Bunyan's understanding of the Christian life as a perpetual, sometimes terrifying struggle dominated his outlook until he was finally released from prison.
A spiritual hunger grew in reaction to the coldness and formalism of the Protestant state churches. Drawing from diverse roots, Pietism emerged as a quest to apply Reformation doctrine to personal life.
The Pietists' emphasis on the new birth and biblical authority had startling implications as to how one treated orphans, the lower classes and one's opponents. Orthodoxy was not enough. A changed life was required.
