The Work
The Death of Death in the Death of Christ was published in 1647 by Robert White (London). It is John Owen's most systematic theological treatise and his sustained defense of particular or definite atonement - the Calvinist position, also known as 'limited atonement,' that forms the 'L' of the Five Points of Calvinism (TULIP). The work is approximately 350 pages in modern editions and is organized into four books, each addressing a different aspect of the atonement question: the nature and purpose of Christ's death, the biblical evidence for definite atonement, the refutation of the Arminian position, and a response to objections.
The book was published during the Westminster Assembly period (1643-1649), when the Church of England and the Scottish Kirk were engaged in sustained theological debate about the doctrinal standards that would govern the church. The Five Points of Calvinism had been formally defined at the Synod of Dort (1618-1619) in response to the Arminian Remonstrance, and Owen's book was a sustained English defense of the Dort position.
J.I. Packer wrote a celebrated introduction to the Banner of Truth Trust reprint (1959) that did more than any other single document to revive Owen's influence on twentieth-century evangelical theology. Packer's introduction, 'A Quest for Godliness,' argued that Owen's position was not merely a technical Calvinist doctrine but a devotional and doxological necessity - that the Arminian alternative would undermine the certainty of salvation and the character of divine love.
Biblical Engagement
John 10:11 ('I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep') is one of Owen's primary proof texts for definite atonement. The logic is simple and powerful: the shepherd gives his life for the sheep - not for all conceivable sheep, not for sheep who may or may not exist, but for the specific flock that is already his own. Owen argues that the 'for' (hyper) language of atonement in the New Testament consistently refers to a specific group (the elect, the church, 'his people') rather than to all humanity indiscriminately.
John 17:9 ('I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine') is perhaps Owen's most important single proof text. In Jesus's High Priestly Prayer - the prayer that most fully reveals his intercessory ministry - he explicitly distinguishes between 'them which thou hast given me' and 'the world.' Owen's argument is that Christ's intercession and his atonement have the same scope: since he does not intercede for all without exception, his atoning death also does not cover all without exception.
Romans 8:32-34 ('He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died...') provides Owen's most systematic argument for definite atonement. The logic runs: God 'gave up' Christ for 'us all' (the elect, as the context of Romans 8 makes clear - those predestined, called, justified, and glorified in 8:29-30); therefore everything flows from this giving, including justification and eternal security. The atonement is not a merely potential provision but an effectively completed work that secures everything 'with him.'
Hebrews 9:28 ('So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation') is significant for Owen's argument because of the word 'many' (polloi) rather than 'all' (pantes). Owen is careful to note that 'many' in biblical usage often means a large specific group rather than all without exception, and he argues that the atonement texts must be read with attention to whether they use 'all' in the sense of 'all the elect' or 'all humanity.'
Owen's famous 'triple choice' argument engages the logic of universal atonement: if Christ died for all people, he either (1) secured the salvation of all (universal salvation, which contradicts the reality of damnation), or (2) secured only the possibility of salvation, conditional on human response (which makes salvation dependent on human will rather than divine grace and reduces Christ's death to an incomplete work), or (3) died for all but only some are saved because God foresaw their faith (which, Owen argues, still makes the decisive factor human will rather than divine grace). Only definite atonement - Christ dying effectively for the elect - preserves the completeness and sovereignty of divine grace.
Author & Context
John Owen (1616-1683) was born in Stadhampton, Oxfordshire, the son of a Puritan minister. He was educated at Queen's College, Oxford (BA, 1632; MA, 1635), and converted to Calvinist theology under the influence of a sermon by Edmund Calamy in 1642, following a period of spiritual crisis. He served as chaplain to Oliver Cromwell, as Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University (1652-1657), and as one of the most prominent ministers of Puritan England. After the Restoration (1660) he became a leader of Nonconformist dissenters, suffering legal disabilities but continuing to write and preach prolifically.
Owen was the most learned theologian of Puritan England. His Works, published in 23 volumes in the nineteenth century (Goold edition, 1850-1855), cover the doctrine of the Holy Spirit (3 volumes), biblical commentary (7 volumes), practical theology, ecclesiastical polity, and numerous theological controversies. His Hebrew scholarship was respected by contemporary Hebraists, and his knowledge of patristic theology was encyclopedic.
The context of the book was the Arminian controversy that had troubled the Reformed churches since the Synod of Dort. In England, the Royal Court under Charles I had been sympathetic to Arminianism, which was associated with Archbishop Laud and the High Church party. The Puritan Parliament's victory in the Civil War created an opportunity for Calvinist theology to assert itself, and Owen's book was part of that assertion.
Structure and Argument
Book 1 defines the nature and purpose of atonement, arguing that Christ's death must be understood teleologically: it was designed to accomplish a specific end (the salvation of the elect), and it did accomplish that end completely. The categories of 'sufficient' and 'efficient' atonement (Christ's death is sufficient for all but efficient only for the elect) are examined and found inadequate to bear the weight Owen places on the distinction.
Book 2 presents the biblical case for definite atonement, working through the major atonement texts systematically and arguing that each is best read as referring to the elect rather than to all humanity.
Book 3 engages the Arminian theological tradition in direct debate, responding to the arguments of Jacob Arminius, Hugo Grotius, and John Goodwin.
Book 4 responds to specific objections - particularly the objection that definite atonement makes God's offer of salvation in the Gospel insincere, since (on Owen's view) Christ did not die for those to whom the offer is made.
Critical Reception
The book was recognized immediately as the most thorough Calvinist account of atonement in English and has been cited by Reformed theologians ever since. It has never been out of print in Calvinist circles.
The most sustained critical response from within the Reformed tradition has come from those who argue for 'hypothetical universalism' or 'four-point Calvinism' - the position associated with Moses Amyraut and, more recently, with evangelical scholars like D.A. Carson and Gary Shultz, who argue that Christ's death was in some sense intended for all humanity even if its application is limited to the elect. Owen addresses a version of this position but does not find it coherent.
Arminian and Wesleyan theologians have consistently argued that Owen's 'triple choice' argument depends on a straw-man version of the Arminian position and that prevenient grace resolves the dilemma he poses. The debate continues.
Theological Significance
The book's most lasting theological contribution is its demonstration that atonement theology cannot be treated in isolation from the rest of systematic theology. Owen shows that the scope of the atonement is inseparable from the doctrines of divine purpose, the nature of grace, and the security of salvation. His argument that a consistent theology must connect the scope of atonement with the scope of intercession and the scope of effective redemption has been enormously influential.
Legacy
The Banner of Truth Trust reprint (1959) with Packer's introduction initiated a wider revival of Calvinist theology in the mid-twentieth century that produced the 'Young, Restless, Reformed' movement of the early twenty-first century. Owen's influence on R.C. Sproul, John Piper, and other figures of this movement is direct and acknowledged.
Reading Alongside Scripture
Readers should study John 10:1-18 (the good shepherd and his specific flock), John 17:1-26 (the High Priestly Prayer and its specific scope), Romans 8:28-39 (the golden chain of salvation and the definite group it covers), Isaiah 53:1-12 (the Servant bearing the sins of 'many'), Ephesians 5:25-27 (Christ giving himself for 'the church' specifically), and 1 John 2:2 (the text Owen spends the most energy explaining - 'he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world').
Further Reading
- J.I. Packer, 'Introductory Essay,' in The Death of Death in the Death of Christ (Banner of Truth, 1959) - the indispensable entry point; Packer's essay is itself a theological classic and a more accessible exposition of Owen's argument than Owen himself provides. - Carl Trueman, John Owen: Reformed Catholic, Renaissance Man (2007) - the best modern scholarly account of Owen's life and theology, placing The Death of Death in its historical and intellectual context. - Roger Nicole, 'John Owen on 1 John 2:2,' Westminster Theological Journal 19 (1956): 28-64 - a careful scholarly examination of Owen's handling of the key proof-text against definite atonement.