An Actual Dissenter: John Bunyan

If you hear about dissenters today, it could be referring to RBG who dissents in favor of killing babies up until birth, or someone dissenting from “whiteness” and “structural racism” by insisting on communist style social justice (developed by a bunch of white male Europeans but I digress). But image a time when to dissent meant something noble. It meant you were holding meetings and preaching the Gospel about how lost sinners can be restored to a relationship with God through the death and resurrection of Christ.

Such a one was John Bunyan. He dissented from the tyranny of government which forced ministers to stop relying on the Bible in Christian worship and instead to use the mandatory Book of Common Prayer. Like the social justice warriors of our day, government overreach meant prohibiting the Bible. (although, imagine going back and telling all involved in that debate that one day a dissenter would mean someone who wants to sexually gratify themselves in any way that comes to mind😧).

Here, General Revelation Press’s book of the month has reproduced John Bunyan’s explanation of why he was called into the ministry and his defense before the judges. Hopefully you know that he spent his 12 years in prison writing, among other things, what went on to be the most influential English book only after the KJV Bible, Pilgrim’s Progress.

As a philosopher, I was raised on the Trial of Socrates. In that trial, Socrates believes that the god Apollo spoke to him through a drunken priestess at the Oracle of Delphi and gave him a mission. People are moved by Socrates’ willingness to stick to his principles even in the face of a death sentence. But beyond that, his teachings were pretty incoherent. They were mostly borrowed from Egyptian priests.

By contrast, the Trial of John Bunyan is an excellent example of clear thinking and virtue. It would be a very good required reading for all incoming ASU freshman. And there is a hero in the story you might not anticipate. I don’t want to ruin it for you, but it is Bunyan’s wife. She, too, is interrogated before the judges and she holds her own even after suffering one of the greatest pains a woman can experience. She is remarkable.

I commend to you the Trial of Mr. John Bunyan. Here is the General Revelation Press’s book of the month version:

https://a.co/d/aVioZN4