So why labor through the obtuse language and wander throughthe maze of intricate twist and turns of theology? I will let some men whose shoulders I regularly stand on provide an answer to that question.
"To read John Owen is to enter a rare world. Whenever Ireturn to one of his works I find myself asking ‘Why do I spend time readinglesser literature?'" - Sinclair B. Ferguson
"John Owen's treatises on Indwelling Sin in Believers and TheMortification of Sin are, in my opinion, the most helpful writings on personalholiness ever written." - Jerry Bridges
"I owe more to John Owen than to any other theologian,ancient or modern; and I owe more to [The Mortification of Sin] than toanything else he wrote." - J.I. Packer
"John Owen is a spiritual surgeon with the rare skill to cutaway the cancer of sin and bring gospel healing to the sinner's soul. Apart from the Bible, I have found hiswritings on sin and temptation to be the best books eve3r written for helpingme to stop sinning the same old sins." - Philip Graham Ryken
"No writer has taught me more about the dynamics of theheart and the deceitfulness of sin than John Owen. Reading his writing has been life-changing. .. " - C. J. Mahaney
When so many men whom I deeply respect speak in such glowingterms about the benefits of Owen's writings on their souls, I think we would dowell to not simply dimiss the 17th century cumbersome prose as toodifficult. As Sinclair Ferguson hassaid:
"There is constantly in Owen, even when we are in the thickof him (and some of his writing is dense indeed) a doxological motive andmotif. If we can persevere with his style (which becomes easier the longer wepersevere), he will not fail to bring us to the feet of Jesus." - Sinclair B.Ferguson
It is there that I long to be, and I pray the good Doctor will serve us as an able guide.