Prisoner of Conscience: John Bunyan on Self, Community, and Christian Faith

’Prisoner of Conscience’ is an interdisciplinary study of Bunyan’s understanding of conscience, to what degree it demands fidelity, and how this affects Bunyan’s relationship both to the modern emphasis on individualism and to historic Christianity. This book deals with Bunyan’s theological, fictional, and autobiographical writings, often in comparison with his contemporaries, such as the Quakers, John Milton, and Richard Baxter. Galen Johnson vigorously argues against current trends in Bunyan studies which herald Bunyan as a figure of incipient modernism. Johnson grounds his study of Bunyan in Reformation orthodoxies and especially in the scriptural basis of all of Bunyan’s writings. While not discounting the profound anxieties and tensions which propel Bunyan’s conversion crisis and set him at odds with the Restoration state, Johnson insists on Bunyan’s fundamental adherence to biblical authority over individual subjectivity in matters personal, political and ecclesial. Johnson’s point is simple but profound. The submission of the individual believer to the word of God and to the community of believers who sustain the witness to that Word prompted all other forces in Bunyan’s life.＂＂ --Vera J. Camden, Department of English, Kent State University Galen Johnson has crafted a fresh and thoughtful interpretation of one of Christian history’s more complex, controversial, and interesting figures. Johnson’s research is exhaustive and his conclusions well reasoned. This book will make a significant contribution to Bunyan studies and may well set the tone of discussion for years to come.＂＂ --Barry Hankins, Professor of History and Church/State Studies, Baylor University Against the standard reading of Bunyan as a modern subjectivist, Galen Johnson shows that the great Dissenter constantly resorted to ancient Christian tradition, to both biblical and doctrinal objectivity, to a strict privileging of the Christian community over solitary faith, even to the sacraments. In sum, a revolutionary book for Bunyan studies and the contemporary church alike.＂＂ --Ralph C. Wood, University Professor of Theology and Literature, Baylor University Thoroughly researched, well written and thought provoking, Johnson dismisses Bunyan’s role in society’s current obsession with individualism. He challenges academics who draw conclusions from Bunyan’s major works without knowing his miscellaneous works. The conscience, not the individual, is the primary issue.＂＂ --Greg Randall, The International John Bunyan Society, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Galen K. Johnson is Assistant Professor of Theology at John Brown University in Siloam Springs, Arkansas. He holds a PhD from Baylor University as well as degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary and Wake Forest University. He is also an ordained Baptist minister.