by John Owen
A TREATISE OF THE REDEMPTION AND RECONCILIATION THAT IS IN THE BLOOD OF CHRIST, WITH THE MERIT THEREOF, AND SATISFACTION WROUGHT THEREBY.
in ePub, .mobi & .pdf formats
Updated to modern English by William H. Gross
Introductory Essay by J. I. Packer
Original Language Version Here
This is a restatement and simplification of Owen’s original work.It should be used for teaching purposes only.You may reproduce the text so long as you do not change it and you do not sell it to anyone. This restriction is placed on it so that the propagation of any errors in the updated language is limited. If someone rephrases my updated language, the treatise will quickly degenerate into a misstatement rather than a restatement of Owen’s work. That would be lamentable. So what are the changes that have been made? The old English wording has been updated, so that “thee”and “thou”are now “you” and “yours.”American spelling has been employed. Scripture references with Roman numerals have been updated to Arabic and corrected where needed. The difficult structure and syntax have been simplified. Little-used words have been replaced with simpler ones as well. Some exceptions to this simplification include the words“oblation”(p.27) which is an act of offering; and “impetration”(p.66) which is obtaining something by petition or beseeching. Because of their context, extensive use, and the wider connotations of these words, they have been left alone.Goold’s 1850-53 editor notes are followed by “-Ed.” Sentences have been shortened, and in many cases split into several sentences for clarity. Parallelism has been employed to maintain rhythm and clarity. Unreferenced pronouns have been made explicit. The passive voice has been changed to active in most places. Duplicated texts, digressions that do not affect the content, and alternate phrasings within the same sentence, have been removed for easier comprehension. Ad hominem attacks, however, have been kept as an expression of Owen’s outrage, and his acidic humor. Because Latin is no longer a required course in public education, Latin passages have been excised except where they are core to his argument; those remaining have been crudely translated to help the reader. Hence, this must be called an abridgment. However, the full argument and supporting text are maintained. This is not a synopsis, but the entire treatise presented in the original work.As a result, the expository style remains.If it seems stilted, it is because it is stilted in the original.The old King James passages of Scripture, and Owen’s direct translations, have been restated in many cases for readability as well.Where this was done, the original Hebrew and Greek meanings were used to preserve his intent. Passages in Owen’s original work that had no reference are now marked to help the reader find them more easily. Where Owen cites the original Greek or Hebrew, a bracket containing [NT:xxxx] or [OT:xxxx] has been inserted with the Anglicized Greek/Hebrew word and Strong’s numbers. Referenced but unquoted scriptures have been footnotedfor your convenience. A table of contents has been created to make it easier to locate particular passages and to serve as a general outline of the argument. Therefore, additional sub-headings have been added. I make no apologies for altering the text. My purpose is not to preserve Owen’s original text as if it were Scripture, but to preserve his teaching and wisdom, organized and annotated. It would be a shame if the modern audience did not benefit from his labors because the language was too complex or arcane to comprehend. And so I hope the restatement of this important work makes it more accessible toyou, and that it brings home the importance of the doctrine he articulates from Scripture. We are seekers of Godly truth, not logic or human wisdom. These doctrines don’t result from logic and reason alone, nor are they imposed on scripture bysome systemof theology. They are derived from the truth of God’s word. Only the truth will enable us to see God as He is, and thereby come to know him (John 17:3).
William H. Gross
www.onthewing.org
© Jan 2004
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