Product Description
A Classic Work on the Nature of God by Stephen Charnock
Stephen Charnock was a highly regarded seventeenth-century English Puritan theologian whose writings have continued to influence the church for centuries. He is known for his sophisticated approach to topics such as the existence and attributes of God, the person and work of Christ, and the doctrine of sin.
This two-volume set, edited by Mark Jones, contains an updated and unabridged edition of Charnock's classic work, Discourses upon the Existence and Attributes of God, written to instruct and encourage Christian pastors, theologians, and laypeople. Jones precedes each discourse with an introductory summary that explains Charnock’s general approach. In this clear, modernized presentation of this classic work, readers will experience his skillful exegesis, his influential way with words, his insight into human nature, his concern with the practical implications of who God is, and his Christ-focused approach to theology.
- Modernized Language: Archaic punctuation, words, and phrases have been updated for the modern reader
- Updated Bibliographic Information: In the footnotes, Charnock’s sources have been located and updated with fuller bibliographic information, showing how widely read he was
- Chapter Summaries: Each discourse begins with a summary of the chapter to follow
- Extensive: Covers Charnock’s defense of God’s existence and 11 attributes of God
- Includes In-Depth Chapter on the Life of Stephen Charnock by William Symington
Hardcover, 1760 pages
Publication Date: October 2022
Table of Contents
Editor’s Introduction
Life and Character of Stephen Charnock
Volume 1: Discourses 1–8
Discourse 1: On God’s Existence
Discourse 2: On Practical Atheism
Discourse 3: On God’s Being a Spirit
Discourse 4: On Spiritual Worship
Discourse 5: On the Eternity of God
Discourse 6: On the Immutability of God
Discourse 7: On God’s Omnipresence
Discourse 8: On God’s Knowledge
Volume 2: Discourses 9–14
Discourse 9: On the Wisdom of God
Discourse 10: On the Power of God
Discourse 11: On the Holiness of God
Discourse 12: On the Goodness of God
Discourse 13: On God’s Dominion
Discourse 14: On God’s Patience
General Index
Scripture Index
Endorsements
“God and his infinite excellencies are endlessly engrossing. What wisdom, insight, comfort, and challenge are found in Charnock’s voluminous ruminations! Unpublished in his lifetime, they are amassed here and augmented by Mark Jones’s expert notations. Charnock provides food for the soul, tonic for the intellect, impetus for worship, and biblical conviction for everyday life.”
Robert W. Yarbrough, Professor of New Testament, Covenant Theological Seminary
“Nothing purifies the mind and inflames holiness in the heart like meditation on the perfections of God. Charnock’s classic work on the divine attributes, which he wrote the last three years of his life, has never been matched in its profound and practical approach to this rich subject. This work is a treasure of sound theology and humble adoration of God. The author’s exposition on the goodness of God is alone worth the purchase of these volumes; it is unsurpassed in all English literature. Lightly edited for the modern reader and studded with insightful introductions to each discourse, this new edition by Mark Jones will be a great help to all who seek diligently to know the Lord.”
Joel R. Beeke, President and Professor of Systematic Theology and Homiletics, Puritan Reformed Theological Seminary; author, Reformed Preaching; coauthor, Reformed Systematic Theology
“Stephen Charnock’s work on the existence and attributes of God is perhaps the most thorough and detailed contribution to the topic in the post-Reformation period. Charnock’s pastoral instincts, his incisive grasp of scholastic literature, his theological precision, and his sensitivity to the biblical foundations of his subject made this an outstanding contribution to the church of his day. It is a great pleasure to see a complete and updated version in print and accessible to a new readership.”
Robert Letham, Professor of Systematic and Historical Theology, Union School of Theology; author, Systematic Theology
“As a true labor of love and scholarship, Mark Jones offers the church not another reprint but a new edition of Charnock’s best-known work. In this edition, explanatory essays, judicious comments, and expanded citations make Charnock more accessible and intelligible than ever before. As the nineteenth-century introduction notes, compared to many Puritans, Charnock ‘is more theological than any of them, and his theology, too, is more sound than that of some.’ As Jones’s introduction intimates, the same can be true when Charnock is compared to writers in our day. So start a book group and read about the existence and attributes of God with Charnock and his editor as your godly guides.”
Chad Van Dixhoorn, Professor of Church History, Westminster Theological Seminary; author, Confessing the Faith and God’s Ambassadors
Author:
Stephen Charnock (1628–1680) was a prominent English Puritan theologian and preacher in England and Ireland during the seventeenth century. Trained at Cambridge and Oxford, he served as chaplain to Henry Cromwell, the chief governor of Ireland, and is known for his discourses on the existence and attributes of God.
Editor:
Mark Jones (PhD, Leiden Universiteit) serves as the pastor of Faith Vancouver Presbyterian Church (PCA) in British Columbia, Canada. He has authored many books, including Living for God and God Is, and speaks all over the world on Christology and the Christian life. Mark and his wife, Barbara, have four children.
