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Works of John Owen #5
Faith and Its Evidences
Despite his other achievements, Owen is best famed for his writings. These cover the range of doctrinal, ecclesiastical and practical subjects. They are characterized by profundity, thoroughness and, consequently, authority. Andrew Thomson said that Owen 'makes you feel when he has reached the end of his subject, that he has also exhausted it.' Although many of his works were called forth by the particular needs of his own day they all have a uniform quality of timelessness. Owen s works were republished in full in the nineteenth century. Owen is surely the Prince of the Puritans. 'To master his works', says Spurgeon, 'is to be a profound theologian.'
- GenresTheology
469 pages, Hardcover
First published September 1, 1967
About the author
John Owen
1,392 books424 followersJohn Owen was an English theologian and "was without doubt not only the greatest theologian of the English Puritan movement but also one of the greatest European Reformed theologians of his day, and quite possibly possessed the finest theological mind that England ever produced" ("Owen, John", in Biographical Dictionary of Evangelicals, p. 494)
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 14, 2021
John Owen at his best. I thoroughly enjoyed this volume. Justification by faith and the justification of our faith is the central theme. Much to glean. Owen's pastoral heart really comes out in this volume with much practical and biblical guidance. Bravo!
March 1, 2021
John Owen is helpful because he is thorough. In "The Doctrine of Justification by Faith," he argues that justifying faith consists in "the heart's approval of the way of justification and salvation of sinners by Jesus Christ proposed in the gospel, as proceeding from the grace, wisdom, and love of God with its acquiescency [consent] therein as unto its own concernment and condition." (93)
Some things he explains in this volume:
Righteousness by Imputation vs. inherent righteousness
Necessity of both a pardon of sin and an alien righteousness
The nature of justifying faith and its evidences/manifestations
Christ as a surety for us
Some things he explains in this volume:
Righteousness by Imputation vs. inherent righteousness
Necessity of both a pardon of sin and an alien righteousness
The nature of justifying faith and its evidences/manifestations
Christ as a surety for us
July 25, 2018
Having not read other modern or historic works that explicitly treat of the doctrine of justification by faith, I don't have much for comparison to Owen's work; there may be a more accessible reference, especially for modern readers, of comparable caliber out there.
Having said that, I highly recommend this work of Owen to anyone interested in a scholarly historical, exegetical, and philosophical argument for the doctrine. Despite the gap in time (roughly 350 years) between us and Owen, the issues and reasonings on all sides have not changed much, and Owen's work remains just as relevant today. Owen employs his full arsenal, including knowledge of early and medieval Christian theologians, of the original Biblical languages, and metaphysics, in defending this classic Protestant doctrine. At many points, I found Owen, with his probing mind, anticipating my objections and unraveling them, sometimes in the immediate sentence.
The primary opponents in his sights are Roman Catholicism, especially Cardinal Bellarmine as its representative, and Socinianism (who denied the deity of Christ and, consequently, Christ's atoning work as satisfaction for sin). Against Roman Catholic doctrine, Owen defends the forensic nature of justification as a declarative act by God, rather than a metaphysical change from unrighteousness to righteousness by the infusion of a habit of grace and growth therein merited by good works. Part of his argument is an extensive survey of the signification of the Greek and Hebrew words of justification, which is only ever used in Scripture to denote a legal, forensic declaration of being accounted righteous, and not an intrinsic change. I found this to be the most crippling blow to the Roman Catholic position, especially since the position is so heavily reliant upon the authority of Latin translations of Scripture and Latin theologians.
Owen also employs a wide array of arguments (exegetical, theological) to defend the ancillary Protestant doctrine of the imputed righteousness of Christ to believers, a doctrine that has seen revived criticism in the modern day from the proponents of the New Perspective on Paul (NPP), most eminently, N.T. Wright. The arguments for this position that Owen gave that I found most compelling were (1) the exegesis of Romans 4; and (2) the need for Adam in the original covenant of creation to fulfill all righteousness - that he could not have merited a right to eternal life until he had done so. Given that we as believers, though sanctified, are not yet fully so and still fall short of the demands of God's righteousness, what righteousness will we plead before God to merit eternal life? Ours or Christ's?
The second work in this volume, "Gospel Grounds and Evidences of the Faith of God's Elect", is a short treatise on just that - how faith evidences itself in believers. It serves as a means of self-examination to give hope, or to goad one on, about the genuineness of one's faith. Assurance and the necessity of good works in believers are not often discussed in modern evangelicalism (at least not in a non-legalistic way); this treatise would be a good remedy for such an ailment.
I came to this volume, out of my own weakness, hoping that Owen would convince me of the truth of justification by faith alone; I was not disappointed.
As a final aside, regarding the NPP, having read N.T. Wright's book, "Justification", I wish its proponents would engage with the arguments of learned theologians like Owen. I once shared in the temptation to paint a caricature of the exegesis of older arguments, or to dismiss them as old-hat and irrelevant to supposed modern sophistication. Yet Owen anticipated the very critiques of the classic Protestant position, particularly Paul's use of the 'law' (very similar critiques were already being espoused in Owen's time). Additionally, my suspicion is that NPP proponents do not appreciate the sophistication and robustness of Reformed thought, in particular, on covenants, espoused by someone like Owen, which is at the heart of historic Reformed theology and plays crucially into the discussion of justification and the law. I was skeptical in particular about imputation language until I read Owen's defense of it in his explication of the covenantal language of God's relationship with Adam in the garden, the terms of that relationship, and our relation to that covenant as children transferred from Adam to Christ. I hope in the future, NPP proponents will engage seriously with the arguments of such old perspectives from capable theologians of the likes of Owen.
Having said that, I highly recommend this work of Owen to anyone interested in a scholarly historical, exegetical, and philosophical argument for the doctrine. Despite the gap in time (roughly 350 years) between us and Owen, the issues and reasonings on all sides have not changed much, and Owen's work remains just as relevant today. Owen employs his full arsenal, including knowledge of early and medieval Christian theologians, of the original Biblical languages, and metaphysics, in defending this classic Protestant doctrine. At many points, I found Owen, with his probing mind, anticipating my objections and unraveling them, sometimes in the immediate sentence.
The primary opponents in his sights are Roman Catholicism, especially Cardinal Bellarmine as its representative, and Socinianism (who denied the deity of Christ and, consequently, Christ's atoning work as satisfaction for sin). Against Roman Catholic doctrine, Owen defends the forensic nature of justification as a declarative act by God, rather than a metaphysical change from unrighteousness to righteousness by the infusion of a habit of grace and growth therein merited by good works. Part of his argument is an extensive survey of the signification of the Greek and Hebrew words of justification, which is only ever used in Scripture to denote a legal, forensic declaration of being accounted righteous, and not an intrinsic change. I found this to be the most crippling blow to the Roman Catholic position, especially since the position is so heavily reliant upon the authority of Latin translations of Scripture and Latin theologians.
Owen also employs a wide array of arguments (exegetical, theological) to defend the ancillary Protestant doctrine of the imputed righteousness of Christ to believers, a doctrine that has seen revived criticism in the modern day from the proponents of the New Perspective on Paul (NPP), most eminently, N.T. Wright. The arguments for this position that Owen gave that I found most compelling were (1) the exegesis of Romans 4; and (2) the need for Adam in the original covenant of creation to fulfill all righteousness - that he could not have merited a right to eternal life until he had done so. Given that we as believers, though sanctified, are not yet fully so and still fall short of the demands of God's righteousness, what righteousness will we plead before God to merit eternal life? Ours or Christ's?
The second work in this volume, "Gospel Grounds and Evidences of the Faith of God's Elect", is a short treatise on just that - how faith evidences itself in believers. It serves as a means of self-examination to give hope, or to goad one on, about the genuineness of one's faith. Assurance and the necessity of good works in believers are not often discussed in modern evangelicalism (at least not in a non-legalistic way); this treatise would be a good remedy for such an ailment.
I came to this volume, out of my own weakness, hoping that Owen would convince me of the truth of justification by faith alone; I was not disappointed.
As a final aside, regarding the NPP, having read N.T. Wright's book, "Justification", I wish its proponents would engage with the arguments of learned theologians like Owen. I once shared in the temptation to paint a caricature of the exegesis of older arguments, or to dismiss them as old-hat and irrelevant to supposed modern sophistication. Yet Owen anticipated the very critiques of the classic Protestant position, particularly Paul's use of the 'law' (very similar critiques were already being espoused in Owen's time). Additionally, my suspicion is that NPP proponents do not appreciate the sophistication and robustness of Reformed thought, in particular, on covenants, espoused by someone like Owen, which is at the heart of historic Reformed theology and plays crucially into the discussion of justification and the law. I was skeptical in particular about imputation language until I read Owen's defense of it in his explication of the covenantal language of God's relationship with Adam in the garden, the terms of that relationship, and our relation to that covenant as children transferred from Adam to Christ. I hope in the future, NPP proponents will engage seriously with the arguments of such old perspectives from capable theologians of the likes of Owen.
July 4, 2021
So I have been reading this book for quite a long time. As is usual with Owen, you cannot and must not rush through a reading of one of his books. I read Owen for the encouragement and spiritual stimulation granted me by the Spirit, although I must confess reading his works is not for everyone. I do feel slightly stupid now though, as the thought of attempting to summarize or even do this book the slightest justice is beyond my abilities. This book - "Faith and Its Evidences" was magnificent and brought joy to my soul. Edifying as well? Yes, although I think I read Owen less for the spiritual knowledge it will bring me than for the way God uses Owen's writings to strengthen my daily walk with Christ as I come to see Him more clearly through Owen's explication of the truths of the divine. So what was this book about? Faith. Is that not enough? It talks about what justifying faith is and how we shall know it. Of course, knowing Owen, there is great detail and even I would say a Johannine approach to discussing the truths of the faith. Owen repeats himself often, yet in a spiraling fashion that looks at the truths of the gospel from all different perspectives. Owen truly believes the words he writes - although the work may seem dry and academic and difficult to us - and the truths therein are real in the highest sense, appealing and bringing joy to all those who are filled with the Spirit of God. I feel grossly inadequate to give a true review of this work, except to say that God used it to bring me closer to Himself. And truly - is that not enough? I will close with a quote from near the end of this volume (the end 100 pages or so were by far my favourite part!) and hopefully this gives you a glimpse of the beauty and truth of this book: "But the minds of believers are influenced by a view of the glory of the image and likeness of God in that holiness, and all the parts of it, which they are called unto. This gives them love unto it, delight and complacency in it, enabling them to look upon it as its own reward. And without these affections none will ever abide in the ways of obedience unto the end."
November 5, 2021
Owen provides an extremely thorough defense of justification (400 pages). Although repetitive at times, this is not because of poor editing, but because he needs to reemphasize his points in the face of additional challenges and objections to the doctrine. Also, it is fascinating that Owen and his interlocutors anticipate some of the modern debates that surround justification such as the view of the New Perspective on Paul that works of the law had to do with identity markers. In addition, the small pamphlet on faith and its evidences is rich with pastoral insight regarding the question of how one knows they have true, saving faith. Why the editors named this volume after this small pamphlet rather than what consisted of the bulk of the book in his defense of justification is a mystery to me? For anyone desiring a full explication and defense of justification from a classic Protestant perspective, I would heartily recommend this volume.
February 26, 2023
Owen is always reliable. Though it only takes up the last 10% of this book, my highlight for this volume is the Evidences of the Faith of God’s Elect.
July 22, 2025
Fine Wine and 16 ounces to the pound.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews