Puritan Books Evaluated: Part 8 – John Owen’s ‘Communion with God’

Paul Henebury

Read the series.

This review was written some years ago, but it fits well into the present project, so I decided to include it here. I hope I will be forgiven for posting a preexisting book review in the series, but the book is one of the most famous Puritan works and really had to be included. The review is of the recent edition of the work, John Owen, Communion with the Triune God, edited by Kelly M. Kapic and Justin Taylor, Wheaton, Ill: Crossway, 2007.

Discussion

Review: Evangelism and The Sovereignty of God by J.I. Packer

Filings

“In the second chapter, Packer explains that divine sovereignty and human responsibility are not at odds with one another. They are an ‘antinomy,’ which he defines as a situation ‘when a pair of principles stand side by side, seemingly irreconcilable, yet both undeniable.’” - London Lyceum

Discussion

Man, Woman, Bridges, and Boundaries: A Review Essay of Gregg Allison’s Complementarity: Dignity, Difference, and Interdependence

Filings

“Allison is firmly convinced that the majority of the Christian tradition has been in serious error on this point. He even confesses a certain amount of ‘blindness’ and ‘bias’ on his own part, due to his ‘sex identity’ and the “entrenched prejudice” of the tradition in which he was initially formed (10–11).” - CBMW/Eikon

Discussion

The Problem with Comer’s Cafeteria Approach to Spirituality

Filings

“…the widespread interest in and unease about his approach tell me something deeper is going on. Many Christians I’ve spoken to express discomfort with Comer’s approach, but they can’t always articulate why. That tension warrants further reflection.” - TGC

Discussion

Meet the Puritans 2.0

Jonathan Peters

During the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the Puritans sought to purge Roman Catholic vestiges from the Church of England to make it more Protestant. They agreed with much of the Thirty-Nine Articles of Religion, but objected to the Church’s use of crucifixes, graven images, episcopal polity, ornate clerical vestments, the liturgical calendar, the sign of the cross in baptism, the elevation of the host, and kneeling to receive the Lord’s Supper. Their attempts to purify the Anglican Church ultimately failed, leading to the growth of dissenting denominations in Old and New England.

Discussion

Why ‘Lost’ Gospels Go Viral—and the Real Ones Don’t: Reviewing ‘The Genuine Jesus and the Counterfeit Christs’ by Simon Gathercole

Filings

“There’s nothing wrong with being intrigued by lost gospels…. But we always have to make sure we aren’t studying any gospel—including the canonical gospels—merely to satisfy or justify our preexisting preferences about the way we want Jesus to be. We don’t simply get to create the Jesus we like or the Jesus we prefer.” - TGC

Discussion