John Owen’s Discourse on the Holy Spirit

Abstract John Owen’s Pneumatologia: Or A Discourse Concerning the Holy Spirit was first published in 1674. Owen considered this work, and projected further volumes on the Holy Spirit, to be the very first attempt of its kind; and it is still one of the most exhaustive accounts of the person and work of the Holy Spirit in English-language theology. Whereas many had treated various aspects of pneumatology, Owen views this as the first attempt to deal comprehensively with the person of the Spirit and the full range of his work. In addition to its value as a study of the Holy Spirit, Pneumatologia also exemplifies many aspects of Owen’s approach to theology. As a pastorally oriented theologian, even his most doctrinally focused writings are filled with applications for the believer’s life of discipleship, and frequent exhortations to encourage his readers to live out the implications of whatever theme is under discussion. Pneumatologia also demonstrates Owen’s priorities first as a scriptural theologian and then as someone who synthesizes his theological inheritance, in this case, the patristic, Thomist, and Reformed traditions.