ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the particular obligations which Owen believed to have been placed upon the magistrates of the land to respond appropriately to the providential works they were witnessing. Owen contended that a proper understanding of the times, as laid out in his prophetic preaching, determined both the role of the magistrate and the specific priorities such magistrates were to pursue. In the political flux of the 1640s and 1650s, his preaching set forth a number of factors which he believed should guide the quest for a lasting settlement. His hope was that the magistracy could be a powerful force for national reformation in a programme which would include both comprehensive legal reform and provision for the poor. Owen suggested that there were specific priorities which should guide the godly magistrate. One of his favourite descriptions of the godly magistrate's aim was serving 'the interest of Christ'.
