John Bunyan

John Bunyan was an English pastor and writer of the seventeenth century, shaped by a Baptist church context and a robustly evangelical, Reformed minded grasp of the gospel.

He is best known for imaginative, Scripture soaked writing that brings Christian experience into view with honesty and hope. Bunyan helps readers see the dangers of presumption and despair, and he directs them to the mercy of God in Christ with persistent clarity.

He remains valued because his work is spiritually perceptive, pastorally realistic, and richly encouraging for ordinary believers. Recommended titles include The Pilgrim’s Progress, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, and The Fear of God.

Theological Perspective: Baptist

John Bunyan

John Bunyan was an English pastor and writer of the seventeenth century, shaped by a Baptist church context and a robustly evangelical, Reformed minded grasp of the gospel.

He is best known for imaginative, Scripture soaked writing that brings Christian experience into view with honesty and hope. Bunyan helps readers see the dangers of presumption and despair, and he directs them to the mercy of God in Christ with persistent clarity.

He remains valued because his work is spiritually perceptive, pastorally realistic, and richly encouraging for ordinary believers. Recommended titles include The Pilgrim’s Progress, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, and The Fear of God.

Theological Perspective: Baptist

John Bunyan

John Bunyan

John Bunyan was an English pastor and writer of the seventeenth century, shaped by a Baptist church context and a robustly evangelical, Reformed minded grasp of the gospel.

He is best known for imaginative, Scripture soaked writing that brings Christian experience into view with honesty and hope. Bunyan helps readers see the dangers of presumption and despair, and he directs them to the mercy of God in Christ with persistent clarity.

He remains valued because his work is spiritually perceptive, pastorally realistic, and richly encouraging for ordinary believers. Recommended titles include The Pilgrim’s Progress, Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, and The Fear of God.

Theological Perspective: Baptist

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Come And Welcome To Jesus Christ

Mid-levelBusy pastorsTop choice
8.5
Author: John Bunyan
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

We read this as a direct, gospel charged invitation that refuses to let sinners hide behind fear, delay, or despair.

John Bunyan holds out Christ freely, and he pleads with us to come, because Christ welcomes all who come to Him.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

We are helped because Bunyan understands the tricks of the heart. He anticipates objections, answers excuses, and exposes the unbelief that can dress itself up as humility. All the while he keeps pointing us to Christ’s readiness to receive the guilty.

We also gain a model of evangelistic persuasion shaped by Scripture. Bunyan reasons carefully, presses the conscience, and comforts tender hearts, without lowering the demands of repentance and faith.

For pastors and evangelists, this is immensely usable. We are given a way of speaking that is both urgent and compassionate, holding out Christ while still calling for honest turning to Him.

Closing Recommendation

We strongly recommend this as a compelling gospel appeal, valuable for personal reading and for pastoral ministry.

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The Jerusalem Sinner Saved

Mid-levelBusy pastorsTop choice
8.5
Author: John Bunyan
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

We read Bunyan here as an evangelist of the heart. He sets before us the wideness of Christ’s mercy, and he speaks directly to those who feel beyond hope.

The book is urgent, compassionate, and unwavering in its insistence that Christ receives the guilty who come to Him.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

We are helped because Bunyan understands how sin, shame, and fear can lock a soul in despair. He does not minimise sin, yet he refuses to make sin bigger than the Saviour.

We also see a model of persuasion shaped by Scripture. Bunyan reasons, urges, comforts, and warns, always seeking to bring the reader to Christ with honest faith.

For pastors and evangelists, this is a valuable pattern. We are shown how to speak with both firmness and tenderness, holding out Christ freely, while still pressing repentance and obedience.

Closing Recommendation

We strongly commend this as a gospel drenched work for personal reading, evangelistic use, and pastoral care.

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Prayer

Mid-levelBusy pastorsStrong recommendation
8.1
Author: John Bunyan
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

In Prayer, John Bunyan speaks as a pastor who knows the struggles of the believer, urging us toward real prayer that is honest, persevering, and anchored in God’s promises.

We are helped to see prayer as the life breath of faith, not a performance, and not a last resort.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

We should read this when we feel weak in prayer, or when we have reduced prayer to a set of phrases. Bunyan teaches us to bring the heart to God, guided by Scripture and sustained by grace.

It serves pastors well because it renews our own practice, and it also equips us to teach others with compassion. We are given categories for praying through fear, dryness, guilt, and delay, without surrendering hope.

Its greatest strength is that it makes prayer feel possible, because it keeps grace in view.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend Prayer for any believer who wants to pray more truly. It is plain, earnest, and profoundly encouraging for ministry and personal devotion.

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The Acceptable Sacrifice

Mid-levelBusy pastorsStrong recommendation
8.3
Author: John Bunyan
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

We can speak much about worship while neglecting what God calls acceptable worship, worship offered through Christ and shaped by the Word.

Bunyan addresses the heart of true worship, showing how faith, repentance, and reverence are bound together in the believer’s approach to God.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

Bunyan writes with plain directness. He will not let us hide behind outward forms, yet he also will not let us approach God apart from the mediation of Christ. That balance is deeply helpful for the church today.

For preaching, it offers clear lines for applying Scripture on prayer, worship, and spiritual sincerity. It helps us warn against hypocrisy without crushing those who come to God with weakness and need.

It can also serve elders and worship leaders by giving a theological foundation for gathered worship that is reverent, joyful, and regulated by Scripture.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend it as a concise, strengthening Puritan work on worship that keeps Christ and the Bible central.

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All Loves Excelling

Mid-levelBusy pastorsStrong recommendation
8.4
Author: John Bunyan
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

Our love for Christ can grow thin through distraction, familiarity, and unconfessed sin.

Bunyan writes to rekindle affection for Jesus, showing how the gospel restores love that is both tender and obedient.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

This is not sentimental writing. Bunyan stirs the heart by setting Christ before us, His beauty, His grace to sinners, and His worthiness of wholehearted devotion.

For pastors, it is valuable as heart preparation. It reminds us that preaching is not merely explaining truths, it is commending a Saviour. The themes here can deepen our own worship and sharpen our exhortations.

The style is accessible, especially compared with heavier Puritan works. It is well suited for personal devotion and for recommending to believers who need warmth without shallowness.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend it as a nourishing, Christward read for pastors and church members who want love for Christ to be renewed and strengthened.

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The Fear Of God

IntroductoryGeneral readers, Lay readers / small groupsTop choice
8.5
Author: John Bunyan
Series: Puritan Paperbacks
Type: Devotional
Publisher: Banner of Truth
Theological Perspective: Reformed
Resource Type: Puritans

Summary

We find Bunyan simple, direct, and piercing. He shows that the fear of the Lord is not slavish dread, but reverent, loving awe.

We are helped as he exposes false religion, then calls us to a faith that trembles at God’s word and trusts His mercy.

Why Should We Read This Resource?

We value the pastoral realism. It addresses both presumption and despair, and it keeps the reader close to Scripture rather than opinion.

We also find it useful for catechesis and discipleship, particularly with newer believers learning what true godliness looks like in ordinary life.

We should read it when our churches need reverence without coldness, and confidence without carelessness.

Closing Recommendation

We recommend it warmly. It strengthens worship, deepens repentance, and helps cultivate a steady, joyful seriousness before God.

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