Venture All for God: Piety in the Writings of John Bunyan (Profiles In Reformed Spirituality)

“If today’s Christians know John Bunyan at all, they vaguely associate him with Pilgrim’s Progress, a book they probably admire but have never read. In Venture All for God, Roger Duke and Phil Newton introduce Bunyan to a new generation of readers by showing the joyous, daring faith of a man whose writings mirrored his own spiritual journey. Using Bunyan’s own words, the authors trace his story from an ungodly youth to his conversion by sovereign grace to his ministry in a time of unprecedented upheaval. They show conclusively that God always has a man for the moment and a moment for the man. Put John Bunyan in jail for preaching the gospel, and he writes a book for the ages. It is all to Bunyan’s credit that he had a deep sense of his own sinfulness and God’s amazing grace. Thus he understood by experience the problems and trials modern pilgrims make as they progress toward the Celestial City. When you finish reading Venture All for God, you are likely to say, ‘I want a faith like that.’ Bunyan would say, ‘You can have it!’ And he’s right.”

“All those who, like Timothy, are prepared to ‘Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart’ (2 Tim. 2:22) will find inthis wonderful, spiritually nurturing volume great encouragement and inspiration to “venture all for God” and live a life devoted to the glory of God and to the truth of his gospel.”

“I still remember reading The Pilgrim's Progress for the first time. I was a young Christian captivated, like so many before me, by Christian’s exciting journey to the Celestial City. ... Venture All for God is a wonderfully concise introduction to the Bedford tinker’s life. But it is more than that. It is also a careful introduction to the theology that fueled Bunyan’s creative genius. After reading Venture All for God, those who have yet to devour The Pilgrim's Progress or The Holy War or Grace Abounding will wonder what they’ve been waiting for!”

“John Bunyan has left the English-speaking world an almost unparalleled literary legacy of evangelical and Reformed piety. Phil Newton, Roger Duke, and Drew Harris have done us a service by making this collection of Bunyan’s writings available. ... This book deserves a careful and prayerful reading.”

“This is condensed Bunyan, like lemonade concentrate eaten from the can. Divine sovereignty, divine mercy, effectual grace, human culpability and need—all of these move together seamlessly and in the full context of biblical truth with such charm and artlessness that the reader discovers in each reading the true power of Bunyan.”