September 08, 2005 2:10 AM

Reviewed by Thomas Scarborough

I happened, this past week, to pick up an old copy of Arthur W. Pink's The Attributes of God. The book is undated -- perhaps the publishers considered it to be timeless! At any rate, the copy is decades old. A quick check on the Internet revealed that the book is still in print -- in fact Providence Baptist Ministries have published it on the Internet -- in toto, and free of charge (see below).

CONTENT OF THE BOOK

The book is strongly Calvinistic -- though as reviewer, I confess that I cannot make too much of the same claim for myself. Having said this, the book represents a powerful portrayal of seventeen attributes of God. Above all, it portrays God as a sovereign God, "above all praise", whose omniscience and omnipotence reach to the farthest imaginable recesses of this world.

Each section is well supported with appropriate Scriptures, some word studies, and fascinating observations. This is not merely a systematic theology. For example, the author notes that "three times in the year all the males of Israel were required to leave their homes and go up to Jerusalem". However, they lived in the midst of hostile people. How, then, could they leave their homes? The answer: The "hands of the Almighty" were upon the wills of wicked men -- and they knew it. Such observations are to be found throughout the book.

The power of this book is its emphasis on a God who is exalted in every way -- and this is arguably the greatest contribution of Calvinism itself. Pink comments: "How vastly different is the God of Scripture from the 'god' of the average pulpit!"

IS IT FATALISM?

The usual questions of Calvinism arise of course. Rather than enter into the vast debate, I shall note just one overriding emphasis of the book. Pink states: "He [God] fixed all the circumstances in the lot of individuals, and all the particulars which comprise the history of the human race from its commencement to its close. He did not merely decree that general laws should be established for the government of the world, but He settled the application of those laws to all particular cases . . . The care of Providence reaches to the most insignificant creatures, and the most minute events."

This view of the sovereignty of God would appear to espouse a form of religious fatalism. On the positive side, Pink views God as a God who is alive and all-powerful -- the "omniscient, interventionist God" whom Stephen Phillips (below) recently identified as the secret to the vigorous growth of the Church in parts of the world today.

However, the extent of human free will seems to be completely quashed. There would seem no doubt that God, as He is portrayed in the Bible, has a dynamic, responsive, living relationship with His children. Perhaps I missed it -- yet I found little if any room for such a view in this book.

SOVEREIGNTY AND CALLING

I recently had breakfast with a quasi-Calvinist minister (if there ever could be such a thing!) with whom I graduated many years ago. As we were talking about fellow graduates, he said, "The great strength of Calvinists is that they endure in ministry. They don't have to worry themselves about people's petty foibles, or things running out of control." And by and large, as best our memories served us, this seemed to be true.

"That isn't necessarily so," said another minister -- and she listed some examples. "Calvinists enter the ministry with a rigid set of beliefs -- yet there they come face to face with people of the real world. That is where it all comes unstuck. They founder on the rocks of their beliefs."

I shall leave the last word to Arthur W. Pink himself, as he contemplates Christian ministry: "How refreshing, then, how unspeakably blessed, to . . . behold the One who is faithful, faithful in all things, faithful at all times . . . He may be safely relied upon." This, says Pink, serves to "much quieten the minds of God's people" and "preserve us from worry".

SYNTHESIS

The author is surely correct when he states that a true knowledge of God is foundational. "An unknown God can neither be trusted, served, nor worshipped." Not only this, but "something more than a theoretical knowledge" is required.

Despite its strongly Calvinistic stance, this short book has stood the test of time. It deserves to be read for its strengths, even if one is unable to swallow it whole. It could serve as a useful, if not inspiring corrective.

CITATION OF REFERENCES

Pink, Arthur W. The Attributes of God: A Solemn and Blessed Contemplation of Some of the Wondrous and Lovely Perfections of the Divine Character. Online, Internet, 2005. Available from http://www.pbministries.org/books/pink/Attributes/attributes.htm. Also various publishers.

Phillips, Steven. "Why Do Religious And Spiritual Movements Grow?" In Big Questions In History, ed. Harriet Swain. London: Jonathan Cape, 2005. ISBN 0-224-07280-3.

Thomas Scarborough is the minister of a Congregational Church near the centre of Cape Town. One of his "diversions" is electronics writing, for which he has received a number of publishers' prizes.