The Holiness of God
Digital Verbum Edition
Overview
A profound, moving investigation of the character of God-His holiness-that defines all we are and do as Christians. R.C. Sproul says, “It affects every aspect of our lives—economics, politics, athletics, romance—everything with which we are involved.” This book takes a look at the meaning of holiness and why people are both fascinated and terrified by a holy God.
See The Holiness of God (Revised and Expanded) for an updated edition of this volume. For even more from Dr. Sproul, check out the Crossway R.C. Sproul Collection (6 vols.).
Top Highlights
“Only once in sacred Scripture is an attribute of God elevated to the third degree. Only once is a characteristic of God mentioned three times in succession. The Bible says that God is holy, holy, holy. Not that He is merely holy, or even holy, holy. He is holy, holy, holy. The Bible never says that God is love, love, love, or mercy, mercy, mercy, or wrath, wrath, wrath, or justice, justice, justice. It does say that he is holy, holy, holy, the whole earth is full of His glory.” (Page 39)
“The tendency is to add the idea of the holy to this long list of attributes as one attribute among many. But when the word holy is applied to God, it does not signify one single attribute. On the contrary, God is called holy in a general sense. The word is used as a synonym for his deity. That is, the word holy calls attention to all that God is. It reminds us that His love is holy love, his justice is holy justice, his mercy is holy mercy, his knowledge is holy knowledge, his spirit is holy spirit.” (Page 60)
“No minister is worthy of his calling. Every preacher is vulnerable to the charge of hypocrisy. In fact, the more faithful a preacher is to the Word of God in his preaching, the more liable he is to the charge of hypocrisy. Why? Because the more faithful a man is to the Word of God, the higher the message is that he will preach. The higher the message, the further he will be from obeying it himself.” (Page 50)
“When we call things holy that are not holy, we commit the sin of idolatry. This is the grievous error of idolatry, giving to common things the respect, awe, worship, and adoration that belong only to God. To worship the creature instead of the Creator is the essence of idolatry.” (Page 61)
R.C. Sproul (1939-2017) was a respected teacher, theologian, and pastor. He is the founder and chairman of Ligonier Ministries where he serves as executive editor of Tabletalk magazine.
Sproul held degrees from Westminster College, Pittsburgh-Xenia Theological Seminary, Free University of Amsterdam, and Whitefield Theological Seminary. Over his career, he taught at several colleges and seminaries including Reformed Theological Seminary and Knox Theological Seminary, and served as senior minister of preaching and teaching at Saint Andrew’s Chapel, in Sanford, Florida. Sproul’s teaching can be heard regularly on the “Renewing Your Mind” radio broadcast which plays in over 40 countries.
Sproul wrote over 70 books and numerous articles including the classic The Holiness of God, exegetical works in the R.C. Sproul Exposition Collection, and several theological articles in Tabletalk magazine.
Reviews
95 ratings
Forrest Cole
11/9/2021
Charles Relfe
9/3/2021
One of the top five most influential and foundational monographs I've read since college and seminary. I find it refreshing to re-read this classic from time to time. On a technical note, Logos indicates the publication date as 1993 but I feel certain it hit bookshelves in early 1986.
Tim
7/17/2020
Sherman Garner
6/10/2019
Cathy Miller
1/29/2019
Ronnie Large
12/15/2018
Christopher R. Worthen
12/15/2018
Jacob W Buckner
12/10/2018
