約翰·本仁

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約翰·本仁

約翰·本仁 (John Bunyan，1628年 11月28日—1688年 8月31日)，生於英國愛斯途教區 (Parish of Elstow)的黑柔登 (Harrowden，位於貝德浮郡東南方1英里處)。身為一位基督教作家並牧師，他的著作《天路歷程》可說是最著名的基督教寓言文學出版物。

[编辑] 生平

本仁的出生地

本仁並沒有受過很多教育，他早年跟著做為補鍋匠的父親到處經商，並且在英王查理一世的國會軍隊中服役三年 (1644 - 1647)以鎮壓清教徒革命。1649年他與一位敬虔的女子瑪莉 (Mary)結婚；雖然瑪莉沒有什麼嫁妝，本仁卻深受她帶來的兩本書所影響：貝理主教 (Bishop Lewis Bayly)所著《敬虔的實踐 (The Practice of Piety)》和登特 (Arthur Dent)所著的《平常人登天之路 (The Plain Man's Pathway to Heaven) 》，以致於他開始過著敬虔的生活。在瑪莉過世之前 (1655年)，本仁一直住在愛斯途；而後他搬到貝德浮並於1659年再娶。

在約翰·本仁的自傳《豐盛的恩典 (Grace Abounding)》中，他描述自己的年少光陰是恣意而放蕩的；但是似乎沒有任何明顯的跡象證明他比他的鄉鄰們要來的糟糕：口出穢言是本仁唯一具體記述的嚴重過犯，其他則是諸如跳舞及鳴鐘之類的小事。因著本仁過人的想像力以及他對不敬虔與粗言穢語等行為的默想，他栩栩地體會到這些言行可能造成的諸般危險；尤有甚者，本仁為「不能被赦免的罪」以及自己已然犯此罪的想法所困擾，他持續地聽到有個聲音催促他去「出賣基督」並且被可怕的異象所折磨；在幾次靈性上的衝突之後，本仁從他掙扎的光景中逃脫了出來，並且轉而成為一位熱切又堅定的信徒。他於1653年在貝德浮郡的偶斯河 (River Great Ouse)畔受浸水禮加入該郡的浸信會；兩年後本仁便即成為教會的執事並且開始講道，在他信仰之旅的起始就有著顯見的成就。

本仁強烈地反對教友派（亦即貴格會）的教義並且在1656至1657年間與該派許多領袖進行書面上的辯論；本仁出版的第一本小冊子《福音真理之開解 (Some Gospel Truths Opened)》即在抨擊貴格會的信條，英國貴格會信徒領袖愛德華·伯羅 (Edward Burrough)則以《平安福音之真實信仰 (The True Faith of the Gospel of Peace)》回應；為了反駁伯羅的小冊，本仁接著又出版了《辯證福音真理之開解 (A Vindication of Some Gospel Truths Opened)》，伯羅則不甘示弱地以《真理明證(Truth Witnessed Forth)》答覆他。而後貴格會創始人喬治·福克斯介入這場口角，並為駁斥本仁的論述而出版了《揭露大淫婦之謎 (The Great Mystery of the Great Whore Unfolded)》。

西元1658年本仁被指控無照講道，然而他仍然繼續講道直至1660年11月被捕的前夕；本仁被關入貝德浮郡監獄，初入獄時他被判三個月監禁，但是他拒絕停止講道以致於他的刑期遭延長為將近12年（除了1666年的幾週之外），直到1672年1月，英王查理二世頒佈宗教特赦宣言 (Declaration of Religious Indulgence)之後，本仁才獲釋。

約翰·本仁的墳墓，位於英國倫敦；攝於2006年1月

在本仁獲釋的那個月他成為貝德浮郡浸信會的牧師。1675年3月間，他又再次因講道而入獄（因為查理二世撤銷了宗教特赦宣言），這次他被監禁於偶斯河石橋邊的鎮監獄內 (原本的拘捕令在1887年被發現，其摹本由倫敦的Rush和Warwick出版）；六個月後本仁重獲自由，並且由於他的聲望而不再受牢獄之災所擾。

本仁在前往倫敦的路途上因淋雨而得了嚴重的傷風並且發燒，1688年8月31日他因高燒未退在朋友家中不治過世。他被葬在倫敦邦希田園 (Bunhill Fields)的墓園之中。

[编辑] 《天路歷程》

本仁分別撰作了《天路歷程 (en:The Pilgrim's Progress) 》的上下兩卷，上卷於1678年時在倫敦出版，而下卷則於1684年出版；在本仁初入獄的十二年裡他就開始寫作，大約在他第二段刑期間完稿。最早的上下卷合訂本於1728年出版。另有一卷出版於1693年的《從今世至來生之天路歷程 (The Pilgrim's Progress from This World to That Which Is to Come)》假稱出自本仁之手，後於1852年再版。

《天路歷程》堪稱為史上最廣為人知的宗教寓言文學並且被廣泛地翻譯至其他語言，它通常是新教徒傳教士在聖經之後所翻譯的第一本著作。

本仁的另兩本銷路不錯的作品則較不為人所知:假想的傳記《惡人先生的生與死》 (1680), , 以及寓言《聖戰》(1682). 第三本書則揭露本仁的內心生命和為受到呼召的工作所做的準備,名為《恩典滿滿予罪魁》(1666). 這本冗長而完全繞著本仁生平在打傳的書,原本可能會讓人感覺太過自誇,不過他寫作這本書的本意卻僅是想高舉基督徒對恩典的概念,並希望能安慰到那些與他有著同樣經驗的人。

The above works have appeared in numerous editions, and are accessible to all. There are several noteworthy collections of editions of The Pilgrim's Progress, e.g., in the British Museum and in the New York Public Library, collected by the late James Lenox.

Bunyan became a popular preacher as well as a prolific author, though most of his works consist of expanded sermons. In theology he was a Puritan, but there was nothing gloomy about him. The portrait his friend Robert White drew, which has often been reproduced, shows the attractiveness of his true character. He was tall, had reddish hair, prominent nose, a rather large mouth, and sparkling eyes.

He was no scholar, except of the English Bible, but he knew scripture thoroughly. He was also influenced by Martin Luther's Commentary on the Epistle to the Galatians, in the translation of 1575.

Some time before his final release from prison Bunyan became involved in a controversy with Kiffin, Danvers, Deune, Paul, and others. In 1673 he published his Differences in Judgement about Water-Baptism no Bar to Communion, in which he took the ground that "the Church of Christ hath not warrant to keep out of the communion the Christian that is discovered to be a visible saint of the word, the Christian that walketh according to his own light with God." While he owned "water baptism to be God's ordinance," he refused to make "an idol of it," as he thought those did who made the lack of it a ground for disfellowshiping those recognized as genuine Christians.

Kiffin and Paul published a response in Serious Reflections (London, 1673), in which they argued in favor of the restriction of the Lord's Supper to baptized believers, and received the approval of Henry Danvers in his Treatise of Baptism (London, 1673 or 1674). The controversy resulted in the Particular (Calvinistic) Baptists leaving the question of communion with the unbaptized open. Bunyan's church admitted pedobaptists to fellowship and finally became pedobaptist (Congregationalist).

Bunyan has the distinction of having written, in The Pilgrim's Progress, probably the most widely read book in the English language, and one which has been translated into more tongues than any book except the Bible. The charm of the work, which gives it wide appeal, lies in the interest of a story in which the intense imagination of the writer makes characters, incidents, and scenes alike live in that of his readers as things actually known and remembered by themselves, in its touches of tenderness and quaint humour, its bursts of heart-moving eloquence, and its pure, idiomatic English, Macaulay has said, "Every reader knows the straight and narrow path as well as he knows a road on which he has been backwards and forwards a hundred times," and he adds that "In England during the latter half of the seventeenth century there were only two minds which possessed the imaginative faculty in a very eminent degree. One of these minds produced the Paradise Lost, the other The Pilgrim's Progress." Bunyan wrote about 60 books and tracts, of which The Holy War ranks next to The Pilgrim's Progress in popularity, while Grace Abounding is one of the most interesting pieces of biography in existence.