Book Club Questions for Holier Than Thou

1.When you hear the word 'holy' — whether applied to God or to a person — what images or feelings immediately come to mind? Be honest: are those associations mostly positive, negative, or mixed?

2.Jackie opens by identifying a gap that many believers live with: we say we trust God, but our actual lives tell a different story. Where do you most clearly see that gap in your own life right now?

3.The book's central thesis is that our inability to trust God is rooted in a misunderstanding of His holiness. Before reading further, does that diagnosis resonate with you? Why or why not?

1.Jackie draws attention to the fact that holiness is the only attribute of God repeated three times in Scripture — 'holy, holy, holy' in both Isaiah 6 and Revelation 4. Why do you think the biblical authors (and the seraphim themselves) single out holiness in this unique way?

2.The Hebrew concept behind 'holy' (qadosh) carries the idea of being set apart, other, different. How is this different from how you typically heard holiness defined growing up?

3.Jackie argues that God's holiness is not merely about moral purity but about His fundamental otherness — He is in a category entirely His own. Why does that distinction matter for how we relate to Him?

1.Jackie addresses our tendency to assume God thinks and operates the way we do. Can you think of a specific time when you caught yourself projecting a human quality — impatience, favoritism, pettiness, forgetfulness — onto God?

2.Psalm 50:21 records God saying, 'You thought that I was one like yourself.' Jackie uses this as a diagnostic: in what ways do we still make this exact mistake today?

3.God's ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts higher than our thoughts (Isaiah 55:8–9). That is either terrifying or comforting, depending on whether you trust the One whose thoughts are higher. How does this chapter help move the needle toward comfort?

1.Jackie discusses God's aseity — His self-existence and self-sufficiency. Before reading this chapter, had you thought much about the idea that God has no needs? What was your gut reaction to that concept?

2.Paul declares in Acts 17:24–25 that God is not served by human hands 'as though He needed anything.' How does this truth challenge the way we sometimes think about our service to God or our worship — as if we are doing Him a favor?

3.Jackie connects God's self-sufficiency to His trustworthiness: because He lacks nothing, He cannot be motivated by selfishness or scarcity. How does that logic work, and do you find it convincing?

1.Jackie addresses God's omniscience — His complete and exhaustive knowledge of all things, including every detail of our lives and hearts. What is your honest, emotional reaction to the idea that God knows everything about you — including the things you hide from others?

2.Psalm 139 frames God's knowledge of us in intimate, almost tender terms — He knows our sitting and rising, our thoughts from afar. Yet many people experience God's omniscience as surveillance rather than intimacy. What makes the difference?

3.Hebrews 4:13 says 'no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed.' Jackie uses this verse to press on our instinct to hide from God. What are the things you most instinctively try to conceal from God — and what does concealing them cost you?

1.Jackie explores God's omnipresence — His being fully present everywhere at all times, not spread thin but wholly present in every place. How does this differ from the 'God is kind of everywhere in a vague sense' version we often settle for?

2.The Psalmist says, 'Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence?' (Psalm 139:7). He is not frightened by this — he is comforted. What makes God's inescapability a comfort rather than a threat?

3.Jackie is honest about seasons of spiritual darkness — moments when God feels absent. How does the doctrine of omnipresence speak into that experience? How do you hold 'God is always present' alongside 'I cannot feel Him'?

1.Jackie addresses the way human experiences of power — abusive authority figures, corrupt institutions, broken trust — color how we relate to a God who is all-powerful. How has power been used against you or someone you love, and how has that shaped your picture of God?

2.Jeremiah declares, 'Nothing is too hard for You' (Jeremiah 32:17). He says this while watching Jerusalem fall to Babylon — arguably the worst moment in his prophetic ministry. What does it tell us about faith that this declaration comes in a moment of devastating circumstances?

3.Jackie distinguishes between power that oppresses and power that protects and provides. What makes the difference, and how does God's holiness — His utter moral perfection and 'other-ness' — function as the safeguard that makes His omnipotence trustworthy?

1.Jesus says, 'No one is good except God alone' (Mark 10:18). Jackie treats this not as a throwaway comment but as a load-bearing theological truth. What does it mean that goodness, in its truest and fullest sense, is not a human achievement but a divine attribute?

2.Jackie connects God's goodness to His holiness — He cannot do evil, not because He is restrained by an external law, but because His very nature is the definition of good. How does that help when we are tempted to accuse God of wrongdoing in our pain?

3.Taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8). 'Taste' is an intimate, personal verb — not 'observe from a distance.' Where have you most personally tasted the goodness of God? Has that experience made the next season of difficulty easier or harder to trust?

1.Abraham asks, 'Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?' (Genesis 18:25). This is one of the most audacious questions in the Bible — a man arguing with God. What does it reveal that Abraham assumes God's justice as the very basis of his appeal?

2.Jackie explores our selective relationship with God's justice: we want it for the wrongs done to us, but we grow uncomfortable when it turns toward us. When has your desire for justice toward others coexisted uncomfortably with your desire for mercy toward yourself?

3.Psalm 89:14 says, 'Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne.' God's justice is not an occasional mood — it is structural to who He is. How does that change the way you think about injustice in the world? Does it bring comfort or increase urgency?

1.The Bible does not merely say God is loving — it says God is love (1 John 4:8). Jackie unpacks why that distinction matters. What is the difference between love being something God does and love being something God is?

2.Our culture tends to define love as unconditional affirmation — never causing discomfort, always validating every choice. How does Jackie's treatment of divine love challenge or complicate that definition?

3.Romans 5:8 says God demonstrates His love 'while we were still sinners.' The timing is everything. How does the unconditional nature of God's initiating love differ from the transactional love most of us have experienced from people?

1.Jackie's central thesis is that we don't trust God because we misunderstand His holiness — and that seeing God as truly holy, truly 'other,' is not a barrier to trust but the very foundation of it. In your own words, make the case for that argument. Do you now believe it? Why or why not?

2.Which chapter or attribute of God felt most personally significant to you — the one that most directly addressed something you have been struggling with or misunderstanding? What made it land the way it did?

3.At the beginning of this study, you identified an area of life where you struggle to trust God. Has that area shifted — even slightly — over the course of these weeks? Be specific about what changed and what remains difficult.