John Bunyan

Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners John Bunyan

Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners, or The Brief Relation of the Exceeding Mercy of God in Christ to his Poor Servant John Bunyan is a Puritan spiritual autobiography written by John Bunyan. It was composed while Bunyan was serving a twelve-year prison sentence in Bedford gaol for preaching without a license and was first published in 1666. The title contains allusions to two Biblical passages: 'Grace Abounding' is a reference to the Epistle to the Romans 5:20, which states 'Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound' (KJV) and 'Chief of Sinners' refers to First Epistle to Timothy 1:15, where Paul refers to himself by the same appellation.