I hate sin. Sin is destructive. Sin is insane. Sin is maddening. Sin is just plain stupid. Yet sin is also so alluring, so tempting, and always so close at hand. Even while we fight sin, sin fights us.
There are many strategies to identify and destroy sin, and one of the best is to read great books on the subject. There is no better book than John Owen’s The Mortification of Sin (or Overcoming Sin and Temptation). I plan to begin reading it next week and would love you to read it with me—and hundreds of other people—in a program I call “Reading Classics Together.”
Will you read it with me?
Here is how the program works: Each week we will read one chapter. Then, on Thursdays (beginning next week–September 4), visit my site and I will have an article on that chapter along with a place for you to add your comments or a place for you to link to your own blog (or Facebook or any other place you have been discussing it). The idea is to read the book together, so we can benefit from one another’s insights and have mutual accountability as we press on in our reading.
How do you participate? Simply by getting a copy of the book and reading along. You don’t need to register, you don’t need to comment, you don’t need to do anything other than read one chapter per week.
Buying the Book
I am going to read Overcoming Sin and Temptation, a slight modernization of the work, edited by Justin Taylor and Kelly Kapic. This edition maintains the unabridged text, but provides useful introductions and editorial assistance. For example, the editors footnote difficult or obscure words, update archaic language (i.e. they change “thee” to “you”), transliterate words that Owen provided in the original biblical languages, and so on. They also add helpful introductions to the sections. They maintain the full impact of Owen’s words while removing some of the hindrances experienced by the modern reader.
However, if you would like to read the original, you are more than welcome to do so and will benefit just as much. Here is where you can track down the book:
- Overcoming Sin and Temptation is available at Amazon (Paperback, Kindle) and Westminster Books (Paperback, Kindle). If you’d like a PDF, it is available free right here.
- The Mortification of Sin is available at Amazon (Paperback, Kindle) and Westminster Books (Paperback). You can also find it in audio book at ChristianAudio and elsewhere, or for free in various HTML editions.
Let’s Get Started
I plan to post an article on chapter one on September 4, and continue every Thursday after that. There are 14 chapters, meaning the program will last for 14 weeks. All you need to do is obtain a copy of the book and read chapter one prior to September 4.
Why don’t you leave a comment below if you plan to join the program (or if you’ve got any questions).
