Topic of the weeks (28 Feb & 7 March, 2010)

約翰。歐文的聖靈論 (1) : 約翰。歐文是誰?

約翰。歐文 John Owen (1616-1683)

約翰。歐文之被稱為清教徒神學成熟巔峰期的集大成者﹐可謂當之無愧。

最具代表性的作品當推他的 <<聖靈論>>

歐文在寫此鉅著時﹐他知道聖靈論的重要性。他說:「我不知道有任何人在我以前﹐曾經將聖靈整個的經營﹐連同隨附祂的工作﹑運行及果效﹐佈局表達出來。」

直到今日﹐他一生…有關聖靈論的諸作品﹐真無人出其右者。

他的聖靈論 (Pneumatologia; see orginal book cover)﹐共有1,171頁。

以後幾星期我們由J. K Law 牧師所濃縮208頁的The Holy Spirit (翻譯成中文)﹐來欣賞這本歐文的代表作。

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"John Owen was by common consent the weightiest Puritan theologian, and many would bracket him with Jonathan Edwards as one of the greatest Reformed theologians of all time. Born in 1616, he entered Queen's College, Oxford, at the age of twelve and secured his M.A. in 1635, when he was nineteen. In his early twenties, conviction of sin threw him into such turmoil that for three months he could scarcely utter a coherent word on anything; but slowly he learned to trust Christ, and so found peace. In 1637 he became a pastor; in the 1640s he was chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, and in 1651 he was made Dean of Christ Church, Oxford's largest college. In 1652 he was given the additional post of Vice-Chancellor of the University, which he then reorganized with conspicuous success. After 1660 he led the Independents through the bitter years of persecution till his death in 1683. (by J.I. Packer)"

“約翰·歐文被公認為是最重要的清教徒神學家，並且很多人會把他與喬納森·愛德華茲(Jonathan Edwards)相提並論為有史以來最重要的改革宗神學家之一。出生於1616年，他12歲進入牛津皇后學院，並在1635年他19歲時取得了碩士學位。在他早期二十幾年裡，對罪的堅信使他經歷了一場3個月無法說出一個連貫句子的風暴；但慢慢地，他學習信靠基督，並得到了平安。1637年，他成為一名牧師；在1640年代，他是奧利弗·克倫威爾(Oliver Cromwell)的牧師，並在1651年，他成為牛津最大的學院的基督教會的院長。在1652年，他被給予額外的大學副主席的職位，然後他非常成功地推進了整頓。 1660年之後他領導了‘歷經痛苦迫害世代的獨立者’，直至他1683年去世。（translated by Lu Hao)

"Probably no writer has produced a treatise on the Holy Spirit which begins to rival the detailed exposition of John Owen’s great study in his Pneumatologia 聖靈論" - Sinclair B. Ferguson