The Sweet Dropper

J.I. Packer wrote of John Owen,

In his own day he was seen as England’s foremost bastion and champion of Reformed evlangelical orthodoxy, and he did not doubt that God had given him this role; but his interest lay in broadening and deepening insight into the realities that orthodoxy confesses, and a humbled and humbling awareness that his present understanding, though true (so he believed) as far as it went, was deeply inadequate to those realities pervades all that he wrote. In this, as in most things, he was more like John Calvin than was any other of the Puritan leaders. (A Quest for Godliness, 81)

His main body of work was published in the 19th century as a 16-volume set (what might he have accomplished with a word processor?), plus a 7-volume commentary on Hebrews and a work on biblical theology which has only recently been translated from Latin to English. His work is not easy reading. If you studied Latin somewhere along the way you have an advantage in reading with understanding, as Owen’s style is Latinate. His writing is condensed and heavy. The trick I have learned is to read it aloud (at a whisper at least), and much of the difficulty fades.

You might expect a man of such depth and accomplishment to struggle with pride and vanity–and Owen apparently did. His enemies accused him of such. But time and again his writings reflect the kind of maturity that brings men low in their opinion of themselves before God. He wrote,

There are two things that are suited to humble the souls of men…a due consideration of God, and then of ourselves. Of God, in his greatness, glory, holiness, power, majesty and authority; of ourselves, in our mean, abject and sinful condition…the man that understands the evil of his own heart, how vile it is, is the only useful, fruitful and solidly believing and obedient person. [vi.200-201]

My scribes and archivists brought this to me from The Book of the Chronicles of the Pastors of the First Presbyterian Church of Kosciusko of Mississippi:

‘By all the executive powers invested in me as senior minister of the First Presbyterian Church of Kosciusko, Mississippi, and co-regent of the Sweet Dropper blog, I hereby declare the month of May, 2007, as “John Owen month.” So it is written; so let it be done.’

/s/ Phillip J. Palmertree, Tiller of Soils, Maker of 3-Pointers, and Drinker of the Chicory-Laced Coffee

So, I better start blogging about John Owen…John Owen (1616-1683) was by the consent of his contemporaries and generations that have followed, the weightiest and greatest of the English Puritan theologians. J.I. Packer provides this succinct summary of Owen’s life:

Born in 1616, he entered Queen’s College, Oxford, at the age of twelve and secured his M.A. in 1635, when he was nineteen. In his early twenties, conviction of sin threw him into such turmoil that for three months he could scarcely utter a coherent word on anything; but slowly he learned to trust Christ, and so found peace. In 1637 he became a pastor; in the 1640s he was chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, and in 1651 he was made Dean of Christ Church, Oxford’s largest college. In 1652 he was given the additional post of Vice-Chancellor of the University, which he then reorganized with conspicuous success. After 1660 he led the Independents through the bitter years of persecution till his death in 1683.

On a personal note, my introduction to Owen came while I was a student at Mississippi State University. One day in the MSU Bakery I had asked my RUF campus minister Hal Farnsworth what book he recommended on sanctification. He told me that the greatest work on sanctification had been written over 300 years ago by a man named John Owen, and that an English major like myself just might be able to tackle it. Thanks largely to the appeal to my vanity, I determined to read it…but I never did–at least until I was out of school and working as an RUF campus intern at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia. Owen’s On the Mortification of Sin is indeed the greatest work on sanctification. I’ll say more about it in particular later in the month.

Since then, I was able to take a class on Owen under Sinclair Ferguson, do a directed study Th.M. class on Owen under Derek Thomas and do a lot of independent study and outlining of his voluminous works. This month Owen, and some new, interesting works about Owen that have recently been published,  will be the matter for my blog entries. I’ll close out this one with Owen’s words and a photo of his grave.

Let our hearts admit, “I am poor and weak. Satan is too subtle, too cunning, too powerful; he watches constantly for advantages over my soul. The world presses in upon me with all sorts of pressures, pleas, and pretences. My own corruption is violent, tumultuous, enticing, and entangling. As it conceives sin, it wars within me and against me. Occasions and opportunities for temptation are innumerable. No wonder I do not know how deeply involved I have been with sin. Therefore, on God alone will I rely for my keeping. I will continually look to him.