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None Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God
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.
The attributes of God show us exactly why God is worthy of worship: there is none like him. Join Matthew Barrett as he rediscovers these divine perfections and finds himself surprised by the God he thought he knew.
The attributes of God show us exactly why God is worthy of worship: there is none like him. Join Matthew Barrett as he rediscovers these divine perfections and finds himself surprised by the God he thought he knew.
296 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 1, 2019
About the author
Matthew Barrett
36 books103 followersMatthew 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.
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June 29, 2022
None Greater: The Undomesticated Attributes of God by Matthew Barrett is a book for our times. Better put, it is a book that is desperately needed in this generation. Many books that explore the subject of theology proper are fraught with errors. Barrett’s book is quite the opposite.
None Greater takes readers on a journey which is undergirded by the theological wisdom of Anselm, Augustine, and Aquinas. Barrett stands on Anselm’s shoulders in particular and argues, “God is someone whom none greater can be conceived.” This theme strikes a welcome chord in a culture that is drowning in views of God which are weak, fragile, and unbiblical. At the outset, the vision of God is one of grandeur and glory; a vision that is a vivid portrayal of the God of the Bible.
Barrett invites readers to explore God in all his glory by exploring a series of attributes including infinity, aseity, simplicity, immutability, impassibility, timeless eternity, omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, ommisapience, righteousness, goodness, love, jealousy, and glory. The chapter on impassibility is especially helpful as the author presents a very difficult doctrine in terms that are easily understood and digested. Each attribute is discussed in light of Anselm’s helpful view that God is someone than whom none greater can be conceived.
The net result leads readers not only to a better understanding of God, but one that leads to a worshipful response. Barrett shows the practical benefits of following and worshiping this great and glorious God: “The same infinite power of the Almighty that raised Jesus from the tomb is at work in us who believe."
This work stands in a solidly Reformed tradition, but is designed for pastors and laymen. It is my pleasure to highly commend this book. I trust that it will receive a wide reading and impact the next generation for God’s glory! I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
None Greater takes readers on a journey which is undergirded by the theological wisdom of Anselm, Augustine, and Aquinas. Barrett stands on Anselm’s shoulders in particular and argues, “God is someone whom none greater can be conceived.” This theme strikes a welcome chord in a culture that is drowning in views of God which are weak, fragile, and unbiblical. At the outset, the vision of God is one of grandeur and glory; a vision that is a vivid portrayal of the God of the Bible.
Barrett invites readers to explore God in all his glory by exploring a series of attributes including infinity, aseity, simplicity, immutability, impassibility, timeless eternity, omnipresence, omnipotence, omniscience, ommisapience, righteousness, goodness, love, jealousy, and glory. The chapter on impassibility is especially helpful as the author presents a very difficult doctrine in terms that are easily understood and digested. Each attribute is discussed in light of Anselm’s helpful view that God is someone than whom none greater can be conceived.
The net result leads readers not only to a better understanding of God, but one that leads to a worshipful response. Barrett shows the practical benefits of following and worshiping this great and glorious God: “The same infinite power of the Almighty that raised Jesus from the tomb is at work in us who believe."
This work stands in a solidly Reformed tradition, but is designed for pastors and laymen. It is my pleasure to highly commend this book. I trust that it will receive a wide reading and impact the next generation for God’s glory! I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.
May 14, 2019
Summary: Drawing on classical and reformed theology, discusses the perfections of God, that set God apart from all else.
It seems a common tendency in Christian preaching, and even in our informal conversations, to try to "bring God down to our level." Christian Smith, in a study of the religious beliefs of American teens, coined a term to describe the God of many: "moral therapeutic deism." In this system, there is a belief in a God who made the world, who wants us to be nice and fair, the purpose of life being to feel happy and good about oneself, God only gets involved in our lives when we need God, and that good people will go to heaven when they die. Such a God is nice, domesticated, and mostly irrelevant to our lives. God is like us, only a bit better and maybe more powerful.
The classical theologians like Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas, and those in the Reformed tradition of the author thought quite differently. For them, God, as Anselm put it, is "someone than whom none greater can be perceived," hence the title of this work. While God may have certain communicable attributes like love, that are evident in part in human beings, God's incommunicable attributes are utterly unlike any other creature and set God apart as incomparably greater than human beings.
It was this God that Matthew Barrett discovered in college when he read Calvin's Institutes, and the other theologians mentioned above, opening his eyes to the glory and majesty of God. His hope in this book is that through a study of God's attributes, particularly those dealing with the incommunicable perfections of God, to sow the same sense of wonder in his readers, inviting them to give up their domesticated versions of God for the incomparably greater undomesticated God of scripture.
The first three chapters of the book lay groundwork. First he explores the incomprehensibility of God, that we may speak of attributes, but none of us may see or know God in God's very essence. It is not that God in unknowable, because God makes God's self known through God's works. He discusses how we may speak of God in analogical language as revealed by God to us, and sometimes in anthropomorphic language of hands, eyes, even wings, none of which are true of God's essence. Most of all, we must recognize that God is infinite in God's perfections, and without limits--a staggering realization for finite and imperfect creatures.
The remainder of the book discusses the perfections of God:
God's aseity or self-existence independent of all of creation.
God's simplicity, that even when we speak of various attributes, these are not "parts" of God but compose a seamless whole.
God's immutability, that God does not change, grow, improve, or diminish, which is a tremendous comfort.
God's impassibility, that God does not experience emotional changes, both settled in his promise-keeping love, and holy wrath toward evil.
God's eternity, that he is timeless and not exists in the eternal present.
God is omnipresent: not bounded by a body, infinitely present.
God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnisapient: all-powerful, all knowing and all-wise.
God is both holy and loving: the high and lifted up God Isaiah sees, who cleanses his mouth and takes his guilt away and lovingly commissions him.
A God who is jealous for his own glory, inviting us into a similar jealousy for the glory and reputation of God above all in our world.
I found this discussion far from the "sterility" often found in such treatments of the attributes of God. Barrett helps us understand how each attributes both feeds our worship of God and is of great consolation to the believer. For example, the aseity of God means that the gospel depends on a God who does not depend on us. He deals with questions that may arise, such as how we can speak of simplicity and yet believe in a triune God. He differentiates an immutable God from one who is rigidly immobile. He deals with the classic conundrum of God creating a rock so big he cannot lift.
His discussion of impassibility is particularly intriguing in taking on Jurgen Moltmann's "suffering God." Yes Christ in his humanity suffers, but God does not suffer, God redeems. God is not like the family suffering over a family member trapped in a fire, but rather the fireman who has the capability and compassion to enter the burning building, enduring the flames and the smoke, to rescue the loved one. I'm not sure I buy this, and it seems these ideas are framed in either/or terms, not admitting the possibility of both/and, or the possibility of a quality of suffering in the God of eternal love who from eternity both purposed creation and the redemptive work of Christ.
This is a highly readable contemporary rendering of classical theology. It has become popular to bash classical statements of theology. Often, what is being bashed are caricatures. Here is the real stuff, articulated clearly and winsomely. I didn't agree at every point, but found myself again and again marveling at the greatness of God and challenged to consider the ways I'm tempted to domesticate God. That, I think, is what makes for good theological reading and may be found here.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
It seems a common tendency in Christian preaching, and even in our informal conversations, to try to "bring God down to our level." Christian Smith, in a study of the religious beliefs of American teens, coined a term to describe the God of many: "moral therapeutic deism." In this system, there is a belief in a God who made the world, who wants us to be nice and fair, the purpose of life being to feel happy and good about oneself, God only gets involved in our lives when we need God, and that good people will go to heaven when they die. Such a God is nice, domesticated, and mostly irrelevant to our lives. God is like us, only a bit better and maybe more powerful.
The classical theologians like Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas, and those in the Reformed tradition of the author thought quite differently. For them, God, as Anselm put it, is "someone than whom none greater can be perceived," hence the title of this work. While God may have certain communicable attributes like love, that are evident in part in human beings, God's incommunicable attributes are utterly unlike any other creature and set God apart as incomparably greater than human beings.
It was this God that Matthew Barrett discovered in college when he read Calvin's Institutes, and the other theologians mentioned above, opening his eyes to the glory and majesty of God. His hope in this book is that through a study of God's attributes, particularly those dealing with the incommunicable perfections of God, to sow the same sense of wonder in his readers, inviting them to give up their domesticated versions of God for the incomparably greater undomesticated God of scripture.
The first three chapters of the book lay groundwork. First he explores the incomprehensibility of God, that we may speak of attributes, but none of us may see or know God in God's very essence. It is not that God in unknowable, because God makes God's self known through God's works. He discusses how we may speak of God in analogical language as revealed by God to us, and sometimes in anthropomorphic language of hands, eyes, even wings, none of which are true of God's essence. Most of all, we must recognize that God is infinite in God's perfections, and without limits--a staggering realization for finite and imperfect creatures.
The remainder of the book discusses the perfections of God:
God's aseity or self-existence independent of all of creation.
God's simplicity, that even when we speak of various attributes, these are not "parts" of God but compose a seamless whole.
God's immutability, that God does not change, grow, improve, or diminish, which is a tremendous comfort.
God's impassibility, that God does not experience emotional changes, both settled in his promise-keeping love, and holy wrath toward evil.
God's eternity, that he is timeless and not exists in the eternal present.
God is omnipresent: not bounded by a body, infinitely present.
God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnisapient: all-powerful, all knowing and all-wise.
God is both holy and loving: the high and lifted up God Isaiah sees, who cleanses his mouth and takes his guilt away and lovingly commissions him.
A God who is jealous for his own glory, inviting us into a similar jealousy for the glory and reputation of God above all in our world.
I found this discussion far from the "sterility" often found in such treatments of the attributes of God. Barrett helps us understand how each attributes both feeds our worship of God and is of great consolation to the believer. For example, the aseity of God means that the gospel depends on a God who does not depend on us. He deals with questions that may arise, such as how we can speak of simplicity and yet believe in a triune God. He differentiates an immutable God from one who is rigidly immobile. He deals with the classic conundrum of God creating a rock so big he cannot lift.
His discussion of impassibility is particularly intriguing in taking on Jurgen Moltmann's "suffering God." Yes Christ in his humanity suffers, but God does not suffer, God redeems. God is not like the family suffering over a family member trapped in a fire, but rather the fireman who has the capability and compassion to enter the burning building, enduring the flames and the smoke, to rescue the loved one. I'm not sure I buy this, and it seems these ideas are framed in either/or terms, not admitting the possibility of both/and, or the possibility of a quality of suffering in the God of eternal love who from eternity both purposed creation and the redemptive work of Christ.
This is a highly readable contemporary rendering of classical theology. It has become popular to bash classical statements of theology. Often, what is being bashed are caricatures. Here is the real stuff, articulated clearly and winsomely. I didn't agree at every point, but found myself again and again marveling at the greatness of God and challenged to consider the ways I'm tempted to domesticate God. That, I think, is what makes for good theological reading and may be found here.
________________________________
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own.
March 7, 2019
I was fortunate enough to work through this book by Matthew Barrett a few times prepublication. I couldn't recommend the volume any more than I do. Barrett capably delivers what has been complicated matters regarding divine perfections like simplicity, aseity, impassability, and more, in a remarkably accessible way. If you're looking for a solid introduction to God's attributes, in an undomesticated way, then look no further.
March 3, 2022
I really loved the early chapters and the final chapters but found the two penultimate chapters a bit of a slog - good but they just kept going.
Definitely would recommend.
Definitely would recommend.
September 6, 2023
4.8 Stars
Matthew Barrett's "None Greater" is a glorious book on the doctrine of God. In this book, Barrett elevates a theology of the attributes of God on His aseity. He argues that God's aseity, his otherness, and His status as "none greater," is what defines all His other attributes. When we speak of God's love, mercy, justice, and righteousness there is a common trap that we finite beings fall into - we impose our finite understanding of each of these attributes on God, making Him like us. Barret's book attacks this falsity with the reality of God's bigness, that He is as Anselm says "that which nothing greater can be conceived."
I loved this book! The last time I read a book like this was when I read "The Pleasures of God" by John Piper. This book filled me with wonder and awe of our great God; it made me want to worship Him more. And this in part was done because Barrett wrote a book that was so glorifying and honoring to God. It was Biblically sound, theologically robust, and historically informed while still being extremely accessible and interesting. Barret's last chapter on the jealousy of God was a perfect ending, and after reading several chapters on God's aseity, eternality, simplicity, and impassibility it compelled me to want to shout from the heavens the glory and majesty of God! God is great and He is worthy of all praise and worship!
This is probably one of the top books I read this year, I loved it and cannot recommend it more highly!
Matthew Barrett's "None Greater" is a glorious book on the doctrine of God. In this book, Barrett elevates a theology of the attributes of God on His aseity. He argues that God's aseity, his otherness, and His status as "none greater," is what defines all His other attributes. When we speak of God's love, mercy, justice, and righteousness there is a common trap that we finite beings fall into - we impose our finite understanding of each of these attributes on God, making Him like us. Barret's book attacks this falsity with the reality of God's bigness, that He is as Anselm says "that which nothing greater can be conceived."
I loved this book! The last time I read a book like this was when I read "The Pleasures of God" by John Piper. This book filled me with wonder and awe of our great God; it made me want to worship Him more. And this in part was done because Barrett wrote a book that was so glorifying and honoring to God. It was Biblically sound, theologically robust, and historically informed while still being extremely accessible and interesting. Barret's last chapter on the jealousy of God was a perfect ending, and after reading several chapters on God's aseity, eternality, simplicity, and impassibility it compelled me to want to shout from the heavens the glory and majesty of God! God is great and He is worthy of all praise and worship!
This is probably one of the top books I read this year, I loved it and cannot recommend it more highly!
March 28, 2023
Really helpful. Some parts are dense, but this is packed full with good theology.
March 17, 2021
Highly highly recommend!! I've learnt so much through this one book! My mind has been blown, encouraged and spurred on to worship the one whom none greater can be conceived.
August 13, 2020
Another one of my favorite reads this year.
Interviews related to the book here:
(Part 1) https://credomag.com/2019/03/none-gre...
(Part 2) https://credomag.com/2019/03/none-gre...
https://www.booksataglance.com/author...
http://servantsofgrace.org/matthew-ba...
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/ar...
Article about the book:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/ar...
Videos about the book:
A short introduction on why Barrett wrote the book & conversation with Jason Allen: https://www.mbts.edu/2019/03/booktalk...
“Does God Suffer?”: https://credomag.com/2019/03/does-god...
“Does God Change?”: https://credomag.com/2019/04/does-god...
“Why Must God Be A Perfect Being?”: https://credomag.com/2019/03/why-must...
Book reviews:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/re...
https://www.9marks.org/review/book-re...
Interviews related to the book here:
(Part 1) https://credomag.com/2019/03/none-gre...
(Part 2) https://credomag.com/2019/03/none-gre...
https://www.booksataglance.com/author...
http://servantsofgrace.org/matthew-ba...
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/ar...
Article about the book:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/ar...
Videos about the book:
A short introduction on why Barrett wrote the book & conversation with Jason Allen: https://www.mbts.edu/2019/03/booktalk...
“Does God Suffer?”: https://credomag.com/2019/03/does-god...
“Does God Change?”: https://credomag.com/2019/04/does-god...
“Why Must God Be A Perfect Being?”: https://credomag.com/2019/03/why-must...
Book reviews:
https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/re...
https://www.9marks.org/review/book-re...
March 18, 2022
Lots of helpful stuff here. I've refined things I already knew (particularly with the chapters on Impassibility and Aseity) and picked up one or two new thoughts.
But lots of the really helpful stuff is buried under a copious amount of text. I think many paragraphs, although being true, didn't add anything particularly meaningful to the argument the author was making. It was one of those moments when I thought "You've made your point. Keep going".
Also, I don't agree with the methodology of the book itself. It felt like the author went with the "I know these attributes describe God so let me pick up some verses and quotes to show that" approach. Don't get me wrong, the attributes the author identified are most certainly right.
But they didn't come out naturally from the Scriptures. Rather, the verses were picked to prove that attribute.
Finally, is Anselm's supposed definition of God as "the being above whom no one greater can be imagined" really that helpful? In my opinion, not really. It doesn't say anything about God in itself. So, I'll let other readers decide on that.
Edit: I've done some more thinking and I'm now convinced that Anselm's definition of God is just not good. For one, it leads to quite a lot of speculation. Also, it doesn't seem to take into account the fallen nature of man and how sin has distorted our intellectual faculties.
But lots of the really helpful stuff is buried under a copious amount of text. I think many paragraphs, although being true, didn't add anything particularly meaningful to the argument the author was making. It was one of those moments when I thought "You've made your point. Keep going".
Also, I don't agree with the methodology of the book itself. It felt like the author went with the "I know these attributes describe God so let me pick up some verses and quotes to show that" approach. Don't get me wrong, the attributes the author identified are most certainly right.
But they didn't come out naturally from the Scriptures. Rather, the verses were picked to prove that attribute.
Finally, is Anselm's supposed definition of God as "the being above whom no one greater can be imagined" really that helpful? In my opinion, not really. It doesn't say anything about God in itself. So, I'll let other readers decide on that.
Edit: I've done some more thinking and I'm now convinced that Anselm's definition of God is just not good. For one, it leads to quite a lot of speculation. Also, it doesn't seem to take into account the fallen nature of man and how sin has distorted our intellectual faculties.
June 23, 2019
Cant recommend this highly enough. What a special read.
Dr. Barrett does a great job with the OT.
The "A-Team" was super helpful.
This is the most devotional and heart-soaring book I've read in 2019.
Dr. Barrett does a great job with the OT.
The "A-Team" was super helpful.
This is the most devotional and heart-soaring book I've read in 2019.
April 18, 2019
This book is precisely what the church needed in the wake of the renewed interest in the classical doctrine of God. Subjects such as divine simplicity and impassibility are not commonly heard in churches and can be difficult to understand and explain. Barrett has done both pastors and church members a great service by expounding these attributes of God and others from a classical perspective with the aid of Augustine, Anselm, Aquinas, and Bavinck. This is an excellent and accessible book I plan to use for our church-wide summer book discussion this year.
December 12, 2023
"Christ is risen and victorious, and all the world will know that Jealous is His name."
This book gets 4.5/5 for me. Thurough in the exploration of God's inccomuncable traits, it takes some forays into the communicable and then meanders back. Well sourced and well versed (most of the time), this is an absolute recommendation to believer young and old to challenge your conception of God and self in respect to God. Countless passages invoked humility, repentance, and worship.
My only critique is that the Bible is not used more often in defense of some of the harder to communicate traits. A little too frequently, antidotes and stories are used to explain deep truths that are taught in scripture but require a slower approach.
This book gets 4.5/5 for me. Thurough in the exploration of God's inccomuncable traits, it takes some forays into the communicable and then meanders back. Well sourced and well versed (most of the time), this is an absolute recommendation to believer young and old to challenge your conception of God and self in respect to God. Countless passages invoked humility, repentance, and worship.
My only critique is that the Bible is not used more often in defense of some of the harder to communicate traits. A little too frequently, antidotes and stories are used to explain deep truths that are taught in scripture but require a slower approach.
September 19, 2020
This might be the deepest book on the attributes of God I have read. Also, Barrett extensively quotes old authors, some from the early church era, which added to the richness of it for me.
March 13, 2019
I had the distinct privilege to read this book before publication, and I have been eager for its release since then. Dr. Barrett has done the Church of Jesus Christ a great service here. The average Christian in the West today is plagued by a puny view of God--a god who is "reckless" and temperamental and moody; a god who is relatable to us. But Dr. Barrett shows that such a god cannot save and is not worthy of worship. Thankfully, such a god does not exist. The Triune God of the Bible is unlike us--he is able to save and he is worthy of worship. Chapter after chapter, Barrett shows how these classic doctrines of theology proper are far from etherial, abstract ideas--they are rather doxilogical fodder. Every pastor should read this book, and then give it away to his members like crazy!
May 10, 2020
I can only think of one other book in the past 15 years or so about which I’ve told people to drop whatever they’re currently reading and read this instead. I do so again with this book, wholeheartedly. (In fact, I literally emailed the entire pastoral team at my church with this exact recommendation a little while ago.)
Matthew Barrett has written an AMAZING introduction to the classical attributes of God that is reverent, concise, biblically informed, penetrating, and full of insight. I’m going to want to let this book marinate for a while and then read it again in perhaps a year or so. (And then again after that, probably!)
The epicenter of Barrett’s project is Anselm’s famous dictum that God is “the one than whom none greater can be conceived.” (Hence the title.) Barrett uses that axiom (along with deep and fruitful examinations of the works of Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, Charnock, Bavinck, and others) to ground his discussion of the classical attributes of God: Incomprehensibility, Infinity, Aseity, Simplicity, Immutability, Impassibility, Eternity, Omnipresence, Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omnisapience, Holiness, and Love. Discussing each of these in turn, he closes with a chapter on divine jealousy that ties all of these together with a warm, deeply pastoral consideration of God’s glory.
I say that he “ties everything together” in the last chapter, but it’s probably more appropriate to say that he finishes doing so, for indeed that’s one of the great strengths of Barrett’s book. Better than any other modern writer of whom I’m aware, Barrett goes to great lengths to explain how each of God’s attributes informs and intertwines with the others; one cannot malign or impugn God’s immutability, for example, without also doing damage to his eternity, infinity, aseity, simplicity, etc.
Another great strength of Barrett’s book (and one I’m hard-pressed to find many other contemporary writers doing nearly so well) is that he’s careful to explain why each attribute on its own MATTERS. What would it look like, he asks, if God were NOT self-existent, or timelessly eternal? Would a God who does not have such attributes indeed be a Being of whom we could justly say “none greater than he could possibly be conceived”? (Spoiler alert: NO.)
There are many great systematic theologies that struggle to handle these topics well; that Barrett does so with such clarity and elegant simplicity is of inestimable value to the church.
I say again: if you haven’t read this book, make room to do so IMMEDIATELY.
Matthew Barrett has written an AMAZING introduction to the classical attributes of God that is reverent, concise, biblically informed, penetrating, and full of insight. I’m going to want to let this book marinate for a while and then read it again in perhaps a year or so. (And then again after that, probably!)
The epicenter of Barrett’s project is Anselm’s famous dictum that God is “the one than whom none greater can be conceived.” (Hence the title.) Barrett uses that axiom (along with deep and fruitful examinations of the works of Augustine, Aquinas, Calvin, Charnock, Bavinck, and others) to ground his discussion of the classical attributes of God: Incomprehensibility, Infinity, Aseity, Simplicity, Immutability, Impassibility, Eternity, Omnipresence, Omnipotence, Omniscience, Omnisapience, Holiness, and Love. Discussing each of these in turn, he closes with a chapter on divine jealousy that ties all of these together with a warm, deeply pastoral consideration of God’s glory.
I say that he “ties everything together” in the last chapter, but it’s probably more appropriate to say that he finishes doing so, for indeed that’s one of the great strengths of Barrett’s book. Better than any other modern writer of whom I’m aware, Barrett goes to great lengths to explain how each of God’s attributes informs and intertwines with the others; one cannot malign or impugn God’s immutability, for example, without also doing damage to his eternity, infinity, aseity, simplicity, etc.
Another great strength of Barrett’s book (and one I’m hard-pressed to find many other contemporary writers doing nearly so well) is that he’s careful to explain why each attribute on its own MATTERS. What would it look like, he asks, if God were NOT self-existent, or timelessly eternal? Would a God who does not have such attributes indeed be a Being of whom we could justly say “none greater than he could possibly be conceived”? (Spoiler alert: NO.)
There are many great systematic theologies that struggle to handle these topics well; that Barrett does so with such clarity and elegant simplicity is of inestimable value to the church.
I say again: if you haven’t read this book, make room to do so IMMEDIATELY.
September 19, 2019
You can read my fuller review at Spoiled Milks (9/9/19).
Referencing the parable of the unclean spirits (Matt 12:43-45), Barrett wants his book “to fill the house with good theology proper, the type that will keep the demons away for good” (xvi). Our God is one who is high and lifted up, higher than anything we can imagine. Nothing is greater, and he is not like us. We too often compare God to ourselves. We make him “a greater version of ourselves” (xvi). Yet our God is greater “because he is nothing like ourselves” (xvi). In an effort to show people how great God is, we have domesticated God to make him palatable to others.
Barrett’s book revolves around one central question: What must be true of God if he is the most perfect being? (10). To help answer this question, Barrett’s joins forces with the A-Team: Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas.
This book answers questions people often ask/think about God: Does God depend on me? Does he change? Does he have emotions? Is he in time or bound by space? How is he both holy and loving? Why is he jealous?
There is a ten-page glossary at the end of the book. Keep that in mind; it is helpful.
The Spoiled Milk
Perhaps this is because I haven’t read enough ST, but sometimes I couldn’t follow Barrett’s argument. In almost every chapter there is a paragraph or two that I simply didn’t understand.
There are other instances, but they take up more text and are harder to explain. If you come across these places, slow down, reread the text, move on, and finish the chapter. Then come back and see if you understand it now.
If you enjoy reading systematic theology, or books about the doctrine of God/Christ/the trinity and so on, then this book is for you. You will be rewarded by reading it, and don’t try to read it all at once.
Will write more later.
Referencing the parable of the unclean spirits (Matt 12:43-45), Barrett wants his book “to fill the house with good theology proper, the type that will keep the demons away for good” (xvi). Our God is one who is high and lifted up, higher than anything we can imagine. Nothing is greater, and he is not like us. We too often compare God to ourselves. We make him “a greater version of ourselves” (xvi). Yet our God is greater “because he is nothing like ourselves” (xvi). In an effort to show people how great God is, we have domesticated God to make him palatable to others.
Barrett’s book revolves around one central question: What must be true of God if he is the most perfect being? (10). To help answer this question, Barrett’s joins forces with the A-Team: Augustine, Anselm, and Aquinas.
This book answers questions people often ask/think about God: Does God depend on me? Does he change? Does he have emotions? Is he in time or bound by space? How is he both holy and loving? Why is he jealous?
There is a ten-page glossary at the end of the book. Keep that in mind; it is helpful.
The Spoiled Milk
Perhaps this is because I haven’t read enough ST, but sometimes I couldn’t follow Barrett’s argument. In almost every chapter there is a paragraph or two that I simply didn’t understand.
There are other instances, but they take up more text and are harder to explain. If you come across these places, slow down, reread the text, move on, and finish the chapter. Then come back and see if you understand it now.
If you enjoy reading systematic theology, or books about the doctrine of God/Christ/the trinity and so on, then this book is for you. You will be rewarded by reading it, and don’t try to read it all at once.
Will write more later.
January 25, 2021
Easy to read, and working hard to make tough content accessible - a bit like a slightly less well-written Dig Deeper. It comes across as an accessible introduction to Charnock and Bavinck with Augustine, Anselm and Aquinas lurking in the background (Barrett describes them as the A Team, but I think Bavinck and Charnock get referenced a good deal more in the end, although I haven't formally checked). The trouble is (and I am a bit troubled by it) that I'm really not sure that I'm on board with the programme: is perfect being theology really the best way for Reformed evangelicals to do our doctrine of God? Are we really sure that Anselm and Aquinas are our friends here? Call me Biblicist, but I'd like a little less 'if God is a being greater than whom none can be imagined he must be...' (says who?) and a lot more Bible. As it is, the Bible tends to come in after the fact here: perfect being theology gives you the grid in order to read the Bible, rather than the Bible giving you the warrant for the theology (at least until the last couple of chapters). Unpersuaded.
March 10, 2023
I had to give up on this one. For some reason the chapter introductory stories coupled with the audio narrators’ voice just made the book seem really campy. The narrator was always excited and encouraging in tone to a fault. It just felt really fake the whole listen. - I honestly would have preferred if the voice actor of Flanders did the job instead… Heidi ho neighbor!
Also the book became very polemic. My expectation was that this would be a good devotional read on the character and attributes of God and how they affect the Christian heart devotionally. Unfortunately this book became quite laboriously heady. The voice narration coupled with the heady content just didn’t match at all and honestly made it unbearable to listen to. The theological content was alright as far as it goes. It just wasn’t very devotional. A bit of a sterile look at the attributes IMO.
Also the book became very polemic. My expectation was that this would be a good devotional read on the character and attributes of God and how they affect the Christian heart devotionally. Unfortunately this book became quite laboriously heady. The voice narration coupled with the heady content just didn’t match at all and honestly made it unbearable to listen to. The theological content was alright as far as it goes. It just wasn’t very devotional. A bit of a sterile look at the attributes IMO.
May 29, 2021
The title says it all. This book is humbling, eye opening, and will give you a way bigger view of who God is. Our thoughts of God are far too human and Matthew Barret corrects us in how we view God, talk about God, and understand His nature. Highly recommend.
February 29, 2020
Very good introduction to the attributes of God, all within the boundaries of classic theism. Barrett's illustrations are spot on and his explanations are easy to follow. I highly recommend.
March 24, 2019
This book is much more than just an exploration of the attributes of God. I am impressed with Barrett clarifying how the attributes are interrelated. He shows how we cannot latch on to the attributes we like and ignore the rest. Barrett will not let us create a comfortable God, a being like us. Nor will he let us have a God we can control.
Barrett has given us a view of God consistent with the Bible. He deals with some of God's attributes and actions that might not be popular with people who want God to just be love. We are reminded that God is not a glorified human. He is not like we are. Our finite minds cannot even begin to comprehend His infinite being. We are so limited in our understanding, there will always be mystery.
While this book is generally readable, it is theology. Sometimes I had to stop and reread passages to make sure I was grasping what Barrett was communicating. He has included a glossary to help readers with theological terms, such as aseity.
I highly recommend this book. I have read a number of recent books where the authors attempt to make God someone we can like and accept like a glorified human. Barrett portrays God as He is revealed in the Bible. I am glad Barrett has set the record straight.
I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.
Barrett has given us a view of God consistent with the Bible. He deals with some of God's attributes and actions that might not be popular with people who want God to just be love. We are reminded that God is not a glorified human. He is not like we are. Our finite minds cannot even begin to comprehend His infinite being. We are so limited in our understanding, there will always be mystery.
While this book is generally readable, it is theology. Sometimes I had to stop and reread passages to make sure I was grasping what Barrett was communicating. He has included a glossary to help readers with theological terms, such as aseity.
I highly recommend this book. I have read a number of recent books where the authors attempt to make God someone we can like and accept like a glorified human. Barrett portrays God as He is revealed in the Bible. I am glad Barrett has set the record straight.
I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.
October 6, 2021
Few books outside of the Bible are able to bring a reader to worship like None Greater. Matthew Barrett is an outstanding scholar who knows his church history, and one who thinks with a wonderful clarity about complicated doctrinal issues. But he is also pastoral, an author who shepherds his readers toward a God who is truly *other* than all of His creation.
In a time when modern society continues to seek a man-made image of God, one who adheres to our cultural emphases and pressures, Barrett draws a straight line back to the God of the Scriptures as HE has revealed Himself. Barrett helpfully connects this God's attributes one to another, demonstrating how each is essential for us to preserve our understanding of God alongside the Great Tradition of orthodoxy. With the help of our best interpreters in history, such as Augustine and Anselm up through theologians like Stephen Charnock, Barrett leans on the faithful before us to point us to the God they worshiped, the God of the Bible.
In a time when modern society continues to seek a man-made image of God, one who adheres to our cultural emphases and pressures, Barrett draws a straight line back to the God of the Scriptures as HE has revealed Himself. Barrett helpfully connects this God's attributes one to another, demonstrating how each is essential for us to preserve our understanding of God alongside the Great Tradition of orthodoxy. With the help of our best interpreters in history, such as Augustine and Anselm up through theologians like Stephen Charnock, Barrett leans on the faithful before us to point us to the God they worshiped, the God of the Bible.
August 23, 2022
(9/10) God cannot be defined fully by human words, but those words are the best gift we have in beginning to grasp a small glimpse of the fullness of our Creator.
God cannot be put into nice/neat boxes and I really appreciated Barrett starting with His aseity. Other books written on the attributes of God often take different attributes in different chapters and the unfortunate consequence is that it seems to divide God into "chunks" as if he is simply the sum of all the parts. But Barrett starts this book really well by explaining clearly that God cannot be considered to simply be the sum of many parts/attributes.
I appreciated Barrett's simple writing style and communication of difficult ideas. This would be a great book to give to a new believer who is hungry to know more about the attributes of God. He includes a nice glossary, references, etc.
I really appreciated Barrett's focus being primarily on the Scriptures, with some hints of apologetics here and there. It was a great/effective combination.
The only negative I would say of this book is that some of the chapters seem to say the same thing over and over just in slightly different ways, instead of having a nice progression and building of the ideas.
God cannot be put into nice/neat boxes and I really appreciated Barrett starting with His aseity. Other books written on the attributes of God often take different attributes in different chapters and the unfortunate consequence is that it seems to divide God into "chunks" as if he is simply the sum of all the parts. But Barrett starts this book really well by explaining clearly that God cannot be considered to simply be the sum of many parts/attributes.
I appreciated Barrett's simple writing style and communication of difficult ideas. This would be a great book to give to a new believer who is hungry to know more about the attributes of God. He includes a nice glossary, references, etc.
I really appreciated Barrett's focus being primarily on the Scriptures, with some hints of apologetics here and there. It was a great/effective combination.
The only negative I would say of this book is that some of the chapters seem to say the same thing over and over just in slightly different ways, instead of having a nice progression and building of the ideas.
April 19, 2020
Barrett is a skilled writer. He provides understandable explanations to difficult concepts regarding God and His attributes to a lay person like me, without losing their vastness. He frequently references various church fathers and utilizes a glossary at the end to help his readers track with the language. Made me feel (as a beginner theologian, so to speak), that I finally had a better grasp on things that my husband (a seminary student) talks about all the time. Things like the doctrine of simplicity, aseity, God's quiddity, and how to understand God's all powerfulness and all goodness in the face of evil in the world, without making Him an evil god. Things that I either didn't know or had trouble understanding logically. None Greater is a helpful read to further your understanding of God and how different He is from us, and then turning your newfound knowledge into praise for who He is.
October 13, 2021
A phenomenal resource! Barrett has created a lay-level work on the attributes of God that could also easily be used in a classroom. The best part of this book is the way Barrett connects every single attribute together, showing how each characteristic must work in its perfect way within the character of God. I listened to the audiobook of this, but I will certainly get the physical copy soon so I can refer back to it regularly.
January 6, 2023
This is a very well written book. Barrett’s heart in writing the book is to provide something for the layperson or student to grab ahold of and study the attributes of God. With that being said I think he did a great job of providing a book that does both. Every church member could read this and also a student of theology. He uses a TON of references, and I mean a TON. Like 60 per chapter. He uses a lot of foundational thinkers on the attributes of God (Anselm, Aquinas, Augustine, Charnock, Bavinck). These theologians are fantastic and Barrett pulls them into the book and shares their theology (and his own) into a way that the layperson can understand.
All in all. Good book. Very readable.
All in all. Good book. Very readable.
February 1, 2024
Helpful and accessible introduction. Somewhat surprised at the structure here - using Anselm's "God is a being than which none greater can be thought" as the grounding point and using Scripture to back it up, rather than the other way around. Relatable illustrations got a bit grating after awhile.
August 29, 2024
Dr Barrett is a brilliant theologian and a skilled teacher. He allows the reader to plumb the depths with him sometimes using precise & theologically precise language while always keeping an eye on the reader. He wants you to know and understand these profound mysteries and truths. I recommend this book!
October 9, 2021
An outstanding and accessible book on theology proper. Matthew Barrett appears to be one of the great theological writers of our time.
August 22, 2022
Excellent introduction to theology proper. Will heartily recommend this book to those beginning to study God's essence and attributes.
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