John OwenFew people know about John Owen, one reason is that his writings are not popular today. Another reason, as Peter Toon writes in his biography, is that we don't know much about his personal life. He wrote that “none of Owen’s diaries have been preserved; …[and] others' personal reactions to him are brief and rare. For this reason, details of his life are few and his writings mostly survive. JI Packer wrote this about the extent of his influence and prominence as a great man of God: The Puritan John Owen, who comes closer than anyone to being the hero of this book, was one of the greatest English theologians. In the era of giants, he surpassed them all. CH Spurgeon called him the prince of theologians. It is barely known today, and we are all the poorer the more ignorant we are. John Owen was born in England in 1616, amid the Puritan movement of the English Reformation. His father was a Puritan minister and had three brothers and a sister. His mother or siblings are not mentioned in any of his writings. He mentions his father in a writing stating: "I was brought up from childhood under the care of my father, who was a nonconformist all his life and a hard worker in the vineyard of the Lord." At the age of 16 he graduated from Oxford on 11 June 1632, aged 16 with a BA and on 27 April 1635 with an MA. Later, he would begin his studies for the BD degree (which would be the equivalent of the M.Div.). During this course of study, in 1929, William Laud was chosen to be chancellor of the university. Laud, an Arminian, was Bishop of London and was inconsolably opposed to the Puritan movement. When he was chosen as Chancellor, he presented...... middle of paper ...... and uttered the words "O, Brother Payne, the long-desired day has come at last, in which I shall see glory in another way than I ever did or was capable of doing in this world." Owen's life would expire later that day, on August 24, 1683, exactly 21 years after the great ejection of St. Bartholomew. Owen was a man of remarkable gifts and he would use them to make a profound impact in England at such a crucial time. He was a pastor and he would experience pastoral leadership in roles ranging from that of a preacher. from a small country to the leader of the nonconformists He was a man who not only wrote about theology, but who lived it both practically and experientially. thing about his personal life, as it has been lost to us. We can examine the depth of his writings and gain insight into what burned in his soul...