LeStourgeon Online

Communion With the Triune God

By John Owen
Edited by Kelly M. Kapic and Justin Taylor

In 1657 John Owen put pen to paper and produced an organized treatise on the Trinity based on a series of sermons years earlier. He wrote as both a visionary of timeless truth and as a product of his times. Over the years, the barrier of time and the evolution of language have reduced Owen to a name seminarians might have heard about in Church History or the focus of study for only the most dedicated theologians. Kelly Kapic and Justin Taylor think that should change.

Kapic and Taylor have edited Owen’s Communion With the Triune God – revising the layout, clarifying the footnotes, updating the language and spelling, etc. – in order to produce an extraordinarily more accessible Owen. A modern reader no longer has an excuse to avoid this classic work.

In three main divisions, Owen systematically introduces the three persons of the Trinity and painstakingly (in a quite positive sense) details their roles and works in the lives of believers. The work is balanced as to the persons of the Trinity, meaning that it is not a distant look at an Almighty Father or a charismatic ballyhoo over the Spirit. Rather, each person of the Trinity gets his due as a person who wants to relate to each of the people of God. Owen, in keeping with the New Testament emphasis, rightly devotes the most contemplation to the work and fellowship of God the Son, but he does so in a way that emphasizes the holistic nature of our communion with God.

What impresses me most about this volume is Owen’s approach. The book is theology done well, but is not merely a list of theological categories or abstract metaphysics. Owen wants you to know God, to fully know Him, to love Him, to abide in Him, to truly commune with Him in a deep and eternal way. Don’t get me wrong, Owen does not write in a 21^st Century touchy-feely self-help style by any means. But once you get into the ebb of his words and the flow of his thought, you find yourself loving God more as you realize all of the ways He intends to be a constant enlivening part of your life.

The editors have done a fine job “cleaning” the text with restraint. They have not paraphrased and have preserved Owen’s authentic voice. At times, I thought they actually showed too much restraint, electing to preserve words like “nigh” with a footnote explaining the word means “near.” Still, the work is quite readable with most of the retained archaic words carrying some particular theological freight in Owen’s usage and defined by a glossary in the back of the book (a very considerate addition). Kapic has also included a lengthy essay on Owen’s Trinitarian theology. It was quite helpful in enjoying the text proper.

I recently prepared a study of the Trinity for use in my church. Reading Communion With the Triune God helped the study stay focused on abiding with God instead of falling to the level of regurgitating factoids and formulas. There are a handful of places where I would disagree with Owen’s reasoning, but the work is so meditative and thought out that I am hesitant to list my disagreements here, lest in the future I am embarrassed by the naive thoughts of my youth. Take some time with this book, perhaps a few sub-sections at a time, and revive the union with the Triune God who communicates Himself to us.

Posted by blestou on October 18th, 2007 — Review, Church Life, Ministry, Daily Life, Doctrine