The Works of John Owen

Testimonials

Submit your testimonial

1. 

   Ludin Gomez – 19 December 2016

   One of my purposes for this year is to read the 16 volumes of John Owen. It will be a blessing.

2. 

   Barbara Miller – 20 January 2020

   This set was a Christmas gift to our pastor. He loves it!

3. 

   Dr. Kevan S. Zechin Sr. – 9 June 2020

   Absolutely the best of Calvinist reformed theology. It is well worth the time spent reading all the volumes. I started with Hebrews as that is my specialty and finished all in about three years. The Latin works may be bought in translation from another publisher. It takes time to master the language and structure of the works but is well worth it.

4. 

   Richard C. Ross – 22 December 2020

   In the ‘modern’ age – i.e. post-17th cent. – I am aware of only one other theologian with a comparable breadth of knowledge, perceptive scholarship, comprehensive reach, rich spiritual-mindedness, passionate Christ-centeredness, pervasive trinitarianism, inexhaustible fascination with an avoidance of dry academicism and the alluring but misguided devise of systematism, together with such an ability to touch the heart and inform the mind. In all these qualities Owen has no superior and, in my opinion, only one equal: Hans Urs von Balthasar.

5. 

   DJ Boone – 18 February 2021

   It’s often said that Owen is a difficult author to read, which will receive no argument from me. However, as my scope of authors that I read is still widening, where that difficulty lies has become more clear.

   It’s interesting to note that Owen says in volume 1, at the top of page 6 in his preface, that his targeted audience was “the common sort of readers.” I certainly don’t mean to take anything away from the genuis mind of Owen in saying this, but I think that the difficulty we have in reading Owen is not due so much to his brilliance as to how lethargic and out of shape our minds have become today, in the ability to think.

   There are some things in life which only a few gifted select will ever do, like Owen writing this incredibly comprehensive work, filling up 16 volumes. But it does not take a brilliant man to read Owen. As he said himself, I believe he has achieved his goal and is approachable by the “common sort of readers,” which, no doubt, I am nothing more.

   Most of us will never run a sub four minute mile, but we all can run a mile with a little more time, one just needs to develop a certain amount of endurance to achieve the task.
   And that’s how I would describe reading Owen. He takes you to glorious heights (Ro 11:33), not by the technically difficult way that only a few skilled mountaineers can climb. He climbs just as high, and yes, still difficult, but by an achievable path for us more “common sorts” of climbers, one just needs to develop a certain amount of intellectual endurance, which we all can,to read Owen.

6. 

   kellynussbaum – 28 November 2022

   These volumes are well worth all the time and effort they ask for. Owen will point you again and again to the Bible, and the God of the Bible. He brings Scripture to bear on all of life and will cause your heart to cry “Soli Deo Gloria!”

7. 

   Adam Swift – 4 December 2022

   No one has been so used of the Lord in their writings as John Owen to bring me into deeper fellowship with the Lord. For many years I heard Owen’s name thrown around as suggested reading, and I ended up getting my hands on the first three volumes of this set discounted. They sat on the shelf for awhile, but then I took volume 2 (Communion with God) with me on a plane to Africa. As I read, it was like I had been transported into a different dimension! Owen showed me the glory of God’s love for his saints – and their ability to have a special experiential relationship with each individual member of the Trinity. It was transformative for me!

   Later, I would read Volume 3 (The Holy Spirit) and come to a deeper appreciation and understanding of the Spirit’s person and work. Owen is so bold as to declare that the indwelling of the Spirit is the second most important doctrine in all of the gospel. There’s no stone he leaves unturned – you will come away knowing the Spirit more than you ever have before, and and you will be left with a true portrait of biblical spirituality.

   Lastly, and most important in my life, was Volume 1 (The Glory of Christ). I read this volume in 2020, and the unfolded glory of the Lord Jesus contained in these pages sustained me through that treacherous year. Owen writing on the Lord Jesus drips with sweetness, and it is especially impactful knowing that he wrote The Glory of Christ with his own death approaching quickly. The Glory of Christ preface alone had me in tears! You will fall more in love with Jesus as a result of that work.

   I have dabbled in several other volumes, but I would pay the price for the entire set just to have the first three alone – that’s how good Owen is. Some complain that he is overly complicated and hard to read, but I find his pattern of writing becomes a language of its own that one can get used to simply by diligently reading and not giving up. Reading out loud is often a helpful tool with Owen.

   If you read his works, you will be a better Christian…