WHY READ JOHN OWEN?? By Kelly Kapic

Mr.Kapic is the Associate Professor of Biblical and Theological Studies at Covenant College


With the busyness of life, one of the realities that we all must face is the truth about our finitude. One aspect of coming to terms with this reality is embracing the fact that we have limited time – there are only twenty-four hours in a day, no matter how much we might wish it were otherwise. The demands on us are great, with family, work, church, and civic responsibilities all demanding our time and attention. Given this situation, one challenge is deciding what to read with the few opportunities most people have for such an activity amid their crowded lives. Such is the case not merely for laypeople, but also for pastors and theologians. When you add to this dilemma the fact that there are literally millions of books you can order from Amazon.com, how can one make wise choices about who or what to read?


When I am asked about what kind of Christian literature one should read, I believe one of the best things you can do is read authors from throughout the history of the Church. Avoid reading only what is ‘new’ or trendy. Learn to dip into the wisdom of ages past, for there you will find surprising refreshment and challenge. Authors writing from different historical and cultural contexts often bring insights that surprise, irritate, and stimulate. C. S. Lewis memorably captured this when he wrote:


None of us can fully escape this blindness [of our age], but we shall certainly increase it, and weaken our guard against it, if we read only modern books. Where they are true they will give us truths which we half knew already. Where they are false they will aggravate the error with which we are already dangerously ill. The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books. Not, of course, that there is any magic about the past. People were no cleverer then than they are now; they made as many mistakes as we. But not the same mistakes. They will not flatter us in the errors we are already committing; and their own errors, being now open and palpable, will not endanger us…. To be sure, the books of the future would be just as good a corrective as the books of the past, but unfortunately we cannot get at them.[1]

While I have elsewhere argued that the Puritans, in general, provide a set of voices worth our consideration, I would like to focus my attention here on one particular Puritan, John Owen (1616-1683).[2] This seventeenth century Puritan served in a variety of capacities throughout his life, doing everything from acting as an army chaplain for Oliver Cromwell to serving as the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University. Owen, in many ways considered one of the intellectual giants of the Puritan movement, made an impact not merely among those living in the seventeenth century. His writings have remained in print over the last 350 years, and this can be attributed to the strange power his books continue to have on those who thoughtfully read them.


The question I want to briefly explore is, What is it about this man’s writings that have made so many people believe they are worthy of your precious time? This question becomes even more interesting when one considers the honest truth that this Puritan is not an ‘easy read.’ Owen’s writings take work. Not only can his sentence structure cumbersomely read in a kind of ‘Latinized English’ style, but his thoughts are often deep, dense, and unsettling.

When reading Owen, expect plenty of occasions when you will need to stop, reread, and then think through this Puritan’s claims. Sometimes this means you disagree with him, sometimes it means he takes you to a whole new level of understanding some aspect of the faith, yourself, or the world. No matter what the response, Owen tends to refresh and invigorate those who humbly read him, even when they do not always concur with his judgments. The reason so many people over the past centuries have invested the energy in reading Owen is because they have found wisdom and insight in this sensitive theologian. As a taste of what you will find, let me highlight just three observations – many more can and should be added to this list – that Owen provides for those interested in theology.



I. Owen reminds us that the best theology is always pastoral theology


All too often in life we find ourselves separating what ought to stay together. An example of this tendency is frequently found in theological methodology. It is always a temptation to divorce rigorous theological scholarship from practical application. Academic theology runs the risk of becoming a detached intellectual exercise, while pastoral ministry may lapse into an endless list of tasks without the needed times of reflection which are necessary to rightly frame one’s ministry. But the best pastors and theologians throughout the history of the Church have consistently rejected pitting these two against one another, instead seeing that theology and life are inseparable. To put it another way, if we detach our theology from our ethics, our dogmatics become lifeless and our ethics become groundless. Owen serves as a wonderful example of someone who always pushes us to avoid such a false dichotomy.


For Owen, the best theology is and must always be pastoral theology. In this way Owen’s theology can be described as ‘anthroposensitive.’ What I mean by anthroposensitive is that Owen’s methodology refuses to “divorce theological considerations from practical human application, since theological reflections are always interwoven with anthropological concerns.”[3] Said differently, Owen operated on the assumption that any theology that rightly focused on God, did so in a way that always pointed humanity toward communion with the risen Lord Jesus Christ.


Owen consistently reminds us that loving and knowing God calls us to a holistic engagement with God, in which one’s mind, will, affections – a person’s very life – is transformed by Yahweh. Practical application must be woven throughout one’s theological understanding and not simply treated as an obligatory add-on at the end – as if the theology could rightly stand on its own, whether or not one’s life is engaged.

Theology does not merely influence our lives, but it grows out of our lives. Theology that comes up short of this is left wanting. Consequently, Owen concludes that a fundamental “end of all true theology is the cultivation of a most holy and sweet communion with God, wherein lies the true happiness of mankind…. The ultimate end of true theology is the celebration of the praise of God, and His glory and grace in the eternal salvation of sinners.”[4] The ramifications of this for the theologian and pastor are unavoidable. According to Owen, who minces no words on this matter, “a Christian theologian is not a man with some superficial knowledge or slight grasp of a technical scheme of theology and its scientific terminology. If he bears no mark of a true disciple of Christ, then he is no theologian.”[5] In this way Owen always reminds me of Martin Luther, who memorably said: “It is through living, indeed through dying and being damned that one becomes a theologian, not through understanding, reading, or speculation.” (I think this should be footnoted. I found a citation of it online as 26WA 5; 163, 28f. (1519).The true theologian – and this is intimidating – must speak from mind and experience, pointing others to the true God. Reading Owen helps us remember that the best theology is always pastoral theology.


II. Owen reminds us that Christ must be the centerpiece of our theology


According to Owen, a biblical theology must have Christ at the center. One could become confused and think that this somehow takes away from the Father or the Spirit, but that is not how Owen reads the biblical literature. Owen’s Trinitarian framework provides fresh emphasis on recognizing that the Son is the great revelation of the Father, and the Spirit is none other than the Spirit of Christ. We commune with the Father through the Son in the Spirit. The Spirit draws us to Christ and we approach the Father only through the Son. Owen’s basic insight here is that our theology needs to be Trinitarian in its orientation, and to be biblically Trinitarian is to be Christocentric (Christ-centered). To focus on Christ does not take away from the Father or the Spirit, but rather rightly reveals the beauty of the Triune God in his love, grace, and fellowship.


Owen puts the matter clearly when he writes: “He [Christ], and he alone, declares, represents, and makes known, unto angels and men, the essential glory of the invisible God, his attributes and his will; without which, a perpetual comparative darkness would have been on the whole creation.”[6] For “in the face of Jesus Christ we see his [the invisible God’s] glory.”


Elsewhere Owen concludes “that the immediate author of evangelical or gospel theology is Jesus Christ Himself, the only-begotten Son of God.”[7] Thus, since our theology and practice are interwoven, Owen sees Christ as the center of it all: “The sum of all is, that the whole wisdom of our walking with God is hid in Christ, and from him only to be obtained.”[8]


For a greater taste of how Owen’s theology magnifies Christ within his Trinitarian theology, begin by reading one of these volumes: On Communion with God (1657),[9] or On the Person of Christ (1678), or The Glory of Christ (1684).[10] I would be surprised to hear of someone reading one of these works and not finding fresh insights and encouragement.



III. Owen reminds us to be confident in the Spirit’s Work


While it may astound many in the contemporary Church to learn that Reformed theologians have historically provided some of the most extensive writings on the person and work of the Holy Spirit, it is nonetheless true. While Calvin has been called the ‘Theologian of the Holy Spirit,’ Owen could just as easily receive this title. And this is no where more clearly seen than in his massive writings, published between 1674 and 1693, which focus on the Spirit’s person and work. These various books, which can be found in volumes 3-4 of Owen’s collected writings, demonstrate fresh biblical exegesis, wise pastoral counsel, and insightful dependence on past leaders of the Church.


As a sample of how Owen highlights a neglected biblical reality, look to his exposition of the relationship between the incarnate Son and the Holy Spirit. According to Owen, you cannot understand the person and work of Jesus apart from the ongoing active role of the Spirit in the life of the Savior. One of the refreshing aspects of his exploration is his reminder that we not limit the work of the Spirit to the miraculous conception, but continue recognizing the work of the Spirit throughout Jesus’ entire life. Owen argues that we must recognize that is was by the Spirit that Jesus was

“directed, strengthened, and comforted, in his whole course, -- in all his temptations, troubles, and sufferings, from first to last; for we know that there was a confluence of all these upon him in his whole way and work, a great part of that whereunto he humbled himself for our sakes consisting in these things.”[11]

Once this is recognized – that Jesus was holy in and through the power of the Spirit – then we can see why Owen thought it was so incredible to claim that, by God’s grace, we have this same Spirit in us. We have the Spirit of Christ in us, and thus while we – unlike Jesus – are born in sin and often give into it, we can be confident that he who began a good work in us will carry it unto completion. For our confidence is based in the Spirit, not in ourselves. Sanctification, according to Owen, is “the universal renovation of our natures by the Holy Spirit into the image of God, through Jesus Christ.”[12]


The confidence a believer has is based not on their own will-power, but on the holy power of the Spirit of God who is active in their lives. Christian obedience must be framed in terms of the work of the Spirit: “the actual aid, assistance, and internal operation of the Spirit of God is necessary, required, and granted, unto the producing of every holy act of our minds, wills, and affections, in every duty whatever.”[13] Without the Spirit we find ourselves overwhelmed by sin and self, but with the gift of the Spirit we find ourselves in communion with the God of life, and consequently, we are slowly transformed from the inside out as we are prepared to be with him for all eternity.


My aim in this brief reflection was to give a few passing reasons why anyone would consider reading writings which are from the seventeenth century. I remain convinced that although reading Owen is not easy, and he does have his own blind spots (as all of us do), he is a theologian of the highest caliber. Those who take the time to actually read him, whether contemporary theologians, pastors, or lay readers, often find themselves surprised by the wisdom, encouragement, and power that they encounter in this unique Puritan’s writings. May a whole new generation of readers come to appreciate the gift God gave his Church when he gave us John Owen.


Appendix: What to read first? A few suggestions


Lay readers often find that Owen’s The Mortification of Sin is a most helpful entrance into his thinking. Because it is relatively short, it is a way to dip into Owen without being overwhelmed. This can be found in, John Owen, Overcoming Sin and Temptation: Three Classic Works by John Owen, edited by Kelly M. Kapic and Justin Taylor (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2006), 36-139. In this version we have tried to offer both an accurate and accessible edition of these writings.


Those interested in recent theological debates about Justification would do well to spend some time revisiting Owen’s impressive handling of the subject. He is not the final word on the subject, but his ‘word’ on the subject should not be overlooked. See the recent new edition with an excellent introduction by Carl Trueman – a leading Owen scholar: John Owen, The Doctrine of Justification by Faith (Grand Rapids: Reformation Heritage Books, 2006).


For those interested in Trinitarian discussions, I cannot recommend highly enough Owen’s Communion with God, which is a brilliant treatise on how believer’s communion with the Father, Son, and Spirit. A new edition of this volume will be appearing late 2007 or early 2008. Watch for John Owen, Communion with the Triune God: A Classic Work by John Owen, edited by Kelly M. Kapic and Justin Taylor (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, forthcoming). To read it before then in the 19th century edition, see vol. 2 of Owen’s Works, reprinted by Banner of Truth.