John Owen on Natural Theology

Joshua Sommer:

Natural theology seems to have become somewhat of a naughty word over the last century or so in Protestant Reformed circles. Men like Cornelius Van Til, Gordon Clark, Francis Schaeffer and others––though well meaning––have villainized the timeless principle of natural theology. The questions we must ask, as Christians concerned about the truth, is whether or not this way of thinking is consistent with the historical Protestant system and whether or not it there is any warrant for departing from the historical consensus if indeed modern thought is at variance with historical theology.

I cannot survey every Reformed theologian in this article. I can however mention some names and spend time on one particularly important person, John Owen. Before we survey his view of natural theology, I will say that Owen agrees with a chorus of men who lived prior to him. Francis Turretin would agree with Owen’s words below. Turretin, for example, says, “Our controversy here is with the Socinians who deny the existence of any such natural theology or knowledge of God and hold that what may appear to be such has flowed partly from tradition handed down from Adam, and partly from revelations made at different times (Faustus Socinus, Praelectiones theologicae 2 [1627], pp. 3-7; Christopher Ostorodt, Unterrichtung… hauptpuncten der Christlichen Religion 3 [1612], pp. 23-28).”

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