BULL, GEORGE (1634-1710).--Theologian, _b._ at Wells, _ed._ at Tiverton
and Oxf., took orders, was ordained by an ejected bishop in 1658, and
received the living of Suddington near Bristol. He was a strong Royalist,
and was privy to a scheme for bringing back the Royal family. After the
Restoration he obtained further preferment, and became in 1704 Bishop of
St. David's at an age when his strength had become unequal to any very
active discharge of the duties of his see. He has a high place among
Anglican theologians, and as a defender of the doctrine of the Trinity
was held in high esteem even by Continental Romanist controversialists.
Among his works are _Harmonia Apostolica_ (1669-70) in which he
endeavoured to reconcile alleged discrepancies between the teaching of
St. Paul and St. James on the relation between faith and works, in which
he assigned to the latter the higher authority, _Defensio Fidei Nicænæ_
(1685) and _Corruptions of the Church of Rome_.


BULWER, E.L., (_see_ LYTTON.)


BUNYAN, JOHN (1628-1688).--_B._ at Elstow, near Bedford, the _s._ of a
poor tinker, was _ed._ at a free school, after which he worked at his
father's trade. At 17 he was drafted as a soldier in the Civil War, and
served for two years at Newport Pagnell. At 19 he _m._ a pious young
woman, whose only dowry appears to have been two books, the _Plain Man's
Pathway to Heaven_ and the _Practice of Piety_, by which he was
influenced towards a religious life. In his autobiographical book, _Grace
Abounding_, B. describes himself as having led an abandoned life in his
youth; but there appears to be no evidence that he was, outwardly at any
rate, worse than the average of his neighbours: the only serious fault
which he specifies is profanity, others being dancing and bell-ringing.