Summary
John Bunyan exhorts believers to embrace vilification and slander as marks of authentic Christian discipleship, arguing that reproach for Christ's sake constitutes a badge of honor rather than shame. Drawing on the apostolic precedent of suffering for the faith, Bunyan encourages Christians to bind accusations to themselves as spiritual ornaments, trusting God's testimony and their own conscience as vindication. This meditation reflects the Reformed understanding that persecution and reproach are inseparable from genuine Christian profession and serve as evidence of faithful witness to Christ.
Therefore, I bind these lies and slanderous accusations to my person as an ornament; it belongs to my Christian profession to be vilified, slandered, reproached and reviled, and since all this is nothing but that, as god and my conscience testify, I rejoice in being reproached for Christ's sake.
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