Authors: Sneep, John; Zinck, Arlette

Journal of Psychology & Christianity, Vol. 24(2), Sum 2005, pp. 156-164

Abstract:

John Bunyan’s 17 Century autobiography, Grace Abounding, records both his spiritual unrest and his psychological torment but gives no clues to his remarkable recovery. This article will attempt to clarify Bunyan’s diagnosis and the nature of his spiritual and psychic transformation. We will argue that, preceding bouts of severe depression, Bunyan suffered from obsessive-compulsive disorder, his obsession with the idea of his own reprobation resulting in a compulsive reading of scripture. Curiously, Bunyan’s scripture reading also appears to be a key element in his recovery. We will contend that, in his fictional depiction of Christian’s battle against the giant Despair in Pilgrim’s Progress, Bunyan most fully explains how the object of his compulsions finally becomes the “key” that releases both Christian and Bunyan himself from the grips of spiritual and psychological illness.