About the Author

Sinclair Buchanan Ferguson retired in 2013 as Senior Minister of First Presbyterian Church in Columbia, South Carolina, and returned to his native Scotland. Prior to this he held the Charles Krahe chair for Systematic Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary and served Church of Scotland congregations in Unst (Shetland) and Glasgow (St George’s Tron). He received his Ph.D. from the University of Aberdeen (1971).

Dr Ferguson has authored several books published by the Trust, of which he is a trustee, and a former editor. He retains his position as Professor of Systematic Theology at Redeemer Seminary, Dallas, Texas, and continues to preach God’s Word in churches and at conferences.

Sinclair and his wife Dorothy have three sons, a daughter, three grandsons, and three granddaughters.

Publisher's Description

John Owen has long been recognized by evangelicals as one of the greatest of all English-speaking theological classics. Like Augustine, whom he so admired, Owen’s thinking touched both the depths of sin and the heights of grace. Many of his readers have come away from reading him on such themes as temptation, or indwelling sin, feeling that Owen knew them through and through.

The truth is that Owen had come-by intensive and constant study of both Scripture and the human heart- to know both himself and God. It was out of this rich experience that he preached and wrote on the loftiest themes of Christian theology.

Because of this background, Owen’s teaching was always pastoral in its concern. His aim, said his assistant David Clarkson, was ‘to promote holiness’. Consequently his work has survived through the centuries and is now more widely recognized and appreciated than it has been for many years. His writings address the fundamental issues Christians face in every age: How can I live the Christian life? How am I to deal with sin and temptation? How can I find assurance, and live for the honour of Jesus Christ?

John Owen on the Christian Life expounds Owen’s teaching on these and related themes. The first book-length study of any aspect of Owen’s thought, it also stands on its own as a study in pastoral theology. Ministers, Christian leaders, readers of Owen, and those who are daunted by the sheer voluminousness of his writings will find this book an ideal companion.

Endorsement

Dr. Ferguson introduced me to John Owen through this work and I have been hooked ever since. If you would like to study a man who epitomized the way scholarship and piety is to be mixed together, then Owen is the one for you. Dr. Ferguson does a noteworthy job of making otherwise difficult reading a real joy.