It has often been remarked that Jonathan Edwards was the greatest theologian America ever produced. If the focus were changed from America to England, the first name deserving of such recognition is John Owen (1616-1683). Not only was Owen a theologian of exceptional brilliance, he was also a deeply experiential Christian with unusual insight into the Bible and into the person of God Himself.
A Promising Beginning
Born in rural Oxfordshire and later trained at the University of Oxford, Owen’s outstanding intellect was evident from an early age. He had already earned his M.A. from Oxford by the time he was nineteen. By his mid-twenties he was ministering in east Anglia in the little village of Fordham in Essex, and later in Coggeshall just a few miles west from there. It was in these relatively obscure settings that Owen learned how to preach and how to pastor. He also grew in profile as a theologian, writing various doctrinal and polemical works in defense of Calvinistic tenets. It was during this period of his life that Owen married his first wife, Mary. He would outlive her and their eleven children, ten of whom died in infancy. Though Owen must have felt these losses terribly, he made almost no reference to them throughout his writings.
From Obscurity to Prestige and Back Again
Owen was elevated to a place of prominence among England’s divines through his sermons to Parliament. He also rose in the public eye by his appointment to serve as personal chaplain to Oliver Cromwell during his campaigns in Scotland and Ireland. It was in service to Cromwell that Owen witnessed the cruelties of war firsthand.
After the war was over, Cromwell, then serving as Lord Protector of England, installed Owen as the Dean of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford and later as Vice-Chancellor of the University in 1652. Owen had gone from a humble country parish in the east country to one of the most prestigious theological posts in the land. From this position, Owen worked for the further reform of religion in England. As a Puritan, Owen rejected Anglicanism, but at the same time he could not fully embrace the Presbyterianism of the Westminster Confession (1646). Owen was a Congregationalist and identified his theology with the Savoy Declaration (1658), a statement which Owen himself helped to draft. The Savoy Declaration and the Westminster Confession agree at almost every point save their respective statements on church polity.
Owen eventually fell out of favor with Cromwell and lost his post at Oxford in 1659. Shortly thereafter, Cromwell died and was replaced by his son Richard who lacked his father’s natural leadership ability. Eventually parliament removed Richard Cromwell, recalled Charles II, and restored the monarchy. This effectively marked the end of Owen’s career as a public theologian. On August 24, 1662, Owen, along with many of his Puritan brothers, was ejected from his pulpit for refusing to sign the Act of Uniformity which required all pastors to make use of the Anglican liturgy in their churches. The rest of Owen’s life would be spent in relative obscurity writing books and preaching in house churches. He died peacefully on August 24, 1683. He is buried in Bunhill Fields only a few yards off from his friends and fellow Puritans, John Bunyan and Thomas Goodwin.
Theological Contributions
The Works of John Owen are presently published in sixteen large volumes; twenty-three if you include his massive seven-volume commentary on the book of Hebrews. Of his many important writings, four stand out for special comment
On the Mortification of Sin. Often published as a stand-alone book, this treatise is actually the opening section of Volume Six in the collected works. It was originally a series of sermons preached in Oxford to university undergraduates. The entire book is a sustained treatment of the believer’s warfare against sin. Owen’s oft quoted line, “Be killing sin, or sin will be killing you,” is a fitting summary of the book’s thesis.
The Glory of Christ. Owen wrote extensively on each member of the Trinity. This book represents the best of his writing on the person of Christ. Perhaps nothing Owen wrote is more edifying than this book. Though it forms part of Volume One of the collected works, it too is often published as a stand-alone volume
Communion with God. One of Owen’s greatest theological contributions was his understanding of the very intimate relationship redeemed men and women were meant to have with the Godhead. In Communion with God, Owen explores this theme with penetrating insight, calling believers to greater experiential fellowship with God.
The Holy Spirit. It is possible that no one wrote more on the Holy Spirit than John Owen prior to the 17th century. We owe a great debt to Owen for shining a light on the Scriptures’ teaching on the doctrine of Holy Spirit. The preeminent work of the Spirit, Owen argues, is to disclose the person and presence of Christ to the believer.
Greatest Works: The Mortification of Sin, the Glory of Christ, Communion with God, and The Holy Spirit.
Recommended Biography: John Owen and English Puritanism: Experiences of Defeat by Crawford Gribben
Some sites we’ll visit on the tour:
Bunhill Fields in London – The site of Owen’s grave
St. Peter Ad Vincula in Coggeshall – The site of Owen’s second pastorate in the east country; also where he wrote his famous treatise The Death of Death in the Death of Christ
University Church of St. Mary in Oxford – The most famous church in Oxford, and the place where Owen preached his sermons on the mortification of sin to Oxford undergraduates
Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford – Where Owen was given the deanery by Oliver Cromwell during the 1650s
