The Existence and Attributes of God, Volume 7 of 50 Greatest Christian Classics, 2 Volumes in 1

Book excerpt: The Existence and Attributes of God comprises the first two volumes of the works of Stephen Charnock (1628-1680), an English puritan divine who was highly skilled in philosophy, patristics, Reformed theology, and Biblical languages. These volumes are his abiding monument. They are worthy of being compared with the finest in theology. "When the existence and attributes of God are called into question, to whom else can we better go than to Stephen Charnock'' . . . ''those [things revealed belong to us and to our children forever]. The material that Charnock discusses is firmly founded in the Word of God'' . . . ''Both the Old Testament and the New emphasize these two things: First, we should study the whole revelation, not just some easy or favorite parts of it; secondly, the study of God's attributes is not dry as dust theology, but is practical; that is, it leads to righteousness" (Dr. Gordon H. Clark, from a preface to this great work in a Sovereign Grace edition, 1958). One of the greatest tragedies in these spiritually starved times is the sad fact that most Christians know so very little about their God. It is often said that this is simply because these volumes are exhaustive on the subject. Yet it is clearly filled with sublime expositions of the truth regarding God's existence and attributes. "Charnock displays God's attributes not as impersonal abstractions for the mind to juggle with, but as qualities observable in the concrete actions of the living God of which the Bible speaks. The technical terms and sometimes, arguments of scholastic theology are employed, but always with a Biblical orientation. Charnock has no desire to speculate, but only to declare the works and ways, the nature and character, of the God of the Bible. The substance of his doctrine is characteristically Puritan and representatively Reformed." (Dr. James I. Packer, in The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Volume II, p. 410) The possessor of these rare volumes will be blessed by getting acquainted with the incomparable God, and thereby will reach a higher plane of spiritual enjoyment never attained before. To know Him better is to love Him more.