A Dissertation on Divine Justice

A Dissertation on Divine Justice Author(s): Owen, John (1616-1683) Publisher: Grand Rapids, MI: Christian Classics Ethereal Library Description: In A Dissertation on Divine Justice, John Owen provides his refutation of the teaching that God could pardon sin by a mere act of will, and without any satisfaction to his justice, that is, without any atonement. Owen has written extensively on the atonement before and, once again, his keen intellect and impressive argumentation can be seen here. Although A Dissertation on Divine Justice was originally a response to a theological movement called "Socinianism," it remains interesting today for its fascinating treatment of divine justice and the atonement. Tim Perrine CCEL Staff Writer i Contents A Dissertation on Divine Justice 1 Title page. 1 Prefatory note. 2 To the public. 4 To his illustrious highness Lord Oliver Cromwell. 5 The preface to the reader. 7 Title. 20 Part I. 21 Chapter I. 22 Chapter II. 28 Chapter III. 39 Chapter IV. 53 Chapter V. 70 Chapter VI. 78 Chapter VII. 83 Part II. 90 Chapter VIII. 91 Chapter IX. 95 Chapter X. 100 Chapter XI. 105 Chapter XII. 114 Chapter XIII. 117 Chapter XIV. 123 Chapter XV. 126 Chapter XVI. 134 Chapter XVII. 139 ii Chapter XVIII. 150 Indexes 157 Index of Scripture References 158 Index of Citations 161 Index of Names 164 Greek Words and Phrases 168 Latin Words and Phrases 169 Index of Pages of the Print Edition 172 iii This PDF file is from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library, www.ccel.org. The mission of the CCEL is to make classic Christian books available to the world. • This book is available in PDF, HTML, ePub, Kindle, and other formats. See http://www.ccel.org/ccel/owen/justice.html. • Discuss this book online at http://www.ccel.org/node/3544. The CCEL makes CDs of classic Christian literature available around the world through the Web and through CDs. We have distributed thousands of such CDs free in developing countries. If you are in a developing country and would like to receive a free CD, please send a request by email to [email protected]. The Christian Classics Ethereal Library is a self supporting non-profit organization at Calvin College. If you wish to give of your time or money to support the CCEL, please visit http://www.ccel.org/give. This PDF file is copyrighted by the Christian Classics Ethereal Library. It may be freely copied for non-commercial purposes as long as it is not modified. All other rights are re- served. Written permission is required for commercial use. iv A Dissertation on Divine Justice A DissertationTitle on page. Divine Justice A dissertation on divine justice: or, the claims of vindicatory justice vindicated; 481 wherein that essential property of the divine nature is demonstrated from the sacred writings, and defended against Socinians, particularly the authors of the Racovian Catechism, John Crellius, and F. Socinus himself; likewise the necessary exercise thereof; together with the indispensable necessity of the satisfaction of Christ for the salvation of sinners is established against the objections of certain very learned men, G. Twisse, G. Vossius, Samuel Rutherford, and others. By John Owen, Dean of Christ Church College, Oxford. “Is God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?” — Rom. iii. 5, 6. OXFORD: THOMAS ROBINSON. 1653. 1 Prefatory note. Prefatory note. Prefatory note. This work is devoted to a refutation of the doctrine that sin could be pardoned by a mere volition on the part of God, without any satisfaction to his justice; or, to state the 482 question in the abstract form which it chiefly assumes in the reasonings of Owen, that justice is not a natural attribute of the divine nature, but so much an act of the divine will, that God is free to punish or to refrain from punishing sin. Owen clearly saw that if such a doctrine were entertained, there could be no evidence for the necessity of the atonement, and a stronghold would be surrendered to the Socinian heresy. He was the more induced to engage in the refutation of it, as it was maintained by some divines of eminent worth and ability. Calvin has been cited in its favour; and Owen, without naming him, refers to the only passage in his writings which, so far as we are aware, conveys the obnoxious sentiment, when in the second chapter he speaks of the learned men who, along with Augustine, and amongst or- thodox divines, held the view in question. The passage occurs in his commentary on John xv. 13:— “Poterat nos Deus verbo aut nutu redimere, nisi aliter nostrâ causâ visum esset, ut proprio et unigenito Filio non parcens, testatum faceret in ejus personâ quantam habeat salutis nostræ curam.” An isolated phrase, however, when the question was not specially under his review, is scarcely sufficient basis from which to infer that Calvin held the possib- ility of sin being forgiven without an atonement; and other parts of his works might be quoted, in which he speaks of the death of Christ as a satisfaction to divine justice, in such terms as almost to preclude the theory for which the sanction of his name has been pleaded. Dr William Twisse, the learned prolocutor of the Westminster Assembly, published in 1632 a large work, now almost fallen into oblivion, but which passed through several editions, and was justly held in high esteem, “Vindiciæ Gratiæ. Potestatis, ac Providentiæ Divinæ.” In the midst of his discussions he inserts several digressions on special topics; and the eighth digression contains an argument to prove that God punishes sin, not by any necessity of nature, or under the promptings of justice, as essential to the perfection of his character, but simply in virtue of a decree, originating in a free act of his will, and regulating, in this subordinate sense, all his procedure towards our race. He was followed by Rutherford in his “Disputatio Scholastica de Divinâ Providentiâ,” 1649; and in his work on “Christ Dying, and Drawing Sinners,” etc. One extract from the latter gives a plausible and condensed statement of the whole theory:— “If we speak of God’s absolute power without respect to his free decree, he could have pardoned sin without a ransom, and gifted all mankind and fallen angels with heaven without any satisfaction of either the sinner or his surety; for he neither punisheth sin, nor tenders heaven to men or angels, by necessity of nature, — as the fire casteth out heat, and the sun light, — but freely.” Owen, in one of the public disputations at Oxford, had asserted that the exercise of divine justice was necessary and absolute in the punishment of sin. Though his arguments were 2 Prefatory note. directed against Socinians, some divines in the university, it was found, held a different opinion from our author on this particular point, and, in full explanation of his views, in 1653 he published his Diatriba. “It is almost entirely,” says Mr Orme, “of a scholastic nature discovering, indeed, much acuteness, and a profound acquaintance with the subject, but not likely now to be read with much interest.” We concur in this criticism, but must take exception to the last remark. The work, in our judgment, at least deserves to be read with interest, as the conclusive settlement of a question of vital moment, one of the most vigorous productions of Owen’s intellect, a specimen of controversy conducted in the best spirit, and displaying powers of thought which remind us of the massive theology of Edwards, while rich in the stores of a learning to which the great American could not lay claim. In the first part of it. Owen proves that “sin-punishing justice is natural, and its exercise necessary to God,” by four leading arguments, — 1. The statements of Holy Writ; 2. The consent of mankind; 3. The course of Providence; and, lastly, The attributes of God as revealed in the cross of Christ. Various subsidiary arguments of considerable importance follow. The second part refutes in succession the opposing arguments of the Socinians, Twisse, and Rutherford Thomas Gilbert, so great an admirer of Owen that he was employed to write his epitaph, nevertheless combated the views maintained in the Diatriba, in a work entitled, “Vindiciæ Supremi Dei Domini (cum Deo) Initæ,” etc., 1665. Baxter, in a brief premonition to his treatise against infidelity, dissented from the doctrine of Owen on this subject. The Diatriba was published in Latin. We have compared Mr Hamilton’s translation of it, which appeared in 1794, with the original, and have been constrained to make some ser- ious changes on it, which we cannot but deem improvements. The title, page is more exactly and fully-rendered; a translation of the dedication to Cromwell is for the first time, inserted; passages which had been placed at the foot of the page are restored to their proper place in the body of the text; several passages altogether omitted are now supplied; minor errors have been corrected: and where the change was so extensive as to interfere with the translat- or’s responsibilities, we have appended a different rendering in a note. — Ed. 3 To the public. To the public. To the public. The numerous and valuable writings of Dr Owen have long ago secured his praise in all the churches as a first-rate writer upon theological subjects. Any recommendation, 483 therefore, of the present work seems unnecessary. As the treatise, however, now offered to the public, has long been locked up in a dead language, it may not be improper to say, what will be granted by all competent judges, that the author discovers an uncommon acquaintance with his subject; that he has clearly explained the nature of divine justice, and demonstrated it to be, not merely an arbitrary thing, depending upon the sovereign pleasure of the supreme Lawgiver, but essential to the divine nature.

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