What Every Christian Needs To Know
By John Owen
Grace Publications Trust/Evangelical Press. 144 pages. £3.95
ISBN 0 946462 47X
This brief paperback is a simplified and shortened version of two pieces of writing by the 17th-century writer John Owen. It is a great way to discover some precious treasures from a bygone age.
Part 1 deals with temptations from the devil, whose goals are to disrupt the believer's relationship with God and destroy his/her witness. The author uses the example of Bible heroes and probing questions to help us see the different ways in which temptations come to believers. The Lord's command to watch and pray is explained and applied. The weaknesses of Part 1 are twofold: the structure reflects the rambling logic of the original, and the treatment of temptation is not sufficiently rooted in the context of Christ's victory at the cross.
