The Tinker

John Owen, the great Puritan theologian of the 17th century in England, was a highly trained academic. He was a graduate of Queen's College, Oxford, and he later received a Doctor of Divinity degree from that school. He was advisor to the elite of England: he served as chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, and later as a close counselor to Charles II. He was a dogged writer. The Works of John Owen attest to that truth.
Owen was a friend of John Bunyan and he would often go to hear Bunyan preach. Charles II heard of Owen's attendance at Bunyan's preaching, and he asked him why he went to hear an uneducated tinker like Bunyan preach. Owen replied: "Could I possess the tinker's abilities for preaching, please your majesty, I would gladly relinquish all my learning."