XXIV.— Of the Lord's Supper
XXV. — Of the Communion of Saints — the Fifth Privilege of Believers
XXVI.— Of Particular Churches
XXVII. — Of the Last Privilege of Believers, — being the Door of Entrance into Glory .........
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GENERAL PREFACE.
It would be 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 Chiurch of Christ, so long as reverence is cherished for the Christian faith. They have defects, which it is impossible to disguise. His style in general is deficient in grace and vivacity. His mode of discussing a subject is often tedious and prolix. Whatever amount of imaginative power his mind pos- sessed, it seems to have been little cultivated and developed ; and his chief excellence as an author, it must be admitted, consists " non in flosculis verborum, — sed in "pondere rerum." In the department of Biblical criticism, he himself disclaimed any pretensions to extensive learning. That science had made slender progress in his day, and the necessity for a careful revision of the text of Scripture, as well as the abundance of the materials which providentially existed for the accomplishment of the task, were scarcely known. We feel the less surprise that he should have committed himself to a strain of ani- madversion, full of prejudice and misapprehension, on the principles asserted in the Prolegomena and Appendix to Walton's Polyglott, when it is remembered that, after the lapse of half a century, and with all his eminent scholarship and erudition, Whitby, on the criti- cism of the sacred text, was not a step in advance of the Puritan divine.
With all this abatement on the praise which is due to Owen, his signal merits as an author have shed lustre on his name. He was great in the higher attributes of erudition ; for he excelled, if not in the learning that is conversant about dates, and facts, and words, most assuredly in the learning of thought; and his sentences are sometimes impregnated with an amount of meaning that indi- cates vast stores of information on the views prevalent in past ages regarding the doctrines of Christianity. His treatises on experimen- tal religion are yet unrivalled ; and it is wonderful with what ease
YIII ■ GENERAL PREFACE.
and point he brings the highest principles of the faith to bear on the workings of the human heart, and the details of Christian expe- rience. 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 litera- ture. His writings on toleration are an anticipation of much that has made the name of Locke immortal among the political authors of Great Britain; and there is truth in the assertion, that the philosopher " ploughed with the heifer of the Independent." His work on Anni- nianism was the hrst attempt to exhibit a systematic view of the theology which is knov/n by that designation; and in his controversy Avith John Goodwin, he had to deal with by far its ablest advocate. His elaborate refutation of Socinianism is historically interesting and important, as addressed in reply to Biddle, who first established a Socinian congregation in England. Of his work entitled, " A Vin- dication of the Animadversions on the Popish Controversy," it is said by Orme, that " it embraces the substance of the Popish controversy." But it is hardly our province to offer any criticism upon the writings of our author. We cannot refrain, however, from quoting a brief but very complete judgment pronounced on his merits by a divine whose eminent worth and spiritual sagacity enabled him to appreciate the higher qualities of Owen, and who cannot be accused of any denomi- national prejudice in his favour. Indeed, some allusions at the close of the extract indicate, that, in the encomium he passes upon the Pu- ritan, his candour triumphs over some degree of bias against him. Stillingfleet, the champion of the Anglican Church, when he replied to Owen's strictures on his sermon entitled, "The Mischief of Separation," acknowledges " the civility and decent language " of his antagonist. " The divines of the Puritan school, however (with due allowance for the prevalent tone of scholastic subtleties), supj^ly to the Ministe- rial student a large fund of useful and edifying instniction. If they be less clear and simple in their doctrinal statements than the Re- formers, they enter more deeply into the sympathies of Christian expe- rience. Profoundly versed in spiritual tactics — the habits and exercises of the human heart — they are equally qualified to awaken conviction and to administer consolation, laying open the man to himself with peculiar closeness of application; stripping him of his false depen- dencies, and exhibiting before him the light and influence of the Evan- gelical remedy for his distress. Owen stands pre-eminent among the writers of this school. 'His scholars' (as Mr Cecil observes) 'will be more profound and enlarged, and better furnished, than those of most other writers.' Among his voluminous works, we may mark his
GENEEAL PREFACE. IX
Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews (with all its prolixity), as probably the most elaborate and instructive comment upon a detached jDortion of Scripture. His work on the Spirit (though discordant in some particulars from the principles of our church) embraces the most compreliensive view of this vitally-important subject. His Exposition of Psalm cxxx. exhibits the most full and unfettered display of divine forgiveness, admirably suited to the perplexities of exercised Christians. His Tracts upon ' Understanding the Mind of God in Scripture,' and ' The Reason of Faith,' manifest his usual accuracy of spiritual discern- ment. His treatises upon Indwelling Sin, Moitifi cation of Sin, the Power of Temptation, and the Danger of Apostasy, — mark uncommon depths of exploring the secrecies of the heart. His view of Spiritual- mindedness draws out a graphic delineation of the tastes and features of the new character. And indeed, upon the whole, — for luminous ex- position, and powerful defence of scriptural doctrine, — for determined enforcement of practical obligation, — for skilful anatomy of the self- deceitfulness of the heart, and for a detailed and wise treatment of the diversified exercises of the Christian's heart, — he stands probably unrivalled. The mixture of human infirmity "with such transcendent excellence "will be found in an unhappy political bias — in an invete- rate dislike to episcopal government, and (as regards the character of • his Theology) a too close and constant endeavour to model the prin- ciples of the Gospel according to the proportions of human systems. But who would refuse to dig into the golden mine from disgust at the base alloy that will ever be found to mingle itself with the ore ? '"" And in a note he adds, " 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 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."^