to follow.
This is not an autobiography in the usual sense; we don't learn about his family or youth, but it is rather a spiritual autobiography of his conversion, how he became a preacher, then was arrested and spent 12 years in prison. The last chapter is written by a friend and describes how Bunyan died and what kind of a person he was.
I would encourage all Christians and people interested in history to read this. Although written in 1666, the language is accessible and not difficult at all for the modern reader to follow.
August 2, 2025
I listened to this book in one day. Couldn’t stop.
Two things stood out;
First, this is the book to read if you’re wrestling with eternal security. Bunyan recognized and wrestled with more attacks in his life before (and even into)Christianity than I will recognize in my lifetime. More importantly he explains how the gospel spoke through those attacks, and brought him through them.
Secondly, Bunyan (and really all the puritans) see biblical typology to an extreme that is astounding. He hardly can say a line about his life without equating it to some obscure passage that, in turn, points to how his eternal fate is mirroring the story of redemption.
This may be one I revisit frequently. Made me love Bunyan all the more.
Two things stood out;
First, this is the book to read if you’re wrestling with eternal security. Bunyan recognized and wrestled with more attacks in his life before (and even into)Christianity than I will recognize in my lifetime. More importantly he explains how the gospel spoke through those attacks, and brought him through them.
Secondly, Bunyan (and really all the puritans) see biblical typology to an extreme that is astounding. He hardly can say a line about his life without equating it to some obscure passage that, in turn, points to how his eternal fate is mirroring the story of redemption.
This may be one I revisit frequently. Made me love Bunyan all the more.
May 3, 2023
This is a raw and intimate look at the conversion of John Bunyan. I found myself shocked at how honest he was about his thought life and the spiritual warfare he battled. My soul was both edified and convicted as I followed the highs and lows of John's life as a new Christian. This will definitely be a book that I reread and recommend!
February 4, 2022
I very much appreciate how John Bunyan presents the trials and challenges of the Christian life and of sanctification, but also how sweet it is to know Christ as Lord!
April 30, 2025
Difficult to read, due to the time period it was written in, but still has a lot of truth still valuable to the Christian reader today.
June 2, 2024
This book is special to my heart and is a grace from God to me, having suffered the same as Bunyan for the first 2 plus years of my conversion. May the Lord also use this for others who have suffered as Bunyan did hundreds of years before myself.
May 29, 2025
An account of John Bunyan’s fierce battle with conscience in coming to trust in God’s withstanding mercy towards him. I wish I could meet this guy. He’s just like me fr fr.
“Not did I find that God had shut me up, or denied me to come, though I found it hard work indeed to come to Him by sorrow and repentance. Blessed be God for unsearchable grace.” (#223)
“Not did I find that God had shut me up, or denied me to come, though I found it hard work indeed to come to Him by sorrow and repentance. Blessed be God for unsearchable grace.” (#223)
June 24, 2020
Worth reading!
“Sometimes, when after sin committed, I have looked for sore chastisement from the hand of God, the very next that I have had from Him, hath been the discovery of His grace” (180).
“Sometimes, when after sin committed, I have looked for sore chastisement from the hand of God, the very next that I have had from Him, hath been the discovery of His grace” (180).
February 10, 2016
This book came highly recommended; often in 'top ten' and 'must read' lists by theology minded writers and friends. I found it an agony of someone else's private introspections. I related so little to most of his internal doubts and temptations, I could hardly take them seriously. I think he might have benefitted from a good shaking and a gruff exhortation to get over himself, look to Jesus, and go do something practical. Maybe a little Prov. 18:2 or Jer. 17:9 would have been apt. I'm not sure it is healthy to even keep a journal of all the tricks and deceits of one's heart, much less to publish it. I only give it three stars because of the author and historical value, but despite the smattering of quotable lines, and the insight into the back story of Christian, it was a dry groan of a read I am glad to have finished.
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