Simonetta Car was born in Italy and has lived and worked in different cultures. A former elementary school teacher, she has home-schooled her eight children for many years. She has written for newspapers and magazines around the world and has translated the works of several Christian authors into Italian. Presently, she lives in San Diego with her husband Thomas and family. She is a member and Sunday School teacher at Christ United Reformed Church.

Matt Abraxas has traveled from California to France, studying different approaches to art. He enjoys creating and teaching art, and currently exhibits his work at the SmithKlein Gallery in Boulder Colorado. Matt lives with his wife Rebecca and two sons, Zorba and Rainer, in Lafayette, Colorado.

Retail: $18.00
RHB: $14.00

John Owen
By, Simonetta Carr and Illustrated by Matt Abraxas
Hardback, 64 pages
Page size: 8 x 10 inches
Retail Price: $18.00
RHB Price: $14.00
ISBN 978-1-60178-088-1
Available by October 2010
For Ages 7–12

Publisher’s description:
John Owen was a great Puritan preacher who lived in England. In this book, Simonetta Carr informs readers about Owen’s life, revealing some of the things that interested him while in school, the care he showed to people when he became a pastor, and the influential books that he wrote. Readers will also come to understand the difficult times in which Owen lived, and how he handled the terrors of war and religious persecution. Full of illustrations and fascinating information, this is an ideal way for young readers to learn history.

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Chapter 1: Growing and Studying in Difficult Times

Chapter 2: A Pastor and Writer

Chapter 3: From Battlefield to the University Halls

Chapter 4: Winds of Persecution

Chapter 5: England’s Dark Hour

Chapter 6: Owen’s Last Years

Time Line

Did You Know?

A Modern Version of John Owen’s Lesser Catechism

Endorsements:
“This book is delightful, both in its illustrations and in the way it presents the Puritan John Owen. While far from perfect, Owen was a man who lived in a tumultuous time, and through it he tried to live faithfully before God. Simonetta Carr wonderfully takes readers on a brief journey through Owen’s life, a journey that will be enjoyed by children and adults alike.” —Kelly M. Kapic, Professor of Theological Studies, Covenant College

“Owen was, and remains, a very important teacher of God’s ways, and it is good to introduce young people to him.” —J. I. Packer, Professor of Theology, Regent College

“Simonetta Carr’s wonderful biography of John Owen is the third book in what I hope will be a growing collection of biographies of Christian heroes. In clear, unembellished language Carr chronicles the life of the “Prince of Puritans” through a tumultuous period of English history. This book manages to be simple without being shallow. Young readers will admire the integrity of Owen’s conscience as a man living in a difficult time and relish the rich descriptions of Owen’s theological genius. This is a masterful book. I trust that many others will follow.” —Tedd Tripp, Pastor of Grace Fellowship Church and author of Shepherding a Child’s Heart

“Simonetta Carr’s book on John Owen is a delightful introduction to his life for the very young. In the tradition of her earlier books on Calvin and Augustine, she retells Owen’s story with flair and passion, and accompanies it with great illustrations which help to make his life and times vivid and exciting.  Heartily commended!” —Carl R. Trueman, Professor of Historical Theology and Church History at Westminster Theological Seminary, Philadelphia

About the Author and Illustrator:

Simonetta Carr was born in Italy and has lived and worked in different cultures. A former elementary school teacher, she has home-schooled her eight children for many years. She has written for newspapers and magazines around the world and has translated the works of several Christian authors into Italian. Presently, she lives in San Diego with her husband Thomas and family. She is a member and Sunday School teacher at Christ United Reformed Church.

Matt Abraxas has traveled from California to France, studying different approaches to art. He enjoys creating and teaching art, and currently exhibits his work at the SmithKlein Gallery in Boulder Colorado. Matt lives with his wife Rebecca and two sons, Zorba and Rainer, in Lafayette, Colorado.

John Owen was a great Puritan preacher who lived in England. In this book, Simonetta Carr informs readers about Owen’s life, revealing some of the things that interested him while in school, the care he showed to people when he became a pastor, and the influential books that he wrote. Readers will also come to understand the difficult times in which Owen lived, and how he handled the terrors of war and religious persecution. Full of illustrations and fascinating information, this is an ideal way for young readers to learn history.

Table of Contents:

Introduction
Chapter 1: Growing and Studying in Difficult Times
Chapter 2: A Pastor and Writer
Chapter 3: From Battlefield to the University Halls
Chapter 4: Winds of Persecution
Chapter 5: England’s Dark Hour
Chapter 6: Owen’s Last Years
Time Line
Did You Know?
A Modern Version of John Owen’s Lesser Catechism

Simonetta Car was born in Italy and has lived and worked in different cultures. A former elementary school teacher, she has home-schooled her eight children for many years. She has written for newspapers and magazines around the world and has translated the works of several Christian authors into Italian. Presently, she lives in San Diego with her husband Thomas and family. She is a member and Sunday School teacher at Christ United Reformed Church.

Matt Abraxas has traveled from California to France, studying different approaches to art. He enjoys creating and teaching art, and currently exhibits his work at the SmithKlein Gallery in Boulder Colorado. Matt lives with his wife Rebecca and two sons, Zorba and Rainer, in Lafayette, Colorado.

Biblical Theology

Originally this retails for $45.00… Today ONLY at 50% OFF at RHB for $22.50 – use the coupon code OwenBT

Lovers of theology, and particularly of the Puritans, will welcome this English translation of John Owen’s Latin writings. In William Goold’s 24-volume edition of Owen’s works, this is the one volume that had been unavailable to English readers for years. Banner of Truth has reprinted the first 16 volumes plus the 7-volume commentary on Hebrews, but this volume has been available only in Latin until this SDG edition was produced. The major portion of this volume is a history of theology from Adam to Christ. It includes an appendix with Owen’s Defense of Scripture against Fanaticism, affirming that the Bible is the perfect, authoritative, and complete Word of God. Owen considered this work his magnum opus.

John Owen

The Glory of Christ - $4.80

In The Glory of Christ, here abridged and made easy to read, we have the great Puritan pastor and theologian John Owen at his richest and most mature. Here he writes about Jesus Christ, the heart of the gospel. Owen himself tells us that the substance of the work began in his own private meditation and study and only later was shared with his congregation. Here, then, is a master theologian writing about the things, or better, the person, nearest to his heart. The work itself was composed almost at the end of Owen’s life and first published in 1684, the year after his death. Indeed, the material in chapters fifteen to seventeen of this abridgement appeared for the first time in the second edition of 1696, having been found among Owen’s papers only after his death but clearly intended as the closing section of the work.

On the day of Owen’s death (24 August 1683) William Payne, a minister in Saffron Walden who had accepted responsibility for seeing the manuscript of this work through to publication, visited him in Ealing (now part of London) to share the good news that Meditations on the Glory of Christ was now going through the press. Owen’s biographers record his memorable and beautiful reply:

I am glad to hear it; but, O brother Payne! the long-wished-for day is come at last, in which I shall see that glory in another manner than I have ever done, or was capable of doing in this world.

It is clear from these pages that Owen had already seen the glory of Christ from afar and pondered long on its significance. His teaching is well-suited to bring us to share in his longing to know Christ better, to see his glory more clearly and to serve him more faithfully. It is the conviction of the publisher that many readers will discover this book to be one of the hidden treasures of Christian literature and will return to it again and again for instruction and spiritual refreshment.

The Mortification of Sin – $5.40

In this abridgement, John Owen shows the need for Christians to engage in a life-long battle against sinful tendencies that remain within, despite their faith and new life in Christ. Owen insists that believers cannot hope to succeed in this battle in their own strength. He sees clearly that the fight can be won only through faith in Christ, and in the power of the Spirit. The temptations of sin in such a time as this are obvious on every side; their remedy is clearly pointed out in this practical and helpful book.

Temptation Resisted and Repulsed – $6.00

In this abridgement of John Owen’s classic work Of Temptation, the famous Puritan theologian opens up Matthew 26:41, carefully explaining what temptation is and what it means to enter into it.

He then shows how Christ teaches two means for Christians to use in order to guard against this danger, namely watching and praying: ‘these two’, Owen says, ‘comprise the whole endeavour of faith for the souls preservation from temptation’ and he insists that it is the duty of every believer to follow diligently Christ’s instructions to avoid falling into temptation.

Owen helpfully applies his teaching, explaining how we can know whether we have entered into temptation, what practical steps we should take to preserve our souls from entering into it, how to identify those particular times when people tend to enter into temptation, and showing us the best ways of watching the heart itself.

Sinclair B. Ferguson has written that ‘Many of Owen’s readers have come away from reading him on such themes as temptation feeling that Owen knew them through and through.’ However, not only does Owen’s penetrating writing open up areas of need in our own hearts; it also opens up correspondingly profound assurances of grace in Jesus Christ.

Communion With God – $5.40

Owen believed that communion with God lies at the heart of the Christian life. With Paul he recognized that through the Son we have access by the Spirit to the Father. He never lost the sense of amazement expressed by John: ‘Our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.’ In this outstanding book he explains the nature of this communion and describes the many privileges it brings.

Communion with God was written in a day, like our own, when the doctrine of the Trinity was under attack and the Christian faith was being reduced either to rationalism on the one hand or mysticism on the other. His exposition shows that nothing is more vital to spiritual well-being than a practical knowledge of what this doctrine means.

The Holy Spirit – $5.40

Owen on the Holy Spirit’, as this work has been known to generations of Christians, was written by the greatest theologian of the Puritan era. It is, without question, one of the truly great Christian books.

It deals with the name, nature, personality and operations of the Spirit, and urges the necessity of gospel holiness as distinct from mere human morality. The work is both doctrinal and pastoral in character. The very length and exhaustiveness of the original book could easily deter us from attempting to read it, but this abridged and modernized version, like the other Owen volumes, will make Owen’s teaching more accessible to modern readers.

Limited time offer, Pre-order now John Owen’s Biblical Theology: The History of Theology from Adam to Christ for 40% OFF at only $27.00! The major portion of this volume is a history of theology from Adam to Christ. It includes an appendix with Owen’s Defense of Scripture against Fanaticism, affirming that the Bible is the perfect, authoritative, and complete Word of God. Owen considered this work his magnum opus.

Banner of Truth Trust Hardcover Set, Over 7,900 pages!!!

Retail: $398.00
RHB: $238.80

Despite his other achievements, Owen is best famed for his writings. These cover the range of doctrinal, ecclesiastical and practical subjects. They are characterized by profundity, thoroughness and, consequestly, authority. Andrew Thomson said that Owen ‘makes you feel when he has reached the end of his subject, that he has also exhausted it.’ Although many of his works were called forth by the particular needs of his own day they all have a uniform quality of timelessness. Owen’s works were republished in full in the nineteenth century. Owen is surely the Prince of the Puritans. ‘To master his works’, says Spurgeon, ‘is to be a profound theologian.’

Pre-order NOW John Owen’s Biblical Theology

Retail: $45.00
RHB’s Pre-order Special at 40% OFF: $27.00

The major portion of this volume is a history of theology from Adam to Christ. It includes an appendix with Owen’s Defense of Scripture against Fanaticism, affirming that the Bible is the perfect, authoritative, and complete Word of God. Owen considered this work his magnum opus.

Projected Ship Date: September 1, 2009

Looking for anything else by or on John Owen? See here!

All John Owen titles this week alone are 40% OFF while supplies last!

Synopsis: John Owen’s Biblical Theology is unique in that, in a very real sense, it stands at the head of the modern biblical-theological method of studying the scriptures. The comprehensiveness with which it treats of natural and special revelation, combined with the eminently practical exhortations with which it concludes, makes it well worth reading, not just by virtue of its unique place in history, but in its own right.

The recently translated Biblical Theology of John Owen is perhaps the prototypical model of a fully developed redemptive-historical method of organizing theology. The heart of the work, in which the unfolding of evangelical theology is traced from the Fall to the coming of Christ, is thorough, clearly-organized, and scripturally-sound – in a word, it is both biblical and helpful. Nevertheless, it has been updated and expanded upon by later biblical theologians, who have brought the discipline to bear on more recent attacks against pure theology. But the initial and concluding portions are where Owen truly shines; and in these portions, he remains, even today, unsurpassed.

The first book of this volume, in which Owen treats of natural revelation, is simply astounding in the comprehensiveness of its scope, and the succinctness with which it is set forth. Owen draws on a staggering array of the outstanding histories and writings of the ancient and medieval worlds, and, from them, demonstrates his thesis that, in the pursuit to regain the natural theology which was lost at the Fall, men succeeded only in ensnaring themselves in the most intricate and vain philosophies; which failure, by wisdom, to know God, led to the fullness of times in which God would be pleased to restore true theology through the foolishness of gospel-preaching. Owen’s vast knowledge of profane history cannot fail to be thoroughly enjoyable to those of us who enjoy such historical studies; and the manner in which he draws this profane history into its proper relationship to unfolding revelation cannot fail to be profitable to all of us alike.

The sixth and last book of the volume J.I. Packer has aptly termed “pure gold.” In this book, Owen paints a picture of evangelical theology as the true knowledge of God, which Christ alone revealed in the gospel. Owen then proceeds to demonstrate that, while the propositions of evangelical theology may be pursued intellectually, the essence of theology – an immediate knowledge of God himself – is nothing other than a gift of the Spirit. The final chapter in particular, setting forth in practical principles the means by which a student of theology (which is just another name for Christian) may advance in his knowledge of God, is Owen at his best – worshipful, applicational, biblical, and Christ-centered.

If I may paraphrase J. I. Packer, anyone who has a taste for biblical theology or for John Owen will be well-pleased with this overdue arrival. I would only add to the list a taste for history. And those of us who enjoy all three will find this a tasty treat indeed.

Buy Here @ RHB

John Owen, a Puritan pastor-theologian, is best known today for his sixteen volumes, first published in 1850-53 and were reprinted by the Banner of Truth Trust in the mid-twentieth century. These volumes are divided into three categories: First, doctrinal (vols. 1-5), where Owen discusses some aspects of theology such as Christology (vol. 1), trinity (2), pneumatology (3 & 4), and soteriology (5). Then second, practical (vols. 6-9), so called because it pertains to Christian living, consisting of his hamartological treatises and sermons. Then finally, controversial, in which Owen writes polemically against Arminianism, Socinianism, Roman Catholicism, and others. In first section, Owen pens primarily as a theologian; in second, as a pastor; in third, as an apologist. Hence, readers unfamiliar to Owen are advised to first read those volumes in practical division, as they are not difficult to read. However, it should be remembered as Ferguson says that Owen always writes with a “practical and pastoral aim in view— the promotion of true Christian living” (John Owen on the Christian Life, xi). In fact, we can further say that Owen typically puts pen to paper as inseparably a theologian, pastor, and apologist. This style is best seen in his volume six and it is on this particular volume that this review will focus.

Volume six is one of today’s best books on hamartology, containing four great works, which are arranged chronologically. One of which is, Of the Mortification of Sin in Believers, published in 1656. It is a heavy treatise based on Romans 8:13, touching on the necessity, nature, and means of mortification in the lives of the Christians. Second, Of Temptations, appeared in 1658. It is a short but powerful message on the theology of temptation that expounds Matthew 26:41. Here Owen discusses three major points: (1) the nature and power of temptation; (2) the danger of entering into it; and (3) the means of preventing that danger. It can be observed from his works that Owen is a systematic writer; however, if one reader will not carefully pay attention to his points, that reader may be easily lost, because of Owen’s frequent use of sub points and sub-sub points. The third work contained in volume six is, The Nature, Power, Deceit, and Prevalency of the Remainders of Indwelling Sin in Believers (1668). Many consider it one of Owen’s best works. It elaborates the doctrine of original sin, using Romans 7:21 as it main text. It shows how Owen masters his subject matter, explaining it theologically and experientially. Finally, the fourth work in volume six is A Practical Exposition upon Psalm 130 (1668). This massive treatise covers approximately one-half of the whole volume. As the title bears, it expounds Psalm 130 with special emphasis on verse four. It is like a sermonic-expository commentary designed for “those whose spiritual state and condition is represented in the psalm” (see p. 325).

In reading volume six, one should not forget to read the ‘prefatory notes,’ which are placed prior to every work of Owen. These notes give a short description on each work, telling the readers the historical setting wherein Owen wrote his particular treatise. Moreover, it is also advisable to first take a look on Owen’s preface, before reading his work, because Owen normally explains his main thesis in his preface. This will help the readers understand his endeavors easily.

It can be concluded that Owen was one of the best Puritan hamartologists. His volume six is an excellent reference for anyone who wishes to study or write on hamartology.

If you would like to purchase this volume or the 16 volumes set of the Works of John Owen you can do so by clicking here.