None Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
For too long, Christians have domesticated God, bringing him down to our level as if he is a God who can be tamed. But he is a God who is high and lifted up, the Creator rather than the creature, someone than whom none greater can be conceived. If God is the most perfect, supreme being, infinite and incomprehensible, then certain perfect-making attributes must be true of him. Perfections like aseity, simplicity, immutability, impassibility, and eternity shield God from being crippled by creaturely limitations. At the same time, this all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-wise God accommodates himself, exhibiting perfect holiness, mercy, and love as he makes known who he is and how he will save us.
Key Features
- Examines God’s immutability, omnipresence, righteousness, and more
- Addresses the often neglected and misunderstood characteristics of God
- Presents a clear and accesible study on the doctrine of God for churchgoers, pastors, and students
Contents
- Can We Know the Essence of God? Incomprehensibility
- Can We Think God’s Thoughts after Him? How the Creature Should (and Should Not) Talk about the Creator
- Is God the Perfect Being? Why an Infinite God Has No Limitations
- Does God Depend on You? Aseity
- Is God Made Up of Parts? Simplicity
- Does God Change? Immutability
- Does God Have Emotions? Impassibility
- Is God in Time? Timeless Eternity
- Is God Bound by Space? Omnipresence
- Is God All-Powerful, All-Knowing, and All-Wise? Omnipotence, Omniscience, and Omnisapience
- Can God Be Both Holy and Loving? Righteousness, Goodness, and Love
- Should God Be Jealous for His Own Glory? Jealousy and Glory
Top Highlights
“1. It is because God does not change that he is a God of aseity.” (Page 98)
“2. It is because God does not change that he remains simple.” (Page 99)
“If Moses’s encounter teaches us anything, it is this: God’s essence is beyond the reach of finite mortals like you and me. Not even Moses could see the divine essence and live. Dead men tell no tales, especially those who’ve seen the very essence of God. It is incomprehensible in all its glory, perfection, and brilliance.” (Page 19)
“Not only do I believe each and every attribute is key to each and every other attribute in God, but I am convinced that we can only understand God’s attributes in all their glory if such attributes originate from one core conviction: God is someone than whom none greater can be conceived.” (Page 10)
“4. It is because God does not change that he is not restricted by time and space.” (Page 100)
Praise for the Print Edition
The mark of a good book on the attributes of God is that it doesn’t solve God and doesn’t neatly package him and box him up. Rather, it grapples with his immensity, his transcendence, and his incomprehensibility. It leads us to marvel at both how much and how little we know of him. It goes as far as Scripture goes, but no farther. This is just that kind of book, and on that basis I’m glad to recommend it.
—Tim Challies, author of Visual Theology
Perhaps not since R. C. Sproul has there been a treatment of such deep theology with such careful devotion and accessibility. None Greater explores the ‘adorable mystery’ of God with clarity and wisdom. Read this book. And stagger.
—Jared Wilson, director of content strategy, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; managing editor, For the Church; author of Gospel-Driven Church
Recent years have revealed that while evangelical Protestantism has done good work in defending a sound doctrine of Scripture, it has badly neglected the doctrine of God and at many points wandered away from classical Nicene orthodoxy, under the influence of a blunt, historically ill-informed biblicism. There is thankfully a renewed interest in classical theism among Protestant theologians, but the discussion often seems rarefied to the point where many Christians are confused as to why it is important and what is at stake for the church. Matthew Barrett’s excellent book bridges the gap between the professional theologian and the pew, laying out in clear, accessible terms what the biblical, historic, ecumenical doctrine of God is, why it matters, and why its abandonment by great swathes of the Protestant world is something that needs correction.
—Carl R. Trueman, professor, Grove City College; author of Grace Alone
Product Details
- Title: None Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God
- Authors: Matthew Barrett
- Publisher: Baker
- Publication Date: 2019
- Pages: 304
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Topic: Doctrine of God
About Matthew Barrett
Matthew Barrett (MDiv, PhD, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary) is associate professor of Christian theology at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the executive editor of Credo Magazine. He is the author of numerous books, including God’s Word Alone, 40 Questions about Salvation, Reformation Theology, John Owen on the Christian Life, and Salvation by Grace. He is also the host of the Credo podcast where he talks with fellow theologians about the most important doctrines of the faith. He lives in Kansas City.