John Bunyan

English religious writer and evangelist. Born the son of a tinker in Elstow, a small village in Bedfordshire. After only an elementary school education, he joined his father's business. At the age of 17, he was conscripted into the government army and served in the Puritan Civil War, after which he was discharged two years later and returned to the family business. During his service, he came into contact with radical Protestant sects, and decided to reject the traditional establishment church and rely on the grace of God manifested in individuals. His experiences during his military service were later compiled in The Holy War (1682), which became a widely read work. In 1653, he joined the Nonconformist movement in Bedford, preached, and came into conflict with the Quakers. His reading experience was limited to the Bible, John Foxe's Lives of the Martyrs, and Arthur Dent's The Common Man's Way to Heaven. His religious fervor was extremely intense, and he was so distressed that he hated church bells at one point, believing them to be the work of the devil, which gave pleasure to people. He finally found peace of mind after becoming a Baptist. His spiritual journey during this time is detailed in his autobiography, Abounding Grace (1666). This is one of the works he wrote during his 12-year imprisonment from 1660, after he was arrested for preaching without a license. He was later released under the Act of Independence of Charles II, and became minister of Bedford again, but due to changes in the national law he was imprisoned again in 1675, and released six months later. During this time he wrote the first part of Pilgrim's Progress. A second part was added, and the complete work was published in 1684. Written in a simple and elegant style that is in keeping with the Bible, the actions of the protagonist Christian, who does not succumb to hardships or temptations and reaches the heavenly city, moved people and made the work a long-selling best-seller. Another highly acclaimed work is The Life of Knave (1680). With his vast knowledge of the Bible, rich imagination, and precise expressiveness, he was one of the leading Puritan writers, and although he lacked the grandeur of Milton, he had a great influence on subsequent English prose.

[Hideo Funato January 19, 2018]

"The Collected Works of Bunyan, translated by Shinichi Takamura, 5 volumes (1969, Yamamoto Shoten)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

イギリスの宗教作家、伝道者。ベッドフォード州の小村エルストウの鋳掛屋の息子に生まれる。小学教育のみで父の仕事につく。17歳で政府軍に徴集され、ピューリタンの内戦に従軍し2年後除隊、家業に戻る。服務中に急進的プロテスタント諸派の人々と接し、伝統的体制教会を否定し、個人に顕現する神の恩寵(おんちょう)に頼ろうと決意する。従軍中の体験はのちに『聖戦』（1682）にまとめられ広く読まれる。1653年ベッドフォードの非国教会派に入り、説教活動を行いクェーカー教徒と対立した。彼の読書体験は主として聖書で、それにジョン・フォックスJohn Foxe（1516―1587）の『殉教者伝』、それにアーサー・デントArthur Dent（？―1607）の『庶民の天国への道』などわずかなものに限られたが、宗教的熱情はきわめて激しく、精神的苦悩から一時は教会の鐘を人間に快楽を与える悪魔のしわざとして嫌悪するほどであったが、バプティストとなってようやく心の平安を得た。この間の魂の遍歴については自伝『あふるる恩寵』（1666）に詳しい。これは、無免許で説教を行ったかどで捕まり、1660年から12年間の投獄生活の間に執筆された著作の一つ。その後チャールズ2世の信仰自由令により釈放、ふたたびベッドフォードの教会牧師となるが、重なる国法の変革で1675年再投獄、6か月後に釈放される。この間に『天路歴程』の前編が書かれた。これに後編が加わって、1684年全編出版の運びになる。聖書に通じる簡素・高雅な文体で、苦難や誘惑に屈せず天の都に達する主人公クリスチャンの行動が人々の感動をよび、ロングセラーとなった。ほかに評価される著作として『悪太郎の一生』（1680）がある。該博な聖書の知識、豊かな想像力、的確な表現力は抜群で、ミルトンの壮麗さは欠くが屈指のピューリタン作家の一人として、その後の英国散文に与えた影響は大きい。

［船戸英夫　2018年1月19日］

『高村新一訳『バニヤン著作集』全5冊（1969・山本書店）』

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