John Bunyan, answered from the texts and cited to the page.
I was asked this to my face by Dr. Lindall, and what I told him will serve for the first half. He pressed me to prove it lawful for me to preach, and was very confident of the victory. I gave him Peter: "As every man hath received the gift, even so let him minister the same." He asked to whom that was spoken, and I said, to every man that hath received a gift from God; and again, "You may all prophesy one by one." Mark that the apostle puts the warrant in the gift, and not in the gown.1
Whether a man hath the gift is for the church to try, and the Bedford people tried mine before ever they let me stand up. A university may furnish a man with Greek; it cannot furnish him with the Spirit, and without the Spirit the learned man understands no more of the gospel than the plowman. The doctor had his answer, and it stopped him a little, and he went a softer pace.
But he would not lose the day, and so he fell upon my trade: he had read of one Alexander the coppersmith, who much opposed and disturbed the apostles, aiming, it is like, at me, because I was a tinker. I told him I had read of very many priests and Pharisees that had their hands in the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.2 A man's calling is no argument against him; the Lord chose fishermen, and the learned of that age crucified him.
When he then called me a Pharisee who made long prayers to devour widows' houses, I told him that if he had got no more by preaching and praying than I had, he would not be so rich as he was. After that I held my tongue as much as I could, for the Scripture came to my mind, "Answer not a fool according to his folly." As for the dream, with its giant, its fair and its river: the warrant for that is not in the Bedford examination, and I will not pretend it is.3
In my Apology to the book I answered it from Scripture itself, which is full of types, shadows and metaphors, and the truth is not darkened by them. The fisherman and the fowler use every device to catch what they are after, and so may the preacher. The giant and the fair stand where they do because of the doctrine and not in spite of it. Take heed, then, that you do not keep the outside of the dream and throw away the substance, which is Christ and the way to him.
The gifts for preaching come from the Spirit and are tried by the church, not conferred by a university; the word is to be opened by the word, with a concordance and a praying heart.4 That word is outward and written, and the Christ it preaches is the man who was born of Mary, died and rose in the flesh, against every light within that would make him a notion.56
And the gospel may be told in similitudes, because Scripture itself is full of them; a dream told plainly can carry the truth further than a treatise, provided the reader interprets it.78
I cited to him that verse in Peter, which saith, 'As every man hath received the gift, even so let him minister the same,' &c.A Relation of the Imprisonment of Mr. John Bunyan
I also had read of very many priests and Pharisees that had their hands in the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.A Relation of the Imprisonment of Mr. John Bunyan
that scripture coming into my mind, 'Answer not a fool according to his folly,' I was as sparing of my speech as I could, without prejudice to truth.A Relation of the Imprisonment of Mr. John Bunyan
And "while Peter yet spake these word, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word." While Peter spake these words, that by Jesus of Nazareth forgiveness of sins was preached to them that believe in his name, "the Holy Ghost fell on all them that heard the word." Namely, which Peter spake: This is the way in which the Spirit is given? namely, by preaching a crucified Christ.A Vindication of Some Gospel Truths Opened
But as I told you before, the way to be thus deluded, is first to render God's Christ odious and low, with a pretence of some further light and revelations; and thus professing themselves to be wise, they became fools (Rom 1:22). Quest.--But you will say, doth not the scripture make mention of a Christ within? (Col 1:27; 2 Cor 13:5; Rom 8:10).Some Gospel Truths Opened
And there ever liveth, that very man, with that very body, to make intercession for all that receive him (Heb 7:24,25). This is, I say, the doctrine of the Spirit of truth, whatsoever is the spirit of error. Quest. But do not the scriptures make mention of a Christ within? (2 Cor 13:5; Col 1:27). Ans. Yes, And he that hath not the Spirit of Christ, is none of his (Rom 8:9).Some Gospel Truths Opened
'Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you,' (1 Peter 3:15). And I beseech you do it in sincerity. 1. If thou sayest that every one hath a measure of the Spirit of Jesus Christ within him, why say the scriptures that some are 'sensual having not the Spirit' (Jude 19).Some Gospel Truths Opened
Hold out my brethren, hold out, for you have but a little while to run: Hold fast unto the death, and Christ will give you a crown of life (Rev 2:10).A Vindication of Some Gospel Truths Opened
The question of his authority, pressed by the justices, the universities, the Quakers and the critics who admired the artist and regretted the Calvinist.