Product Information

The Reason of Faith, John Owen, D. D. ( London , 1677) 

Size 4 1/2" x 7". Leather, very much scuffed. Cover intact, but needs glue on the inside front cover, 
All pages scuffed on front edge
Large type (12 point?)
Rubber stamp on both sides of the half page. This is also true of the front page.
No foxing.

This books is certainly rare. It very probably was the first solo edition, but the book is included in Volume 4 of the Works of Thomas Owen.

In the Encyclopedia of the Reformed Faith we find these words,

"Owen is best known as a theological writer. He expounded the great dogmas of the faith... In his spiritual writings there is great warmth as well as a remarkable understanding of the work of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of sinners (p. 270)."

Goold, in the "General Preface" (of volume one of the Works of John Owen) writes,

"It would be a presumption to enter upon any commendation of John Owen as an author and divine. His works will continue to gather round them the respect and admiration of the Church of Christ , so long as reverence is cherished for the Christian faith... His treatises on experimental religion are yet unrivalled; and it is wonderful with what ease and point he brings the highest principles of the faith to bear on the workings of the human heart, and the details of Christian experience. His controversial writings, apart from their intrinsic merits, have a relative value that is perhaps too much overlooked, and renders them indispensable in any good collection of British literature... his works... enjoy an extensive circulation. Nor was their popularity confined to England . They have repeatedly appeared in the language of Holland ; and by the Dutch divines the most favourable mention is made of the various treatises of our pious and learned Puritan... In Scotland , the influence exerted by Owen's writings has been very great... (his) name towers into just pre-eminence among all his venerable compeers in Puritan literature"

Stillingfleet, though an opponent of Owen at one time, writes,

“Owen stands pre-eminent among the writers of this (Puritan--RB) school... Though his works will be the Minister's constant companion through his course, yet are they most valuable parts of his preparatory study, as exhibiting the scriptural doctrines in an experimental mould and in practical influence,-- a complete pattern of that form of Ministry which equally adapts itself to the various purposes of our office.”

Thompson, in his "Life of Dr. Owen"(included in volume one) states,

“John Owen belonged to a class of men who have risen from age to age in the church, to represent great principles, and to revive in the church the life of God. The supreme authority of the Scriptures in all matters of religion, -- the headship of Christ, ...-- religion as a thing of spirit, and not of form, resulting from the personal belief of certain revealed truths, and infallibly manifesting itself in a holy life, ... these principles often contended for in flames and blood, were the essence of that Puritanism which found one of its noblest examples in Owen.”

Furthermore, because of Owen's involvement with Oliver Cromwell you may also want to view the free debate material on Cromwell at http://www.swrb.com/newslett/actualNLs/crom.htm .

We leave you with a translation by Dr. Gibbons of the epitaph inscribed on the monument of Dr. Owen in Bunhill-fields,

“JOHN OWEN, D.D., born in the county of Oxford, the son of an eminent minister, himself more eminent, and worthy to be enrolled among the first divines of the age; furnished with human literature in all its kinds, and in its highest degrees, he called forth all his knowledge in an orderly train to serve the interests of religion, and minister in the sanctuary of his God. In divinity, practical, polemic, and casuistical, he excelled others, and was in all equal to himself. The Arminian, Socinian, and Popish errors, those Hydras whose contaminated breath and deadly poison infested the church, he, with more than Herculean labour repulsed, vanquished, and destroyed. The whole economy of redeeming grace, revealed and applied by the Holy Spirit, he deeply investigated, and communicated to others, having first felt its divine energy, according to its draught in the Holy Scriptures, transferred into his bosom. Superior to all terrene pursuits, he constantly cherished, and largely experienced, that blissful communion with Deity he so admirably describes in his writings (Christian Worthies, p. 32).” 

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