John Owen and Hebrews

The Foundation of Biblical Interpretation

John W. Tweeddale

• Publisher: T&T Clark
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9780567685063
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Systematic Theology & Ethics

John W. Tweeddale reappraises John Owen's work as a biblical exegete, offering the first analysis of his essays, or "exercitations, " on Hebrews. Owen is frequently acknowledged as a leading figure of the puritan and nonconformist movements of the seventeenth century. However, while his reputation as a statesman, educator, pastor, polemicist, and theologian is widely recognized, he is not remembered as an exegete of Scripture. Yet throughout his life, Owen engaged in the task of biblical interpretation. His massive commentary on Hebrews in particular represents the apex of his career and exemplifies many of the exegetical methods of Protestants in early modern England. Although often overlooked, Owen's writings on Hebrews are an important resource for understanding his life and thought. Beginning with an evaluation of the state of research on Owen's commentary, as well as suggesting reasons for its neglect in current scholarship, Tweeddale then places Owen's work on Hebrews within the context of his life. What follows is a consideration of the function of federal theology in Owen's essays, and how his hermeneutic fits within the broader scope of reformed discussions on the doctrine of covenant. Tweeddale further examines Owen's attempts to resolve the challenge posed by a Christological reading of the Old Testament to a literal interpretation of Scripture. He then explores how Owen's essays represent a refining of the exegetical tradition of the Abrahamic passages in Hebrews, and how his exegesis distinguishes himself from the majority of reformed opinion on the Mosaic covenant. By focusing on the relationship of Christology, covenant theology, and hermeneutics in his commentary, this book argues that neither Owen's biography nor theology can be fully understood apart from his work on Hebrews and efforts in biblical interpretation.

Chapter 1

THE NEED FOR REAPPRAISAL

It is impossible to embrace all the testimonies which have been given to the pre-eminent value of this great work,—a value not in the least degree abated by all which has been subsequently published in exposition of this Epistle; for though in verbal exegesis subsequent scholarship has greatly distanced Owen, there is scarcely any theological truth of the least importance, embodied in the Epistle to the Hebrews, the discovery and illustration of which have not been anticipated by his sagacious research.

—William Goold¹

Impartiality must also confess, that Dr. Owen was what we may call a voluminous writer; and in the present day, the very idea of an expository work, consisting of four volumes folio, on a single epistle, is enough to frighten the fashionable class of readers, who are never better pleased, as one observes, than when they peruse a book “brief, gaudy, and superficial.” The difference between the taste of the last and present age, in this respect, is very striking.

—Edward Williams²

John Owen (1616–1683) is frequently acknowledged as a leading figure of the puritan and nonconformist movements of the seventeenth century. Richard Greaves, for example, claims that Owen “was indisputably the leading proponent of high Calvinism in England in the late seventeenth century.”³ Such a comment is not without precedent or justification. Owen’s distinguished life warrants his significance for understanding the history and theology of “high Calvinism” in the post-reformation period.⁴ His advisory role to Oliver Cromwell (1599–1658), educational reform at Oxford University as vice-chancellor and dean of Christ Church, leadership at the Savoy Assembly, advocacy of toleration, promotion of spiritual holiness and communion with the triune God, defense of Protestant orthodoxy against heretical, heterodoxical, and “popish” errors, as well as voluminous, if sometimes cumbersome, writings represent a sample of his achievements.⁵ Nevertheless, while Owen’s reputation as an ecclesiastical statesman, educator, pastor, polemicist, and theologian is widely recognized, he is generally not remembered as a biblical exegete. This is somewhat surprising given that one of Owen’s final accomplishments was the writing of a multivolume commentary on Hebrews.

In 1668, John Owen published the first volume of An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews. This work consists of a series of preliminary essays, which Owen calls “exercitations,” that introduce the main historical, theological, and interpretive themes of Hebrews as well as an exposition of the first two chapters of the epistle. He continued writing the commentary, despite “manifold infirmities” and other “employments and diversions,” until he completed the work just before his death in 1683.⁶ When finished it consisted of four hefty tomes exceeding two thousand folio pages and over two million words, making it one of the largest expositions of a single book of the Bible during the post-reformation era if not the entire history of biblical interpretation.⁷

The significance of Owen’s Hebrews goes beyond its size, as can be attested by the multiple editions and abridgments of it to surface every century since its original publication.⁸ His commentary not only saw widespread recognition within Britain and North America but also was translated into Dutch in the eighteenth century.⁹ Furthermore, the Lutheran theologian Johann Georg Walch (1693–1775), along with nonconformist church historians William Orme (1787–1830) and William H. Goold (1815–1897), reported that a Latin translation of Hebrews was scheduled to be released in Amsterdam in 1700; however, there is no evidence that it was ever published.¹⁰ The commentary was finally collected into seven volumes by Goold in the nineteenth century to form the final part of the standard 24-volume edition of Owen’s works (i.e., volumes 18–24) and was later reprinted and renumbered by the Banner of Truth Trust in the twentieth century (i.e., volumes 17–23).¹¹

While Owen’s Hebrews has enjoyed modest success within the history of reformed exegesis, there exists little critical evaluation of his work. As a result, Owen’s writings have often been interpreted without reference to his commentary. This book seeks to recast Owen as a biblical exegete by examining aspects of his life and thought through the lens of his commentary. The result is that neither his biography nor theology can be fully understood apart from his work on Hebrews. The purpose of this chapter is to evaluate the state of research on Owen in order to show that a reappraisal of his writings is needed that takes into account his commentary.

Scholarship on Owen and His Commentary

Admirers of Owen have often extolled the superlative quality of Hebrews. The Bible translator James Moffatt (1870–1944), for example, commends Owen’s commentary for standing “in the front rank of scholarship in its own day.”¹² William Orme, one of Owen’s earliest biographers, likewise heralds his work as “the most valuable exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews ever published.”¹³ He boldly suggests that Hebrews “forms a pedestal on which John Owen will appear an object of admiration to all future generations.”¹⁴ Similarly, the nineteenth century Church of England clergyman Charles Bridges (1794–1869) praises Owen as “pre-eminent among the writers of this school [of puritan divines]” and declares that Hebrews, despite its length, was “probably the most elaborate and instructive comment upon a detached portion of Scripture.”¹⁵ Edward Williams (1750–1813), an eighteenth-century editor of Owen’s commentary, went as far as to call his exposition, along with the exercitations, “one of the most valuable systems of doctrinal, practical, and experimental divinity, that is to be met with in the English language.”¹⁶ Bogue and Bennett in their history of British nonconformity likewise state that “no part of the sacred Writings has received so perfect an elucidation in the English or perhaps in any other language.” They even suggest that a theological student not willing to sell his shirt to purchase Owen’s work “shews too much regard to his body, and too little for his immortal mind.”¹⁷ Perhaps the most laudatory endorsement comes from the nineteenth century Free Church of Scotland leader and principal of New College in Edinburgh Thomas Chalmers (1780–1847), who describes Owen’s “ponderous” commentary as “a work of gigantic strength as well as gigantic size.” He promises that anyone who has mastered “this greatest work of John Owen … is very little short, both in respect to the doctrinal and practical of Christianity, of being an erudite and accomplished theologian.”¹⁸ While these statements appear overly enthusiastic and even hagiographic, they illustrate how previous readers of Owen’s works believed that his commentary reflects the most mature expression of his thought and represents one of the great literary accomplishments of seventeenth-century English puritanism. However, beyond evangelical quarters such as these, Hebrews has received minimal attention by scholars of the post-reformation period.

Early Scholarship on Owen

While several recent studies have advanced the state of research on Owen, the field is still less developed when compared to literature on figures such as Luther, Calvin, Baxter, and Edwards. Even biographical material is limited.¹⁹ Not surprisingly, earlier scholarship focused on more generalized accounts of his life, ministry, and thought. The merit of these studies should not be underestimated, since they have laid an important foundation for subsequent research to build on so that over time the full scope of Owen’s writings might be examined. Nevertheless, scholarship has concentrated on Owen’s political, polemical, theological, and devotional work (i.e., volumes 1–17 of his Works) to the near exclusion of his commentary (i.e., volumes 18–24 of his Works). Three early studies illustrate this point.²⁰

The first doctoral dissertation on Owen by R. Glynne Lloyd emerged out of the University of Edinburgh in 1942,²¹ although two works by James Moffatt at the beginning of the twentieth century introduced Owen to a popular audience.²² After a biographical sketch, Lloyd contrasts a selection of doctrines within Owen’s theology with the teachings of Socinianism (Scripture, toleration, doctrine of God, Holy Spirit, person of Christ, offices of Christ, etc.). While his analysis endeavors to situate Owen’s theology in a polemical context, he omits Owen’s exercitations and exposition from his discussion. This is an unfortunate oversight considering that a primary reason for Owen’s commentary was to provide a biblical refutation of Socinianism.²³

Godfrey N. Vose, in his 1963 doctoral dissertation, outlines what he calls a “bifocal” approach to four doctrinal components in Owen’s and puritan thought. He explains this method by stating that “attention is directed primarily towards Owen’s theology, and within it, four aspects are selected for analysis.” Focusing on the doctrines of the Holy Spirit, Scripture, the church, and salvation, he argues that his work “may be viewed either as the study of one man, or as an essay in certain features of seventeenth century English Puritanism in the theology of one of its leading divines.”²⁴ The weakness in this approach is that while Owen was certainly a leading puritan figure, English puritanism was far from monolithic.²⁵ Nevertheless, Vose’s dissertation ably articulates these four aspects of Owen’s thought and serves as an entry point for subsequent studies on these doctrines in Owen’s theology. Yet he only occasionally cites Hebrews, particularly in support of his discussions on Scripture and covenant.

Sinclair B. Ferguson’s work John Owen on the Christian Life is one of the major catalysts for the recent growth of Owen studies and has been reprinted numerous times since its original publication in 1987. The book is a revision of Ferguson’s 1979 doctoral thesis from the University of Aberdeen and serves as a detailed introduction to several theological and pastoral themes in Owen’s writings.²⁶ Notwithstanding several important summary discussions of Owen’s covenant theology, understanding of law, and views of apostasy, he interacts little with Hebrews.²⁷ His book, however, remains the most user-friendly introduction to Owen’s writings to date. Ferguson’s research has prompted a small cottage industry of Owen scholarship, most often associated with Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (USA), where he once taught full-time and now serves as a visiting professor.²⁸ He has also popularized Owen’s teaching in several publications geared for a general audience.²⁹

Since the studies of Lloyd, Vose, Ferguson, among others, research on Owen has noticeably increased. Vose and Ferguson are illustrative of earlier scholarship on Owen’s theology. Both recognize the reformed and puritan settings of Owen’s writings as well as provide solid expository accounts of his thought. Yet neither study supplies a fully contextual analysis of Owen’s writings, whether political, intellectual, or exegetical. As a result, a one-dimensional portrait of Owen emerges, namely, that of a timeless theologian.³⁰ In regard to Hebrews, little can be gleaned except in reference to a subject predominated by the epistle (such as the priesthood of Christ) or in a passing quotation in a larger thematic discussion (such as on covenant theology).³¹ Rarely is consideration of Owen’s commentary the primary focus. However, since the intent of these early studies was to provide preliminary investigations into Owen’s life and thought, sustained examination of a single work that contributes to the development of his theology should neither be expected nor required of them. The challenge of contributing a more substantial analysis of his commentary resides with current Owen scholarship.

Recent Scholarship on Owen’s Commentary

As research on Owen continues to develop, gaps in earlier research are beginning to be filled. Two landmark studies are Carl Trueman’s first monograph on Owen titled The Claims of Truth (1998) and S...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle Page
• Title Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents 
• Acknowledgments
• Abbreviations
• Chapter 1. The Need for Reappraisal
• Chapter 2. The Making of a Commentary
• Chapter 3. The Foundation of Redemption
• Chapter 4. The Problem of the Old Testament
• Chapter 5. The Oneness of the Church
• Chapter 6. The End of the Law
• Conclusion
• Bibliography
• Index
• Imprint