A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original review appears below. Arend Bosch is a member of St Andrew’s Church, Guelph, Ontario.
The Holiness of God. R.C. Sproul, Tyndale House, 1985.
The Holiness of God is a good book that will provide many hours of absorbing reading. For anyone who has ever grappled with the term “holiness,” what it is all about, and what it really means for us as Christians, this book explores why we are both fascinated and terrified by a holy God. It is a profound moving investigation of that mysterious aspect of God — holiness — that is basic to our whole understanding of God and of Christianity.
The author, R.C. Sproul, is a noted evangelical theologian, minister, teacher and author of numerous books on related subjects. He lays the groundwork in the early chapters. An excerpt:
The one concept, the central idea that reoccurs in Scripture particularly in the Old Testament is the idea that God is holy. It is said of God “Holy is His Name.” Our goal as Christians God has declared is “Be ye holy for I am holy.” “Purity is the first word most of us think of when we hear the word ‘holy.’” The idea of purity or of moral perfection is at best the secondary meaning of the term in the Bible. When the Bible calls God holy it means primarily that God is transcedentally separate, the sense in which He is above and beyond the world.
The author carefully examines various Bible passages, Isaiah’s vision of God, Moses and the burning bush, the account of Christ calming the storm, and gives valuable insight into these particular encounters with holiness. A chapter is devoted to the life of Martin Luther and the fiery sermons of Jonathan Edwards — giving us history that has provided greater meaning into our understanding of justice, sin and grace. Furthermore, the author deals directly with some of the hard and offensive Bible passages of the Old Testament. The stories of Nadab and Abihu, of Uzziah and Sodom and Gomorrah which show the wrath of God and ask the question; “How can a loving God inflict death upon His own people?” Instead the book puts such difficult events into the context of God’s holiness and the story of man’s chronic rebellion against him. We read of people such as Jacob, Job, Habbakuk and Paul who fought with God and came away at peace.
In the chapter entitled “The Trauma of Holiness,” the author writes how sinful people are not comfortable in the presence of the Holy. “People have an appreciation for moral excellence as long as it is removed a safe distance from them. The Jews honoured the prophets from a distance, the world honours Christ from a distance.” In the chapter on “Holy Justice,” he quotes Hans Kiing, the Roman Catholic theologian who put it this way: “the issue is not why does God punish sin, but why does He permit the ongoing rebellion of man?… What prince, what king, what ruler would manifest so much patience with a continually rebellious people?”
I found this book to shed a lot of light on the mystery of holiness. It has broadened my understanding of the character and majesty of God. It has made me more aware of how dependent we are on God’s mercy and grace. Very good reading.