The Lord Is Good: Seeking the God of the Psalter (Studies in Christian Doctrine and Scripture | SCDS)
Overview
“Taste and see that the Lord is good,” the Psalmist writes (Ps 34:8). And to those who called him good, Jesus said, “No one is good—except God alone” (Mk 10:18).
In this volume in IVP Academic’s Studies in Christian Doctrine and Scripture series, Christopher R. J. Holmes explores the divine attribute of God’s goodness through a theological interpretation of the Psalter that engages with the church’s rich tradition, including Augustine and Barth, but especially Aquinas. He contends that in the very depths of God’s being, God is goodness itself and that goodness is preeminent among the divine attributes.
Leading us in this journey through the Psalms and the church’s tradition, Holmes helps us to understand what it means to make that simple affirmation: God is good.
- Explores goodness as a key attribute of God in the book of Psalms
- Examines how God’s goodness relates to his mercy, grace, and love
- Contains reflective, scholarly, and doxological insights
- Simplicity
- You Are Good
- Goodness and the Trinity
- You Do Good
- The Good Creator
- Goodness and Evil
- Teach Me Your Statutes
- Goodness and Jesus Christ
- Perfection
Christopher Holmes has already published a number of excellent books, and this one is the best yet. With a contemplative depth that mirrors the depth of his sources, he engages the psalms as a guide for constructively retrieving the Christian tradition’s witness to God’s goodness. Testifying to the goodness of God, this book places Holmes among the handful of living theologians whose books should be read by anyone doing Christian theology today.
—Matthew Levering, James N. and Mary D. Perry Jr. Chair of Theology, Mundelein Seminary
Many have sought to identify the essential message of the Psalms. Christopher Holmes ably defends his contention that it’s the deceptively simple claim that ‘the Lord is good.’ It’s deceptively simple because once he begins to expound its meaning, he leads us to a deep understanding of the nature of God in his being, actions, character, commands, and as Trinity. Furthermore, it leads to a profound consideration of God’s relation to his creation and to us as fallen human creatures. Like an intrepid explorer, Holmes probes the terrain in conversation with the theological greats, from Augustine to Barth and beyond, but especially in conversation with Thomas Aquinas. Intellectually robust and theologically astute, this is a book that is also spiritually enriching and devotionally stimulating. Careful study of it will lead its readers to see hidden depths in the book of Psalms and, even more significantly, to encounter the God who is good.
—Derek Tidball, former principal of the London School of Theology, author of The Voices of the New Testament, series editor for the Bible Speaks Today Bible Themes Series
God is good, but how much more can we really say once we’ve said that? Holmes manages to say quite a lot more about it in this unique study, an extended conceptual gloss on the psalms with help from Augustine, Aquinas, Barth, and Sonderegger, among others. Crammed with suggestive ideas, well-resourced from the great tradition, and deeply edifying in tone and intent, this book reinstalls divine goodness at the center of theological concerns.
—Fred Sanders, professor of theology, Biola University
- Title: The Lord Is Good: Seeking the God of the Psalter
- Author: Christopher R. J. Holmes
- Series: Studies in Christian Doctrine and Scripture
- Publisher: IVP Academic
- Print Publication Date: 2018
- Logos Release Date: 2022
- Pages: 198
- Era: era:contemporary
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Bible. O.T. Psalms › Criticism, interpretation, etc; God › Biblical teaching; God (Christianity) › Goodness
- ISBNs: 9780830888504, 9780830848836, 9781783596560, 0830888500, 0830848835, 1783596562
- Resource ID: LLS:LORDISGOOD
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-12-27T21:41:45Z