Owen, John

Owen, John, 1616–83, English Puritan divine and theologian. In the civil war Owen supported the parliamentary cause. Oliver Cromwell took him as chaplain to Ireland and Scotland and had him appointed (1651) dean of Christ Church, Oxford, and vice chancellor (1652) of the university. He lost his posts after the Restoration. He was called to the presidency of Harvard, but he declined. Owen's writings include devotional literature and treatises against Arminianism and Socinianism. His works were edited by Thomas Russell (with a biography by William Orme, 28 vol., 1826) and by W. H. Goold (with a biography by Andrew Thomson, 24 vol., 1850–55).

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