John Owen was an English Nonconformist church leader, theologian, and academic administrator at the University of Oxford. He was chosen to preach to parliament on the day after the execution of King Charles I, and succeeded in fulfilling his task without directly mentioning that event. Another sermon, a plea for sincerity of religion in high places, won not only the thanks of parliament but the friendship of Oliver Cromwell, who took Owen to Ireland as his chaplain, that he might regulate the affairs of Trinity College, Dublin. He pleaded with the House of Commons for the religious needs of Ireland as some years earlier he had pleaded for those of Wales. In March 1651, Cromwell, as Chancellor of Oxford University, gave him the deanery of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford, and made him Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University in September 1652. During his eight years of official Oxford life Owen showed himself a firm disciplinarian, thorough in his methods, though, as John Locke testifies, the Aristotelian traditions in education underwent no change. While little encouragement was given to a spirit of free inquiry, Puritanism at Oxford was not simply an attempt to force education and culture into "the leaden moulds of Calvinistic theology." Owen, unlike many of his contemporaries, was more interested in the New Testament than in the Old. During his Oxford years he wrote Justitia Divina (1653), an exposition of the dogma that God cannot forgive sin without an atonement; Communion with God (1657), Doctrine of the Saints' Perseverance (1654), his final attack on Arminianism; Vindiciae Evangelicae, a treatise written by order of the Council of State against Socinianism as expounded by John Biddle; On the Mortification of Sin in Believers (1656), an introspective and analytic work; Schism (1657), one of the most readable of all his writings; Of Temptation (1658), an attempt to recall Puritanism to its cardinal spiritual attitude from the jarring anarchy of sectarianism and the pharisaism which had followed on popularity and threatened to destroy the early simplicity.

The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars. The Age of Enlightenment profoundly enriched religious and philosophical understanding and continues to influence present-day thinking. Works collected here include masterpieces by David Hume, Immanuel Kant, and Jean-Jacques Rousseau, as well as religious sermons and moral debates on the issues of the day, such as the slave trade. The Age of Reason saw conflict between Protestantism and Catholicism transformed into one between faith and logic -- a debate that continues in the twenty-first century. ++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++ National Library of Scotland T172872 The first word of title transliterated from the Greek. Glasgow: printed by W. & E. Miller, 1791. 2v.; 4°

This volume by the greatest of the Puritan theologians contains the following books and chapters: Book I. Chapter I. General Principles Concerning the Holy Spirit and His Work Chapter II. The Name and Titles of the Holy Spirit Chapter III. Divine Nature and Personality of the Holy Spirit Proved and Vindicated Chapter IV. Peculiar Works of the Holy Spirit in the First or Old Creation Chapter V. Way and Manner of the Divine Dispensation of the Holy Spirit Book II. Chapter I. Peculiar Operations of the Holy Spirit Under the Old Testament Preparatory for the New Chapter II. General Dispensation of the Holy Spirit With Respect Unto the New Creation Chapter III. Work of the Holy Spirit With Respect Unto the Head of the New Creation - The Human Nature of Christ Chapter IV. Work of the Holy Spirit in and on the Human Nature of Christ Chapter V. The General Work of the Holy Spirit in the New Creation With Respect Unto the Members of That Body Whereof Christ Is the Head Book III. Chapter I. Work of the Holy Spirit in the New Creation by Regeneration Chapter II. Works of the Holy Spirit Preparatory Unto Regeneration Chapter III. Corruption or Depravation of the Mind by Sin Chapter IV. Life and Death, Natural and Spiritual, Compared Chapter V. The Nature, Causes, and Means of Regeneration Chapter VI. The Manner of Conversion Explained in the Instance of Augustine Book IV. Chapter I. The Nature of Sanctification and Gospel Holiness Explained Chapter II. Sanctification a Progressive Work Chapter III. Believers the Only Object of Sanctification, and Subject of Gospel Holiness Chapter IV. The Defilement of Sin, Wherein It Consists, With Its Purification Chapter V. The Filth of Sin Purged by the Spirit and the Blood of Christ Chapter VI. The Positive Work of the Spirit in the Sanctification of Believers Chapter VII. Of the Acts and Duties of Holiness Chapter VIII. Mortification of Sin, the Nature and Causes of It Book V. Chapter I. Necessity of Holiness From the Consideration of the Nature of God Chapter II. Eternal Election a Cause of and Motive Unto Holiness Chapter III. Holiness Necessary From the Commands of God Chapter IV. Necessity of Holiness From God’S Sending Jesus Christ Chapter V. Necessity of Holiness From Our Condition in This World