A review of The Excellencies of God: The Excellencies of God: Exploring and Enjoying His Attributes, by Terry L Johnson. It is published by Reformation Heritage Books (395 pages).
Personal history
I learned about God at my mother’s feet, and later in a Catholic setting. One can quibble about whether I heard the true gospel there. I learned basics—Adam and Eve fell, and Christ had to come and die on the cross for my sins.
When I became a Christian, I attended Mass as I wanted to learn more about God. But “church” was ritualistic, with scant citing of Scripture, and frequent homilies about social “reconciliation.” Where I lived, all churches were the same (even the Protestant). They majored in social concerns; God not so much.
Our Excellent God
If you want to learn about God—and you should—one of the best places is the writings of the Puritans. They mined Scripture and proclaimed Him with fervent faith and pastoral care. The strength of Johnson’s first book was his indebtedness to the likes of Puritan Stephen Charnock.
Johnson’s second book, The Excellencies of God is a natural follow-up to The Identity and Attributes of God. This time he takes God’s attributes and writes about how they ought to concern, encourage and shape the Christian’s life.
The book is divided into Six Parts: The Mercy, Grace, and Patience of God; The Truth and Faithfulness of God; The Blessedness of God; The Fatherhood of God; The Spirituality of God and The Wisdom of God.
Excellencies is likewise heavily indebted to the Puritans and the older theologians, and shaped by great pastoral care. Johnson’s writing style is very much like Ian Hamilton and Sinclair Ferguson, and one reason for this is the source materials these men bring to readers.
Johnson’s sequel to Attributes is a valuable Christian resource. My concern is that it gets overlooked by current concerns about politics and eschatology (albeit worthy topics). If you want to know more about the deep things of God, and need encouragement, read The Excellencies of God.
Excerpt
It’s not just food for the soul that is needed, but also rest for the soul… The greater need is for spiritual rest, rest for our anxious and restless souls. Only in Christ may this be found. (Page 275)
As mentioned elsewhere, one can listen to podcasts based on this book discussing God’s Excellencies.
Maranatha!
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The Excellencies of God: The Excellencies of God: Exploring and Enjoying His Attributes
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