Journal: Southern Baptist Journal of Theology
Volume: SBJT 20:4 (Winter 2016)
Article: SBJT Forum
Author: Anonymous

SBJT 20:4 (Winter 2016) p. 115

SBJT Forum

SBJT: Why has there been a resurgence of interest in John Owen in recent decades?

Nathan A. Finn is Dean of the School of Theology and Missions and Professor of Christian Thought and Tradition at Union University, Jackson, TN. He earned his PhD from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary where he also taught church history for eight years. Dr. Finn has published numerous books and scholarly essays on topics such as Baptist history, theology, and spirituality. Recent books include History: A Student’s Guide (Crossway, 2016) and The Baptist Story: From English Sect to Global Movement (B&H Academic, 2015). He is also the editor of Domestic Slavery: The Correspondence of Richard Fuller and Francis Wayland (Mercer University Press, 2008) and Ministry By His Grace and For His Glory: Essays in Honor of Thomas J. Nettles (Founders Press, 2011). Dr. Finn is married to Leah and is the father of four children and a member of First Baptist Church of Jackson, TN.

Nathan A. Finn: I think there are at least three interrelated reasons that we have witnessed renewed interest in John Owen in recent decades. The first reason is the general resurgence of interest in Calvinism and related topics. Beginning in the mid-twentieth century, many evangelicals in the English-speaking world “rediscovered” the Reformation and the Puritans, often in response to what many perceived to be a doctrinally vacuous, anthropocentric revivalism. Meetings such as the annual Puritan Conference in London and publishers such as Banner of Truth played a key role in promoting this resurgence in its early decades.

Midcentury interest in the Reformed tradition was a form of what John Webster and others have called “retrieval theology,” because it was engaging with past theological voices for the sake of contemporary doctrinal renewal. As pastors and other ministry leaders developed an interest in the history of Calvinistic thought, it is only natural that they would discover John Owen’s works. He was arguably the most prolific theologian within the English Puritan tradition. Owen was also a key English voice within the broader theological movement called Reformed Scholasticism or Reformed Orthodoxy, which was an attempt to systematize Calvinistic thought in the generations following the Reformation proper.

The second reason, which is in some respects a case study within the broader Calvinistic resurgence, is the influence of J. I. Packer. When Packer was a student at Oxford during World War II, he was quite taken by a Keswick understanding

SBJT 20:4 (Winter 2016) p. 116

of spirituality. As Packer gradually found the Higher Life spirituality be increasingly stultifying, he discov...