Trinitarian Doxology: Reassessing John Owen’s Contribution to Reformed Orthodox Trinitarian Theology

McGraw, Ryan M.

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-60807-5_2

Ryan M. McGraw^2,3

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Abstract

This essay explores some of the questions raised in the conclusion of my PhD work. It does so by expanding Owen’s trinitarianism, not only as it functioned in his theology but also as it contributed to trinitarian piety in its broader relation to Reformed orthodoxy. It serves primarily as a challenge to the assumption that Reformed writers contributed nothing of significance to trinitarian theology by pressing scholars to reassess the practical development and relevance of the Trinity in Reformed orthodox theology.

This article has been updated and modified from Ryan M. McGraw, “Trinitarian Doxology: Reassessing John Owen’s Contribution to Reformed Orthodox Trinitarian Theology,” Westminster Theological Journal 77, no. 2 (Fall 2015): 293–316. It expands upon the conclusions of my book, A Heavenly Directory: Trinitarian Piety, Public Worship, and a Reassessment of John Owen’s Theology (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2014). The article is not an abridgement of this work, but it is a summary and an expansion with fresh analysis and further conclusions.

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Notes

1.
“Fundamentum fundamenti.” Gisperti Voetii , Selectarum Disputationum Theologicarum, Pars Prima (Utrecht, 1648), 1:472. See Richard A. Muller , Post Reformation Reformed Dogmatics, 1 for “fundamental articles.”
2.
Richard A. Muller , Christ and the Decree: Christology and Predestination in Reformed Theology from Calvin to Perkins (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2008); Michael A.G. Haykin and Mark Jones , eds., Drawn into Controversie: Reformed Theological Diversity and Debates Within Seventeenth-Century British Puritanism, vol. 17, Reformed Historical Theology (Göttingen; Oakville, CT: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2011), Chap. 1.
3.
Richard A. Muller , Post-Reformation Reformed Dogmatics: The Rise and Development of Reformed Orthodoxy, ca. 1520 to ca. 1725, 4 vols., 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academics, 2003), 4.
4.
Robert Letham , The Holy Trinity: In Scripture, History, Theology, and Worship (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2004), 1–3. MacLean observes the same trend in his recent work on James Durham : Donald John MacLean , James Durham (1622–1658): And the Gospel Offer in Its Seventeenth-Century Context, vol. 31, Reformed Historical Theology (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2015), 97–98.
5.
Peter C. Phan, The Cambridge Companion to the Trinity (Cambridge; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2011); Gilles Emery and Matthew Levering, eds., The Oxford Handbook of the Trinity (Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 2011).
6.
Scott R. Swain , “The Trinity in the Reformers,” Oxford Handbook of the Trinity, 227–239.
7.
For a notable example, see Brannon Ellis , Calvin , Classical Trinitarianism, and the Aseity of the Son. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012).
8.
Muller notes that Reformed trinitarian theology is a neglected field. He suggests that the primary contribution of Reformed authors to this subject was exegetical. Muller , PRRD, 4:24–25.
9.
Emery and Levering, Oxford Handbook of the Trinity, 246, 506–509. Drawn into Controversie, cited above, includes Owen in nine of twelve chapters.
10.
Francesca Aran Murphy, ed., The Oxford Handbook of Christology (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), 619; Ulrich L. Lehner, Richard A. Muller, and A.G. Roeber, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Theology, 1600–1800 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016), 181–95, 245.
11.
For a less scholarly treatment of Owen’s teaching on the Trinity in relation to soteriology, see Matthew Barrett and Michael A.G. Haykin, Owen on the Christian Life: Living for the Glory of God in Christ, Theologians on the Christian Life (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2015), 53–88.
12.
As such, it is not merely a restatement of the material from my Heavenly Directory.
13.
This material is modified from Ryan M. McGraw, “The Rising Prominence of John Owen: A Review Article of The Ashgate Research Companion to John Owen’s Theology,” Mid-America Journal of Theology 24 (2013): 105–120.
14.
Robert Letham , “John Owen’s Doctrine of the Trinity in its Catholic Context,” Ashgate Companion to Owen’s Theology, 185–198.
15.
Letham , “John Owen’s Doctrine of the Trinity in its Catholic Context,” 186, 191.
16.
For example, throughout his work, The Holy Trinity, and in Robert Letham , “John Owen’s Doctrine of the Trinity and its Significance for Today,” in Where Reason Fails: Papers Read at the 2006 Westminster Conference (Stoke on Trent, UK: Tentmaker Publications, 2006), 10–20.
17.
Letham , “John Owen’s Doctrine of the Trinity in its Catholic Context,” 188, for example.
18.
Letham , “John Owen’s Doctrine of the Trinity in its Catholic Context,” 190. Cited from Letham , “John Owen’s Doctrine of the Trinity and its Significance for Today,” 11.
19.
Letham , “John Owen’s Doctrine of the Trinity in its Catholic Context,” 196. The recent Oxford Handbook of the Trinity, assumes that such assertions have not been taken seriously in scholarly circles for several decades. Oxford Handbook of the Trinity, 123.
20.
Muller , PRRD, 4:72.
21.
For example, John Owen, Theologoumena Pantodapa, Sive, De Natura, Ortu Progressu, Et Studio Veræ Theologiæ, Libri Sex Quibus Etiam Origines & Processus Veri & Falsi Cultus Religiosi, Casus & Instaurationes Ecclesiæ Illustiores Ab Ipsis Rerum Primordiis, Enarrantur …. (Oxoniæ: Excudebat Hen. Hall … impensis Tho. Robinson …, 1661), 522 (Voetius ) and 519 (Hoornbeeck ).
22.
See Gisperti Voetii , Selectarum Disputationum Theologicarum, Pars Prima (Utrecht, 1648), 1:472, who called the Trinity the fundamentum fundamenti. He added that the doctrine of the Trinity was fundamental because it was the foundation of so many practical uses, personal holiness, and divine worship (473). For Hoornbeeck , see Johannes Hoornbeeck , Theologiae Practicae (Utrecht, 1663), 1:136. For the Arminian denial that the Trinity is a “fundamental article” of the faith, see Muller , PRRD, 4:109.
23.
Polly Ha , Patrick Collinson , eds., The Reception of Continental Reformation in Britain (Oxford University Press for the British Academy, 2010), 235–236.
24.
Richard A. Muller , PRRD, 4:144–149.
25.
Letham , “John Owen’s Doctrine of the Trinity in its Catholic Context,” 189. Sebastian Rehnman strengthens Muller ’s case in his contribution to A Companion to Reformed Orthodoxy.
26.
As Muller argues, PRRD, 4:109.
27.
A.C. Neele has alerted directed me to Mastricht , who showed some concern for eastern trinitarianism. In any case, I have not found sufficient evidence of contemporary eastern influences in Owen.
28.
Paul Chang-Ha Lim , Mystery Unveiled: The Crisis of the Trinity in Early Modern England (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012).
29.
Lim , Mystery Unveiled, 1, 13–14.
30.
Lim , Mystery Unveiled, 215.
31.
For Owen, see below. Francis Cheynell , The Divine Trinunity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Or, the Blessed Doctrine of the Three Coessentiall Subsistents in the Eternall Godhead Without Any Confusion or Division of the Distinct Subsistences or Multiplication of the Most Single and Entire Godhead Acknowledged, Beleeved, Adored by Christians, in Opposition to Pagans, Jewes, Mahumetans, Blasphemous and Antichristian Hereticks, Who Say They Are Christians, but Are Not (London: Printed by T.R. and E.M. for Samuel Gellibrand …, 1650), 6–7, 182, and especially 272–305. These themes continue through the remainder of the book. These observations also apply to William Perkins , Idolatrie of the Last Times, throughout.
32.
Cheynell , Divine Triunity, 417–480.
33.
Lim , Mystery Unveiled, 187.
34.
Lim , Mystery Unveiled, 193–200.
35.
See references above.
36.
Lim , Mystery Unveiled, 207.
37.
Lim , Mystery Unveiled, 382.
38.
Lim , Mystery Unveiled, 209.
39.
For example, Owen, The Doctrine of the Saint’s Perseverance Explained and Confirmed, Works, 11:402.
40.
Lim , Mystery Unveiled, 215.
41.
Bruce L. McCormack , “Union with Christ in Calvin ’s Theology: Grounds for a Divinization Theory?,” in Tributes to John Calvin : A Celebration of His Quincentenary, ed. David W. Hall (Phillipsburg, NJ: P & R Publishing, 2010), 504–529.
42.
Mastricht , Theoretico-Practica Theologia, 792.
43.
Lim , Mystery Unveiled, 190.
44.
Ellis , Calvin , Classical Trinitarianism, and the Aseity of the Son, Chap. 1.
45.
Cheynell , Divine Triunity, 232–235.
46.
Lim , Mystery Unveiled, 201.
47.
Tim Cooper , John Owen, Richard Baxter , and the Formation of Nonconformity (Farnham, Surrey, England; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2011), 78–83.
48.
Lim , Mystery Unveiled, 207.
49.
Lim , Mystery Unveiled, 208.
50.
See Mark Jones , Antinomianism : Reformed Theology’s Unwelcome Guest? 2013.
51.
Lim , Mystery Unveiled, 210.
52.
This terminology comes from Book 6 of Owen’s Theologoumena Pantodapa.
53.
Theologoumena, lib. VI, cap. II, 462–463: “Revalatio autem haec voluntatis divinae, a Patre Christo data, atque ab illo per Spiritum Sanctum cum Apostolis suis aliisque, in usum totius Ecclesiae communicate, Theologiae ista Evangelica, prout in abstracta sumpta doctrinam divinam denotat, quam summus enarraturi.”
54.
For a similar, albeit brief, Trinitarian construction of divine revelation, see Roelf T. te Velde, ed., Synopsis Purioris Theologiae/ Synopsis of a Purer Theology, trans. Reimer A. Faber, vol. 1, 3 vols. (Leiden: Brill, 2015), 41.
55.
See John V. Fesko , “The Doctrine of Scripture in Reformed Orthodoxy,” in Herman J. Selderhuis, ed., A Companion to Reformed Orthodoxy, Brill’s Companions to the Christian Tradition (Leiden: Brill, 2013), 429–464.
56.
Owen, Theologoumena Pantodapa, 487: “mentis hominis per Spiritum Sanctum renati.”
57.
Theologoumena, lib. VI, cap. VI, 491. For example, “Nam a Patre hoc donum est per Christum. Datur autem Spiritus Sapientiae et Revelationis.”
58.
Owen, Theologoumena, lib. VI, cap. III, 466: “Doctrinae autem Evangelicae eo modo traditae et expositae notitia aut comprehensio mere naturalis, est Philosophia quaedam Christiana; quae sapientiae omni Graecanicae, seu mere humanae plurimis praeit parasangis…. Eius autem generis est Philosophia haec Christiana, ad omnem ethinicorum hominum sapientiam sive scienciam collata.”
59.
Stephen Westcott’s English “interpretation” of this work gives this impression. Sebastian Rehnman refers to this translation as being of “inferior quality.” Sebastian Rehnman , Divine Discourse: The Theological Methodology of John Owen (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2002), 17. However, even more scholarly treatments of Owen, such as Trueman, treat this book as a work on covenant theology. Trueman, John Owen, 5.
60.
Muller , PRRD, 1:118. See also Chap. 2 of my Heavenly Directory for a fuller reevaluation of the nature of this work.
61.
Hoornbeeck , Theologiae-Practicae, 1, Chap. 1.
62.
On the methodology of Owen’s work on the Spirit, see Maarten Wise and Hugo Meijer , “Pneumatology: Tradition and Renewal,” in A Companion to Reformed Orthodoxy, 487–488. The remainder of their chapter provides an extensive analysis of Owen’s Pneumatologia with an insightful analysis of Medieval influences on the work.
63.
Joannes Wollebius , Compendium Theologiæ Christianæ … Editio Ultima Prioribus Multo Correctior. 9th ed. (Cantabrigiæ: ex celeberrimæ Academiæ Typographeo, 1654). Though Wisse and Meijer note that he was not always consistent on this point. Maarten Wisse and Hugo Meijer , “Pneumatology: Tradition and Renewal,” in Companion to Reformed Orthodoxy, 494.
64.
William Ames , Medulla S.s. Theologiæ … in Fine Adjuncta Est Disputatio De Fidei Divinæ Veritate. Editio Tertia Priori Longe Correctior (Apud Robertum Allottum: Londini, 1629), 1; Herman Witsius , On the Character of a True Theologian (Greenville, SC: Reformed Academic Press, 1994), 27; Hoornbeeck , Theologicae-Practicae, 1:4–16; Voetius , Selectarum Dispuationum, 1:12–28, where he distinguishes “scholastic theology” from “true and genuine” theology, even while arguing for the legitimacy of “scholastic theology.” For Mastricht ’s theological method, see Adriaan Cornelis Neele , Petrus Van Mastricht (1630–1706) Reformed Orthodoxy: Method and Piety (Leiden; Boston : Brill, 2009).
65.
This idea is also present explicitly in Theologoumena, lib. VI, cap. III, 465.
66.
John Owen, Communion with God, in The Works of John Owen, D.D., ed. William Goold (London; Edinburgh: Johnstone and Hunter, 1850), 2. In A Heavenly Directory, I compare the Goold edition of Owen’s works with original printings. In every case that I have researched, Goold has retained the exact words of the original text. The only changes that he made are with reference to numeric variation in Owen’s outlines to make reading easier. For this reason, the rest of this essay will cite the Goold edition on the assumption that it reflects the original text accurately.
67.
Lim , Mystery Unveiled; Kapic , Communion with God; Kay , Trinitarian Spirituality.
68.
Owen, “The Nature and Beauty of Public Worship,” Works, 9.
69.
Eph. 2:18: “For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.”
70.
Owen, “The Chamber of Imagery of the Church of Rome Laid Open,” Works, 8:555–556.
71.
Perkins , Idolatry of the Last Times, 181.
72.
Stephen Charnock , Discourses Upon the Existence and Attributes of God. 2 Vols. ([S.l.]: Baker Book House, 1853), 109 ff; Jeremiah Burroughs , Gospel-Worship, Or, the Right Manner of Sanctifying the Name of God in General and Particularly in These Three Great Ordinances, Viz. 1. Hearing of the Word, 2. Receiving the Lords Supper, 3. Prayer (London: Printed by Peter Cole …, 1658). For an analysis of these authors, see Chap. 3 of my book, A Heavenly Directory.
73.
Owen, Vindiciae Evangelicae, Works, 12:73.
74.
Owen, Pneumatologia, Works, 3:66–68, 93. See also Edward Leigh , A Systeme or Body of Divinity Consisting of Ten Books, Wherein the Fundamentals and Main Grounds of Religion Are Opened…. (London: Printed by A.M. for William Lee …, 1662), 205.
75.
Owen, Communion with God, Works, 2:268–269.
76.
For opera appropriata , see Muller , PRRD, 4:267–269.
77.
Owen, Hebrews, Works, 20:23, 34; Salus Electorum Sanguis Christi, or, The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, Works, 10:163–173. Chapters 4–6 of this work treat the appropriate works of the Father, Son, and Spirit in redemption, respectively.
78.
Owen, Communion with God, Works, 2, Chap. 4.
79.
Owen, Death of Death in the Death of Christ, Works, 10:174–177 and 178–179, respectively.
80.
Owen, Hebrews, Works, 20:34–35.
81.
Owen, Hebrews, Works, 20:35, 97. See also the section above treating Theologoumena Pantodapa.
82.
Owen, Hebrews, Works, 20:35–36.
83.
Leigh , Body of Divinity, 205.
84.
Owen, Pneumatologia, Works, 3:162ff.
85.
Owen, Communion with God, Works, 2:19–20.
86.
Owen, Nature and Beauty of Public Worship, Works, 9:58–59.
87.
Owen, Communion with God, Works, 2:27.
88.
This is reflected repeatedly most of the chapters of the Oxford Handbook of the Trinity.
89.
Owen, Communion with God, 17–18; Works, 2:19–20.
90.
Some of his contemporaries did not share these emphases. Richard Byfield ignored the person of the Father when treating “God is love,” even though his book included the divine persons in its title. Richard Byfield, The Gospels Glory, Without Prejudice to the Law Shining Forth in the Glory of God [brace] the Father, the Sonne, the Holy Ghost, for the Salvation of Sinners, Who Through Grace Do Believe According to the Draught of the Apostle Paul in Rom. 8. ver. 3.4. Held Out to Publick View (London: Printed by E.M. for Adoniram Byfield, 1659), 58–59.
91.
This vindicates Muller ’s assertion that the primary contribution of the Reformed to trinitarian theology was likely exegetical. Muller , PRRD, 4:25. For Owen’s exegetical method, see Henry M. Knapp , “Understanding the Mind of God: John Owen and Seventeenth-Century Exegetical Methodology,” 2002.
92.
A Heavenly Directory, Chap. 2.
93.
Owen, Nature and Beauty of Public Worship, Works, 9:58–60.
94.
This is truth, both in regard to Communion with God and to The Nature and Beauty of Public Worship.
95.
Owen, Nature and Beauty of Public Worship, Works, 9:61.
96.
Owen, Communion with God, Works, 2:59–117. Byfield called this “the grace of personal union.” Richard Byfield , The Gospel’s Glory Without Prejudice to the Law, 73.
97.
Owen, Communion with God, 181–187; Works, 2:159–164. For John Owen’s views on justification , including the “active obedience” of Christ, see Carl R. Trueman , John Owen, 101–121; and “John Owen on Justification,” in Justified in Christ: God’s Plan for us in Justification, ed. K. Scott Oliphint (Geanies House, Scotland: Christian Focus Publications, 2007), 81–98. For arguments that the Westminster documents imply the active obedience of Christ, see Alan D. Strange , “The Imputation of the Active Obedience of Christ at the Westminster Assembly ,” in Drawn into Controversie, 31–51. Strange attempts to explain the changes between Westminster and Savoy as well (31).
98.
Owen, “Nature and Beauty of Gospel Worship,” Works, 9:61.
99.
Mastricht , Theoretico-Practica Theologia, 791: “Quid sit union cum Christo?… quod sit mystica illa relatio, per quam uniti cum Christo ius aquirunt ad omnes illas benedictiones, qua in ipso preparantur.” (Trans: “What is union with Christ ?… That it is a mystical relation, by which we are united with Christ and acquire the right to all his blessings, which are provided in him.”).
100.
Owen, Nature and Beauty of Public Worship, Works, 9:70. For more about Owen’s teaching on the Spirit, see Ryan M. McGraw, “John Owen on the Holy Spirit in Relation to the Trinity, the Humanity of Christ, and the Believer,” in The Beauty and Glory of the Holy Spirit, ed. Joel R. Beeke and Joseph A. Pipa (Grand Rapids, 2012), 267–284. For a groundbreaking treatment of the medieval background of Owen’s treatment of the Holy Spirit in relation to Christ’s humanity, see Wise and Meijer , “Pneumatology: Tradition and Renewal,” in Companion to Reformed Orthodoxy, 465–518.
101.
Owen, The Chamber of Imagery, Works, 8:557–560.
102.
Owen, The Nature and Beauty of Gospel Worship, Works, 9:57.
103.
David Clarkson , Public Worship to be Preferred Before Private, The Works of David Clarkson (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth Trust, 1988), 3:187–209.
104.
Clarkson , Public Worship, Works, 3:190–194.
105.
Clarkson , Believers’ Communion with the Father and the Son, Works, 3:166–186.
106.
Owen, Communion with God, Works, 2:259–260.
107.
For example, the two sermons on The Nature and Beauty of Public Worship, cited above.
108.
Muller , PRRD, 2.
109.
Savoy Declaration of Faith, 1.6.
110.
Savoy Declaration 22.1; Westminster Confession 21.1; George Gillespie , A Dispute Against the English Popish Ceremonies Obtruded on the Church of Scotland: Wherein Not Only Our Own Arguments Against the Same Are Strongly Confirmed, but Likewise the Answers and Defences of Our Opposites, Such as Hooker , Morton, Burges, Sprint, Paybody, Andrews, Saravia, Tilen, Spotswood, Lindsey, Forbes, etc., Particularly Confuted, ed. Christopher Coldwell (Dallas, TX: Naphtali Press, 1993), 112; William Ames , A Fresh Suit Against Human Ceremonies in Gods Worship or a Triplication Unto D. Burgesse His Rejoinder for D. Morton, … (by William Ames .). ((S. l.), 1633).
111.
For example, this terminology is applied to prayer in Westminster Shorter Catechism 99; Westminster Larger Catechism 186.
112.
Church of Scotland. General Assembly, England and Wales. Parliament, and Westminster Assembly , A Directory for the Publique Worship of God Throughout the Three Kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland Together with an Ordinance of Parliament for the Taking Away of the Book of Common-Prayer: And for Establishing and Observing of This Present Directory Throughout the Kingdom of England and Dominion of Wales (London: Printed by M.B. and A.M. for the Company of Stationers, 1646), 1–4. Owen, The Work of the Holy Spirit in Prayer, Works, 4:339.
113.
Owen, Work of the Holy Spirit in Prayer, Works, 4:239–240.
114.
Ames , A Fresh Suit, Part I, 37.
115.
Gillespie , English Popish Ceremonies, 112–115. I am grateful to Chris Caldwell for this reference.
116.
Ames , A Fresh Suit, Part I, 58–59.
117.
Ames , A Fresh Suit, Part I, 16, 17–18, respectively. Nicholas Tyacke notes that in 1640,Thomas Warmstry complained that churches had introduced “candles in the day time.” Nicholas Tyacke, Anti-Calvinists: The Rise of English Arminianism, C. 1590–1640 (Oxford; New York: Clarendon Press; Oxford University Press, 1987), 241.
118.
McGraw, A Heavenly Directory, Chap. 3.
119.
Charnock , Existence and Attributes of God, 1:109ff.; Burroughs , Gospel Worship.
120.
Perkins , Idolatry of the Last Times, throughout; Cheynell , Divine Triunity, 272–305.
121.
Both treatises are found in Owen, Works, 7. The chapters on worship in The Grace and Duty are found on pp. 416–445. The material in Apostasy from the Gospel is found in Chap. 6 of that book.
122.
Owen, Grace and Duty, Works, 7:270; Edward Reynolds , A Treatise on the Passions and Faculties of the Soul, With the Several Dignities and Corruptions Belonging Thereunto. (London, 1658), 896, 1104–1105; Jonathan Edwards , The Religious Affections, in The Works of Jonathan Edwards , ed. Perry Miller, John E. Smith, and Harry S. Stout (New Haven, CT; London: Yale University Press; Oxford University Press, 2008), 2:96.
123.
For example see, Edward Reynolds , Meditations on the Fall and Rising of St. Peter (London: Printed for Thomas Parkhurst …, 1677). 58: “Christ is not truly apprehended either by the fancy or the understanding. He is at once known and possessed. It is an experimental, and not a speculative knowledge that conceives him; he understands him that feels him. We see him in his grace and truth, not in any carnal or gross pretense.”
124.
Jonathan Edwards , “True Grace Distinguished from the Experience of Devils,” in The Works of Jonathan Edwards (Edinburgh: The Banner of Truth Trust, 1997), 2:48–49.
125.
Owen, Grace and Duty, 234; Works, 7:432.
126.
Owen, Grace and Duty, 237; Works, 7:434. Here he explains that the saints have communion with God in worship through faith, love, and delight.
127.
For a fuller analysis, see McGraw, A Heavenly Directory, Chap. 4.
128.
Owen, Grace and Duty, Works, 7:424.
129.
Owen, Grace and Duty, Works, 7:425.
130.
Owen, Grace and Duty, Works, 7:428.
131.
See Chap. 3 of McGraw, A Heavenly Directory.
132.
Owen, Grace and Duty; Works, 7:434.
133.
Owen, Communion with God, Works, 2:8.
134.
Trueman, John Owen, 71, where he notes the importance of David Dickson in the English-speaking context. For Dickson ’s exposition of the covenant of redemption , see his comments on Psalm 2:7–9. David Dickson , A Brief Explication of the First Fifty Psalms, 2nd ed. (London, 1655), 11–13.
135.
Richard A. Muller , “Toward the Pactum Salutis: Locating the Origins of a Concept,” Mid-America Journal of Theology 18 (2007): 11–65.
136.
Patrick Gillespie , The Ark of the Covenant Opened, Or, a Treatise of the Covenant of Redemption Between God and Christ, as the Foundation of the Covenant of Grace the Second Part, Wherein Is Proved, That There Is Such a Covenant, the Necessity of It, the Nature, Properties, Parties Thereof, the Tenor, Articles, Subject-Matter of Redemption, the Commands, Conditions, and Promises Annexed, the Harmony of the Covenant of Reconciliation Made with Sinners, Wherein They Agree, Wherein They Differ, Grounds of Comfort from the Covenant of Suretiship (London: Printed for Thomas Pankhurst, 1677).
137.
Wilhemus à Brakel , The Christian’s Reasonable Service, ed. Joel R. Beeke , trans. Bartel Elshout, 4 vols. (Grand Rapids, MI: Reformation Heritage Books, 2012). See volume 1, Chaps. 4–7.
138.
For example, Owen, Hebrews, Works, 20:61. This terminology appears throughout the Hebrews commentary.
139.
The Sum of Saving Knowledge with the Practical Use Thereof (Edinburgh, 1671), heading 2 (unpaginated).
140.
Owen, Death of Death, Works, 10:174.
141.
Owen, Hebrews, Works, 20:61–62. On pp. 194–195, Owen listed sixteen actions of the Father towards the Son in the covenant of redemption .
142.
Muller , “Toward the Pactum Salutis,” 61–63.
143.
Letham , “John Owen’s Doctrine of the Trinity in its Catholic Context,” Ashgate Research Companion, 196.
144.
Carl Trueman criticizes in passing Letham ’s charge that the covenant of redemption introduced tension into the theology of the Westminster Standards. Carl. R. Trueman, “Reformed Orthodoxy in Britain,” in Companion to Reformed Orthodoxy, 282, fn 82.
145.
Jonathan Edwards , “Economy of the Trinity in the Covenant of Redemption,” The Works of Jonathan Edwards Online, 20:441–442.
146.
Van Asselt makes a similar observation about Cocceius ’s position. W. J. van Asselt , The Federal Theology of Johannes Cocceius (1603–1669) (Leiden; Boston : Brill, 2001), 235.
147.
Letham , “John Owen’s Doctrine of the Trinity in its Catholic Context,” Ashgate Research Companion, 196.
148.
Letham , “John Owen’s Doctrine of the Trinity in its Catholic Context,” Ashgate Research Companion, 197.
149.
Hoornbeeck , Theologiae Practicae, 1:139–141.
150.
Peter van Mastricht , Theoretico-Practica Theologia. Qua, Per Singula Capita Theologica, Pars Exegetica, Dogmatica, Elenchtica & Practica, Perpetua Successione Conjugantur. (Trajecti ad Rhenum, & Amstelodami: Sumptibus Societatis, 1724), 235–270.
151.
Van Asselt , “Covenant Theology as Relational Theology,” Ashgate Research Companion, 77.
152.
Herman Witsius , De Oeconomia Foederum Dei Cum Hominibus Libri Quatuor, 2 vols. (Trajecti ad Rhenum: apud Franciscum Halmam, Gulielmum van de Water, 1694). lib. 1, cap. 9, paragraph XXIII (p. 126): “Foedus gratia non est abolitia foedus operum, sed confirmation illius, in quantum Mediator omnes conditiones foederis implevit, adeo ut juxta foedus operum, cui a Mediatore satisfactum est, fideles omnes justificentur et serventur.”
153.
Savoy Declaration 7.2.
154.
Savoy Declaration 8.1–3.
155.
Owen, “The Everlasting Covenant,” Works, 9:418.
156.
Owen, Communion with God, Works, 2:8.
157.
Brian J. Lee , Johannes Cocceius and the Exegetical Roots of Federal Theology, Reformed Historical Theology (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2008), Chap. 3.
158.
Mark Jones , “The ‘Old’ Covenant,” in Michael A.G. Haykin and Mark Jones , eds., Drawn into Controversie: Theological Diversity and Debates within Seventeenth-Century British Puritanism (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecth, 2011), 200.
159.
John Ball , A Treatise of the Covenant of Grace Wherein the Graduall Breakings Out of Gospel Grace from Adam to Christ Are Clearly Discovered, the Differences Betwixt the Old and New Testament Are Laid Open, Divers Errours of Arminians and Others Are Confuted, the Nature of Uprightnesse, and the Way of Christ in Bringing the Soul into Communion with Himself … Are Solidly Handled (London: Printed by G. Miller for Edward Brewster, 1645), 95.
160.
J. Mark Beach , Christ and the Covenant: Francis Turretin ’s Federal Theology as a Defense of the Doctrine of Grace (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 2007), 311–316.
161.
Owen, Hebrews, Works, 23:70.
162.
Samuel Petto , The Difference Between the Old and New Covenant Stated and Explained with an Exposition of the Covenant of Grace in the Principal Concernments of It (London: Printed for Eliz. Calvert …, 1674), 162. Michael Brown has recently misconstrued the relationship between Owen and Petto ’s views in this regard. See Michael Brown, Christ and the Condition: The Covenant Theology of Samuel Petto (1624–1711) (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Reformation Heritage Books, 2012); and Ryan M. McGraw, “A Review of Michael Brown, Christ and the Condition: The Covenant Theology of Samuel Petto (1624–1711),” Mid-America Journal of Theology 23 (2012): 152–155 for my critique of his analysis.
163.
Ball , A Treatise of the Covenant of Grace, 107.
164.
Petto , The Difference, 168: “I do not call it, the Covenant of Grace, nor the Covenant of Works; but to express the formality and essential nature of it, I call it, the Covenant of Grace as to its legal condition , or a covenant concerning the legal condition of the covenant of grace.” Emphasis original.
165.
See Jones , “The ‘Old’ Covenant,” 199–200.
166.
Owen, Hebrews, Works, 23:73–75.
167.
Owen, “The Chamber of Imagery of the Church of Rome Laid Open,” Works, 8:555–556.
168.
Thomas Goodwin , The Knowledge of the Father and of His Son Jesus Christ, The Works of Thomas Goodwin (Edinburgh: J. Nichol, 1861), 4:352–353.
169.
Owen, Hebrews, Works, 18:5–9.
170.
Owen, Theologoumena Pantodapa, lib. VI, cap. 7, 501; A Discourse Concerning Liturgies and their Imposition, Works, 15:9.
171.
Owen, “Nature and Beauty of Public Worship,” Works, 9:57.
172.
Owen, “The Duty of a Pastor,” Works, 9:456–457.
173.
Owen treats the nature of benedictions in relation to the ministerial office in Hebrews in Works, 22:316–320, 368–375. He argued that ministers are benedictory to the congregation by faithfully exercising the duties of their office in obedience to Christ. See McGraw, A Heavenly Directory, Chap. 6.
174.
For example, Wollebius , Compendium, 159–160; Leigh , Body of Divinity, 461–466.
175.
See Leigh , Body of Divinity, 461–466, who treats the nature and ends of preaching at length as the primary calling of pastors. This is the burden of Owen’s sermon on “The Duty of Pastors” in Works, 9, as cited above (see esp. Works, 9:453).
176.
Owen, Hebrews, Works, 20:34–35.
177.
Owen, A Discourse on Spiritual Gifts; Works, 4:491.
178.
Owen, A Discourse on Spiritual Gifts; Works, 4:438.
179.
Andreas Hyperius , The Practice of Preaching, Otherwise Called the Pathway to the Pulpit, trans. John Ludham (London, 1577), 9; Oliver Bowles , De Pastore Evangelio Tractatus (London, 1659), 2.
180.
Wollebius , Compendium, 124.
181.
Leigh , Body of Divinity, 655–657.
182.
He included scattered references to baptism throughout his Works and a few very short treatments of infant baptism, but he did not devote an extended exposition to this sacrament in any place. For a treatment of his arguments for infant baptism, see Lee Gatiss, “From Life’s First Cry: John Owen on Infant Baptism and Infant Salvation,” in The Ashgate Research Companion, 271–282.
183.
Owen, “The Chamber of Imagery,” Works, 8:560: “The communication of Christ herein, and our participation in him, are expressed in such a manner as to demonstrate them to be peculiar—such as are not to be obtained in any other way or divine ordinance whatever; not in praying, not in preaching, not in any other exercise of faith on the word of promises.”
184.
In every other case, Owen regarded sight and sense as contrary to faith. See the appendix on Owen’s view of images of Christ in my Heavenly Directory.
185.
Richard Sibbes , The Complete Works of Richard Sibbes , 7 vols. (Edinburgh: James Nichols, 1862), 4:329.
186.
Contra Petto , with whom Owen otherwise shared much agreement both in covenant theology and ecclesiology. John Martin et al., The Preacher Sent: Or, a Vindication of the Liberty of Publick Preaching, by Some Men Not Ordained; in Answer to Two Books: 1. Jus Divinum Ministerii Evangelici: By the Provincial Assembly of London. 2. Vindiciæ Ministerii Evangelici. by Mr. John Collings. Published by J. Martin, S. Petto , F. Woodal. (London, 1658).
187.
Kay , Trinitarian Spirituality; Letham , “John Owen’s Doctrine of the Trinity and its Significance for Today.”
188.
As is the case throughout the Oxford Handbook of the Trinity.
189.
Wisse and Meijer make a similar observation in relation to pneumatology and soteriology. Wisse and Meijer , “Pneumatology: Tradition and Renewal,” Companion to Reformed Orthodoxy, 500–505.
190.
See Trueman, The Claims of Truth, for the Trinity in relation to overarching content of Owen’s theology.

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Department of Systematic Theology, Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Taylors, SC, USA
Ryan M. McGraw
Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary, Grand Rapids, MI, USA
Ryan M. McGraw

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McGraw, R.M. (2017). Trinitarian Doxology: Reassessing John Owen’s Contribution to Reformed Orthodox Trinitarian Theology. In: John Owen. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60807-5_2

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