John Owen Books: A Reading Guide and the Order to Read Them
John Owen (1616–1683) was the leading theologian of the English Puritans, and he wrote enough to fill more than twenty thick volumes. TheWay Library has six of his books, all free to read: two short treatises on temptation and the killing of sin, his longer work on indwelling sin, his exposition of Psalm 130 on forgiveness, his treatise on being spiritually minded, his works on the person and glory of Christ, and The Death of Death in the Death of Christ. For his life story, see who was John Owen.
Owen is harder reading than most of the classics here. His sentences are long, and his editions come from scans, so a few words are misread. But he repays the effort. This guide tells you what each book is about and the order to read them in.
Where to start
Start with On Temptation and the Mortification of Sin. It's his shortest book in the library and the one most readers meet first. After that:
- The Forgiveness of Sin, so that the fight against sin rests on God's pardon.
- Indwelling Sin in Believers, to understand the enemy more deeply.
- The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded, on setting the mind and heart on God.
- The Glorious Mystery of the Person of Christ, Owen at his warmest and highest.
- The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, for those ready for a long theological argument.
Every quotation below is checked against the book it comes from. For many more, see our collection of John Owen quotes.
Sin, temptation and holiness
On Temptation and the Mortification of Sin
Two treatises in one volume. Of Temptation (1658) works from Christ's words, "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation." Owen explains what it means to "enter into" temptation, how to tell it's happening, and how to watch: guard your heart, know your own weak points, avoid occasions of sin, and keep close to Christ's word. Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers (1656) works from Romans 8:13. Owen argues that even the holiest believer must put sin to death every day, that only the Spirit can do it, and that the great remedy is to set faith on Christ, who died to destroy sin.
Set faith at work on Christ for the killing of thy sin. His blood is the great sovereign remedy for sin-sick souls.
Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers, chapter 14
The chapters in this edition are numbered but not titled. Read On Temptation and the Mortification of Sin.
Indwelling Sin in Believers (1668)
A deeper study of the sin that remains in Christians, from Romans 7:21, "I find then a law." Owen shows that indwelling sin is a law, a constant pull toward evil; that its seat is the heart; that it is enmity against God; and that it works by deceit, drawing the mind away from prayer and meditation and entangling the affections. He then proves its strength from the falls of good men and the slow decay of grace it causes.
Grace changeth the nature of man, but nothing can change the nature of sin.
Indwelling Sin in Believers, Indwelling Sin Enmity Against God
This text comes from a scan, and the first words of several chapters are misread. Read Indwelling Sin in Believers.
The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded (1681)
Owen's treatise on Romans 8:6, "to be spiritually minded is life and peace." He wrote it first as meditations for himself during an illness. He looks at spiritual mindedness in our thoughts, what we think about when we're free to think, and then in our affections, what we love. There's practical counsel for people who can't keep their minds on God, and a section on how love for God decays and how it is restored.
If we cannot afford unto God our spare time, it is evident that indeed we can afford nothing at all.
The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded, Other Evidences of Thoughts About Spiritual Things, Arising from an Internal Principle of Grace
Read The Grace and Duty of Being Spiritually Minded.
Forgiveness
The Forgiveness of Sin: A Practical Exposition of Psalm 130 (1668)
Many have judged this Owen's best book. It centers on verse 4: "But there is forgiveness with thee, that thou mayest be feared." Owen describes the soul in the depths of sin, crying to God alone, and the terror of God marking iniquity. Then, over many chapters, he proves that forgiveness really is with God, from the first promise in Eden, from the sacrifices and from the pardoned sinners of Scripture. He answers the unbelief that holds out against pardon, gives rules for finding peace, and ends with waiting on the Lord. This edition has a short sketch of Owen's life at the front.
Pardon flows immediately from a sovereign act of free grace.
The Forgiveness of Sin, Nature of Forgiveness
Christ
The Glorious Mystery of the Person of Christ
An 1839 American edition that joins two of Owen's greatest works, with an old life of the author. The first, on the person of Christ, starts from Peter's confession in Matthew 16 and shows Christ's person as the foundation of the church, the great revealer of God, and the One we are to honor, trust, obey, love and copy. The second, Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of Christ, was the last thing he wrote. Built on Jesus' prayer in John 17:24, it looks at Christ's glory in His person, His love, His work and His exaltation, and compares seeing it by faith now with seeing it by sight in heaven.
For love proceeding from sight, is the life of the church above; as love proceeding from faith is the life of the church below.
The Glorious Mystery of the Person of Christ, The Especial Principle of Obedience unto the Person of Christ, Which Is Love
This is the longest Owen book here. If it's too much, read the Meditations on the Glory of Christ, which begin at the explanation of the text. Read The Glorious Mystery of the Person of Christ.
The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (1647)
Owen's classic on the extent and purpose of the atonement. He argues that Christ died to actually save His people, not only to make salvation possible for everyone. He looks at the work of the Father, Son and Spirit in redemption, shows that Christ's offering and His prayers in heaven are for the same people, and gives a long series of arguments. The last part answers the texts about "all" and "the world." This is where his famous dilemma appears: Christ bore the punishment for all the sins of all men, all the sins of some men, or some sins of all men.
It's long and close-reasoned, a book for ministers and serious students more than a first read. This edition comes from an uncorrected scan, and Owen's division into four books isn't marked in the text. Read The Death of Death in the Death of Christ.
A note on another John Owen
The library also lists A Letter to a Country Clergyman (1805) under the name John Owen. That pamphlet is by a later John Owen, an Anglican clergyman who died in 1822, not by the Puritan. Signed "A Sub-urban Clergyman," it defends the new British and Foreign Bible Society against a country clergyman who had warned its president, Lord Teignmouth, that working with Dissenters to spread the Bible "without note or comment" put the Church of England in danger. The writer answers point by point, with gentle irony about having been drawn into "the horrid Bible-plot."
However, though I love the Society much, I love truth more; and therefore, whatever sacrifice it may cost me, I trust it will always prevail.
A Letter to a Country Clergyman
It's a short piece of Bible Society history, worth a look if you're curious how that great work began, but it isn't one of the Puritan's six. Read A Letter to a Country Clergyman.
Why read Owen today
Owen helps you see your own heart honestly and then sends you to Christ for help. Few writers do both so well. Take him slowly, a chapter at a time, with a pencil. Begin with Of Temptation and the Mortification of Sin, and when you want Owen at his most beautiful, turn to the glory of Christ. His books are all on the John Owen author page, and our list of the best Puritan books shows where he fits among the other Puritans.