Clash of the Theological Giants

The Bible wants us to have heroes. Hebrews 13:7-"Remember those who led you, who spoke the word of God to you; and considering the result of their conduct, imitate their faith." It has become pretty important to me to have some good heroes to "imitate". John Piper has helped me in this area. "It seems to me that the Christian leaders who come closest to being heroes are the ones who had great heroes." I think he's right. Piper got some advice to dig into the writings of one solid, Biblical, pastor to become conversant with that theologian's writings. Piper chose Edwards. Man am I glad! Can you imagine Piper without the influence of Edwards? About a year or so ago I started to consider (1) if I should do the same with a (preferably) dead theologian who would be good to really be discipled by. (In large measure I have already done this with the living, John Piper), (2) If I should do this with one of the great, dead theologians/pastors (they should be both), which one would I choose? Of course, Edwards was one of my top "contenders". However, as I have learned a little more I have started to consider another, namely, John Owen. At Piper's pastor's conference in 1994, he did a biological message on John Owen. Reading that message (and more recently listening to it on Piper's radio program) was enough to make one consider Owen as an equal with Edwards in many ways. Consider some of these things about Owen's life.

There have been many great theologians that have considered Owen to have been the most influential Christian writer in their lives. J.I. Packer, Roger Nicole, and Sinclair Ferguson, to name a few. At the time Piper did this conference he had invited six me as keynote speakers. The three men that I noted above were included in that group of six men. So that was just in a six year period of time. Who knows how many others would say the same? He has had 11 pastor's conferences since then. I suppose one might object by saying that a person may be a good writer without being much more than a writer. Granted, but I doubt that we could accuse Owen of that.

Owen was always essentially a pastor (from 1643 until his death in 1683). Piper comments, "...even when involved with administration at the University of Oxford and even when involved with the political events of his day. He was anything but a cloistered academic. All of his writing was done in the press of pastoral duties." In 1646 Owen was invited to speak to the Parliament. It was this message that catapulted him into political affairs for the next 14 years. Oliver Cromwell made him his chaplain and then (1651) appointed him to the Deanship at Christ Church College in Oxford and then the next year made him also the Vice-Chancellor. That wasn't very busy at all (Sarcasm). His duties included responsibility "for the services of worship because Christ Church was a cathedral as well as a college and he was the preacher. He was responsible for the choice of students, the appointment of chaplains, the provision of tutorial facilities, the administration of discipline, the oversight of property, the collection of rents and tithes, the gift of livings and the care of almsman and the church hospital. But his whole aim in all his duties Peter Toon says was 'to establish the whole life of the College on the Word of God.'" "In spite of all that administrative pressure and even hostility because of his commitment to godliness and to the Puritan cause, he was constantly studying and writing, probably late at night instead of sleeping." And study and write he did. Today, we have a 16-volume set of works in addition to the 7-volume set on Hebrews! Who in the world can write seven volumes on Hebrews? Well, John Owen and ... John Owen. Nor did he dabble on the surface of the subjects which he addressed. Andrew Thomsen said, Owen "makes you feel when he has reached the end of his subject, that he has also exhausted it." Name a theological subject and, for the most part, Owen not only touched on it but seemingly exhausted it.

Owen tried to help get John Bunyan out of prison and failed. Of course, if he hadn't failed then we probably wouldn't have the second-best selling book of all time - The pilgrim's Progress. Since Bunyan was a tinker, he didn't know anything about publishing. Owen did. He recommended his own publisher, Nathaniel Ponder. So Owen failed to get him out of jail, but succeeded in finding him a good publisher.

The main reason I would consider Owen as even close to Edwards is because of what I see that was most important to him and what motivated him in all the great things he was able to do. Some people may do a lot of good things for the wrong motives (like self-exaltation). From what little information we have about Owen (outside of his works), we can see that there were a few things that made him tick and really drove him.

In Owen's own words,

"I hope I may own in sincerity that my heart's desire unto God, and the chief design of my life ... are, that mortification and universal holiness may be promoted in my own and in the hearts and ways of others, to the glory of God, that so the gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ may be adorned in all things."

I think he could say that without fear of anyone calling him out as being hypocritical. As we have already established, he was a very public figure. David Clarkson was his pastoral assistant in the later years of Owen's ministry. He gave his funeral address. In it he said,

"A great light is fallen; one of eminancy for holiness, learning, parts and abilities; a pastor, a scholar, a divine of the first magnitude; holiness gave a divine lustre to his other accomplishments, it shined in his whole course, and was diffused through his whole conversation."

It may be a difficult and dangerous thing to try summing up Owen to one or two key themes. But, others have tried. Richard Daniels, who wrote in his dissertation on The Christology of John Owen said this:

"...there is one motif so important to John Owen, so often and so broadly cited by him, that the writer would go so far as to call it the focal point of Owen's theology, namely, the doctrine that in the gospel we behold, by the Christ-given Holy Spirit, the glory of God "in the face of Christ" and are thereby changed into his image." (92)

"...the knowledge of Christ was the all-surpassing object of Owen's desires, the center of his doctrinal system, and the end, means, and indispensable prerequisite for Christian theology." (516)

Here's how Owen said it in Meditations on the glory of Christ:

"The revelation ... of Christ ... deserves the severest of our thoughts, the best of our meditations and our utmost diligence in them ... What better preparation can there be for [our future enjoyment of the glory of Christ] than in a constant previous contemplation of that glory in the revelation that is made in the Gospel."

Piper writes, "Richard Baxter...called Owen 'the great doer'. He lived in the public eye. He was involved in academic administration; he was in politics up to his ears; he was entangled with the leading military officers of the country; he was embroiled in controversies over all kinds of matters from the authenticity of the Hebrew vowel points and the Epistle to Ignatius to the national laws of toleration and the nature of justification; he was looked at by thousands of congregational independent ministers as their spokesman at the national level; he was all the while pastoring people-and don't forget, losing a child in death every three years."

Owen was a pastor who loved Jesus and wanted others to love Jesus more and more by seeing Him in the gospel. Owen knew that when people see Jesus by looking at Him through the lens of the gospel they are changed.

Back to my question about picking one main, dead theologian/pastor to delve into. I have some questions for you bloggers:

1. Should we do this? Is it wise to pick one main guy to do this with and really get to know that one guy's thoughts and system of theology, etc? Obviously it was good for Piper. God used Edwards in a major way in Piper's life. Since every man has weaknesses would it be more wise to be more well-rounded and to dabble in the writings of many of the great writers of Christian history? Or is it better to go really deep into one trustworthy source (which may be what Piper would argue)? Of course, this doesn't mean that you don't read other authors...

2. Edwards vs. Owen (hence the title of my blog). Much more is known about Edwards so I chose to give some info about Owen on the blog. Tell me your thoughts. Assuming it is healthy to delve into the writings of one great Christian writer, Owen or Edwards? Why? Any other suggestions?

Thanks for persevering such a long blog entry.