How to Use This Book

This book of practical theology is organized into nine parts. Part I explains what prison is actually like—the shock of incarceration, the daily routine, the people you will encounter, and the theology of unjust suffering. Part II addresses ministry behind bars—how to pastor inmates, evangelize in prison, maintain spiritual disciplines when everything is stripped away, and counsel men in desperation. Part III examines the collateral damage—what imprisonment does to families, finances, and futures. Part IV is a practical handbook for outside ministry workers. Part V addresses the larger questions of church, state, and criminal justice from a biblical perspective. Part VI revisits the theological foundations of prison ministry—the dual mandate, doing good behind bars, the four mortal enemies of the Christian, and the state’s judicial power. Part VII provides academic literature reviews and surveys of prison ministry across Latin America, Oceania, Europe, and North America. Part VIII addresses new frontiers—Christian civil disobedience regarding cell phones in prison and the use of artificial intelligence in preparing Bible studies. Part IX presents prison chronicles drawn from Bearing the Cross—vivid, detailed narratives of daily life, visitation, adversity, courage, and crisis behind bars. A Cast of Characters listing the recurring figures in chapters 32-39, some of whom are also mentioned in earlier chapters here and there, appears at the start of chapter 32 for readers who want to orient themselves to the prison-memoir material.

About the Source Works

The theological framework and analytical arguments in this book are drawn substantially from my forthcoming work:

John M. Cobin, Suffering Unjustly: Imprisonment, Wrecked Families, and Property or Wealth Destruction Affecting Christians in Modern Democratic Societies, forthcoming 2026–2027.

The prison narratives, character portraits, and daily-life chronicles are drawn from my eleven-volume prison journal:

John M. Cobin, Bearing the Cross: A Gringo Political Prisoner Exposes the Injustices, Indignities, and Vexations of the Chilean Criminal Justice and Prison System. 5 books containing 11 volumes, forthcoming 2026–2027.

The five books of Bearing the Cross are: Book One, Valparaíso (part 1) (Volumes I–II: “Cell Blocks 118 and 109” and “Redux”); Book Two, Valparaíso (part 2) (Volumes III–IV: “Solutions” and “Sweet and Sour”); Book Three, Valparaíso (part 3) and Rancagua (Volumes V–VII: “Beating the Air,” “Cell Blocks 118B, 118A, and back to 109,” and “Cell Blocks 45 and 84”); Book Four, Casablanca (part 1) (Volumes VIII–IX: “Dormitory 3 and Yard 5” and “Incompetence, Runaround, Heterodoxy, and Evil”); and Book Five, Casablanca (part 2), tables, graphs, and indices (Volumes X–XI: “A Fistful of Impediments and Ballistics” and “Enduring to the End in Dormitories 2, 4, 5, and Yard 3”). Together, these volumes document in 1.17 million words the full scope of my six years of incarceration and five months of parole—the people, the events, the daily routines, the crises, the ministry, and the spiritual growth that prison produced. Suffering Unjustly provides the biblical, theological, and economic analysis of why Christians suffer at the hands of modern legal systems and how they ought to respond. Both works are prepared for publication and are awaiting publishers to pick them up. Readers who wish to explore the source material in full are directed to those volumes when they become available.

Each chapter concludes with practical “Action Steps” and discussion questions suitable for group study. I have tried to make every chapter useful on its own, so that a prison chaplain can hand Chapter 7 to a new inmate, or a pastor can give Chapter 15 to a volunteer team, without requiring them to read the entire book first.

A word about theology. I write from a Reformed and Historic Baptist perspective, confessionally aligned with the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith. I am a cessationist and a six-day literal creationist. I believe in the absolute sovereignty of God over all things, including suffering. I believe that God ordains the ends and the means, that nothing befalls His elect apart from His decree, and that the purposes of affliction are real even when they are hidden from us. I quote Scripture primarily from the King James Version in this book, although during prison ministry I used the Reina-Valera (1960) Spanish translation. If your theology differs from mine, you may still find this book useful, but I will not dilute my convictions to achieve broader appeal. I would rather be faithful than popular. Proverbs 23:23 directs me to buy the truth and not sell it.

One final note. The experiences recounted in this book are real. All of them happened to men I knew personally during my imprisonment or to me. Where I have used real names, it is because the individuals are public employees, pastors with a public ministry, or have granted permission. In most cases involving fellow inmates, I have used only first names or pseudonyms to protect their identities. Nothing in this book is invented, embellished, or speculated. What I saw, I report. What I endured, I describe. What I learned, I teach.

May God use this book to open the eyes of His church to the world behind the walls, and may He be glorified in the darkest places where His light is needed most. Soli Deo Gloria.

—John M. Cobin, Ph.D.