God Behind Bars: John Bunyan, Pilgrim’s Progress, and Chuck Colson

<div class="OutlineElement Ltr SCXW134970890 BCX4"> <p><span data-contrast="none">In November of 1660, Puritan lay preacher</span> <a href= "https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/musiciansartistsandwriters/john-bunyan.html"> <span data-contrast="none">John Bunyan</span></a> <span data-contrast="none">was arrested and subsequently spent the next 12 years in prison. Under the restored monarchy of</span> <a href= "https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-II-king-of-Great-Britain-and-Ireland"> <span data-contrast="none">Charles II</span></a><span data-contrast="none">, dissent from the Church of England was once again illegal. Initially sentenced to three months, under the condition that he would stop preaching, Bunyan</span> <a href= "https://colsoncenter.christianbook.com/the-works-of-john-bunyan/john-bunyan/9780851515984/pd/1515983?event=ESRCG"> <span data-contrast="none">famously replied</span></a> <span data-contrast="none">that he was willing to suffer “till the moss shall grow on mine eyebrows, rather than thus to violate my faith and principles.”</span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">In prison, Bunyan completed one of the all-time, best-selling works of Christian literature,</span> <a href= "https://document.desiringgod.org/the-pilgrim-s-progress-en.pdf?ts=1446648353"> <em><span data-contrast="none">The Pilgrim’s Progress</span></em></a><span data-contrast= "none">. </span><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><span data-contrast="none">Chuck Colson was deeply impacted by this book.</span> <a href= "https://www.breakpoint.org/the-pilgrims-progress/"><span data-contrast="none"> Here’s Chuck, in his own words: </span></a><span data-ccp-props= "{"201341983":0,"335559731":720,"335559739":0,"335559740":480}"> </span></p> <p><em><span data-contrast="none">"It has often been described as the most popular and most influential book ever publishe