JOHN BUNYAN (1628-1688) was an English Puritan minister from Bedfordshire. His father's house was "of that rank that is meanest and most despised of all the families in the land". As a boy he received some minimal education but became almost unparalleled for lying, swearing and cursing. Early in life he felt much terror because of the "wrath to come" (Matthew 3:8), but in time he began to harden so that even several remarkable providences – by which he was whisked from the jaws of death – left him spiritually asleep. Mr Bunyan's father-in-law, however, was a devout and godly man who had given to Mrs Bunyan two Christian books, "The Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven" and "The Practice of Piety". Bunyan therefore began to seek after an outward holiness but soon found he could not give up his swearing and Sabbath-breaking. He despaired of pardon from God. Nonetheless, through the influence of a poor Christian man who befriended him, he began to read the Bible. Then, overhearing the conversation of some godly women in a house doorway in Bedford, he became convinced of the reality of the work of God’s Spirit in the heart – and that he did not yet know it by personal experience. This was the turning point of John Bunyan's life. From that time he went seeking until with great joy he found forgiveness and peace with God through the Saviour who was crucified for sinners.