Life and Death of Mr Badman

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The Life and Death of Mr. Badman

Updated, Modern English. Illustrated.

The life of Mr. Badman forms a third part to The Pilgrim's Progress, but it is not a delightful pilgrimage to heaven. On the contrary, it is a wretched downward journey to the infernal realms.

The author's goal is to warn poor, thoughtless sinners, not with smooth words they can ignore, but with words that thunder against their consciences regarding the danger of their souls and the increasing wretchedness into which they are madly hurrying.

The one who is in imminent but unseen danger will bless the warning voice if it reaches his ears, however rough and startling it sounds.

The life of Badman was written in an age when abandonment of moral principles, vice, gluttony, intemperance, habitual lewdness, and the excessive unlawful indulgence of lust marched like a ravaging army through our land, headed by the king, along with officers from his polluted peers.

Are we not seeing the same thing, in every way? It is as if this book was written for us who are alive today.

Horror has taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law - Psalm 119:53

About John Bunyan:

John Bunyan (1628-1688) was born at Elstow, England, about a mile from Bedford, and became one of the most influential authors of the seventeenth century. Few writers in history have left such a wealth of Christ-centered writings.

Bunyan's moving conversion is recorded in his Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners. While walking the streets of Bedford, Bunyan heard "three or four poor women" sitting at a door, "talking about the new birth, the work of God in their hearts, and the way by which they were convinced of their miserable state by nature.

They told how God had visited their souls with His love in Christ Jesus, and with what words and promises they had been refreshed, comforted, and supported against the temptations of the devil. From these godly women Bunyan learned to despise sin and to hunger for the Savior. Later, while passing into the fields, he recounts, "This sentence fell upon my soul, 'Thy righteousness is in heaven'... for my righteousness was Jesus Christ Himself, the same yesterday, today, and forever." Then "his chains fell off," and he went home rejoicing.

Calling to Preach and ArrestIn 1655, Bunyan was called to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Bunyan was arrested November 12, 1660, for preaching without the approval of the Anglican Church. He was charged with "teaching men to worship God contrary to the law" and was in jail more than twelve years.

His most well-known work, The Pilgrim's Progress, was written while in the Bedford jail. During Bunyan's lifetime there were 100,000 copies circulated in the British isles, besides several editions in North America. It has been continuously in print since its first printing.

Bunyan's remarkable imagery was firmly rooted in the biblical doctrines of man's fall, grace, imputation, justification, and the atonement.