During the Middle Ages, R.C. Sproul reminds us, theology was called the “queen of the sciences. “Today,” he writes in What Can We Know About God?, “the queen has been deposed from her throne and, in many cases, driven into exile, and a supplanter now reigns. We have replaced theology with religion.”
He’s not this specific, but “religion” can be defined far more broadly that “faith traditions” or “denominations” and include any kind of belief system around which an individual organizes his or her life.
In this short but impactful book, Sproul focuses on the heart of theology, or study of God. His observations and insights reflect his study and understanding of the Bible, including both the Old and New Testaments.
He considers the idea of the “oneness” of God, the trinity, the two types of attributes – incommunicable and communicable (there are indeed many things about God we don’t and can’t know), the will of God, and the idea of providence. This is a God-centered understanding as opposed to a man-centered understanding; Sproul does not put man as the lens for trying to understand God. And what better source of a God-centered understanding can you find but the Bible?
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| R.C. Sproul |
Until his death in December of 2017, Sproul led Ligonier Ministries, based in Sanford, Florida. He wrote numerous books, articles, sermons, and speeches on Christianity, church history, theology, Calvinism, Reformed theology, and related topics. The Crucial Questions series includes some 30 topics which are free as eBooks, and this volume is a part of the series.
Understanding God is a crucial question for faith, but it is also a very basic question. As What Can We Know About God?demonstrates, our understanding begins and ends with limitations. But that doesn’t mean there is much that can be taught, and much that can be learned.
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Top photograph by Marc-Olivier Jodoin via Unsplash. Used with permission.
Thanks for sharing this book. I'm grateful for the life and ministry of R.C. Sproul.
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