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In a posthumously published undated discourse, which was probably written in the 1670s, John Owen alluded to the selling of the Scottish Covenanters into slavery. When commenting on the recent religious declension in Britain after a period of significant progress following the Reformation, Owen observed that “Many [believers], indeed, are in great misery and distress: some I have heard of lately sold for slaves, for the testimony of their conscience.” [1]
The editor of Owen’s Works, William H. Goold, notes that at the time Owen delivered these discourses, “many of the Scottish Covenanters were banished. They were crowded into vessels bound for the West Indies or North America; and, after enduring fearful sufferings on the passage, were sold, when they reached Jamaica or Carolina, to work as slaves on the plantations.” Goold also observes that Owen’s language suggests that he is alluding to events at some distance from himself, which makes it most probable that he was referring to the actions of the government in Scotland. [2]
[1] John Owen, Several Practical Cases of Conscience Resolved. Delivered in Some Short Discourses at Church Meetings (1721), Discourse III (n.d.) in The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold (16 vols, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1965), ix, 367.
[2] Ibid., 367n. A recent historian has discussed the enslavement of the early Scottish Covenanters. See Joseph S. Moore, Founding Sins: How a Group of Antislavery Radicals Fought to put Christ into the Constitution (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016), pp 32-34.
The editor of Owen’s Works, William H. Goold, notes that at the time Owen delivered these discourses, “many of the Scottish Covenanters were banished. They were crowded into vessels bound for the West Indies or North America; and, after enduring fearful sufferings on the passage, were sold, when they reached Jamaica or Carolina, to work as slaves on the plantations.” Goold also observes that Owen’s language suggests that he is alluding to events at some distance from himself, which makes it most probable that he was referring to the actions of the government in Scotland. [2]
[1] John Owen, Several Practical Cases of Conscience Resolved. Delivered in Some Short Discourses at Church Meetings (1721), Discourse III (n.d.) in The Works of John Owen, ed. William H. Goold (16 vols, Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 1965), ix, 367.
[2] Ibid., 367n. A recent historian has discussed the enslavement of the early Scottish Covenanters. See Joseph S. Moore, Founding Sins: How a Group of Antislavery Radicals Fought to put Christ into the Constitution (New York: Oxford University Press, 2016), pp 32-34.
