Thursday, August 24, 2023

It is the 24th of August, 2023. Welcome to the Christian History Almanac brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org. I’m Dan van Voorhis.

For the third day in a row, we find ourselves in the 1600s with a character whose life will coincide with the English church and political scene. And for the second day in a row, the Almanac takes you to a giant in the world of Puritanism. So- let’s set the stage and define Puritanism.

In the early to mid-1600s, the 30 Years War was raging in Europe. In the British Isles, the Stuarts come to power after the death of Queen Elizabeth- James I is decent, Charles I helps kick off the English Civil War and is beheaded, Cromwell and Son rule as Puritan-friendly Lord Protectors until 1660 and the Restoration of the Monarchy under Charles II who got a little too Catholic friendly, followed by James II who was way to Catholic friendly for some and then the Glorious Revolution with William and Mary in 1688.

And, of course, from 1620, you had nonconformists, dissenters, and adventurers coming to the New World to set up the colonies.

In this context, John Owen was born in 1616 to Henry and Hester Owen. We know little about them except that his father was a Puritan-friendly minister in the Church of England. There was some tolerance such that many, save the extremes, could coexist in the English church or an independent parish.

John went to school at Oxford in 1628. He took his BA and MA and was ordained as a Deacon in the Church of England while working on his B.D. at Oxford. However, the Archbishop, trying to bring conformity to the Church of England, required a theological fidelity beyond what many Puritans could swallow. Owen left Oxford, but as he was ordained, he worked as a Chaplain for two families while he continued his studies and writing.

Famously, he attended a church service in London to hear a prominent preacher, but the preacher was unable to preach, and an anonymous (to history) preacher delivered a sermon that struck Owen to the core. He was either converted there (although he was already ordained) or came to a new understanding of his assurance. He would bounce around a few parishes before coming to Coggeshall in Essex in 1643- a year after the Civil War began. It was there in Coggeshall that he was present at the Siege of Colchester. There, he ministered to the army of the Parliament (who were attempting to take a town taken by supporters of the King). His preaching came to the attention of Parliament and Oliver Cromwell. He would be asked by Cromwell to be his chaplain, and he would preach a sermon in Parliament the day after the beheading of Charles I and the triumph of the Pro-Parliament Roundheads.

Owen would travel with Cromwell to Ireland and Scotland, although he would later regret his complacency amongst the savage brutality against those put down by Cromwell and his troops. He would, however, be made Vice Chancellor of Christ Church Oxford, where he would serve as a university administrator, member of Parliament, and preacher. He would continue to write largely polemical and devotional tracts devoted to Calvinism- he was called the “Calvin of England” for his fierce defense of Calvinistic doctrines. It should also be noted that he married Mary Rooke, and the couple had 11 children.  Unfortunately, 10 of them did not survive childhood, and the 11th died as a young woman. We don’t have the exact information on all of the deaths, but it comes out to about a death every three years. As Owen was a minister, administrator, and author, he was constantly surrounded by death. In 1660, with the Restoration of the Monarchy and many Presbyterians and Independents hounded out of office, Owen considered a move to the New World. Increase Mather was a fan of his works and invited him to Massachusetts. Later, he would also be invited to become the president of Harvard. Nonetheless, he decided to stay- he was protected by friends in high places but was under constant surveillance as a known Puritan dissenter. He would pastor small churches all the while writing. His books were not terribly popular in his time but would become classics of the Puritan genre. He fought for toleration, ministered to John Bunyan in prison, and continued to write until his death at the age of 67 on the 24th of August in 1683. His book The Death of Death in the Death of Christ is considered his theological magnum opus on the Atonement, and his short 80-page work on the Mortification of Sin is a devotional classic. Today, we remember John Owen, a Puritan Heavyweight, who died on this day 340 years ago today.

The last word for today comes from the daily lectionary from 1 Corinthians- a one-verse benediction- After listing various sins and damnable states, the Apostle writes:

And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

This has been the Christian History Almanac for the 24th of August 2023, brought to you by 1517 at 1517.org.

The show is produced by a man also accused of being pro-Roundhead, not on account of Parliament but rather because he likes cranial symmetry. He is Christopher Gillespie.

The show is written and read by a man who always remembers the Roundheads v. Cavaliers with the Cavaliers being pro-King, as the Cleveland Cavaliers signed LeBron, AKA “King” James- I’m Dan van Voorhis. 

You can catch us here every day- and remember that the rumors of grace, forgiveness, and the redemption of all things are true…. Everything is going to be OK.