The Holiness of God
Book Overview and Bibliographic Information
Full Title: The Holiness of God.
Author: R. C. (Robert Charles) Sproul.
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois.
Publication History: * First edition: 1985. * Second edition: 1998.
ISBNs: * ISBN-13: 978-0-8423-1498-5 (hc). * ISBN-10: 0-8423-1498-9 (hc). * ISBN-13: 978-0-8423-3965-0 (sc). * ISBN-10: 0-8423-3965-5 (sc).
Dedication: To Kaki and Ryan, that they may live during a new reformation.
Acknowledgments: Mentions Wendell Hawley for encouragement and Vesta Sproul (Sproul’s wife) as a "ruthless and loving editor."
Chapter One: The Holy Grail
Personal Narrative and the Midnight Summons: * Sproul recounts an experience during his college days where he felt an undeniable “summons” from something holy to leave his dormitory room. * Time and Setting: Ten minutes before midnight; the air was cold with crusted snow; the moon cast a ghostly pall on building gutters resembling "frozen fangs." * The Experience: He entered the college chapel as the Old Main Tower clock struck twelve. The sound of the door clanging in the stone narthex was amplified at midnight. He describes the vaulted arches evoking a sense of a "giant hand reaching down." * Emotional Response: Initially, Sproul felt a "terror-filled" image of hobnailed boots and an "icy chill" up his neck. This was followed by a wave of "unspeakable peace." * Conclusion of the Event: He characterizes this as tasting the “Holy Grail,” creating a lifelong thirst for the presence of the God who inhabited “dark Gothic cathedrals.”
Conversion and the Discovery of God the Father: * Sproul describes his conversion as a "Damascus Road" experience filled with zeal for Christ. However, he felt he was a "Unitarian of the second person of the Trinity," meaning he knew Jesus but God the Father remained a mysterious enigma.
Augustine and Creation ex Nihilo: * In a philosophy class, Sproul encountered the teachings of Aurelius Augustine (Saint Augustine). * Defining "Nothing": Sproul explores the difficulty of conceptualizing "nothing." He quotes Jonathan Edwards, who said "nothing is what sleeping rocks dream about," and his son’s junior high definition: "Nuthin'" (the standard answer for "What did you do today?"). * Divine Fiat: Augustine taught that God created the world out of nothing by "fiat" or a "divine imperative." * The Act of Creation: The voice of God commanded "Let there be!" Sproul describes the speed of this command as exceeding the speed of light. Molecules were created to carry the sound waves. * Creative Acts: God binded the Pleiades and buckled the belt of Orion. He fashioned clay into man and breathed life into it.
Lazarus and Fiat Creation: * Sproul compares creation to the raising of Lazarus: Jesus stood outside the tomb and commanded, "Lazarus, come forth!" This is the power of the divine imperative to bring life out of death.
Critique of Modern Theory: * Sproul argues against the modern view that the universe was created by "chance." He asserts that "chance" is "no thing" and has no power. To say the universe came from chance is to say it came from nothing, which he calls "intellectual madness." * He concludes that only God, who has the "power of being" and is “pure Being,” can call worlds into existence.
Chapter Two: Holy, Holy, Holy
The Nature of the Prophet: * Prophets were "rugged individualists" and "prosecuting attorneys" for God, often living in caves and facing martyrdom. Their hallmark was the phrase "Thus says the Lord."
Isaiah ben Amoz: * Unlike many peasant prophets, Isaiah was of the nobility and had access to the royal court.
Historical Context: King Uzziah: * Reign: Commenced in the 8th century B.C. Uzziah reigned for 52 years in Jerusalem. * Accomplishments: He built towers, dug cisterns, and restored the military power of Judah. * Tragedy: Stricken with leprosy on his forehead after arrogantly trying to perform priestly duties in the temple. He died in isolation.
Isaiah’s Vision (Isaiah 6): * Isaiah sees the Lord on a throne, high and exalted. * Linguistic Distinction: * Lord (Adonai): A supreme title meaning "sovereign one." * LORD (Jahweh): The sacred name (tetragrammaton: yhwh) revealed to Moses.
The Presence of God: * No human can see the face of God and live. * Moses: Requested to see God's face but was only allowed to see His "hindquarters" while hidden in a cleft of a rock. Even reflecting this glory made Moses' face too dazzling for the Israelites. * Beatific Vision: The future promise for Christians to see God "face-to-face" (1 John 3:2), reserved for the "pure in heart."
The Seraphim: * They have six wings: two to cover faces (shielding from God's glory), two to cover feet (symbolizing creatureliness/feet of clay), and two for flying. * Holy Ground: Recalls God commanding Moses at the burning bush to remove his sandals because the ground was holy.
The Trisagion: * The song "Holy, holy, holy." * Repetition in Hebrew: Indicates emphasis to the superlative degree. * Examples: "Truly, truly" (amen) and "pit pits" (for the deepest pits). * Unique Attribute: Holiness is the only attribute of God repeated three times in succession in Scripture.
Isaiah’s Reaction: * Disintegration: Isaiah cries, "Woe is me! I am ruined!" (or "undone"). This is personal disintegration. * Unclean Lips: He recognizes his "dirty mouth" in light of God's absolute purity.
The Cleansing: * A seraph takes a “live coal” from the altar with tongs and touches Isaiah’s lips. This is a "severe mercy" and a “painful act of cleansing” (cauterization) that removes guilt.
The Mission: * After being healed, Isaiah hears God’s voice: "Whom shall I send?" Isaiah volunteers: "Here am I. Send me!"
Chapter Three: The Fearful Mystery
Defining Holiness: * Primary Meaning: "Separate" (from an ancient word meaning "to cut"). God is "a cut above." * Transcendence: "To climb across." Exceeding usual limits. God is infinitely separate from His creatures. * Purity: The secondary meaning involves moral perfection. God’s purity is "transcendent purity."
Consecration: * Things (ground, bread, water, etc.) become holy because God consecrates or sanctifies them. They are not holy in themselves.
Idolatry: * Calling something holy when it is not. Worshipping the creature rather than the Creator.
Rudolf Otto and the Mysterium Tremendum: * Mysterium Tremendum: The "awful mystery." * Tremendum: Refers to the dread or "awe-fulness" the holy provokes. * Augustus: Only God is properly called "the august one." * Creatureliness: The primary sensation human beings have when experiencing the holy is an overwhelming sense of their own finitude compared to the Infinite.
Xenophobia: * Fear of strangers or foreigners. God is the "ultimate stranger" and "ultimate foreigner" because He is holy and we are not.
Chapter Four: The Trauma of Holiness
The Storm on Galilee (Mark 4): * The Sea of Galilee is fresh water surrounded by mountains, prone to violent winds and squalls. * Jesus’ Power: He stills the storm by fiat: "Quiet! Be still!" * Reaction: The disciples’ fear increased after the storm was calmed. They asked, "What manner of man is this?" (A question of kind or category). * Sui Generis: Jesus is in a class by Himself; He is the "supreme mysterious stranger."
The Miracle of the Fish (Luke 5): * Peter, a professional, had caught nothing all night. Jesus tells him to put out into deep water. * The Catch: The nets begin to break, and the boats begin to sink. * Peter’s Reaction: He falls at Jesus' knees and says, "Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!" He was "undone" by the presence of the Holy Incarnate.
The Peter Principle (by Laurence Peter): * People rise to their level of incompetence. * Super-competence: Such people are seen as a threat to their superiors and are often frozen or destroyed. Jesus was the "ultimate super-competent" and a "curve breaker."
Jesus and the Pharisees: * Pharisee: Means "one who is separated." * Hypocrisy: Jesus called them "whitewashed tombs"—clean on the outside but full of "dead men's bones" and greed on the inside. * Threat: Genuine holiness (Jesus) exposed the counterfeiters of holiness.
The Trauma of Presence: * Dutch Expression: "Er gaat een Domine voorbij!" ("A minister walked by!") used to explain an awkward silence ruined by the presence of a clergyman. * Billy Graham Anecdote: A pro golfer felt Billy Graham was "ramming religion down his throat" even though Graham had not spoken of religion. His identification with the things of God made the sinner uncomfortable.
John Steinbeck’s Lennie (Of Mice and Men): * Lennie is described as a "Christ figure" because his love is pure but so intense and strong that it unknowingly "crushes the object of its affection" (the mice, Curley's wife). The world kills what it cannot tolerate.
Chapter Five: The Insanity of Luther
Luther’s Character: * Known for intemperate language (calling critics "dogs"). * Satanic Battle: He believed he was a target of the prince of hell and used earthiness and inkwells to resist him.
The Lightning Bolt (July 1505): * Near Stotternheim, a bolt threw him to the ground. He cried, "St. Anne, help me! I will become a monk."
The Faltering Mass: * At his first celebration, Luther was struck with "stupefying terror" at the words "We offer unto thee, the living, the true, the eternal God." He realized his filthiness as a "miserable little pygmy" before the Divine Majesty.
The Diet of Worms (1521): * On trial for heresy following the Ninety-five Theses and the papal bull Exsurge Domine ("Arise, O Lord… A wild boar has invaded thy vineyard"). * The Stand: "My conscience is captive to the Word of God. I cannot and I will not recant anything. . . . Here I stand."
Anxiety and the Confessional: * Luther exhibited extreme guilt, often spending six hours a day in confession. His mentor, Staupitz, told him: "God is not angry with you. You are angry with God."
The Solution: The Tower Experience: * Luther struggled with the "justice of God." He realized the "just shall live by faith" (Romans 1:17). * Justification: Righteousness is given by grace through faith. Luther described this as the "gate of heaven."
Chapter Six: Holy Justice
The Problem of the "Hard Sayings": * Modern readers often find the Old Testament God “brutal.”
Nadab and Abihu (Leviticus 10): * Sons of Aaron who offered "unauthorized fire" at the altar. They were killed instantly by fire from the Lord. * Reason: God said, “Among those who approach me I will show myself holy.”
Uzzah and the Ark (1 Chronicles 13): * Moving the Ark of the Covenant on an oxcart. When the oxen stumbled, Uzzah reached out to steady it and was struck dead. * Uzzah’s Arrogance: He assumed his hand was less polluted than the earth. The earth is an obedient creature; man is in rebellion (cosmic treason). * The Law of the Kohathites (Numbers 4): Strictly forbade touching or even looking at the holy articles on pain of death.
Divine Justice and Mercy: * Internal Righteousness: The moral excellence of God's character. * External Righteousness: God always acts according to His character; He never does a "crooked thing."
Capital Punishment in Israel: * Sproul lists sins punishable by death (striking parents, murder, idolatry, bestiality, etc.). * Proportion: God established these as a reduction of the original penalty (Genesis 2:17: "The day that you sin you will surely die"). Every sin is technically a capital offense against a holy God.
Cosmic Treason: Sin is a revolutionary act of defiance against a perfectly pure Sovereign.
The Conquest of Canaan (Deuteronomy 7 & 9): * God ordered the slaughter of men, women, and children. * Justification: It was a judgment on a wicked nation, not because Israel was righteous. Israel was a "stiff-necked people."
Justice vs. Mercy: * Justice: What we deserve. * Mercy: Is not justice, but it is not injustice. * Sproul's Class Anecdote: Students turned in papers late. He gave extensions (mercy). By the third time, they assumed mercy and felt it wasn't "fair" when they got an F (justice).
Chapter Seven: War and Peace with a Holy God
Jacob’s Struggle: * Bethel: The vision of the stairway ("Jacob’s ladder"). He realizes “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” * Peniel: Jacob wrestles with a "man" (angel) until daybreak. His name is changed from Jacob ("supplanter") to Israel ("struggles with God"). He walks away with a limp (wrenched hip).
Job’s Confrontation: * God answers Job "out of the storm" with a barrage of questions about creation. Job puts his "hand over his mouth" and repents in "dust and ashes."
Habakkuk’s Complaint: * Questions God’s use of the wicked Babylonians. When God appears, Habakkuk’s lips quiver and his legs tremble. He concludes: "Yet I will rejoice in the LORD."
Saul of Tarsus: * Fell to the ground on the Damascus Road. Blighted by a light more brilliant than the sun. * Goads: "Why do you kick against the goads?" (Like a stubborn ox).
The Fruits of Justification (Romans 5:1-2): * Shalom (Peace): A holy peace that is stable and lasting. God’s bow is no longer bent toward the believer. * Access: The veil of the temple is torn. We can approach the "throne of grace with confidence."
Chapter Eight: Be Holy Because I Am Holy
Saints: Biblical term for the "rank-and-file believer," meaning "holy one."
The Chief End of Man: "To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever." * Happiness vs. Pleasure: Sin can bring pleasure, but it never brings happiness.
Nonconformity vs. Transformation (Romans 12:1-2): * Conform: To be "with" the world's structures. * Transform: To go "across" or "beyond" to a higher calling. * Renewing of the Mind: Transformation happens through serious education in the things of God.
Simul Justus et Peccator: At the same time "just and sinner."
The Goal of Righteousness: * Fides Viva: Saving faith is a "living faith" that always produces good works. * Gradations of Sin: Some sins are more "gross and heinous" than others. Jesus pointed to degrees of punishment.
Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23): Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
Chapter Nine: God in the Hands of Angry Sinners
Jonathan Edwards: * Sermon: "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" (1741). * Graphic Images: Sinners held over the pit of hell like a spider; walking over the pit on a wooden bridge with rotten planks; God's bow is bent.
The Nature of Wrath: * Divine: From an infinite God. * Fierce: A winepress of fierceness without moderation. * Everlasting: No end to the anger against the unrepentant.
Enmity toward God: * Human beings are naturally God’s enemies. We have a "carnal mind" at enmity with Him.
Three Theological Types: * Pelagianism: Anti-Christian; no supernaturalism. * Semi-Pelagianism: Majority of evangelicalism; believes people can decide to be born again. * Augustinianism: Salvation is by grace alone; because of the holiness of God, helpless sinners can only survive by grace.
Chapter Ten: Looking beyond Shadows
The Magnitude of Creation (Psalm 8): * Light travels at . Nearest star is light-years away.
Mediate Revelation (Romans 1:20): * God's "invisible qualities" are seen through the medium of nature. This leaves all people "without excuse."
The Dishonest Exchange: Mankind exchanges the truth for a lie, worshipping the creature rather than the Creator.
Plato’s Cave: Men chained in a cave seeing only shadows of reality. True knowledge requires getting beyond sense perception to the "Light."
The Triad of Virtues: * The Good: All goodness finds its root in God. * The True: "Truth is that which corresponds to reality as perceived by God." * The Beautiful: Holiness is inherently beautiful (related to symmetry, harmony, and proportionality).
Ens Perfectissimus: God is the "most perfect being."
Chapter Eleven: Holy Space and Holy Time
Desacralization and Homo Religiosis: Humans seek "sacred space" even in a secular world.
Sacred Space: * Bethel: The "gate of heaven." * Altars: Noah, Abraham, and Isaac built altars to mark transitional passages where God appeared. * Church Architecture: Should serve as a "threshold" from the profane to the sacred.
Sacred Time: * Chronos: Sequential, everyday time. * Kairos: Significant, historic, redemptive moments (The Cross, Pentecost). * The Sabbath: A holy day set apart from creation as a “lasting ordinance.” * Lord’s Supper: Looks at the Past (the cross), the Present (nurture), and the Future (the feast of the Lamb).
Conclusion: Through sacred space and time, the "holy breaks into the profane."
Questions & Discussion
Chapter One: * 1. When you think of God as holy, what comes to your mind? * 2. Describe a time when you were overcome by God’s holiness.
Chapter Two: * 1. Have you ever had an experience… in which you were “undone” by God’s presence? * 2. Isaiah’s response to God’s revelation… was, “Woe is me.” What is your response?
Chapter Three: * 1. In what ways is God an awe-ful mystery to you? * 2. Does God’s mystery comfort you or frighten you?
Chapter Four: * 1. Is your view of God’s holiness like Peter’s? Do you want to run from it? * 2. Describe a time when you were comforted by God’s holiness.
Chapter Five: * 1. When you look into the mirror of God’s holiness, what do you see? * 2. What do you do with your guilt about your sin?
Chapter Six: * 1. In what ways does God’s justice frighten you?… In what ways does it comfort you? * 2. What is your response when you realize that you deserve to die because of your sin?
Chapter Seven: * 1. What are the “even if’s” in your life? * 2. How will you worship God for giving us unlimited access to Himself?
Chapter Eight: * 1. How are you trying to renew your mind? * 2. What fruit has the Holy Spirit been developing in your life?
Chapter Nine: * 1. How do you respond to Jonathan Edwards’s sermon? Is it compassionate? * 2. In what ways do you need God to help you love Him?
Chapter Ten: * 1. In what ways do we worship creation rather than the Creator? * 2. How do things that are good, true, and beautiful reflect God’s holiness?
Chapter Eleven: * 1. Where have you experienced a sense of threshold, of sacred space? * 2. How can you cultivate the sense of God’s presence and holiness in your life?