George Whitefield.
A
RECOMMENDATORY PREFACE
TO THE
WORKS
OF
Mr. JOHN BUNYAN.
A
Recommendatory Preface to the Works of Mr. John Bunyan.
Christian Reader,
IF such thou art in reality, or if only a bare outward professor, thou needest not be informed, that the all-gracious Emmanuel, in the days of his flesh, after he had given us a glorious display of the divine sovereignty in dispensing the everlasting gospel, broke forth into these emphatic words, “I thank thee, Holy Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.” Agreeable to this, says the great Apostle of the Gentiles, “God hath chosen the foolish things of this world to confound the wise: and God hath chosen the weak things of the world, to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things that are not, to bring to nought things that are.” And why? That no flesh should glory in his presence.
Perhaps, next to the first publishers of the gospel of the blessed God, these sayings were never more strongly exemplified in any single individual (at least in this, or the last century) than in the conversion, ministry and writings of that eminent servant of Jesus Christ, Mr. John Bunyan, who was of the meanest occupation, and a notorious sabbath-breaker, drunkard, swearer, blasphemer, &c. by habitual practice: And yet, through rich, free, sovereign, distinguishing grace, he was chosen, called, and afterwards formed, by the all-powerful operations of the Holy Ghost, to be a scribe ready instructed to the kingdom of God. The two volumes of his works formerly published; with the great success that attended them in pulling down Satan’s strong-holds in sinners hearts, when sent forth in small detached parties, are pregnant proofs of this. Some of them have gone through a great variety of editions. His Pilgrims Progress in particular, hath been translated into various languages, and to this day is read with the greatest pleasure, not only by the truly serious, of divers religious persuasions, but likewise by those, to whom pleasure is the end of reading. Surely it is an original, and we may say of it, to use the words of the great Doctor Goodwin in his preface to the epistle to the Ephesians, that it smells of the prison. It was written when the author was confined in Bedford-goal. And ministers never write or preach so well as when under the cross: the spirit of Christ and of glory then rests upon them.
It was this, no doubt, that made the Puritans of the last century such burning and shining lights. When cast out by the black Bartholomew-act, and driven from their respective charges to preach in barns and fields, in the highways and hedges, they in an especial manner wrote and preached as men having authority. Though dead, by their writings they yet speak: a peculiar unction attends them to this very hour; and for these thirty years past I have remarked, that the more, true and vital religion hath revived either at home or abroad, the more the good old puritanical writings, or the authors of a like stamp who lived and died in communion of the church of England, have been called for. Among these may be justly reckoned those great luminaries, Bishop Jewel, Usher, Andrews, Hall, Reynolds, Hopkins, Wilkins, Edwards, who, notwithstanding a difference of judgment in respect to outward church-government, all agreed (as their printed works manifestly evince) in asserting and defending the grand essential truths for which the Puritans, though matters of an inferior nature were urged as a pretext, chiefly suffered, and were ejected. The impartial Doctor Hodges therefore (late provost of Oriel College in Oxford) in his elaborate treatise intitled Elihu, hath done himself honour in saying, that “the old Puritans and Presbyterians in general, till a division happened lately among them, deserve praise for their steady and firm adherence to the principal and fundamental doctrines of christianity.” Their works still praise them in the gates; and without pretending to a spirit of prophecy, we may venture to affirm, that they will live and flourish, when more modern performances, of a contrary cast, notwithstanding their gaudy and tinselled trappings, will languish and die in the esteem of those, whose understandings are opened to discern what comes nearest to the scripture standard.
This consideration, hath induced me to preface the present large and elegant edition of the Reverend Mr. John Bunyan’s works; which, with the unparalleled commentary of the good Mr. Matthew Henry, the pious and practical writings of the excellent Mr. Flavel, and the critical and judicious commentaries and tracts of the accurate Doctor Owen, I hear are enquired after, and bought up, more and more every day. The last forementioned worthy, though himself so great a scholar; and for some time chancellor of one of our most famous universities, as I have been credibly informed, attended on the sermons, and countenanced the ministerial labours of our Reverend author; when, by reason of his being unskilled in the learned languages, and a few differences in lesser matters (as will always be the case in this mixed state of things) he was lightly esteemed by some of less enlarged sentiments. But this, I must own, more particularly endears Mr. Bunyan to my heart; he was of a catholic spirit, the want of water adult baptism with this man of God, was no bar to outward christian communion. And I am persuaded, that if, like him, we were more deeply and experimentally baptized into the benign and gracious influences of the blessed Spirit, we should be less baptized into the waters of strife, about circumstantials and non-essentials. For being thereby rooted and grounded in the love of God, we should necessarily be constrained to think, and let think, bear with and forbear one another in love; and without saying “I am of Paul, Apollos, or Cephas,” have but one grand, laudable, disinterested strife, namely, who should live, preach and exalt the ever-loving, altogether lovely Jesus most. That these volumes may be blest to beget, promote and increase such divine fruits of real and undefiled religion in the hearts, lips and lives of readers, of all ranks and denominations, is the earnest prayer of,