Thousands of Pastors Expelled

In the seventeenth century, thousands of pastors were expelled, and the people were forbidden to attend any religious meetings except those that the church approved. In the sheltering depths of the forest, those persecuted children of the Lord met together to pour out their hearts in prayer and praise. Many suffered for their faith. The jails were crowded, families broken up. Yet persecution could not silence their testimony. Many were driven across the ocean to America, and there they laid the foundations of civil and religious liberty.LF 107.8

In a dungeon crowded with criminals, John Bunyan breathed the atmosphere of heaven and wrote his wonderful allegory of the pilgrim's journey from the land of destruction to the heavenly city. Pilgrim's Progress and Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners have guided many feet into the path of life.LF 108.1

In a time of spiritual darkness, Whitefield and the Wesleys appeared as light bearers for God. Under the established church the people had fallen into a condition that was hardly different from heathenism. The higher classes sneered at godly living; the lower classes reveled in vice. The church had no courage or faith to support the struggling cause of truth.LF 108.2