The Sermons of John Owen: Notes from the Congregation

John Owen (1616-1683) was one of the most important theologians in early modern England. Having acted as preacher at the regicide, chaplain to the Cromwellian invasions of Ireland and Scotland, dean of Christ Church and vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford, he became a key leader among dissenters in the period of persecution that followed upon the Restoration, and a key theorist of the ideal of religious toleration. From 1673, Owen's congregation began to grow, and to become increasingly politically significant. But his relationship with his congregation became increasingly strained, as his preaching favoured prophetic and providential themes, and, possibly, as he and a small number of his congregation's members moved from rhetorical to physical resistance to the regime, perhaps even to the extent of participating in the Rye House Plot. Drawing on material held in English, Scottish and American archives, this edition offers the first full, consistent and modern textual edition of unpublished notes on sermons by John Owen during the most controversial phase of his ministry.