A Pilgrim Path: John Bunyan's Journey

by Faith Cook

Faith Cook has been a lover of John Bunyan s work for many years, first encountering him through The Pilgrim s Progress in preschool years. Later she discovered through his Complete Works his many other books and ten years ago she wrote Fearless Pilgrim, a detailed biography of Bunyan. Now she has taken up her pen again to write this well-paced and accessible biography that will appeal to every reader. Inevitably it is more than just a this is a story told so that the Lord Jesus Christ is glorified and the reader can find encouragement for their own pilgrim path. Bunyan suffered in
many ways and his own words express best the message this book
(God) can make those things that in themselves are most fearful and terrible to behold, the most pleasant, delightful and desirable things. He can make a gaol more beautiful than a palace... He can
so sweeten our sufferings with the honey of his word... and make them so easy by the spreading of his feathers over us that we shall not be able to say that in all the world a more comfortable position can be found.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Christian

178 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2017

About the author

Faith Cook was born in China, the daughter of OMF missionaries, and now lives in Derbyshire. She is married to Paul, who served as a pastor in churches in Northallerton, Shepshed and Hull. They have five children and ten grandchildren. She is also the author of Lives Turned Upside Down, The Nine-Day Queen of England, Our Hymn-writers and their Hymns, Seeing the Invisible and Under the Scaffold.

Reviews

[Amy Esslinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short and engaging read! I like how she used quotes from his own autobiography, Grace Abounding, throughout the whole book but provided more details of his life than what’s in the autobiography.

[Lydia Willcock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a clear, easy-to-read account of John Bunyan's life that I really loved. I think it makes an excellent companion book to Grace Abounding, as the author quotes often from it and details the parts of his life that Bunyan brushes over. The two compliment each other well, and even standing alone, this is an excellent biography. I look forward to reading more of Faith Cook's books in the future.

[Gareth Davies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Challenging biography of John Bunyan. Living in times of great political and societal upheaval, there is much to learn from him - none more than his unwavering faith in Christ.

[Timothy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, easy to read, and interesting biography of John Bunyan.
Good if you want to dip your toes into his life. The chapters are short and Faith Cook brings some of the events to life.

[Margaret Roberts · Rating 4 out of 5]

The life of John Bunyan, the man who is best known for Pilgrim's Progress and The Holy War, lived in a turbulent time in England's history where politics brought persecution to the Christian Church. Many years of Bunyan's short life was spent in prison-and he was only there because he refused to stop preaching openly. However it was in the prison that much of his writing was done and where he had such great encounters with God. Despite persecution, imprisonment and an uncertain future, Bunyan stayed close to God, learning and teaching us in turn, what it means to give everything into God's hands and to trust Him alone.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely book, it is quite short but packs in a lot of detail with an easy flowing narrative. It is great to see the genesis of books such as Pilgrim's Progress. Plus being a dweller of Bedforshire, it is great to see the familiar names of places. Plus now I have some additional locations to cycle to that are mentioned in the book.

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Cook boils Bunyan's life down into succinct bites, and weaves his life and his writings together with great skill. She does a great service to us by bringing a digestible amount of characters and context together to help us appreciate this complicated yet valuable life.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great biography of John Bunyan. As usual, Cook delves into the wider political and religious context as well as building Bunyan's life story with the limited resources available to her!

[Derek van Vliet · Rating 5 out of 5]

There cannot be any greater biography of Bunyan than what Faith Cook has written.
I adore Bunyan so much, and this book made it stronger.

[Annie Jeshrun · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short, easy to read and convicting!