And why?

__________________
Benjamin P. Glaser, M. Div, Licentiate, Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church
Member Fairmount ARP Church
Pittsburgh, PA

Deo Vindice

Volume Six, Of Sin and Temptation. Because of a jealous concern for the health of my soul!

__________________
Bob, elder, RBC Louisville. 1689 LBCF

"... Of such also, or of those who make a credible profession of being such, all those particular churches consist, which constitute our Lord's visible kingdom. ... Consequently, all the subjects of His government must have spiritual dispositions, , and yield spiritual obedience- obedience proceeding from an enlightened understanding, an awakened conscience, and a renewed heart."- Abraham Booth 1788

I immediately thought the same thing.

My wife often says, "my therapist died in 1683." This particular volume shows a greater insight into the problems of living, the plight of mankind, and the solutions to recovery (eternal and temporal) than the entire body of secular psychology.

__________________
Raymond Victor Bottomly
Providence Reformed Baptist Church, Tacoma, WA

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I would agree, but offer Volume 1 - The Glory of Christ as an important alternative. I have found that much of Owen's work on various topics, particularly his work on holiness and killing sin, all hang together for him (rightly) on the doctrine of the glory of Christ, the subject of V.1. I think Volume 1 gives somewhat more of a positive thrust in his teaching on holiness and the glory of Christ than his work in V.6 does; that is not to turn down V.6, but merely noting that one might say V.6 is the "put off" of holiness, and V.1 is the "how" of the "put on" of holiness.

Since I own all of it (save his Latin work, and the editions by Peter Toon) I thankfully don't have to worry about this question! My advice: Save up and buy it all.

__________________
Jacob
Sovereign Grace Ministries
Covenant Fellowship Church
WTS M.A.R. in Theology student
West Chester, PA

"Grace renews nature; glory perfects grace." ~ John Owen
"Grace tried is better than grace, and more than grace. It is glory in its infancy." ~ John Flavel
Blog - The Strasbourg Inn

Although 6 is clearly vital, the rest of volumes 1 to 7 can't be neglected. You can get all of Owen cheaply in good quality pdfs (and it also includes Calvin and Augustine) here John Owen Collection - AGES Library, Bringing the Words of the Wise to your Computer … Inexpensively either as a download or a CD.

__________________
Paul
No denomination, affiliated with FIEC
"Deliver me from worldly dispositions, for I am born from above and destined for glory" - Valley of Vision
"They think it strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation" - Peter

Depends. For personal growth, Volume 6. For the teacher, Vole 3 for sure. Perhaps the best treatment of the most neglected subject in Reformed theology - the doctrine of the Holy Spirit.

__________________
Fred Greco
Senior Pastor, Christ Church PCA (Katy, TX)
Christ Church Blog

"The heart is the main thing in true religion...It is the hinge and turning-point in the condition of man's soul. If the heart is alive to God and quickened by the Spirit, the man is a living Christian. If the heart is dead and has not the Spirit, the man is dead before God." (J.C. Ryle)

Where in his works does Owen discuss the reason(s) why God leaves regenerated men with the remains of sin within them, and does not wholly sanctify them at regeneration?

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Richard
communicant member, FCoS
Perth, Scotland UK

His Name forever shall endure;
last like the sun it shall:
Men shall be blessed in Him,
and blessed all nations shall Him call (Ps. 72:17)

There's no way that I would buy just one...and I didn't! I got em all. And BTW, that's like asking which one of your children would you like to keep...

__________________
Jim
An Elder, Harvest Reformed Church (RCUS),Minot, ND
http://www.harvestreformedchurch.org/
http://tbftgoggi.wordpress.com/

Upon a life I did not live; upon a death I did not die, Another's death, Another's life, I'd rest my soul eternally
Omnia dicta fortiora,si dicta Latina
Si vis pacem, para bellum

He discusses this in various parts of Volume 3, in the course of his works in Volume 6, and in one little section on Volume 7 (which I posted here if you're interested in reading it).

What a wonderful response. Thanks!

__________________
Alex - Orange County, CA - PCA

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Galatians 2:20

Manton - "The sovereign dominion of God is a great prop to our faith."

Vol 6 - esp Mortification of Sin

but I have them all and Hebrews
and the 3 or 4" thick Biblical theology which I have not read yet.

But of course the proper answer is :

It would be poor stewardship to buy one since it is more expensive so you have to buy the entire set, well at least that is what I told my wife 33 years ago.

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DonP

Just one volume? Are you serious? It's impossible to choose just one!

Anyways, volumes 3–4. These are really one treatise in nine books on the person and work of the Holy Spirit, Owen's great development of catholic and Calvinist pneumatology.

__________________
Rev. Daniel R. Hyde
Pastor, Oceanside United Reformed Church, Carlsbad/Oceanside, California
Th.M. candidate, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary

Do you know if these are searchable PDFs or just scanned images?

AMR

__________________
Patrick
Member, PCA
Chandler, AZ
ReformedTheologyInstitute.com

I fear explanations explanatory of things explained.

Searchable.

__________________
Paul Korte
OPC
Flint, MI

They who perceive in themselves discoveries of the divine goodness, so full and absolutely perfect, and who make them the subject of earnest meditation, will never embrace new doctrines, by which the very grace they feel so powerfully in themselves is thrown into the shade. --John Calvin

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Searchable.


As long as I am at it, I'll cast my vote for volume 10 (although the volumes on the Spirit are hard to pass up, as are the Hebrews volumes, the "practical works," his Vindiciae -- pretty much each volume...) But in volume 10, you get to witness his profound interaction with both Twisse and Rutherford in his Dissertation, and the acute scholastic subtlety of his interaction with Baxter in The Death of Christ. Add to this that famous work The Death of Death in the Death of Christ, and his Display of Arminianism (which, if used in conjunction with Du Moulin's work on the same subject provides quite a little theological education in itself), and you have one useful volume.

Thanks for all the great advice as usual guys. I only have the funds to buy one and I really wanted to read Owen in hardback.

If you can only buy one now, it makes most sense to me to buy the Biblical Theology, because that isn't part of the set. Plus, it contains the work which Owen himself described as his most important.

__________________
Ruben
Moderator
F.P.C.I.
Indiana

Vanities and disguises have covered us, and thereby we are naked; licenciousness hath inflam'd us, and thereby we are frozen; voluptuousness hath fed us, and thereby we are sterved, the fancies and traditions of men have taught and instructed us, and thereby we are ignorant.
John Donne

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