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Discourse concerning Communion with God

John Owen

John Owen (1616-1683) was an important theologian, minister, and advocate of the congregational form of church government in England. Educated at Oxford, he was a confessed Puritan, seeking reform in the established Church as a parish minister (1643-51). At first a presbyterian, he became an "Independent" congregationalist, or "Nonconformist", and rose in influence with the parliamentary rebellion of Cromwell, being appointed vice-chancellor of Oxford. After 1660, he continued to write and lead in support of nonconformity with the English Church as a congregational minister in London.

A defense of his earlier treatise "Communion with God".

Owen's treatise on Communion with God (1657) was attacked in 1674 by Dr. William Sherlock, a theologian and Rector in London. Sherlock's treatise was entitled "A Discourse concerning the Knowledge of Jesus Christ, and on Union and Communion with Him", in which, among other things, charges of extreme mysticism were leveled - that divine knowledge could be obtained directly from Christ apart from the revelation of Scripture. Owen addresses these criticisms, and the relevant passages from his earlier treatise.

Church History

Puritan